THE AGE OF THE SPIRIT

THE AGE OF THE SPIRIT

We have considered ‘the already’ and ‘the not yet’ in relation to ‘over realised eschatology’ and ‘under realised eschatology, resulting in how we live our lives as Christians, and how we understand the times we are living in.
Another helpful way to look at this: after the ‘Fall’, we are living in the present ‘evil Age’; when the Lord Jesus came in the first advent, He inaugurated a ‘new Age'(the ‘New Wine’) with the expectation of the ‘Age to come’ in the new heavens and new earth. After Jesus accomplished His mission, the ‘already’ came into being but the ‘not yet’ is still to be fulfilled. The ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’ apply only to those who, in repentance and faith, by grace, are born again and regenerated; adopted as God’s children, and given an inheritance and place as God’s people, beginning now and consummated in the new age to come following the second advent of Christ.

One significant aspect of the ‘already’ is the ‘gift’ of the Holy Spirit to believers, sent by the heavenly Father at the request of Jesus the Son. This ushers in the ‘Age of the Spirit’ – the Holy Spirit indwells the Christians, and His ministry is so vital in ‘the already and not yet’ for God’s people to endure and to overcome in the face of the rage of the devil and his minions. We need to understand the Person, the ministry, and the role of the Third Person of the Trinity as we seek to grow, to mature and to be ready for the Age to come.

THE AGE OF THE SPIRIT:

The Lord Jesus said in John 3:8 that ‘The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes, So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit”.
‘Wind’ gives a picture of air made to move vigorously, even violently, and expresses ‘energy let loose’, executive force invading, power in exercise, life demonstrated by activity.
The word ‘spirit’ carries the following thought and association: the divine Spirit is personal, purposeful, invisible and irresistible. We know the Holy Spirit as a Person, but we often forget that ‘wind’ speaks of Power in action – it is the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead; it is the same power that ‘regenerates’ individuals to become believers, the same power that is so irresistible in drawing men and women to salvation, the same power that transforms and sanctifies Christians and the same power that overcomes the evil one in spiritual battles. It is a tremendous power in a ‘Being’, the third Person of the Trinity, who indwells in believers, who guides, comforts, enables, who can be grieved; the One who is the author of the Bible, who inspires the Biblical writers to put God’s words into the Scripture, the One who interprets the Scripture, and illumine believers to understand the meaning of what God has revealed. What may not be so obvious to some is that the same Holy Spirit was with Jesus while He was on earth as the God-man from birth to the cross, burial, resurrection and ascension. Jesus requested the Father to send the same Spirit to His followers and disciples, for He knew that as He left them in this world to fulfil His commission, without the Spirit, they will not be able to combat and overcome the adversary.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘guarantee’ of our inheritance (Eph. 1:14): He enables us to see the glory of Christ glorified, and to live in fellowship with Him as our Mediator and His Father as our Father. He introduces us to the inmost essence of the life of heaven (at the deepest level in the fellowship of the Trinity). At the heart of our thoughts about heaven is the actual relationship with the Father and the Son that is perfected there. The Spirit’s present ministry to us is the first installment – by means of His ministry to us, heaven begins for us here and now, as though Christ and in Christ we share in his resurrection life.
“You have died,” writes Paul to believers, “and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col.3:3). This ‘life’ is eternal life, heaven’s life, which never starts anywhere else but here.

One major aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is “holiness”; among other things, it means forming good habits, breaking bad habits, resisting temptations to sin, and controlling ourselves when we are provoked. To do any of these things requires ‘effort’ and we would encounter ‘conflict’; but the Holy Spirit is the One who would enable us, prompt us, transform us, as we exercise dependence on Him in our ‘efforts’ and in our ‘battling’ the conflict.
As the Spirit works in us and transforms us, our behaviour and response take on a renewed ‘character’ that manifests Christlike behaviour (the “fruit of the Spirit”.
The test of our behaviour that reflects the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit:
‘Love’ as the Christlike reaction to people’s malice
‘Joy’ as the Christlike reaction to depression situations and circumstances
‘Peace’ as the Christlike reaction to troubles, threats and invitations to anxiety
‘Patience’ as the Christlike reaction to all that is maddening
‘Kindness’ as the Christlike reaction to all who are unkind
‘Goodness’ as the Christlike reaction to bad people and bad behaviour
‘Faithfulness’ and ‘gentleness’ as the Christlike reactions to lies and fury
‘Self-control’ as the Christlike reaction to every situation that goads you to lose your cool and hit out
The Spirit is with us to empower us, and we know that Christlike behaviour is now in the profoundest sense natural to us. But still, maintaining Christlikeness under this kind of pressure is hard.
If we examine the various facets of the fruit of the Spirit, we would see reference to the Christlike reactions listed above.

