NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
LECTURE 1: THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Introduction Difficulties:
1. Spirit = life (wind, breath, air): the Spirit is God's action in the world and can never be fully comprehended; no logical argument can completely capture it
2. No real consistent pattern in Scripture concerning the Spirit; compare early part of Acts with Romans 8
3. In the historical development of the doctrine, the Spirit is hardly mentioned in the early Creeds
4. Lack of suitable analogies for defining purely spiritual persons
5. The built-in NT fact of the Spirit's humility in relation to Christ—avoids calling attention to himself (see Jn. 14—16 esp); both John and Paul have a Christological understanding of the Spirit—very important for Wesleyans (the sun shines that we might see other things, not focus on the sun itself); his role is to illuminate and impart
Biblical Teaching
Old Testament Some 88 direct ref; usual 'Spirit of God'; very few ref to 'holy' (Ps. 51:1); mentioned in almost half of the books but in 16 no reference at all; fullest treatment is in Isa and Eze that comes close to NT at points (Eze 37). Three major lines of thought:
1. The Spirit in his cosmic activity: linked with creation in Gen 1:2; Job 26:13; human life as a whole in Gen 6:3; intellectual and artistic capacity in Ex 35:31; not pantheism, but the immanent activity of the transcendent God
2. The Spirit in his redemptive activity: the divine energy that comes upon people to equip them for a divine task—Judges, Kings, Prophets, Priests; his primary area of work is through the community of Israel
3. The Spirit in his personal activity: seen largely in the context of the development of messianic hope and resulting personal holiness; the religious concept of holiness becomes an ethical concept as it is associated with the messiah; there is a closer approximation to the Spirit as a person (Isa 43:9,10); a distinction seen between the Lord and his Spirit; it is a person in activity, not an influence at a distance from God himself or a 'substance' communicated to people
Four main contexts:
Creation and the maintenance of life: Job 33:4; 34:14-15; Ps 104:27-31
Outstanding gifts: Nu 27:18; Jud 14:6; 1 Sam 11:6
Prophecy: 1 Sam 10, 19
Future hope: Davidic king Is 11:1-5; Servant 42:1-4; Community Joel 2; individual Ps 51
New Testament
The church began with the experience of the Spirit as a gift in the context of the mission and teaching of Christ; two main NT categories of experiences are: Synoptics and Acts; John and Paul
The Synoptic Gospels
1. Primarily concerned with the coming, the outpouring of the Spirit; seen as a fulfilment of OT prophecies (Acts 2); Spirit had a central place in Israel's eschatological hope—the Age of the
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Spirit: Spirit would come as a permanent reality (Is 11:2; 42:1-4); Spirit would come as a
universal reality (Joel 2)
2. Jesus gives little attention to the theme of the Holy Spirit—Lk 11 one of the few exceptions; Synoptic concern is not with Jesus as a teacher of the Spirit or sender of the Spirit, but as the one who bears the Spirit—the firstfruits.
3. The Spirit is mentioned at significant points in his ministry:
Conception Lk 1:15, 35, 41, 80; Matt 1:20; 3:11; the promise of the Spirit in Lk 11:1-13; casting out demons in Matt 12:28; the sending out of the disciples Matt 10:20; the close in Lk 24:49; Matt 28:19
Clearly linked with the conception, baptism and temptation of Christ; his life and ministry; he authenticates Christ's Sonship and Messiahship
Not much is said about his relation with Christians—but see Lk 11
Little attention given to the Spirit in the teaching of Jesus
The Book of Acts
Two major emphases:
1. Remarkable prominence given to the Spirit in Acts—some 70 ref; the Spirit is seen as the indweller of every Christian and every church
2. The theme of Jesus Christ as Exalted Lord
Teaching of Acts
1. Post-resurrection life of Jesus where his teaching concentrates on the role of the Spirit; Acts 1
2. The focus on the Day of Pentecost Acts 2
The symbols used: wind, fire, tongues
The effects of his coming—new power to witness
The first sermon ref to Joel 2; fulfilment as key theme
The effect of the preaching—many converts
3. Meaning of Pentecost:
Vindication of Christ to the Jews
A new power and experience brought to the disciples—a new Age
A new body was constituted—the Church
The entrance of the Holy Spirit into personal individual life to make real the personal presence of Christ
4. Prominence given to the Spirit in the Early Church
Some 6 references to the Spirit given to the Church at key points: Chs 2, 8, 9, 10, 19, with 4:31
The work of the Spirit in the community at key moments when extension takes place—Ch 6, 13, 15, 16
The gifts of the Spirit are evidenced: tongues in 2, 10, 19; healing in Ch 3; prophecy in Ch 19
Pauline Epistles
One of the fullest treatments in the NT; mentioned some 120 times; identified as the essential characteristic of the new covenant; key role in the life of the Church and the individual Christian.
1. Sources of his doctrine: the OT; his personal experience and reflection
2. Thessalonians (Eschatology): little is said on new insight I 1:1-6; 4:7-8; 5:19; II 2:13; a reference to man's nature in 5:23; his association with truth in II 2:13
3. Galatians, Corinthians, Romans (Soteriology): the heart of Paul's teaching on the Spirit seen in Gal, esp chs 3 and 5
1 Cor: relation of the Spirit to spiritual insight in ch 2; action of the Spirit in the formation of the Church in ch 12:13; the question of spiritual gifts in chs 12-14
2 Cor: associated largely with Paul's own ministry
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Rom: allusions in chs 5 and 15; key is ch 8—relation of the believer's deliverance from
sin
4. Col, Eph, Phil (Christology): shift from focus on the individual to the work of the Spirit in the Church—its unity and catholicity; briefly in Col 1:8; occasional and incidental in Phil; full development, the concept of the Church universal (c/t Matt 16)
5. Tim and Titus (Ecclesiology): concern almost entirely with the Spirit as he acts, guides, empowers the ministry of the Church
The Work of the Spirit
1. Most concern is with his work on the spirit of man; prominent in all aspects of salvation: Rom 8:2, 15, 11; Eph. 1:17; Gal 6:1; 2 Tim 1:7; the Pauline stress is not on the charismatic gifts but that the Spirit operates on all life at all times
2. The Spirit is the source and principle of the spiritual life—past, present and future; Spirit of sonship; Spirit of holiness; Spirit of guarantee (seal, pledge, earnest)
3. Fundamental distinction between 'flesh' and 'spirit'
4. Pneuma used to describe both human and divine elements; the Spirit of God in us or the spirit of man under the influence of God (Rom 8:16; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Thess 5:23)
5. Draws a distinction between the grace and the gifts of the Spirit; between the ordinary and the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit
6. The Spirit is both in the Church and in individuals
The correlation between the Spirit and man's ethical and practical Christian life is at the heart of Paul's theology
The Nature of the Spirit
1. Most references are to his work rather than his nature; language is mainly general and practical; a close relation between the Spirit and God, but they are not identical (Rom 8:9, 11; 15:16); the Spirit has a divine objective reality
2. Personal activities are attributed to the Spirit: he can be grieved (Eph 4:30; 1 Thess 5:19); he can inhabit human lives (1 Cor 6:19); distinction between Father, Son and Spirit but yet perform identical work (1 Cor 2:10; 12:4-6; 2 Cor 13:14; Eph 4:4-6); yet not personification
3. The relation of the Spirit to Christ; very difficult to untangle; Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:6); Spirit of his Son (Gal 4:6); experientially they cannot be distinguished, for the Spirit completes the presence of Jesus with his people
The Johannine Writings
1. The Gospel: 1:33; 3:8; 4:24; 6:63; 7:38-39; 14—16, esp 14:15ff; 14:26ff; 15:26ff; 16:7ff; 20:19ff. The charismatic revival focused on Acts and 1 Cor 12, 14; the Gospel of John is a needed corrective to the one-sided emphasis on gifts; some see this gospel as the crown of NT teaching on the Spirit
2. Meaning of the Spirit in John: Jn 14:14-17 raises the issue of the Trinity through a personal, experiential encounter: God as Creator/Lawgiver; as Revealer and Redeemer; as Indweller and Sanctifier (God Beyond us; God Beside us; God Within us); note the three factors in 14:16—'I will pray', 'God will send', 'we will receive'; God is God in all times and every place; God is God there and then—one place at one time; God is God here and now—in my place and my time; this comes under the theme of revelation;
Our personal experience today is: the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; the love of God; the communion of the Holy Spirit. You cannot experience one without the others
A Trinitarian focus, but one aspect may be more pronounced at any one time; The Spirit is God within us, individually and corporately; thus Wesleyans see sanctification as "incarnation" in the context of grace
3. The Mystery of the Spirit in John: 3:8—the sovereign freedom of the Spirit
4. The Method of the Spirit in John: 14:15-17, 26, to teach and remind; 15:26, to bear witness of Jesus; 16:13, revealer of truth; he persuades but does not coerce; convicts but does not drive; the authority is that of indwelling love (2 Cor 3:17)
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5. The Message of the Spirit in John: bears witness to Jesus and the teaching of Jesus; his
message is Christ
Implications:
1. For Proclamation: evangelical theology has to steer a middle course between legalism and subjectivism; the Johannine message puts a person at the centre of the message and not a doctrine—we are to introduce people to a Person and not indoctrinate them; the doctrine of holiness must always be expressed Christocentrically to be biblical; holiness is essentially Christlikeness by grace
In the 19th Century shift to pneumatological language, the problem of evidence becomes acute (Christlikeness is self-defining); a Spirit-filled life lacks essential definition—how do we know we are Spirit filled, for the Spirit is hard to define in the historical Creeds; the Pentecostal movement found its evidence in tongues speaking.
2. For Personal religious experience: a Spirit-filled person is not identified with certain personality traits (which are essentially amoral)—this tended to be the 19th Century view; a focus on Christ avoids this by making it a standard of grace and not of law—so not inconsistent with failure, the need of continual confession and repentance; Wesley saw the perfect Christian as the 'maturing' Christian, not the 'flawless'; to be perfect in love is to be perfectly turned toward God and neighbour.
6. The Mission of the Spirit: Jn 16:7ff—convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement; expedient for Jesus to go away so the Spirit could come (7:37); glorification for Paul is associated with resurrection/exaltation, for John with Calvary (12:33ff; 13:31)
Convict of sin: wrong in idea of sin as well as actions; key is refusal to believe in Jesus
Convict of righteousness: to show the world's ideas of it being a collection of good deeds is wrong, it is a right relationship
Convict of judgement: the prince of this world has been judged; not a penalty imposed from without
7. The Ministry of the Spirit: 20:19ff, living close enough to Jesus to catch his Spirit, to learn the mind of Christ and can act as he acts—the ministry of reconciliation.
Historical Development The history of the doctrine of the Spirit has been characterised by fruitful and stagnant periods. There are two main periods:
1. Apostolic Fathers—Reformation; emphasis on the person of the Holy Spirit
Greek concept of God—transcendent, absolute, unique, impassible
Monarchianism—sought to preserve the unity of God
Doctrine of the trinity essentially a matter of revelation; is it true, does it tell us something about the actual nature of God (Trinity: revelation in Creation, Redemption, Personal Experience)
Athanasius, Cappadocian Fathers, Augustine
2. Reformation—Present; emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit, individual salvation and ecclesiology.
