The Righter Report

Personal Attributes of the Holy Spirit

While in Genesis 1:2 we see the “Spirit of God” moving upon the face of the waters during creation, there is a very important and often overlooked verse in which the prophet Isaiah reveals that the Holy Spirit is more than just some type of Star Wars spiritual force. Isaiah 63:10 reads,

“But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them.”

The word “vexed,” as used above, is the Hebrew word “atsab,” which means “to worry, pain, or anger; to grieve, hurt, or make sorry” (Zodhiates Old Testament Word Study – Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary section, page 91). The question, of course, is, how can some inanimate force be angered or grieved, as we see occurred in the above passage? Only if the Holy Spirit were alive and possessed personal attributes could He experience these types of emotions. The Holy Spirit must therefore be a person.

Other personal attributes of the Holy Spirit:

1. The Holy Spirit “testifies” (Nehemiah 9:30).
2. The Spirit “instructs” (Nehemiah 9:20).
3. The Spirit “strives with men” (Genesis 6:3).
4. The Spirit sends messengers (Isaiah 48:16).
5. The Spirit enabled Joseph to interpret Pharoah’s dreams (Genesis 41:38).
6. The Spirit gives wisdom (Exodus 28:3; 31:1-6; 35:31).
7. The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Wisdom” (Isaiah 11:2).
8. He is the Spirit of Knowledge (Isaiah 11:2)

Notice clearly that all of the things that the Holy Spirit does requires intelligence of the variety that God alone possesses.

The Holy Spirit is God – the Third Person of the Trinity

Acts 5:3-4 – Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

Christian author and theologian Kevin J. Conner provides the following scriptural evidences of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (source: “The Foundations of Christian Doctrine” – Kevin Conner):

1. The new birth is brought about by the Spirit (John 3:5-6).
2. The Spirit indwells the believer’s spirit (Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:17).
3. The Spirit gives assurance of salvation (Romans 8:16).
4. The Spirit fills the believer with Himself (Acts 2:4).
5. The Spirit speaks to the believer (Acts 8:29; I Timothy 4:1; Revelation 2:7).
6. The Spirit provides understanding about the things of God (I Corinthians 2:12)
7. The Spirit teaches and guides the believer (John 16:13; I John 2:27).
8. The Spirit imparts life (John 6:63; II Corinthians 3:6).
9. The Spirit brings about renewal (Titus 3:5).
10. The Spirit strengthens the believer’s inner being (Ephesians 3:16).
11. The Spirit enables the believer to pray (Jude 20; Romans 8:26-28).
12. The Spirit enables the believer to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24; Philippians 3:3; I Corinthians 14:15).
13. The Spirit leads the believer (Romans 8:14).
14. The Spirit enables the believer to put carnal works to death (Romans 8:13).
15. The Spirit produces Christ-likeness in character and fruit in the believer’s life (Galatians 5:22, 23).
16. The Spirit gives a calling to the believer for special service (Acts 13:2-4).
17. The Spirit guides believers into their ministry (Acts 8:29; 16:6-7).
18. The Spirit empowers the believer to witness (Acts 1:8).
19. The Spirit imparts spiritual gifts as He wills (I Corinthians 12:7-11).
20. The Spirit will bring about the resurrection and immortality to the believers’ bodies in the last day (Romans 8:11; I Corinthians 15:47-51; I Thes. 4:15-18).

More on the Holy Spirit

Sunday, September 30, 2007

From C.U.F.I. at www.cufi.org

The Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), to speak out for Zion’s sake (Isaiah 62:1), to be watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:6) and to bless the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3). These and so many other verses of the Bible that have one overriding message– as Christians we have a Biblical obligation to defend Israel and the Jewish people in their time of need.

Israel’s time of need is now. There is a new Hitler in the Middle East –President Ahmadinejad of Iran — who has threatened to wipe out Israel and America and is rapidly acquiring the nuclear technology to make good on his threat. If we learned anything from the Holocaust, it is that when a madman threatens genocide we must take him seriously.

During the Holocaust, too many Christians were silent, and we were left to mourn the slaughter of 6 million Jews. Today, Bible-believing Christians must speak up and stand up for Israel. We must act to do whatever we can to protect Israel’s 6 million Jews from the second Holocaust. We must get it right this time. Our faith demands it. The times require it. Silence is not an option.

Christians United for Israel is a national Christian grassroots movement focused on one issue: supporting Israel. Although we are less than two years old, we are spreading like a wildfire and are changing the nature of support for Israel in America. YOU can part of this national Christian grassroots movement. YOU can make a difference for Israel.

Learn about the current situation in Israel and the Middle East and CUFI’s activities and events by receiving CUFI’s weekly email updates. Express your support of Israel by participating in a Night to Honor Israel in your community. Speak to your elected officials about the imperatives of supporting Israel during CUFI’s Third Annual Washington-Israel Summit in Washington, DC on July 21-23, 2008.

Time is short and the challenge is great. But we must believe that it was for a moment such as this that we were called to faith and given the power to make a difference. We hope that you will join us in supporting Israel in her time of need.

Support Israel and CUFI

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Dr. Simon Greenleaf, the Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University, was one of the greatest legal minds that ever lived. He wrote the famous legal volume entitled, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, considered by many the greatest legal volume ever written. Dr. Simon Greenleaf believed the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was a hoax. And he determined, once and for all, to expose the “myth” of the Resurrection. After thoroughly examining the evidence for the resurrection — Dr. Greenleaf came to the exact opposite conclusion! He wrote a book entitled, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, In which he emphatically stated:

“it was IMPOSSIBLE that the apostles could have persisted in affirming the truths they had narrated, had not JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY RISEN FROM THE DEAD, . . .” (Simon Greenleaf, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, p.29).

More

Simon Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen.

Legal Arguments

The Testimony of the Evangelists: The Gospels Examined by the Rules of Evidence – at Amazon.com

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Many arguments have been made that eyewitness testimony is unreliable. In some cases that’s true. However, our prisons are full of criminals who, at one time or another, were identified by eyewitnesses who were deemed credible by juries of their peers. If you run across someone who contends that eyewitness accounts are never trustworthy, then advise them the next time their husband, wife, brother, sister, mother, or father comes home to be sure to run a DNA analysis on them (just to be sure).

Others say that recorded eyewitness accounts are nothing more than hearsay. If one wants to make that argument then they should know that much of what we know from antiquity is derived from hearsay. Historians and other early, contemporary personalities often record historical accounts from other sources. If one wants to throw out “hearsay” then the better part of our collegiate history books would have to have vast sections ripped out of them. It would be extremely unfair to have one standard for non-Biblical, 1st century accounts and another one just for the New Testament.

The disciples lived with Jesus for three and one-half years. They very likely knew him as well as anyone could know a very close, personal friend. To say they were deluded or mistaken leaves the burden of proof for those charges on the accuser, instead of on the writers of the New Testament.

With this in mind, the following are just some of the numerous eyewitness accounts contained in the Gospels and Epistles.

Luke 24:30-34: – When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Luke 24:36-39: While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

John 20:16-18: Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 20:19-20: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

John 20:26-28: A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

1 Corinthians 15:3 –8: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also…

Acts 1:1 –4: In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

1 John 4:14 – And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

2 Peter 1:16 – We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Luke 1:1-4: Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Matthew 28:5–9: The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Further reference:

The Truthfulness of the Eyewitness Accounts as Presented in the Bible

God bless…