However, Paul describes Spirit-filledness in terms of a lifestyle that all Christians should have been practicing from conversion (Eph. 5:18-21). If it has not worked out that way for any of us, the reason is not that God never meant it to be, but rather that somehow, whether or not we realise it, we have been quenching the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19) which is a state of affairs that has to be changed.
We constantly need, therefore, to be asking God to enable us to do the right things in the right way (with love and hope and zeal forGod), and only the Holy Spirit who indwells us can bring that about.

THE AGE OF THE SPIRIT (B)

When the apostle Paul speaks of the God-sent Holy Spirit, his perspective is always eschatological, looking forward to the end of which our present experience of redemption and life in the Spirit is the beginning. The Spirit is the gift of the new age, following the inauguration of this new age through the Son of God. The Spirit guarantees what is to come (Rom.823; Eph. 1:13-14).

In relation to the individual Christian, the Spirit’s ministry is fourfold:
He enlightens, giving understanding of the gospel so that the ‘spiritual person’ has ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Cor. 2:15-16). He indwells as the seal and guarantees that henceforth the Christian belongs to God (Rom 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 3:16 -17; 6:19). He transforms, producing in us the ethical fruit of Christlikeness: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithtulness, gentleness, self-control (covered in the previous sharing (2 Cor. 3:18, Gal. 5:22-24), plus prayerfulness and hope (Rom. 8:26-27; 15:13). And He assures, witnessing to our adoption by God, our eternal acceptance, and our future inheritance (Rom. 8:15-25, 31-39).

Note that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to floodlight the Lord Jesus Christ; if the implication of living in the age of the Spirit is the preaching of God’s word, then we must ensure that it is Christ we preach – the Christ of the Scripture. If someone claims to be God’s spokesman but he does not floodlight the Lord Jesus Christ, but instead exalts himself, then you can be sure that such a ministry is not principally the ministry of the Spirit. The Spirit also does not put himself in the limelight; if someone concentrates on displaying the power of the Spirit in his ministry and sidelines the Lord Jesus Christ, a warning ‘bell’ should ring out, for the work of the Spirit is to floodlight Jesus the Son.

The other implication of living in the age of the Spirit is that it affects our fulfillment of the Great Commission; the Great Commission is going to be fulfilled only by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the gospel.

As the Christian’s whole life is life in Christ in terms of the meaning, centre, and direction, so the Christian’s whole life is life in the Spirit from the standpoint of his knowledge, disposition, and ability to love and serve. Putting off the old man and putting on the new man, which God renews (Eph. 4:20-24; Col. 3:9-10), and being newly created in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), corresponds to Paul’s writings to new birth in John’s, and it is also plain that the initial inward renewal is the Spirit’s work, as the living that expresses it.
All that we ever contribute to our own Christian lives is folly, inability, and need. Everything that is good, right, positive, and valuable comes from Christ through the Spirit. There is therefore no room to boast, but much to praise, adore, and worship the Triune God, from whom comes all things and to whom belongs all the glory and honour forever and ever. Amen.

We are now addressing the Holy Spirit and Regeneration; invariably, when we consider ‘Regeneration’, the subject of ‘faith’, ‘grace’, ‘conversion’, ‘sanctification’ will have to be addressed as well, and which precedes the other also needs to be clarified.
Also, we need to recall that in the history of the church, ‘Pelagianism’, ‘Semi-Pelagianism’, ‘Arminianism’, ‘Reformed Theology’ were also raised, debated, and the various councils of the Church were convened and firm declarations were ‘instituted’ from these various councils. Certain teachings like Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, Arminianism were pronounced as heretical, whilst Reformed Theology (which was regarded as biblical theology at that time) was upheld, With the passing of time, those teachings which were rejected came into the forefront whilst Reformed theology ‘becomes a minority’ in the church.