Monergism or synergism in salvation; work of Wesley
Five Dangers
1. Intellectualism: tendency to sublimate the work of the Spirit into an 'illuminated mind'; weakness of early Greek theology and gnosticism, also rationalism; truth is not merely intellectual, it is also moral and spiritual
2. Pelagianism: tend to set aside the necessity of divine grace
3. Ecclesiasticism: focus on the Church and revitalised religion (Montanism, Puritanism, Pietism, Pentecostalism); challenge to the institutional church and the danger of excess—losing anchor in tradition and historic church, gross individualism; focus on forms and rituals
4. Individualism: focus on the individual, unbalanced subjectivity—Montanism, Mysticism
5. Idealism: philosophical emphasis that severs the soul from dependence on the historic Christ
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NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
LECTURE 2: THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Introduction: The Nature of Experience
religious experience: a real, objective counterpart to our experience; it is ‗on-empirical‘, so vital we have an incarnational principle—Christ, Scriptures, character
dangers of mysticism: an immediate, direct, unmediated experience of the Divine; danger is rejection of the incarnation of Christ, Scripture or character; so in much Eastern mysticism there is an emphasis on experience completely devoid of content
mysticism tends to disparage the historical: undermines community and communal experience; thus in the NT the experience of the Spirit is grounded in the reality of the historical Jesus
experience is blind: role of empiricism and the ‗erms‘ we bring to the description—terms we get from elsewhere; the expectation we bring to the experience determines expressive behaviour (tongues, slain in the Spirit, laughter, crying, etc)
The Work of the Spirit in Scripture
a. The Work of the Spirit in the Old Testament
usual term is ‗pirit of God‘ (parallel seen in Joel 2:7 with Acts 2:16-21)
in creation: Gen 1:2; Job 26:13; Isa 32:15
prophecy and Scripture: Eze 2:2; 8:3; 11:1, 24; Balaam in Num 24:2; Saul in 1 Sam 10:6,10; 2 Pet 1:21; Acts 1:16; 4:25; 2 Tim 3:16
skills: Bezalel in Ex 31:3-5; Zerubbabel in Zech 4:6; Joseph in Gen 41:38; Elders in Num 11:25; Judges; kingship in 1 Sam 16:13
moral/ethical life: Isa 11:2-5; 32:15-20; 44:3-5; Eze 36:26-28
anticipation of fuller ministry: Isa 11:1-5; 42:1-4; 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-29
focus is on leadership in Israel: prophets, priests, kings, craftsmen, leaders like Moses and Joshua
they are task-oriented: no necessary ethical component; Judges like Samson
eschatological dimension of hope: 70 elders c/t Num 11:29; Joel 2:28-29; Ps 51:11; 63:10-11; Eze 36:26ff; 37:1-14; Jer 31:31ff; King and Servant in Isa 11:2; 42:1-4
Intertestamental Rabbinic thought: Messiah endowed with the Spirit of Prophecy; moral renewal
b. In the Life of Jesus
incarnation: Lk 1:35; Matt 1:20
baptism: Matt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32; in terms of messianic King (Ps 2:7) and Servant (Isa 42:1)
ministry: Mk 1:8; Matt 3:11; Lk 3:16; fullness of the Spirit in Matt 4:1; Lk 4:1-2, 18-21 (Isa 61:1-2); exorcism in Matt 12:25-32; filled with joy in Lk 10:21
John: 12 references; first six to Jesus and the Spirit—1:32-33; 3:1-8; 3:33-34; 4:14-24; 6:36-65; 7:38-39; second six to Spirit‘s relation to the followers of Jesus—14:15-17; 14:25-26; 15:26-27; 16: 5-11; 16:12-15; 20:22 {from H. Ray Dunning, Spirit-Baptism, a Wesleyan Perspective}
The Spirit‘s coming is dependent on Jesus‘ going
The meaning of the Spirit‘s name implies a continuation of the work of Jesus
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The reception of the Spirit is dependent on a prior knowledge of Jesus
Jesus identifies the Spirit‘s coming with his own personal abiding presence
The Spirit‘s work is decisively Christ-centred
c. In the Life of the Christian
Beginning: Jn 16:8-11; 3:3, 5-6, 8
Continuation: Jn 14:12, 16-17; 16:7, 13-14; Acts 1:4-5, 8
intercession: Rom 8:26-27
Sanctification: Rom 82-17; Gal 5:16-23
Spiritual Gifts: Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11; Eph 4:11; 1 Pet 4:11
Early Christian Experience
Early disciples were genuine believers (Matt. 16:15-20), but had not yet received the ‗romise‘ (Acts 1:5)
The experience is clearly ‗rogressive‘—but is it ‗aradigmatic‘? Would argue it is ‗ingular‘, the transition from the old to the new covenant
Twice as many references in Acts as in any other NT book and about 25% of entire NT references
Luke‘s purpose: how in the power of the Spirit the Church moved from a Jewish sect in Jerusalem to a community for all everywhere; a mission emphasis
Samaria: 8:9-25; belief in Christ, baptism, laying on of hands, Spirit
Cornelius: 10:44-48; most clearly echoes Pentecost; outpouring, baptism, gifts; so analogy of 11:15-17 c/t 1:8 with 11:18
Ephesus: 19:1-7; Christ and belief, no knowledge of the Spirit, laying on of hands, Spirit, gifts
thus cannot be normative pattern of individual experience; note in conversions, water baptism and the gift of the Spirit are universal, but not always tongues (only at Pentecost, Cornelius, Ephesus) or laying on of hands; no mention of repentance after 2:38-29
clearly dominant theme is mission in an eschatological setting; a continuation of the work of Christ; involves moral transformation
‗aptism or fullness of the Spirit‘ - a polymorphous term; need the context to determine meaning
Paul and the Experience of the Spirit
mature expression in the NT; normative Christian experience and intimate connection with Jesus Christ—see esp 1 & 2 Cor, Rom, Gal
Most concern is with his work on the spirit of man; prominent in all aspects of salvation: Rom 8:2, 15, 11; Eph. 1:17; Gal 6:1; 2 Tim 1:7; the Pauline stress is not on the charismatic gifts but that the Spirit operates on all life at all times
The Spirit is the source and principle of the spiritual life—past, present and future; Spirit of sonship; Spirit of holiness; Spirit of guarantee (seal, pledge, earnest)
Fundamental distinction between 'flesh' and 'spirit'
Pneuma used to describe both human and divine elements; the Spirit of God in us or the spirit of a person under the influence of God (Rom 8:16; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Thess 5:23)
Draws a distinction between the grace and the gifts of the Spirit; between the ordinary and the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit
The Spirit is both in the Church and in individuals
The correlation between the Spirit and our ethical and practical Christian life is at the heart of Paul's theology
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Spiritual Gifts Today: Some Questions to Ponder
Do they mediate grace
Do they serve the Christian confession of Christ as Lord
Are they simply highly subjective manifestations of the human psyche or imagination that provoke schism and detract from God‘s glory
Do they deepen faith and spiritual life
The focus is on the ‗mmediate‘—what does that mean for the spiritual disciplines
‗hildlike‘ and ‗ature‘ need not be mutually exclusive terms
the hermeneutics used
dangers of superficiality—if all we seek is an ‗xperience‘
an overemphasis on ‗nteriority‘ and under emphasis on community and social concerns
Spiritual Gifts
Listed in: Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12-14; Eph 4:11-12; 1 Pet 4:11
Key debating point with the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches is the issue of ‗ongues‘ and their place in the Christian life; prophecy and healing also much debated
rely chiefly on Acts and I Cor 12, 14
certainly seen in Acts and in passages like 1 Cor 12:31; 14:1,18
some dispute their continuation on the basis of 1 Cor 13:8; Heb 2:3-4
there are parallels in pagan religions, modern psychology; findings of linguistic analysis
we need to think about the nature of the Book of Acts: transitional; descriptive/prescriptive
Baptism with the Spirit: 1 Cor 12:12-13 = conversion/new birth; role of Acts 2, 8, 10, 19
given to the church, for the church 1 Cor 12:7; 14:5, 12
key place of Eph 4:11; ‗ifts‘ to the ‗erson-in-community‘ for ‗dification‘
Spirit gives as he deems best (armoury and not a supermarket) 1 Cor 12:11, 12, 28
no one person has all the gifts, nor is any one gift bestowed upon all; no one lacks; 1 Cor 12: 7, 14-21. 28-30; 1 Pet 4:10; so we all need each other
focus is for witness, community, service
not exhaustive, systematic, but suggestive of incalculable diversity
focus is ‗itting and orderly‘; 1 Cor 14:40
all gifts are important, though some are more obvious than others 12:22-26
Fruit—Gal 5:25-27; for all; as is baptism (1 Cor 12:13)—but not tongues (12:30); don‘t forget that 1 Cor 13 (love) sits between chs 12 and 14!!!
The work of the Spirit in Wesley is tied very closely to sanctification. Wesley upheld the view that grace maybe understood as God‘s unmerited favour, his mercy that is the basis of pardon for the repentant sinner.
However, he also stressed the role of grace as transforming power, a dynamic reality in the believer‘s life.
