The Holy Spirit in the Letters – Part I (Romans & 1 Corinthians)

    Romans and 1 Corinthians have the highest usage of references to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament letters with Romans 8 being the densest discussion.

Romans

    1:4 – This is the only time in the NT that the Holy Spirit is designated by this phrase: “the Spirit of holiness.” It seems to me this is because Paul is going to emphasize that it is the Spirit who makes us holy as we walk in step with Him. Paul says that Jesus was “declared the Son of God, by the resurrection, according to the Spirit.” That adverb means “stated by or in.” Jesus rose from the dead just as it was promised by the Holy Spirit in the OT and in the preaching and prophecy of Jesus Himself. 

    2:29 – The “inward Jew” is one who is circumcised by the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is run in a concordance the references to “circumcision” in the NT and we will quickly learn that such circumcision is performed when we are immersed into Christ (Col. 2:11-12).

    5:5 – When you accept the Word of Christ into your heart and you obey it, the Holy Spirit dwells in you. It is in your heart that the Holy Spirit stimulates your love for others and your love for God.

    7:6 – The “newness of the Spirit” is that new life in Jesus Christ, brought about by the new birth of water and the Spirit, in contrast to that old life lived outside of the Spirit.

    8:2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23, 26, 27 – We observe a few things in this paragraph (vss 4-6). First, we are under law, the law of the Spirit of life. Not only is He the Spirit of Truth but He is also the Spirit of life because you cannot separate “truth” from “life.” Nor can you separate it from Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Because we walk according to the message that has been revealed by the Holy Spirit, then we walk according to the Spirit.

    Paul says (8:9-16) that a Christian is “in the Spirit” while at the same time he says the Spirit of God dwells in us. All of this is to say that a Christian has a relationship with the Spirit of God (as much as with the whole Godhead). Having obeyed the Gospel, then the Spirit dwells in you and such being the case, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise our mortal bodies to an eternal life through that Spirit.

   It is with help from the Spirit, as we walk according to His message, that we “put to death” the sinful works of the body. When we obey the Spirit, then our spirit testifies along with the message of the Holy Spirit that we have fulfilled His conditions and so we are children of God.

    We have been given the best of the Holy Spirit, all that the spiritual life can provide, in Jesus Christ even while we groan in this physical body. In this fallen, sin-filled world, we sometimes do not know what to pray. So the Holy Spirit assists us in our weakness. He intercedes for us when our groanings cannot be verbalized. God knows the mind of the Spirit and the Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with the holy will of God.    

    9:1 is an affirmation of Paul’s inspiration.

    14:17 – The blessings we have in Jesus Christ, in the Spirit of God are not physical blessings (necessarily). Rather, the blessings we enjoy in the Spirit are righteousness, peace, and joy.

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    15:13, 16, 19, 30 – Paul prays the Christians in Rome will be filled with joy and peace as they believe and respond to the message of the Holy Spirit. In that case, they will abound in hope as they receive the message given by the power of the Holy Spirit.

   In verse 16, Paul portrays the Gentile converts as sacrifices made holy by the Spirit of God. The key passage on understanding how the Spirit makes us holy is John 17:17. Verse 19 is another affirmation of Paul’s inspiration.

    Just as in 5:5, in verse 30, Paul points out that our love, spiritual love, is motivated by, created by, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and His message for us.

1 Corinthians

    2:4, 10-14 – This whole text is not dealing with all Christians being directly guided, influenced, or “nudged” by the Holy Spirit. That is an abuse of the message of the text. Paul is pointing out here that we do not live based on the wisdom of the world. We live based on the wisdom of God but the only way we could know the wisdom of God is if the Holy Spirit reveals that wisdom. Speaking in general, we (humanity) would not know the mind of God except the Holy Spirit tells us. Speaking specifically, that wisdom, revealed by the Holy Spirit, was provided through the writings and preaching of the apostles and prophets as we have seen many times before.

    3:16 – Simply stated, when you are baptized into Christ, you receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). When the Holy Spirit dwells in you, then you become a temple of the Spirit of God.

    6:11, 19 – We have been washed (Acts 22:16), sanctified (Eph. 5:26), and justified by the Spirit of God when we obeyed His word. Again, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us so that we belong to God. In the context, how could a Christian live in fornication?

    7:40 – We have yet another statement of Paul’s inspiration.

    12:3, 4, 7-9, 11, 13 – Verses 3 & 4 ascribe inspiration or guidance to honor Christ to the Holy Spirit. For some, that would have been directly; for some, it would have been by listening to someone speak directly inspired by the Holy Spirit; for the rest of us, it would have been by reading what someone wrote who was directly inspired by the Holy Spirit.

   It is the Holy Spirit who decides who gets what gift. Yet, regardless of our gifts or abilities, it is the Holy Spirit who has brought us all together into one body.

–Paul Holland

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