When something is started, we say that it is generated. If it is started again, it is regenerated. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is a change; it is a radical change into a new kind of being.
In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). Jesus was actually addressing ‘regeneration’ – to be born again.
To be regenerated does not mean that we are changed from a human being into a divine being. It does mean that we are changed from spiritually dead human beings ino spiritually alive human beings; we are made alive spiritually. Spiritually dead persons are incapable of seeing the kingdom of God. It is invisible to them, not because the kingdom itself is invisible, but because the spiritually dead are also spiritually blind. To be born again or to be regenerated is an absolute prerequisite for seeing and entering the kingdom of God. Without regeneration no one is able to enter the kingdom of God – there are no exceptions – it is impossible to enter God’s kingdom without a rebirth. No one is born a Christian. No one is biologically born into the kingdom of God. The first birth is one that is of the flesh; flesh begets flesh – it cannot produce spirit. In John 6:23 Jesus adds “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.”

We are born dead in trespasses and sin; in theology we call this inherent sinful condition ‘original sin’. Original sin does not refer to the first sin of Adam and Eve; it refers to the consequences of that first sin, with the transmission of a corrupt nature to the entire human race. We are by nature “children of wrath”.
Regeneration is the sovereign work of God the Holy Spirit. The initiative is with Him, not with ourselves. Regeneration precedes faith – this may be a ‘shocking’ discovery for some. Many hold the view that the key work of man to effect rebirth is faith. Many think that we first have to believe in Christ in order to be born again; the sequence puts faith at the beginning before regeneration. In this scheme, the initiative falls with us; we think that the initiative for appropriating salvation was our job.
But the fact is that no man has the power to raise himself from spiritual death; divine assistance is needed and needed absolutely. It is true insofar that the faith that we exercise is our faith; God does not do the believing in Christ for us. But the question remains: do I cooperate with God’s grace before I am born again, or does the cooperation occur after I am born again?
When we say “Regeneration precedes faith”, the first step, the step of regeneration by which a person is quickened to spiritual life (or made alive spiritually), is the work of God and of God alone. The initiative is with God, not with us. To be sure, after a person is regenerated, that person cooperates by exercising faith and trust; the reason we do not cooperate with regenerating grace before it acts upon us and in us is because we cannot. We cannot because we are spiritually dead.

Many among professing Christians today believe that the order of our salvation is this: Faith precedes regeneration. We are exhorted to choose to be born again; but telling a man to choose rebirth is like exhorting a corpse to choose resurrection. Interestingly, when we study the history of the church, the teaching that regeneration precedes faith is the same teaching in Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. It was even the teaching of the great medieval Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas. These giants of Christian history reached the same conclusion on this point.
Note the key phrase in apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians on this matter: “…even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Eph. 2:5). Paul locates the time when regeneration occurs – it takes place when we were dead. With this statement by the apostle, all attempts to give the initiative in regeneration is smashed utterly and completely.The spiritually dead take no initiative; unless regeneration takes place first, there is no possibility of faith, and this says nothing different from what Jesus said to Nicodemus.

It is because regeneration is by divine initiative that salvation is by grace alone; we cannot escape the glaring implication that leads us quickly and irresistible to sovereign election. The apostle Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 2:8-9 states:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Paul teaches that the faith through which we are saved is a faith that comes to us by grace. Or faith is something we exercise by ourselves and in ourselves, but it is not of ourselves – it is a gift – it is not an achievement. With the graciousness of the gift of faith as a fruit of regeneration, all boasting is excluded forever, save in the boasting of the exceeding riches of God’s mercy. We ought not to take the credit to ourselves that belongs exclusively to God alone.
It is to the Holy Spirit of God that we are debtors for the grace of regeneration and faith. He is the Gift=giver, who while we were dead made us alive with Christ, to Christ, and in Christ!!

THE ‘ALREADY’ AND ‘NOT YET’

The New Testament indicates that it is already the last hour. We are already in the last days, according to the Bible; Christians are ‘squeezed’ between the “already” of what has arrived and the “not yet” of what is still to come. For instance, we have already received forgiveness of sins, but we do not yet have the consummation which Christ’s death and resurrection have secured. We already grow in sanctification, but we have not yet been glorified. This age is decaying and will pass away, but it has not yet passed away, and the new heavens and the new earth have not yet dawned.

In the light that we live in the tension of the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’, we must be aware of getting the ‘balance’ right; Christians can sadly go astray by getting the balance wrong. What can happen is “over-realised eschatology”, that is, we think that we have more of the blessings from the future now than we actually do. Or we can suffer from having an “under-realised eschatology”, that is, we really do not appreciate what we have in our possessions. Both are errors we must avoid.