The primary focus in all this is the experience of perfect love. Thus for Wesley the ―xtraordinary gifts‖of the Spirit are not central to this experience (see Scriptural Christianity; The New Birth), rather it is the ―ruit of the Spirit‖as the essential marks of genuine Christian experience as the former can be counterfeited and manifested in a carnal way (see I Cor. especially)
“Tongues”
mentioned only in Acts and 1 Corinthians
Acts 2:1-13 – clearly here it is the speaking of actual foreign languages (v6, 8-11); focus is on praising God; Peter then needs to preach an evangelistic message to communicate the gospel; symbolic of the reversal of Babel in Gen. 11
Acts 8:18 – at Samaria; no specific mention—it has to be inferred
Acts 10:46 and 19:6 – no specific mention made of the languages being recognisable but neither were they gibberish; close parallels to actual Day of Pentecost in both accounts; no unbelievers present so no evangelistic purpose
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Nothing in Acts matches the congregational setting in 1 Cor. 12-14 or of the private
practice indicated there
No other conversion experiences mention tongues—see 8:26-40 and the Ethiopian eunuch and 9:1-19 with Paul himself
1 Corinthians: Paul clearly understands them to be languages and not simply ecstatic utterances; 14:10,11 – Paul says their use is from pride and leads to ridicule as ‗arbarians‘ and not exalted as ‗pirituals‘; ‗ystery‘ is plainly tied to open speech—see 2:1, 7; 4:1; 15:51, 52) and does not necessarily indicate an angelic or heavenly language (13:1)
its ranking in the spiritual gifts (12:8-10, 28), it is mildly encouraged (14:5) and Paul has personal experience and is thankful for (14:18) all in keeping with it being a local problem at Corinth—pagan setting and use of ecstatic language in some pagan religions and oracles; Paul is sure they will ‗ass away‘ as belonging to our spiritual childhood (13:11)
it functions as: when misused, as a sign (14:22) of judgement when not interpreted (see Isa 28:11) on unbelievers and not as an evangelistic aid; prophecy on the other hand is clear and revealing and so evangelistic
it does not really edify the whole church (14:2); clear preference is for clear speech (14:19), even interpreted speech in moderation (14:25, 27-29)
as an aid to private devotion – this seems to be the major role Paul sees for it
it is not a gift for all – 12:30
THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
Pentecost as entire sanctification
Acts 2:38; Grider separates repent, baptise (1st work) from receive the Spirit (2nd work)
Rom 4: justification before Pentecost, so why not disciples
Hebrews 11: all justified by faith—so disciples also
John‟ Gospel: Nicodemus expected to experience new birth; believe = conversion, abide = conversion, Jn 17 = conversion, confess ‗ord and God‘ = conversion
Synoptics: under John‘s baptism = new birth
Acts: Samaritans, the ‗ibraltar‘ of two works of grace, v5 and 12 c/t v 14-17; Paul on the Damascus Road and at Ananias‘ house; Cornelius a Christian from 10:2, 22; Ephesus are Christian from 18:27 (‗rethren‘), use of disciple and ‗lready believed‘ (19:2)
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit: An Exegetical & Historical Examination (McEwan, unpublished paper)
A Scriptural Examination of the Term „aptism with the Holy Spirit‟
the actual phrase itself only occurs six times in the Bible: Matt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:33; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:16
In Matt and Lk the wording is almost identical, with the phrase ‗nd with fire‘ added; the other references do not mention ‗ire‘
‗aptise‘ suggests immerse, submerse, emergence
two types of ‗aptism‘ in the NT: John‘s baptism in Gospels, Acts 1:5; 11:16; 19:4; Christ‘s baptism in Matt 28:19; Acts 19:5; Rom 6:3,4; 1 Cor 1:13-17; 12:13; Gal 3:27; Col 2:12. 1 Pet 3:21 refers to baptism as a sign of death, burial and resurrection—the antitype of the ark
metaphorically, we have baptism with the Spirit in Matt 3:11 and Lk 3:16
‗aptism of John‘ is a ‗aptism of repentance‘ and in the six passages under study is contrasted with Christ‘s baptism with the Holy Spirit; Christ is the one who will actually baptise with the Spirit; Jesus always refers to John in terms of preparing the way for his ministry: Matt 11:1-15; 9:14-17; Mk 2:18-22; Lk 5:33-39; 7:19-35;
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John‘s baptism: symbolical—of spiritual realities to be fulfilled by Christ (repentance
and forgiveness); typical—preparation for immediate judgement (‗ire‘), kingdom is ‗t hand‘; sacramental—sealing for the day of crisis (the ministry of Jesus)
the preaching of repentance raised expectations that Jesus would fulfil
‗ith fire‘ is an intimate part of the ‗aptism‘; probable reference is to Mal 3:2; Isa 31:9 and 33:14; thus a two-fold outworking of the ‗aptism‘ depending on whether we ‗ield‘ to God or not (purifies or destroys); see also Joel 2:28-32, where the positive ministry of the Spirit is also linked with judgement; only Jesus can bring about the genuine transformation he was teaching
the gospel accounts clearly refer to a future event, as does Acts 1:5; the final use of the term is in Acts 11:16 where the present experience is linked to an earlier one—thus a ‗emembrance; the only event that meets all the criteria for these references is Acts 2:1-4, and the Day of Pentecost
thus, the ‗aptism with the Holy Spirit‘ promised by John and Jesus was fulfilled in an historical event that took place at Pentecost—Peter affirms this at 2:16. ‗his is that‘
Cornelius clearly experienced what Peter and the others experienced—see 10:15, 17; but it is clearly not the same event, for historically there was only one Pentecost in this sense
Key Issue: why did Peter ‗emember‘ in Acts 10, but not at Acts 2:38 or 8:14-17; why is there no concrete linking of this phrase with any other instance of ‗illing‘, ‗eceiving‘, ‗alling upon‘, ‗oming upon‘; possibly because Cornelius is the first Gentile and it was important to confirm that both Jews and Gentiles are recipients of the full blessings of the gospel age—see Acts 15, esp v 8-9
Thus, the term itself refers only to the Pentecost event in Acts 2:1-4; ‗aptism‘ and ‗ith the Holy Spirit‘ are never linked in the Epistles, thus it is always a matter of interpretation as to whether they are references to water or Spirit baptism; there is no problem in allowing for the interpretation that Pentecost was the disciples ‗ntire sanctification‘, and the use of ‗illed‘ in Acts 2:4 allows one to use other terms to describe the work of the Spirit on other occasions as resulting in entire sanctification; clearly, the term is not ‗niversal‘, other terms are used, they need to be interpreted, and so you may as well use other terms in the first place—there is nothing distinctive and compelling about the phrase in Scripture to make is the key phrase for Wesleyans
Wesley and the Agency of the Holy Spirit in Entire Sanctification
Wesley was theologically orthodox in his understanding of the person and work of the Spirit; the Spirit represents ‗od‘s immanence‘; actually imparting the benefits of salvation; the work of the Spirit and the work of Christ are practically inseparable
the agency of the Spirit is crucial to the work of entire sanctification; the Spirit is the ‗mmediate cause of all holiness in us‘, both conversion and entire sanctification;
The Historical Use of the Term in the Creeds and Catechisms
all the major denominations teach the necessity of a holy life and of sanctification
an examination of Philip Schaff‘s The Creeds of Christendom, has 35 major creeds, catechisms and baptismal confessions from NT times to 1932 from the whole spectrum of the Church Catholic; many references to partaking, receiving, washing, renewing, sprinkling, cleansing, sealing, dwelling; most focus on regeneration and association with water baptism
only reference to ‗aptism of the Spirit (and Fire)‘ was in ‗he Confession of the Society of Friends‘ 1675; a possible link with holiness is evident here
thus the entire Church up to the 19th century did not see the phrase as either distinctive or vitally important to sustain any doctrinal position
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in its 1829 Confession speaks of ‗he effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost‘ as bringing in the full gospel age in connection with an article on the perseverance of the saints; the connection here is again on justification and regeneration
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the Church of the Nazarene‘s Article X on Entire Sanctification did not use the term till
1923, though it has been in Article V on Original Sin since at least 1908.
the term is widely used in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles in connection with an enduement of power; we can question whether is really is the ‗istinctive; term and the best term to use
real issue in the American Holiness Movement vs Wesley debate is more over crisis vs process, and in the eyes of the AHM ‗aptism‘ language clearly favours a crisis and thus is to be preferred
1. The Theological Implications of the Current Debate (Staples, unpublished paper)
a. The History
The issue emerged in Wesleyan circles in the early 1960‘s in connection with the difference between Wesley‘s terminology of entire sanctification and the Nazarene one in the Manual—‗aptism with the Holy Spirit‘
key event: Herbert McGonigle, ‗neumatological Nomenclature in Early Methodism‘, WTJ, Spring 1973, 61-72; main focus here is Wesley‘s Christological focus (Calvary and Atonement) vs AHM‘s pneumatological focus (Pentecost)
Donald Dayton at the 1973 meeting showed the transition had occurred largely through the influence of Asa Mahan and Oberlin: The Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfection (1839) and The Baptism of the Holy Ghost (1870); after 1870 ‗entecostal‘ and ‗aptism of the Holy Ghost‘ language increases: Finney, Palmer, Steele
shift from Christocentrism to emphasis on the Holy Spirit—have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
from salvation history in terms of old/new covenants with the pivotal point at Calvary, to dispensations and the pivotal point being Pentecost
exegetical foundations shift from Epistles, John‘s Gospel to Acts; a study of ‗erfection‘ does not lead naturally to Pentecost and vice versa; thus ‗anctification‘ tends to drop from the Pentecostal movement in favour of ‗aptism with the Holy Spirit‘
debate comes to the forefront again at Wesleyan Theological Society meeting in 1977 with four papers on the subject:
in 1978 the debate was on the biblical doctrine of the ‗aptism with the Holy Spirit‘; three key papers were: Robert Lyon who saw the term in Luke-Acts referring to conversion (as did Wesley); Alex Deasley saw the term as inclusivistic, so primary reference is to regeneration but it does include the whole work of salvation, including entire sanctification; George Turner defended the AHM position
Methodism: Adam Clarke really agreed with Wesley, as does Richard Watson, William Burt Pope, Miner Raymond, Olin A. Curtis, Thomas N. Ralston
Wiley only refers to ‗aptism with the Spirit‘ on one single page (II, p323) of his 3 volume work; it does not affect the structure of his argument for entire sanctification at all
the issue has recently emerged again with the debate between Laurence W. Wood, ‗entecostal Sanctification in John Wesley and Early Methodism‘ WTJ, Spring 1999, 24-63, where he claims Wesley really did use ‗aptism‘ language, and Randy Maddox in his ‗esponse‘ in the next edition—who rejects Wood‘s claim, with Woods response to him (see WTJ, Fall 1999, 78-135).
b. The Implications for Our Theology
how Wesleyan is our theology; how Wesleyan should it be?
the relationship between the ‗rticles of Faith‘ and the ‗greed Statement of Belief‘; between Creed and Scripture; both are summaries of what the church believes, pointing in the direction of the church‘s faith, but not absolute prescriptions for the way we must think
Agreed Statement: no reference to ‗aptism with the Holy Spirit‘; in the light of the Preamble, we do not deem belief in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as being synonymous with entire sanctification to be necessary for church membership
11
Articles of Faith: three points where the phrase is used—Article V on Original Sin,
Article X on Entire Sanctification (twice); in none of them is there a one-to-one equation of baptism with entire sanctification;
in doctrinal matters, the final appeal is always to Scripture; so, what is the proper relationship of Creed to Scripture?
Creeds are always a human articulation of the message of the Bible, defined in character and form by the situation in which they are crafted; thus can never be absolutised and they are not revelation; we must keep asking what it is they are trying to teach about the gospel and keeping them ‗pen‘ to our changing reflections;
the move from Christological language to pneumatological language does raise the issue of ‗vidence‘ and this is the key danger in the light of modern Pentecostalism c/t the concrete reality of the historical Jesus revealed in Scripture and witnessed to throughout the history of the church
c. A Current Approach
where should ‗aptism with the Holy Spirit‘ be applied in the ordo salutis?
dispensational or historical answer: it occurred once and for all on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2; only one ‗aptism‘, as there is only one Crucifixion and one Resurrection (this is a minority view)
initiatory view: it refers to the New Birth, to conversion, to entrance into the Church (Wesley, most early Methodist theologians, Reformed theologians)
entire sanctification: the 19th century AHM and many later members of the AHM; position in our Creed; Fletcher is normally placed here, but this is clearly wrong
the doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit can best be understood from a „olistic‟or „nclusivist‟approach:
see Deasley‘s article: ‗ntire Sanctification and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit; Perspectives on the Biblical View of the Relationship‘, WTJ, Spring 1979, 27-44;
there is no problem in identifying Acts 2 as the time of the disciples‘ entire sanctification, as well as their ‗ew birth‘; after all, this was a transitional period between the old and the new covenants
the danger is in insisting upon it being their entire sanctification only, for then they must have had a full new covenant experience of conversion without faith in the blood of the Atonement—a faith they clearly did not have prior to Calvary and the Resurrection (see Matt 16:21-22; Mk 8:31-32; 9:31-32; Lk 9:44-45; 24:25-26)
the disciples were clearly ‗aved‘ prior to Calvary—but under the Old Covenant; they were not ‗orn again‘ or ‗ustified by faith‘ or ‗orn of the Spirit‘ in the sense possible under the New Covenant
NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
LECTURE 2: THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Dr. David McEwan, lecturer
Introduction: The Nature of Experience
· religious experience: a real, objective counterpart to our experience; it is ‘non-empirical’, so vital we have an incarnational principle—Christ, Scriptures, character
· dangers of mysticism: an immediate, direct, unmediated experience of the Divine; danger is rejection of the incarnation of Christ, Scripture or character; so in much Eastern mysticism there is an emphasis on experience completely devoid of content
· mysticism tends to disparage the historical: undermines community and communal experience; thus in the NT the experience of the Spirit is grounded in the reality of the historical Jesus
· experience is blind: role of empiricism and the ‘terms’ we bring to the description—terms we get from elsewhere; the expectation we bring to the experience determines expressive behaviour (tongues, slain in the Spirit, laughter, crying, etc)
The Work of the Spirit in Scripture
a. The Work of the Spirit in the Old Testament
· usual term is ‘Spirit of God’ (parallel seen in Joel 2:7 with Acts 2:16-21)
· in creation: Gen 1:2; Job 26:13; Isa 32:15
· prophecy and Scripture: Eze 2:2; 8:3; 11:1, 24; Balaam in Num 24:2; Saul in 1 Sam 10:6,10; 2 Pet 1:21; Acts 1:16; 4:25; 2 Tim 3:16
· skills: Bezalel in Ex 31:3-5; Zerubbabel in Zech 4:6; Joseph in Gen 41:38; Elders in Num 11:25; Judges; kingship in 1 Sam 16:13
· moral/ethical life: Isa 11:2-5; 32:15-20; 44:3-5; Eze 36:26-28
· anticipation of fuller ministry: Isa 11:1-5; 42:1-4; 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-29
· focus is on leadership in Israel: prophets, priests, kings, craftsmen, leaders like Moses and Joshua
· they are task-oriented: no necessary ethical component; Judges like Samson
· eschatological dimension of hope: 70 elders c/t Num 11:29; Joel 2:28-29; Ps 51:11; 63:10-11; Eze 36:26ff; 37:1-14; Jer 31:31ff; King and Servant in Isa 11:2; 42:1-4
· Intertestamental Rabbinic thought: Messiah endowed with the Spirit of Prophecy; moral renewal
b. In the Life of Jesus
· incarnation: Lk 1:35; Matt 1:20
· baptism: Matt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32; in terms of messianic King (Ps 2:7) and Servant (Isa 42:1)
· ministry: Mk 1:8; Matt 3:11; Lk 3:16; fullness of the Spirit in Matt 4:1; Lk 4:1-2, 18-21 (Isa 61:1-2); exorcism in Matt 12:25-32; filled with joy in Lk 10:21
· John: 12 references; first six to Jesus and the Spirit—1:32-33; 3:1-8; 3:33-34; 4:14-24; 6:36-65; 7:38-39; second six to Spirit’s relation to the followers of Jesus—14:15-17; 14:25-26; 15:26-27; 16: 5-11; 16:12-15; 20:22 {from H. Ray Dunning, Spirit-Baptism, a Wesleyan Perspective}
· The Spirit’s coming is dependent on Jesus’ going
· The meaning of the Spirit’s name implies a continuation of the work of Jesus
· The reception of the Spirit is dependent on a prior knowledge of Jesus
· Jesus identifies the Spirit’s coming with his own personal abiding presence
· The Spirit’s work is decisively Christ-centred
c. In the Life of the Christian
· Beginning: Jn 16:8-11; 3:3, 5-6, 8
· Continuation: Jn 14:12, 16-17; 16:7, 13-14; Acts 1:4-5, 8
· intercession: Rom 8:26-27
· Sanctification: Rom 82-17; Gal 5:16-23
· Spiritual Gifts: Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11; Eph 4:11; 1 Pet 4:11
Early Christian Experience
· Early disciples were genuine believers (Matt. 16:15-20), but had not yet received the ‘promise’ (Acts 1:5)
· The experience is clearly ‘progressive’—but is it ‘paradigmatic’? Would argue it is ‘singular’, the transition from the old to the new covenant
· Twice as many references in Acts as in any other NT book and about 25% of entire NT references
· Luke’s purpose: how in the power of the Spirit the Church moved from a Jewish sect in Jerusalem to a community for all everywhere; a mission emphasis
· Samaria: 8:9-25; belief in Christ, baptism, laying on of hands, Spirit
· Cornelius: 10:44-48; most clearly echoes Pentecost; outpouring, baptism, gifts; so analogy of 11:15-17 c/t 1:8 with 11:18
· Ephesus: 19:1-7; Christ and belief, no knowledge of the Spirit, laying on of hands, Spirit, gifts
· thus cannot be normative pattern of individual experience; note in conversions, water baptism and the gift of the Spirit are universal, but not always tongues (only at Pentecost, Cornelius, Ephesus) or laying on of hands; no mention of repentance after 2:38-29
· clearly dominant theme is mission in an eschatological setting; a continuation of the work of Christ; involves moral transformation
· ‘baptism or fullness of the Spirit’ - a polymorphous term; need the context to determine meaning
Paul and the Experience of the Spirit
· mature expression in the NT; normative Christian experience and intimate connection with Jesus Christ—see esp 1 & 2 Cor, Rom, Gal
· Most concern is with his work on the spirit of man; prominent in all aspects of salvation: Rom 8:2, 15, 11; Eph. 1:17; Gal 6:1; 2 Tim 1:7; the Pauline stress is not on the charismatic gifts but that the Spirit operates on all life at all times
· The Spirit is the source and principle of the spiritual life—past, present and future; Spirit of sonship; Spirit of holiness; Spirit of guarantee (seal, pledge, earnest)
· Fundamental distinction between 'flesh' and 'spirit'
· Pneuma used to describe both human and divine elements; the Spirit of God in us or the spirit of a person under the influence of God (Rom 8:16; 2 Cor 7:1; 1 Thess 5:23)
· Draws a distinction between the grace and the gifts of the Spirit; between the ordinary and the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit
· The Spirit is both in the Church and in individuals
· The correlation between the Spirit and our ethical and practical Christian life is at the heart of Paul's theology
Spiritual Gifts Today: Some Questions to Ponder
· Do they mediate grace
· Do they serve the Christian confession of Christ as Lord
· Are they simply highly subjective manifestations of the human psyche or imagination that provoke schism and detract from God’s glory
· Do they deepen faith and spiritual life
· The focus is on the ‘immediate’—what does that mean for the spiritual disciplines
· ‘childlike’ and ‘mature’ need not be mutually exclusive terms
· the hermeneutics used
· dangers of superficiality—if all we seek is an ‘experience’
· an overemphasis on ‘interiority’ and under emphasis on community and social concerns
Spiritual Gifts
· Listed in: Rom 12:4-8; 1 Cor 12-14; Eph 4:11-12; 1 Pet 4:11
· Key debating point with the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches is the issue of ‘tongues’ and their place in the Christian life; prophecy and healing also much debated
· rely chiefly on Acts and I Cor 12, 14
· certainly seen in Acts and in passages like 1 Cor 12:31; 14:1,18
· some dispute their continuation on the basis of 1 Cor 13:8; Heb 2:3-4
· there are parallels in pagan religions, modern psychology; findings of linguistic analysis
· we need to think about the nature of the Book of Acts: transitional; descriptive/prescriptive
· Baptism with the Spirit: 1 Cor 12:12-13 = conversion/new birth; role of Acts 2, 8, 10, 19
· given to the church, for the church 1 Cor 12:7; 14:5, 12
· key place of Eph 4:11; ‘gifts’ to the ‘person-in-community’ for ‘edification’
· Spirit gives as he deems best (armoury and not a supermarket) 1 Cor 12:11, 12, 28
· no one person has all the gifts, nor is any one gift bestowed upon all; no one lacks; 1 Cor 12: 7, 14-21. 28-30; 1 Pet 4:10; so we all need each other
· focus is for witness, community, service
· not exhaustive, systematic, but suggestive of incalculable diversity
· focus is ‘fitting and orderly’; 1 Cor 14:40
· all gifts are important, though some are more obvious than others 12:22-26
· Fruit—Gal 5:25-27; for all; as is baptism (1 Cor 12:13)—but not tongues (12:30); don’t forget that 1 Cor 13 (love) sits between chs 12 and 14!!!
· The work of the Spirit in Wesley is tied very closely to sanctification. Wesley upheld the view that grace maybe understood as God’s unmerited favour, his mercy that is the basis of pardon for the repentant sinner.
· However, he also stressed the role of grace as transforming power, a dynamic reality in the believer’s life.