In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul wrote:
“Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! (vs. 8)
We know that the Corinthian Christians had many gifts but they were called carnal in their behaviour by the apostle Paul, and there were problems of division, immoral behaviour, and even various ones going to court against one another.
The Corinthians sound not a little like some contemporary health, wealth, and prosperity gospel people today, do they not? Is not the reasoning today similar to that of the Corinthians back then? Some said, ‘since we are children of the king, does not our father want us to have everything? We could say that – but we also must know that God wants us to be disciplined and to learn something of suffering like His Son, before everything is opened up in the new heavens and the new earth. We see here that over-realised eschatology leads to a kind of triumphalism that seems to think that everything that we are going to get in the future we get right now. Healing, transformed personalities that approach sinless perfection, perfect love, perfect marriage, perfect wealth, perfect satisfaction, perfect contentment – it is all ours right now! Name it; claim it! After all, Christ has secured it.
It is true that all the blessings that we will ever enjoy, Christ has secured. But we are squeezed between the already and the not yet. And if we have an over-realised eschatology, we will imagine that we have some things that are actually reserved for the final healing in the final transformation and the final glorification of God’s people on the last day.

On the other hand, if we have an under-realised eschatology, we will fail to appreciate what we actually have in Christ Jesus now. We now only have the forgiveness of sins and the joy of being once and for all declared just before God because of what Christ has done, but also have ongoing cleansing from sin! This is surely a blessed relief for God’s people day by day. God has poured his Spirit out upon us, so that we begin to love what we did not love and hate what we did not hate. Our personalities are changed, our goals are changed, our values are changed, and our direction is changed – and all this is because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to those who believe (Rom. 1:16). It is not merely some declaration of a status – it is also power.
This power works itself out in transformed relationships in the community of the saints. We must appreciate the many blessings that come to us from God and live in the light of them, and look forward to the final transformation that still lies ahead. A great part of Christian maturity depends on grasping exactly what it means to be partakers of the age to come – it means getting the balance right.
We cannot be mature Christians unless we are future oriented, that is, eternity oriented. Our hope and anticipation of the eternal future is what draws out our faith and gives us motive and incentive to persevere and endure, and to love one another in Christ here on earth. This world is passing away; our life here on earth is transient. In other words, we do not just plan for the next thirty or forty years – we plan for the next forty billion years – that is, we plan for eternity with God. Our life on earth is like a “dressing room” preparing us for the life in eternity with the Triune God and with one another in Christ.

We need to know how God provides for us who are partakers of the age to come.
Firstly, God provides for us in our utter transformation in anticipation of the end (Eph. 2:1-10). Because of His great love, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ; He transforms us into the image of Christ out of sheer grace, and received through faith alone; He transforms us into those who do good works.
Secondly, God creates a new humanity in anticipation of the end (Eph.2:11-21). Men and women drawn from every tongue and tribe and people and nation all gather around the throne on the last day!
Thirdly, God provides for the partakers of the age to come in that He discloses His concealed purposes in anticipation of the end. These concealed purposes are referred to as ‘mystery’ – referring to what God has kept secret in the past, but has now revealed.
Fourth, God does more than we ask or imagine and thereby elicits prayer from us in anticipation of the end (EDph. 3:14-21). This is a prayer that God would work in us to make us grow in holiness and in depth of appreciation for His love for us, because we cannot be mature without such increasing depth of appreciation of His love for us.
Fifth, God builds truth and unity into His body in anticipation of the end. From Eph. 4:1 to 6:9, God tells us in practical passage after passage how we live, how we speak, how we love, how we deny ourselves – all this in anticipation of what will be on the last day. And yet at the same time we still remain in this old age; we still remain in this dying age. We are living in the last days, and because of this we will be in conflict.
Sixth and finally, God equips and arms His people in anticipation of the end (Eph. 6:10-20). The devil is filled with rage because he knows his time is short (see Revelation 12). We are still going to struggle; our struggle is not against human beings. It is not against flesh and blood. Our struggle is against the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, the spiritual forces of evil. Hence we need to put on the full armour of God, which He so richly provides to His sants, as He equips and arms His people in anticipation of the end.

In justification, we are brought back to and accepted by God. He declares us just, not because we are, but because Christ has borne our sins in his body on the tree. But He has given us more than justification. He has given us new birth, made us the sons and daughters of the living God, with the power of God already pulsating within us to transform us. Not only that, we are pressing on toward the climax of all things: the entire created order groans in travail, awaiting for the final adoption . Already we have been made partakers of the age to come; we must now anticipate the future, the eternal future, as we wait for the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Yes, come quickly Lord Jesus” (cf. Rev. 22:20). Amen.