· The primary focus in all this is the experience of perfect love. Thus for Wesley the “extraordinary gifts” of the Spirit are not central to this experience (see Scriptural Christianity; The New Birth), rather it is the “fruit of the Spirit” as the essential marks of genuine Christian experience as the former can be counterfeited and manifested in a carnal way (see I Cor. especially)
· “Tongues”
· mentioned only in Acts and 1 Corinthians
· Acts 2:1-13 – clearly here it is the speaking of actual foreign languages (v6, 8-11); focus is on praising God; Peter then needs to preach an evangelistic message to communicate the gospel; symbolic of the reversal of Babel in Gen. 11
· Acts 8:18 – at Samaria; no specific mention—it has to be inferred
· Acts 10:46 and 19:6 – no specific mention made of the languages being recognisable but neither were they gibberish; close parallels to actual Day of Pentecost in both accounts; no unbelievers present so no evangelistic purpose
· Nothing in Acts matches the congregational setting in 1 Cor. 12-14 or of the private practice indicated there
· No other conversion experiences mention tongues—see 8:26-40 and the Ethiopian eunuch and 9:1-19 with Paul himself
· 1 Corinthians: Paul clearly understands them to be languages and not simply ecstatic utterances; 14:10,11 – Paul says their use is from pride and leads to ridicule as ‘barbarians’ and not exalted as ‘spirituals’; ‘mystery’ is plainly tied to open speech—see 2:1, 7; 4:1; 15:51, 52) and does not necessarily indicate an angelic or heavenly language (13:1)
· its ranking in the spiritual gifts (12:8-10, 28), it is mildly encouraged (14:5) and Paul has personal experience and is thankful for (14:18) all in keeping with it being a local problem at Corinth—pagan setting and use of ecstatic language in some pagan religions and oracles; Paul is sure they will ‘pass away’ as belonging to our spiritual childhood (13:11)
· it functions as: when misused, as a sign (14:22) of judgement when not interpreted (see Isa 28:11) on unbelievers and not as an evangelistic aid; prophecy on the other hand is clear and revealing and so evangelistic
· it does not really edify the whole church (14:2); clear preference is for clear speech (14:19), even interpreted speech in moderation (14:25, 27-29)
· as an aid to private devotion – this seems to be the major role Paul sees for it
· it is not a gift for all – 12:30
The Baptism With the Holy Spirit
Pentecost as entire sanctification
· Acts 2:38; Grider separates repent, baptise (1st work) from receive the Spirit (2nd work)
· Rom 4: justification before Pentecost, so why not disciples
· Hebrews 11: all justified by faith—so disciples also
· John’s Gospel: Nicodemus expected to experience new birth; believe = conversion, abide = conversion, Jn 17 = conversion, confess ‘Lord and God’ = conversion
· Synoptics: under John’s baptism = new birth
· Acts: Samaritans, the ‘Gibraltar’ of two works of grace, v5 and 12 c/t v 14-17; Paul on the Damascus Road and at Ananias’ house; Cornelius a Christian from 10:2, 22; Ephesus are Christian from 18:27 (‘brethren’), use of disciple and ‘already believed’ (19:2)
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit: An Exegetical & Historical Examination
(McEwan, unpublished paper)
A Scriptural Examination of the Term ‘Baptism with the Holy Spirit’
· the actual phrase itself only occurs six times in the Bible: Matt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:33; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:16
· In Matt and Lk the wording is almost identical, with the phrase ‘and with fire’ added; the other references do not mention ‘fire’
· ‘baptise’ suggests immerse, submerse, emergence
· two types of ‘baptism’ in the NT: John’s baptism in Gospels, Acts 1:5; 11:16; 19:4; Christ’s baptism in Matt 28:19; Acts 19:5; Rom 6:3,4; 1 Cor 1:13-17; 12:13; Gal 3:27; Col 2:12. 1 Pet 3:21 refers to baptism as a sign of death, burial and resurrection—the antitype of the ark
· metaphorically, we have baptism with the Spirit in Matt 3:11 and Lk 3:16
· ‘baptism of John’ is a ‘baptism of repentance’ and in the six passages under study is contrasted with Christ’s baptism with the Holy Spirit; Christ is the one who will actually baptise with the Spirit; Jesus always refers to John in terms of preparing the way for his ministry: Matt 11:1-15; 9:14-17; Mk 2:18-22; Lk 5:33-39; 7:19-35;
· John’s baptism: symbolical—of spiritual realities to be fulfilled by Christ (repentance and forgiveness); typical—preparation for immediate judgement (‘fire’), kingdom is ‘at hand’; sacramental—sealing for the day of crisis (the ministry of Jesus)
· the preaching of repentance raised expectations that Jesus would fulfil
· ‘with fire’ is an intimate part of the ‘baptism’; probable reference is to Mal 3:2; Isa 31:9 and 33:14; thus a two-fold outworking of the ‘baptism’ depending on whether we ‘yield’ to God or not (purifies or destroys); see also Joel 2:28-32, where the positive ministry of the Spirit is also linked with judgement; only Jesus can bring about the genuine transformation he was teaching
· the gospel accounts clearly refer to a future event, as does Acts 1:5; the final use of the term is in Acts 11:16 where the present experience is linked to an earlier one—thus a ‘remembrance; the only event that meets all the criteria for these references is Acts 2:1-4, and the Day of Pentecost
· thus, the ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’ promised by John and Jesus was fulfilled in an historical event that took place at Pentecost—Peter affirms this at 2:16. ‘this is that’
· Cornelius clearly experienced what Peter and the others experienced—see 10:15, 17; but it is clearly not the same event, for historically there was only one Pentecost in this sense
· Key Issue: why did Peter ‘remember’ in Acts 10, but not at Acts 2:38 or 8:14-17; why is there no concrete linking of this phrase with any other instance of ‘filling’, ‘receiving’, ‘falling upon’, ‘coming upon’; possibly because Cornelius is the first Gentile and it was important to confirm that both Jews and Gentiles are recipients of the full blessings of the gospel age—see Acts 15, esp v 8-9
· Thus, the term itself refers only to the Pentecost event in Acts 2:1-4; ‘baptism’ and ‘with the Holy Spirit’ are never linked in the Epistles, thus it is always a matter of interpretation as to whether they are references to water or Spirit baptism; there is no problem in allowing for the interpretation that Pentecost was the disciples ‘entire sanctification’, and the use of ‘filled’ in Acts 2:4 allows one to use other terms to describe the work of the Spirit on other occasions as resulting in entire sanctification; clearly, the term is not ‘universal’, other terms are used, they need to be interpreted, and so you may as well use other terms in the first place—there is nothing distinctive and compelling about the phrase in Scripture to make is the key phrase for Wesleyans
Wesley and the Agency of the Holy Spirit in Entire Sanctification
· Wesley was theologically orthodox in his understanding of the person and work of the Spirit; the Spirit represents ‘God’s immanence’; actually imparting the benefits of salvation; the work of the Spirit and the work of Christ are practically inseparable
· the agency of the Spirit is crucial to the work of entire sanctification; the Spirit is the ‘immediate cause of all holiness in us’, both conversion and entire sanctification;
The Historical Use of the Term in the Creeds and Catechisms
· all the major denominations teach the necessity of a holy life and of sanctification
· an examination of Philip Schaff’s The Creeds of Christendom, has 35 major creeds, catechisms and baptismal confessions from NT times to 1932 from the whole spectrum of the Church Catholic; many references to partaking, receiving, washing, renewing, sprinkling, cleansing, sealing, dwelling; most focus on regeneration and association with water baptism
· only reference to ‘baptism of the Spirit (and Fire)’ was in ‘The Confession of the Society of Friends’ 1675; a possible link with holiness is evident here
· thus the entire Church up to the 19th century did not see the phrase as either distinctive or vitally important to sustain any doctrinal position
· the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in its 1829 Confession speaks of ‘the effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost’ as bringing in the full gospel age in connection with an article on the perseverance of the saints; the connection here is again on justification and regeneration
· the Church of the Nazarene’s Article X on Entire Sanctification did not use the term till 1923, though it has been in Article V on Original Sin since at least 1908.
· the term is widely used in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles in connection with an enduement of power; we can question whether is really is the ‘distinctive; term and the best term to use
· real issue in the American Holiness Movement vs Wesley debate is more over crisis vs process, and in the eyes of the AHM ‘baptism’ language clearly favours a crisis and thus is to be preferred
1. The Theological Implications of the Current Debate (Staples, unpublished paper)
a. The History
· The issue emerged in Wesleyan circles in the early 1960’s in connection with the difference between Wesley’s terminology of entire sanctification and the Nazarene one in the Manual—‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’
· key event: Herbert McGonigle, ‘Pneumatological Nomenclature in Early Methodism’, WTJ, Spring 1973, 61-72; main focus here is Wesley’s Christological focus (Calvary and Atonement) vs AHM’s pneumatological focus (Pentecost)
· Donald Dayton at the 1973 meeting showed the transition had occurred largely through the influence of Asa Mahan and Oberlin: The Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfection (1839) and The Baptism of the Holy Ghost (1870); after 1870 ‘pentecostal’ and ‘baptism of the Holy Ghost’ language increases: Finney, Palmer, Steele
· shift from Christocentrism to emphasis on the Holy Spirit—have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
· from salvation history in terms of old/new covenants with the pivotal point at Calvary, to dispensations and the pivotal point being Pentecost
· exegetical foundations shift from Epistles, John’s Gospel to Acts; a study of ‘perfection’ does not lead naturally to Pentecost and vice versa; thus ‘sanctification’ tends to drop from the Pentecostal movement in favour of ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’
· debate comes to the forefront again at Wesleyan Theological Society meeting in 1977 with four papers on the subject:
· in 1978 the debate was on the biblical doctrine of the ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’; three key papers were: Robert Lyon who saw the term in Luke-Acts referring to conversion (as did Wesley); Alex Deasley saw the term as inclusivistic, so primary reference is to regeneration but it does include the whole work of salvation, including entire sanctification; George Turner defended the AHM position
· Methodism: Adam Clarke really agreed with Wesley, as does Richard Watson, William Burt Pope, Miner Raymond, Olin A. Curtis, Thomas N. Ralston
· Wiley only refers to ‘baptism with the Spirit’ on one single page (II, p323) of his 3 volume work; it does not affect the structure of his argument for entire sanctification at all
· the issue has recently emerged again with the debate between Laurence W. Wood, ‘Pentecostal Sanctification in John Wesley and Early Methodism’ WTJ, Spring 1999, 24-63, where he claims Wesley really did use ‘baptism’ language, and Randy Maddox in his ‘Response’ in the next edition—who rejects Wood’s claim, with Woods response to him (see WTJ, Fall 1999, 78-135).
b. The Implications for Our Theology
· how Wesleyan is our theology; how Wesleyan should it be?
· the relationship between the ‘Articles of Faith’ and the ‘Agreed Statement of Belief’; between Creed and Scripture; both are summaries of what the church believes, pointing in the direction of the church’s faith, but not absolute prescriptions for the way we must think
· Agreed Statement: no reference to ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’; in the light of the Preamble, we do not deem belief in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as being synonymous with entire sanctification to be necessary for church membership
· Articles of Faith: three points where the phrase is used—Article V on Original Sin, Article X on Entire Sanctification (twice); in none of them is there a one-to-one equation of baptism with entire sanctification;
· in doctrinal matters, the final appeal is always to Scripture; so, what is the proper relationship of Creed to Scripture?
· Creeds are always a human articulation of the message of the Bible, defined in character and form by the situation in which they are crafted; thus can never be absolutised and they are not revelation; we must keep asking what it is they are trying to teach about the gospel and keeping them ‘open’ to our changing reflections;
· the move from Christological language to pneumatological language does raise the issue of ‘evidence’ and this is the key danger in the light of modern Pentecostalism c/t the concrete reality of the historical Jesus revealed in Scripture and witnessed to throughout the history of the church
c. A Current Approach
· where should ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’ be applied in the ordo salutis?
· dispensational or historical answer: it occurred once and for all on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2; only one ‘Baptism’, as there is only one Crucifixion and one Resurrection (this is a minority view)
· initiatory view: it refers to the New Birth, to conversion, to entrance into the Church (Wesley, most early Methodist theologians, Reformed theologians)
· entire sanctification: the 19th century AHM and many later members of the AHM; position in our Creed; Fletcher is normally placed here, but this is clearly wrong
· the doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit can best be understood from a ‘holistic’ or ‘inclusivist’ approach:
· see Deasley’s article: ‘Entire Sanctification and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit; Perspectives on the Biblical View of the Relationship’, WTJ, Spring 1979, 27-44;
· there is no problem in identifying Acts 2 as the time of the disciples’ entire sanctification, as well as their ‘new birth’; after all, this was a transitional period between the old and the new covenants
· the danger is in insisting upon it being their entire sanctification only, for then they must have had a full new covenant experience of conversion without faith in the blood of the Atonement—a faith they clearly did not have prior to Calvary and the Resurrection (see Matt 16:21-22; Mk 8:31-32; 9:31-32; Lk 9:44-45; 24:25-26)
· the disciples were clearly ‘saved’ prior to Calvary—but under the Old Covenant; they were not ‘born again’ or ‘justified by faith’ or ‘born of the Spirit’ in the sense possible under the New Covenant
NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
LECTURE 3: THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH
THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH
Introduction
one of the few places where Christian theology can be observed; for many their one and only contact with Christianity
often seen as a building, a denomination
doctrine of the Church has not been a major focus of theology across the centuries, but now becoming a focus due to the ecumenical movement, church growth and missions; the relationship of the Church to society
focus on the concrete historical manifestation—what it ‘is’ and not what it ‘ought’ to be; from theoretical essence to empirical presence; in modern studies, sociological categories tend to predominate
today the splintered character of Christendom is a problem: growing disillusionment with the institutional church—failure in evangelism, justice and compassion; the whole issue is complicated by historical, sociological and institutional factors, as well as theological ones
Biblical Definition of the Church
the corporate character of biblical faith; essential nature of ‘image’ is relational (the ‘Trinity’); salvation is thus community oriented; clearly seen in the OT where ‘salvation’ is found by being part of Israel—the community; same is clearly seen in Acts and Epistles
the community is created by the Spirit; ‘I believe in the communion of saints’—the social nature of Christianity; to make it ‘solitary’ is to destroy it; the community gathered by the Spirit, the ‘people of God’, ‘elected’ to serve (see Isa 40—55; esp 43:10)
election and mission are clearly linked in the Bible; the nature of mission is spelled out as being a ‘witness’, with all that this involves in word and action; incarnational
the scriptural understanding of the church is functional—we have a ‘mission’ to accomplish; it is both peripheral and central to God’s mission; it ‘exists’ between times—resurrection and parousia; it needs the paradox and must never resolve it or else it fails to be truly the Church of God
it raises the issue of hermeneutics: the move from the biblical ‘horizon’ to ours, and then to understand what is being said; the problem of the nature of images and metaphors—how did the early Church ‘see’ them and how can we be sure we ‘see’ the same things today; the power of the image both affectively and cognitively
we need to be ‘participants’ in the life of the Church to ‘see’ the vision that is symbolically transmitted by the verbal icons
ekklesia: Matt 16:18; 18:17 (the only Gospel references); not mentioned in 2 Tim; Tit; 1 & 2 Pet; 1 & 2 Jn; Jude; this is the central term in the NT; focus on a community called into existence by the Spirit through Christ
Classical Greek: assembly of citizens, a gathering (see Acts 19:32, 39, 41)
OT Background: an assembly (edah);
a gathering before the Tent of Meeting (qahal); the latter esp in the Pentateuch (Num particularly); first use is Ex 12:3—congregation of Israel comes into being with Passover and Exodus; so a covenant community; this is translated uniformly by the LXX as ekklesia
Paul: uses the term more than any other NT writer
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local gatherings of believers (1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1:; Gal 1:2; 1 Thess 1:1); letters
to the churches in Rev 1—3; Acts 5:11; 8:1; 11:27; 12:1, 5; 13:1; 14:23; 15:41; 16:5
refers to churches meeting in homes: Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15
to all believers in a given city: Acts 8:1; 13:1
all believers in a broad area: Acts 9:31; 1 Cor 16:19
it is essentially a ‘household’ gathering; ministry of the Spirit is primarily communal and not individual
it is a regular, local gathering of people (Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community); it belongs to God; it has a distinctly dynamic character—an assembling community, rather than some ‘ongoing reality’
each local church is a manifestation in time and space of that which is essentially eternal and infinite in character—again, the notion of ‘incarnation’; the visible manifestation of a divine and eternal commonwealth in which all people could become citizens
it is their character and source of their dynamic that is vital
an individual congregation or group in one place never referred to as ‘part’ of the Church; the Church is not a sum or composite of individual local groups; each community (the 2 or 3 gathered in Christ’s name) represents the total community—the Church
see especially 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; it is manifested in a local place but is fully present
it is also universal (‘heavenly’) in nature; only one Church—see Matt 16:18; also in Eph 1:22-23; 3:10, 21; 4:4; 5:23, 24, 32; ! Cor 10:32; 11:22; 12:28; Col 1:18, 24
it is both a ‘heavenly Church’ permanently in session and a ‘local Church’ regularly but intermittently in session
it comprises all believers—past, present and future (Heb 12:23)
purpose is growth and edification of its members into Christ and into a common life through their God-given ministry to one another (1 Cor 12:7; 14:13, 19, 26; Eph 4:12)
it has a corporate responsibility for organisation, welfare, discipline and growth
the church ‘happens’ in those moments which it is actualising the purpose for which it was called into being; it is an ‘event’ and not an ‘essence’ already completed
it is a ‘being-called-together’ of people under Christ as the head—a continuous task; to embrace the gospel is to enter community
it is both a ‘saved and saving’ community; the object of divine activity and the instrument of God’s saving purpose for mankind; it has both a being and a function; it is a ‘bridge-event’, witnessing and ministering in the Spirit
The Church is all who are ‘saved’, here or in glory, universal in nature but finding expression in local gatherings that display the life of Christ.
Wesley, Explanatory Notes on the NT; Acts 5:11: ‘A company of [people], called by the gospel, grafted into Christ by baptism, animated by love, united by all kind of fellowship, and disciplined by the death of Ananias and Sapphira’.
a body of people, united together in the service of God
the primary expression of the church is the visible, gathered local congregation; but it is also universal (‘all Christians’)
Biblical Images of the Church
1. The People of God: 2 Cor 6:16
emphasises God’s initiative in choosing them, in creating them; see 2 Thess 2:13-14; 1 Thess 1:4; c/t Ex 15:13, 16; Num 14:8; Deut 32:9-10; Isa 62:4; Jer 12:7-10; Hos 1:9-10; 2:23
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to be his people without reservation and without divided loyalty—it is an
exclusive claim
a covenant people
most pervasive metaphor; speaks of both continuity and discontinuity (1 Pet 2:9-10; Rom 9:25-26)
both God and Israel are called into being by God and elected for service; one if focused on national life and the other on universal life constituted by the Spirit; election provides the continuity
the nature of the Church can be inferred from Israel’s election—see Rom 11 and the ‘olive tree’; yet even here the radical surgery speaks of a discontinuity
the continuity of Israel and the Church is theological; originating in Gen 12:3, where again ‘mission’ is the crucial context
this mission has been shaped by both historical and sociological actors: Israel—the move from a theocracy to a kingship, from Tabernacle to Temple; the process was often perverted, focusing on national life and political success rather than theological mission; collapse of the North and Southern kingdoms led to a hope of a Messiah; then the Person of Jesus Christ, the 12 apostles, the Church; mission as ‘suffering servant’; see Gal 6:16, where the focus is theological and not sociological
2. The Bride:
not explicitly in Scripture but clearly implied in 2 Cor 11:1f; Eph 5:27-32; Rev 19:7-8
OT imagery focuses on ‘separation’ to the new family and ‘separation’ from parents; thus Church is separated to Christ and from the world and
in current life we must live up to our ‘betrothal’ symbolised by our baptism (in Jewish culture)
purity in 1 Cor 11:2 highlights proper boundaries of the community violated by ‘false apostles’; just as God wanted the undivided loyalty of Israel; so live as befits our ‘status’ as the bride of Christ
3. The Body of Christ
the most extended image; analogy of human and Christian body; some 19 times and only in the Pauline epistles; it is Paul’s most frequent metaphor; church as the continuing locus of Christ’s mission and activity; the body of which Christ is the Head Col 1:18; 2:9-10; a functional view; church as both organism and organisation
a single functional unit that works together for the health of the whole; the phrase defines a reciprocal relationship, interdependence and interrelationship; ALL have the task of edification
Paul never uses ‘body of Christians’ , only ‘Body of Christ’; none are isolated from the community of faith
individualism leads to a dysfunctional body—see Lev 21 and its implications; ‘wholeness’ is essential to ‘holiness’; a divided body is a polluted body; unity manifests the holiness of the body—thus 1 Cor 12 where none can live without the other—and the rebuke of 1 Cor 11 at the Lord’s Table
used of both universal (Eph 1:22-23) and individual church (1 Cor 12:27)
emphasises interconnectedness of believers with Christ and with each other (1 Cor 12)
Church is thus an extension of the Incarnation, but not in an absolute institutional way; there is a constant process of coming to completion; continuity is in Word and Sacrament, not in the institution; so the Church is a ‘happening’ objectively related to the function of mission; the Church is the locus of Christ’s present
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activity in the world; the Church represents Christ in the world; wholeness is to
enable it to carry out its mission as Christ in the world
the interconnectedness is for edification: 1 Cor 14:4-5, 12; mutuality (Eph 4:15-16); purity (Gal 6:1,2; Matt 18:8; Rom 16:17; 1 Cor 5:12-13); fellowship—empathy, encouragement; what is experienced by one is experienced by all (1 Cor 12:26); unity (1 Cor 1:10-17; 3:1-9; 11:17-19; 12:12-13; Eph 4:4-6; universal (Col 3:11; Rom 11:25-26, 32; Gal 3:28; Eph 2:15; extension of Christ’s ministry (Matt 28:18, 19-20; Jn 14:12
4. The Temple of the Holy Spirit
1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 12:13; Eph 2:21-22; 1 Pet 2:5
the Spirit imparts life Gal 5:22-23; brings power (Acts 1:8; Jn 14:12; whole of Acts)
sensitivity to the Lord’s leading Matt 28:20; Jn 14:18, 23; 16:7; Rom 8:9-10; Acts 10:11-48
gifts and graces 1 Cor 12:11
holy and pure 1 Cor 6:19-20
5. The Family of God
Possibly the dominant image in the NT; a place to belong, to be secure;
use of such references as: God as Father, the Son, children of God, the household, followers as brothers and sisters: Mk 10:28-30; Rom 16; Col 4:7; Phile 7, 15-16; Phil 2:22; 3:1;
the whole argument of Gal and Rom; Gal 3:28; Jn 1:12; Rom 3:21-26; 8:14-17; 1 Pet 1—2; Jn 13:34-35; Gal 2 and the row with Peter
Implications:
Need to have realistic expectations and be patient with one another: Gal 5:22; Col 3:13; Rom 15:7; 1 Pet 3:8-9; Rom 14
Be there for one another: Acts 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 1 Jn 3:17-18; 1 Cor 16; 2 Cor 8
Problem for us in the West: our ‘picture’ of a family comes from our culture and experience
Issues for Reflection
1. The Church and the Kingdom
See Matt 16:18-19; some argue they are synonymous but this is not likely; Kingdom = reign of God and only 2Y a domain and it is never identified with its subjects in the NT; Church = realm of God—a community under his rule
Augustine and the Middle Ages generally equated the two, but they are not synonymous
the reign of God is supreme in Christ and is independent of those who subject themselves to it—up to the time of the Parousia; the Church is composed of those who accept the rule of God
church is not the kingdom; the kingdom creates the church; the church witnesses to the kingdom by living a kingdom life; the church is the instrument of the kingdom and is the custodian of the kingdom; we do not ‘build’ the kingdom since God’s rule is established as Creator and Governor; we do ‘build’ the Church in gracious cooperation with Christ (Matt 16:18)
there is a present actuality and a future consummation (Eph 5:25-27); the Church is thus an eschatological community; the role of the ‘firstfruits’ and the tension of the ‘already—not yet’; this is better theologically than the ‘visible-invisible’ distinction
2. The Church and Israel
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this relationship is widely debated
there is clearly a replacement of literal Israel by spiritual Israel in Rom 2:28-29; Gal 3:29; also Rom 4:11, 16, 18 and 9:7-8
some promises to Israel were fulfilled in the Church: Hos 2:23 c/t Rom 9:24-28; Joel 2:28 c/t Acts 2:17
Israel as a nation: possible reference of Rom 11:15, 26; yet salvation is only by faith in Christ
the dispensational view sees both elements continuing till the end of time
3. Visible and Invisible Church
distinction seen in Augustine; very clear in Luther and Calvin
issue is ‘true believers’ vs ‘simply members’
relationship of the institution to the individual:
Roman Catholic: institution is prior (also Anglican and Orthodox); based on Matt 16:18-19; apostolic origins
Pietistic: individual is prior; institution is relatively unimportant; marks of the true church are Word and Sacrament
biblical basis: Matt 13:24-30, 36-43; 25:31-46
Erickson says Scripture says the individual is prior: Acts 2:47 in light of 2:37-38; 3:12-26; 4:7-12; 16:30
Scripture does emphasises the importance of the visible fellowship—Acts 2:47; 5; 1 Cor 5:1-5; Gal 6:1
4. Time of the Inception of the Church
some see Pentateuchal and Mosaic beginning
Jesus: Matt 16:18 and 18:17; note the former is clearly future
Pentecost
Historical Development of Ecclesiology
Beginnings clearly in Acts; prior to that we have the concept clearly in the thought of Christ; took till about 4th C AD for an articulated doctrine to emerge
Church formed at Pentecost; the rest of Acts works out the relationship of Israel and the Church; clearly there is a discontinuity as we move from Jerusalem to Samaria to Cornelius to Ephesus; also a continuity since the Hebrew Scriptures are the Church’s Scriptures
the Church began as a conviction and experience that the community was constituted by the Spirit and was the dwelling place of the Spirit; each gift of the Spirit after Pentecost was corporate in nature
up to the time of Augustine, two key issues:
the holiness of the Church; rise of the visible-invisible view in the East to answer this first issue
the clergy/laity distinction; clergy as administrators of the Sacraments; key role of apostolic succession in a literal, historical sequence
Augustine: Church is Christ’s mystical body; no salvation outside the Church; visible-invisible distinction (wheat and tares); the abode of the Spirit—don’t share the Spirit, you are not in the Church
Luther: Church where Word rightly preached and Sacraments rightly administered—thus Church a ‘happening’
Calvin: visible/invisible to answer the question of holiness; discipline
Anabaptists: a pure church—voluntary, separated, disciplined
The Wesleyan View 6
There are both Anglican and Pietistic streams in his thought
Roman Catholic: defines Church in terms of ministry (horizontal objective); true church is in apostolic succession and tradition; focus on the objective holiness of the Church and presence of Christ in the Church through the sacraments
Classical Protestant: emphasised Word and Sacraments as creative of the Church (objective vertical relationship); necessity of the Church to be created by the event of preaching the Word
Free Church: emphasis on personal experience (subjective vertical view); holiness of individual believers who then constitute the church
all find a place in Wesley; also an emphasis on ‘living faith’, biblical preaching, sacraments and discipline
in the focus on a ‘living faith’ and the role of the Spirit, he was ‘inclusive’ rather than ‘exclusive’ (‘if your heart is right with God as my heart is right with God, give me your hand’)
the ‘marks’ of the church not as important as the key Biblical ‘mark’ of unity—the product of the living faith of a believer which ties us into a bond with all other believers—rather than an exclusive focus on modes of worship or government
his understanding of the role of prevenient grace in the Established church of his day; it provides continuity with the Church Past and a stability that guards against splintering the Body of Christ
Wesley could hold both holiness and love in tension; thus avoiding schism and maintaining fellowship
Wesley keeps discipline as an essential element in holy living (as did Calvin, but not Luther)
ISSUES IN NAZARENE ECCLESIOLOGY (Tom Noble: Guatemala Conference 2002)
Believers’ Church. It has the following features:
It is very individualistic. It begins with the individual believer – the individual’s conversion once he or she has made an individual decision, and it is usually happier with the baptism of individuals who have confessed faith, ‘believer’s baptism’.
The Church is then seen as a collection of these individuals who voluntarily come together to tell their individual stories (testimonies). So the thinking moves from the individual to the collective, a way of thinking which you will recognize as characteristic of the age of modernity.
This ecclesiology takes a very ‘low church’ view of worship and the sacraments. These churches have usually been formed by people reacting against ‘formality’ and ‘dead liturgy’ and nominal ‘churchianity’. They prize spontaneity in worship, and that is what they identify as ‘the liberty of the Spirit’.
‘Catholic’ Church: in its older sense of universal or all-inclusive. This view of the Church has these features:
It does not begin with the individual, but with the corporate – the whole Church as the body of Christ.
It then goes on to talk about the personal – the personal life of the believer. (I deliberately say ‘personal’ as distinct from ‘individual’). The movement is thus not from the individual to the collective (the way of thinking of modernity), but from the corporate to the personal – a more biblical way of thinking still reflected in traditional societies in the two-thirds world.
It takes what is historically called a ‘high church’ view of worship and the sacraments. Among us there are Nazarenes who find that ‘free worship’ has become dead. It is now too affected by individualistic consumerism, lacking in
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depth and structure and biblical content, too much influenced by the
entertainment industry, too open to the manipulation of dominant personalities, too sentimental and too subjective. And they have found participation in liturgy more Christian, more biblical, more Christ-centred and more spiritually dynamic.
The Nazarene position as a Wesleyan church has roots in the Episcopalian tradition in Anglicanism and American Methodism, and also in the Free Church or Believer’s Church tradition.
Dr Bresee’s dictum: ‘We are not a mission but a church with a mission.’ raises the issues of the relationship between church and mission.
‘Mission’ comes from the Latin noun missio, which means a ‘sending’. ‘Missionaries’ are the ‘sent ones’. So too are apostles, coming from the Greek verb apostello, ‘I send’. In the wider New Testament sense of ‘apostle’ then, apostles are missionaries and missionaries are apostles – those who go to plant the church where it has never been planted before. And their authority for doing so lies in the ‘great commission’, the words of the Risen Lord: ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ There is the authority for mission: ‘Go!’ And Jesus is Himself the great Apostle or ‘sent One’, the great Missionary: ‘As the Father has sent me, so send I you.’ Go!
But what do we go to do? We go to say, ‘Come!’ We go out into the highways and byways to issue the invitation, the call to the messianic banquet. The great Missionary Himself sets the tone: ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.’ The gospel we preach is a proclamation – what God has done in His Son – and it issues in an invitation – a call: We go to say, ‘Come!’
There are two directions here. There is the command to go, but the reason why we go is to give the invitation - the call - to come. And the call to come, is the call to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In other words the call is to become one of the people of God – His called ones, His called out ones, His called together, ones, His ecclesia, His Church. Ecclesia comes from the verb kaleo, ‘I call’.
These two directions are essential to being the Church, at least within this present evil age – the going out in mission, and the coming together in worship and fellowship. And we cannot have one without the other. These are the diastole and the systole at the heart of the Church.
The going is therefore not an end in itself. Mission is essential to the being of the Church within this present evil age, but it is not in itself the final purpose of the Church: it is the penultimate purpose of the Church. The Church, as Dr Bresee’s dictum suggests, is not only a mission. The mission of the Church will one day end with the coming of the kingdom in glory and power. But in that Day, her ultimate purpose will still continue in the eternal kingdom, namely the worship of Almighty God in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Mission is therefore the penultimate purpose of the Church– mission aimed at the salvation of all humankind. But her ultimate goal is the glory of God.
Within the conditions of this Age then, the Church lives in this two-fold movement, the outward scattering movement of evangelism and compassion, and the returning, gathering movement of worship. That too, as the Cappadocians saw, has to be seen in Trinitarian context. The mission is not our mission: it is the mission of God the Holy Trinity - the Father sending the Son, and then the Father and the Son sending the Spirit. But the returning, gathering movement, the consequent ecclesia, the gathering of the people of God, is similarly Trinitarian, for it is by the one Spirit that we are united to the one Son, and in the one Son that we offer ourselves in praise and worship to the one Father who is above all and through all and in all. Mission is not then an end in itself. The purpose of mission is
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the gathering of all to unite in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church (Eph.
1: 10, 22f.) in the praise of our Trinitarian God.
THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, Apostolicity first formally stated in the Creed of Constantinople (Nicene Creed) in AD 381; they are an experienced reality before a doctrinal statement; the role of the Spirit
1. Unity
focus of the High Priestly prayer in Jn 17
found in Christ (Eph 4:5; Phil 2:2-8); Christ is the Church and all who are identified by faith with Him are ‘in him’ (Col 2:6-7, 10-11); they share in the unity of his person—see Jn 15, Vine and branches; a bond of ties of mutual self-giving love
subjective ground of unity is the work of the Spirit—who is the Spirit of Christ; thus ‘Christ in me’ and ‘Christ in you’ cannot be at variance; see the ‘fellowship’ of Acts; 2 Cor 13:14; Phil 2:1; 1 Cor 1:9
baptism is the ritual sign of Christian unity
later found unity in the bishop, and finally bishop of Rome
disunity invokes a call to repentance and renewal, not a ‘unity in diversity’
conceptions of the nature of the Unity:
spiritual unity: all are ‘one’ in Christ
mutual recognition and fellowship: mutual cooperation without formal union
conciliar unity: a joint church
organic unity: creation of a single church organisation by merging denominations
Ecumenical Movement: key beginning in Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910; role of John R. Mott and Joseph H. Oldham
led to World Conference on Faith and order in Lausanne in 1927; Faith and Order in Edinburgh in 1937 and Life and Work Movement in Oxford
formation of the World Council of Churches in 1948 in Amsterdam, with 147 denominational groups as members; in 1961 the International Missionary Council merged with the WCC; input of Vatican II
in 1942 in the USA., the National Association of Evangelicals
Wesley: the unity of the Church is based upon the Christian fellowship in the Holy Spirit
2. Holiness
seen because we are: the people of God, the body of Christ, indwelt by the Spirit
key role of baptism: 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 5:25-27; Tit 3:5-7; Heb 10:22; Rom 6:1-4 and ff; the eschatological tension; Eucharist as the renewal of judgement and forgiveness decisively symbolised by baptism
in Christ; thus ‘growth’; so 1 Cor 3:1 c/t 1 Pet 2:2; 1 Jn 2:12-14 (young men, adults, fathers); both an actuality and an ideal (Eph 4:13)
key role of ‘discipline’ and lifestyle
Wesley: the holiness of the Church is grounded in the discipline of grace which guides and matures the Christian life from its threshold in justifying grace to its fullness in sanctifying grace
3. Catholicity
Jn 12:32; Phil 2:6-11 – a universal scope to salvation, with no divisive distinctions based on human differences: race, culture, language, social status, education, gender or age—see Gal 3:27-28
Christ is ‘for all’ and the Atonement is ‘for all’ (Gal 3:28); there is a continuing place for the salvation of the Jews in Rom 11:1
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all are invited to the ‘table’, to the ‘banquet’ by Jesus; implications of 1 Cor 11:17-34
for ‘divisive’ church
yet we celebrate God’s richness in gifting and gracing; a variegated unity, harmonic diversity—not difference for division and conflict; rather, the gift of the ‘self’ for the good of others and of all
it is an outlook and not a place; thus ‘homogeneity’ is profoundly unscriptural
Wesley: the catholicity of the Church is defined by the universal outreach of redemption; the essential community of al true believers
4. Apostolicity
grounded in God’s mission to the world; mission of Jesus (Heb 1:1ff); apostles in Matt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Jn 20:21
involves both a message (gospel) and a messenger (key debate: clergy/laity)
function is the key here—being a ‘witness’; so Acts 1:21ff and 10:41
Wesley: the apostolicity of the Church is gauged by the succession of apostolic doctrine in those who have been faithful to the apostolic witness
The Church as a Sociocultural Reality
Church must take on a historically conditioned form; even in Acts all its ‘forms’ were borrowed from Jewish and pagan environments
there is no real point to ‘restorationist’ movements seeking to regain ‘the NT church’ in forms of worship, organisation or practices—key focus must be on the same presence of the Spirit in our current and developing forms
THE FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH
The humblest and the most unseen activity in the world can be the true worship of God. Work and worship literally become one. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever; and man carries out that function when he does what God sent him into the world to do. Work well done rises like a hymn of praise to God. This means that the doctor on his rounds, the scientist in his laboratory, the teacher in his classroom, the musician at his music, the artist at his canvas, the shop assistant at his counter, the typist at her typewriter, the housewife in her kitchen -- all who are doing the work of the world as it should be done are joining in a great act of worship. ... William Barclay, The Revelation of John, vol. 1 [1961]
a) Evangelism: Matt 28:19; Acts 1:8
evangelism focuses on the pagans
both authorisation and enablement for the task
it is an all-inclusive commission—to ‘all’
b) Edification: Eph 4:12, 16, 29; 1 Cor 14:4-5, 12, 17, 26
fellowship Acts 5; 1 Cor 12:26; Gal 6:2
discipline 1 Cor 5:1-2; Matt 18:15-17
teaching Matt 28:20; Eph 4:11
preaching 1 Cor 14:3-4
c) Worship: 1 Cor 14:15-17; 16:2; Heb 10:25
worship focuses on God; it is a life lived 24/7—see Rom 12:1-2
fellowship focuses on ‘one another’
all must be held in a holistic tension
d) Social Concern: Lk 10:25-37; Matt 25:31-46 (Deut 10:17-19); Jas 1:27; 2:1-11, 15-17; 1 Jn 3:17-18; the factors of mercy, justice, compassion
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The Heart of the Ministry of the Church: The Gospel
lies at the heart of all the church is and does
focus of the ministry of Jesus: both his person, his words and his deeds; Jesus ‘is’ the Good News; the full message of salvation
involves both the content of the message and the proclamation of the message
the content is summarised in: Rom 1:3-4; 1 Cor 15:3-8; 2 Tim 2:8
focus is clearly on the person and work of Jesus
it is salvific: Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 15:2; Eph 1:13; 2 Tim 1:10
it is absolute and exclusive; it is universal (Rom 1:16; Gal 3:28); never will become obsolete (Jude 3)
Character of the Church
Willingness to serve: Mk 10:45; Matt 20:28; Phil 2:7-8
Adaptability: form always serves function; the latter never changes, the former is always changing
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH
The common forms: episcopal, presbyterian, congregational, ‘nongovernment’; Church of the Nazarene is ‘representative’ with a blend of episcopal and congregational features.
a) Episcopal
authority resides in the ‘bishop’ (episkopos); may be a simple form (Methodism) or a complex hierarchy (Roman Catholicism)
degrees of ordination: deacon, priest, bishop
the most exclusive claims are Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic—episcopacy is the Church
exercises authority over a group of churches; usually confers ordination; pastoral placement
scriptural basis is usually: from Christ: Matt 28:18, 19-20; Acts 1:8; 14:23; the role of James at Jerusalem; a literal apostolic succession
b) Presbyterian
focus on a ‘body’ that has authority, rather than a single person or office; both clergy and laity are represented at all levels
key person is the ‘elder’ (lay) or ‘teaching elder’ (clergy); seen in Acts 11:30; 14:23; 20:17; usually plural reference in the NT; association with ‘bishop’ in 1 Tim 3:1-2; Tit 1:7
the local body then elects members to area and national bodies (session, presbytery, synod, General Assembly)
only one level of clergy—the pastor
roots are found in the Jewish synagogue and examples of 1 Thess 5:12; Heb 13:17; Acts 15
c) Congregational
stresses the role of the individual Christian and the local congregation
sees the NT focus on the local congregation with no structure above it
only one level of clergy; see pastor, elder and bishop all referring to the same ‘office’—Acts 20:17
the role of the whole congregation seen in Acts 1 (Matthias); Acts 6; 13:1-3; 15:2-3, 22; also role of discipline given to the whole body in Matt 18:15-17; 1Cor 5:1ff
d) Nongovernment
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the leadership of the Holy Spirit; Quakers, Plymouth Brethren
Conclusions
lack of didactic material in the Bible; 1 Tim 3:1-13; Tit 1:5-9 refer to offices that already existed at the time of writing
the descriptive passages show no unitary pattern; evidence from the NT is inconclusive
key concerns: sound doctrine, edifying order, specific ministries, priesthood of all believers, gifts and graces for all; FORM SERVES FUNCTION
THE CHURCH AND PASTORAL MINISTRY
Introduction
is ministry to be primarily needs-based, human-centred, consumer-driven, culturally-defined, focused on psychology and sociology that seeks to be integrated with Scripture?
is ministry redemption-centred, God-focused, biblically-defined. Scripturally-prioritised?
we work in an environment similar to the early church: pagan, pre-Christian, premodern is now pagan, post-Christian, postmodern
Essence of Pastoral Ministry
The Shepherd: to feed, to care for: 1 Tim 3:2; Tit 1:9; Jn 21:15, 17; c/t Jer 23:1-4; Eze 34:2-10
to oversee: 1 Pet 5:2; Heb 13:17
to lead by example
Old Testament: Shepherd – Ps 23:1; Gen 49:24; Isa 53:6; Ps 78:52-53; 80:1
New Testament: Christ as Shepherd – Jn 10:11, 14; 1 Pet 4:5
Pastoral Office:
elder: administration, guidance; Acts 15:6; 1 Tim 5:17; Jas 5:14; 1 Pet 5:1-4
bishop/overseer: guidance, oversight, leadership – Acts 20:28; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:2-5; Tit 3:7
shepherd/pastor: leadership, authority – Acts 20:28-31; Eph 4:11; 1 Pet 2:25; 5:2-3
preacher: Rom 10:14; 1 Tim 2:7; 2 Tim 1:11
teacher: 1 Tim 2:7; 1 Cor 12:28-29
the terms are almost synonymous: Acts 20:17 with Tit 1:5-7; 1 Pet 5:1-2; teacher/preacher in 1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:7; pastor/teacher in Eph 4:11; 1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:7
Pastoral Ministry: preaching, teaching, oversight, shepherding; it is instructional, pastoral, administrative
The Call to Pastoral Ministry
Is the call intrinsically untestable? Classical pastoral wisdom has said it is, and in fact it is dangerous if it is untested.
a call to salvation 2 Cor 13:5
a call to serve Eph 2:10; 1 Pet 2:9; 4:10; 1 Cor 12:7, 11; Eph 4:7
a call to vocational ministry Eph 4:12
internal/subjective – by the Spirit; passion, competence, providence (1 Tim 3:1)
external/objective – the discernment of the church (1 Tim 3:10); character, conduct, capabilities, doctrine, commitment—all tested over a sufficient period of time to ensure genuineness
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Ordination
1. Biblical Concept
Old Testament: seen in passages like Ex 29:9, 29, 35 (Aaron and his sons); Lev 16:32; Num 3:3
New Testament: Jesus and the disciples – Mk 3:14; Jn 15:16; Paul – 1 Tim 2:7; Ephesian elders – Acts 20:28; see also Acts 6:6; 14:23; Tit 1:5
2. The Ordination Process
identify and certify people called and equipped by God for pastoral ministry
eliminate those not called by God
give confidence to local churches that the pastor is genuinely called
furnish a standard of accountability for the church concerning the person and their ministry
commend a person publicly to the ministry wherever God takes them
The Inward Call: Self-Examination:
persistent or occasional; if the latter, go slow; if the former, be attentive, but with caution and self-critical realism
are there obvious difficulties: physical incapacity, intellectual ability, spiritual life, emotional health, ministry experience, servant attitude and sacrificial spirit; ability to be empathetic; competent in speech and leadership, teachable, open, trustworthy, integrity, submissive to proper authority, gifts and graces tested in public ministry
informal consultation with others—their perceptions vs my perception; if not willing to do this, how am I qualified to pastor others in their spiritual journey
if all these are positive, then move to the outward examination
The Outward Call
if all we have is private, inward, intuitive feeling, then we are open to abuses of self-assertive, subjective, individualistic self-righteousness
thus we need the affirmation of the community, for it is the church that confers ordination
the inward call must be deliberately tested and assessed
the testing is done by ‘sinners saved by grace’—not angels; with all that that implies
the church must not ordain hastily – 1 Tim 5:22; the whole tradition of the church and the need of discernment upholds testing over a period
the church may say ‘yes’, it may say ‘no’, it may say ‘wait’; it can be wrong, as well as right—thus the key importance of the candidate’s attitude to the decision
if we do not trust the process, flawed though it is, then only chaos is left—see Acts 20:29
The Criteria
by tradition, canonical age—30, then 25, then 21 in some circles; today ‘education’ tends to ensure at least 21
a clear call with no other option
personal gifts and graces
good health, good character
a capacity to preach, teach, administer, pastor; thus a balance between intellectual and practical interests is necessary, though one may be stronger than the other
issue of ‘doubts’ over doctrine and experience need to be carefully and sensitively worked through
place of ‘special inspiration’ needs to be carefully assessed; role of ‘providential leading’ and its capacity to be misinterpreted
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the internal and the external call must correspond, within the limits of human
fallibility
The Meaning of Ordination
1. The General Ministry of the Laity
all Christians are ‘ministers’ because all participate in Christ, who is ministering to the whole world by the Spirit
all Christians are to be witnesses, visit the sick, serve the needy, assist in building up the community; Matt 5:16; 28:18-20
Eph 4:11-14 clearly implies that ‘some’ of the people of God are to especially ‘equip’ the others for service; thus ‘some’ are clearly called of God and set apart by the whole church for specific tasks—this involves calling, preparation, examination, ordination, authorisation to a representative ministry on behalf of the whole people (laos) of God
2. Why Ordination
Ordination: reception of the gift of ministry and the rite through which that gift is received: laying on of hands and the church’s intercessory prayer
it combines an internal grace with an external act; the inner reality is the reception of the divine gift and the external event is the laying on of hands and the prayer
it is done only once and not repeated—it is a life-long covenant relationship; it ‘sets apart’ the minister
it is enacted on behalf of the whole church, just as in baptism—the Church of Jesus Christ
enacted only after a process of examination—so not done hastily
the one ordained stands accountable to and responsible for the apostolic tradition they are thereby entrusted to guard
it publicly authorises and commissions the candidate to the ministry of word, sacrament and order, and prays for the divine empowerment of that ministry
3. The Laying on of Hands
a symbol employed to publicly, formally and openly commission people to office; to grant blessings; to offer gifts and sacrifices; to heal; see Gen 38:14; Deut 34:9; Lev 24; Num 27:18-23;
note the procedure followed by Jesus: Mk 3:13-19; Lk 6:12-16; 10:1-16; Acts 2ff
ordination developed out of the Jewish concept of commissioning to office: Jesus to 12 to 70 to Church; see especially Acts 6:1-6; 13:1-3; where both laying on of hands and prayer are linked.
4. Are Gifts of Ministry Received?
1 Tim 4:14 implies: gift by the Spirit through elders; the reception of the gift by rite guided by the Spirit; gift of ministry needs to be carefully nurtured and not neglected; see also 2 Tim 1:6
traditionally, ordination seen as a life-long, indelible covenant, like baptism; thus it may become ‘inactive’ and it can also be ‘reactivated’
5. Is Ordination Necessary?
NT evidence is certainly unclear
early church tradition unanimously saw it as a conveyance of spiritual power—from Christ to apostles to ‘apostolic people’; yet never in a simplistic, reductionist way—as if the ‘mechanics’ provide the ‘gift’
6. The Unity and Continuity of Christ’s Ministry
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key roles are ‘missionary’ and ‘pastor’; over the centuries the latter developed as a
three-fold office of deacon, presbyter and bishop; in Roman Catholicism it is a more complex hierarchy, with major orders as a sacrament
all see it as standing in some sort of historical or symbolic sequence of apostolic leadership; key concern it to assure faithful continuity of the Church and to seek to guarantee the authenticity of its witness to the world
at the least it confers: public testimony that the candidate’s call is approved by the church; ministry is committed formally to the ordinand; a ‘covenant’ between the ordinand, God and the Church is established; the ordinand is recognised as one with divine authority to teach; the public prayer commits to God the ministry of the ordinand, expecting God to be in it
7. The Ordination Charge
the traditional charge is found in 2 Tim 4:1-2; with links to 2:15; 4:5, 12; 2 Tim 2:33; Tit 3:1
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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