Pneumatological Loci Sermon

Systematic Theology II Jenkins 2/12/2008 Pneumatological Loci Synthesis Sermon Bend a knee, shed a tear, say a sentence, and gain eternal life. Oh, how glorious a moment! Now that we’ve got that out of the way… there’s something else we’re supposed to do. I think it is to pray for that other thing… that warm fuzzy feeling… that tingly sensation. We’re supposed to do something visible, something confirming, something evident. Oh yeah, we need to speak in tongues now. Jesus saved us, now the Spirit needs to make us look really cool. That’s why the Spirit exists, right? Jesus did the hard work. The Spirit’s here for the party. “Come to Jesus!” “Be washed in the blood of the Lamb!” “Accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior!” “If you died tonight, are you one-hundred percent certain that you would go to Heaven?” It sounds pious, holy, and righteous to the ear. These statements are cries for conversion, repentance, salvation! Yet is the Spirit not involved in this most glorious of moments? Is the Spirit not tied to this change inside of us? What about Pentecost? Do we interpret this moment to be only an afterthought, a coincidence, a punctuation mark on the ascension of Christ? I proclaim to all who would see the Spirit in such a fashion, this is not the case. The Spirit of which I speak is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of eternal life. To possess the Holy Spirit is to possess salvation itself. Let us first look to the Jordan. Christ received the anointing power of the Holy Spirit which descended upon him as a dove. Is this merely a symbolic literary device to communicate the approval of the Father towards his beloved son? This is unlikely. The Spirit in the history of Israel had many functions, whether for prophetic, existential, revival, revelatory, or miraculous purposes, but never as simply as literary symbolism. Was the Spirit just a vision Jesus had, previewing the future Pentecost? Since the baptism scene is a common scene in the gospels, with only Luke being literarily connected to Acts, this is also unlikely. The Spirit is directly connected with Jesus’ moment of Messianic confirmation. This is not coincidental, but rather a very significant piece of the puzzle. Paul uses a phrase with vast implications. In Romans 8 we read the term “Spirit of Christ”. What is this implying? Is this referring to Jesus’ human soul? Is this referring to the omnipresent Son of God who is still here beside us? Is this the idealistic “Christ model” we are all striving to achieve, becoming ever-closer to living how Christ lived, like a WWJD bracelet would also imply? Does this actually reveal that the Holy Spirit is really not the third person of the trinity, but actually the spiritual component of the physical Christ? Or perhaps, maybe it is a simple typo, or to be historically accurate, a “quill-o”. Paul must have meant the Spirit of God, but in the midst of being under a deadline to write most of the Bible before getting beheaded, he misspoke. Well, I would also like to say to anyone who would entertain these possibilities, let us exegete.

Romans 8:9 reads as follows “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not [God’s]” (NKJV).

This passage says that if the “Spirit of God” dwells in you, you are in the Spirit (which, according to verse 8, is the only way to please God). And Paul goes on to say if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not God’s. Is Paul referring to two different Spirits, one being the Spirit of God and the other being the Spirit of Christ? This is unlikely, and here is why. Verse 10 makes a connection between these two, as well as a connection between “Spirit” and “life” which is very significant indeed. “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Here we can see how the body is carnal, fleeting, doomed to die, but we can escape that somehow. We can become righteous by attaining the Spirit. We need Christ in us. So, how can Christ be in us? Obviously the Spirit of Christ would be what Paul is referring to here. Looking back to verse 9, we will be “in the Spirit” if the Spirit of God dwells in us. In verse 10, having Christ in us is necessary to partake of this life the Spirit offers. Flesh brings death, but being in the Spirit brings life. There is an obvious connection between the Holy Spirit, Christ, and life. Still not convinced? Let’s look at verse 11. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodied through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

After the mild ambiguity concerning who is really in us, verse 11 spells it out for us. Who is this “Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead”? Of course, we can see that this is the Spirit of God. Christ, who possessed a mortal body, died. While the body brings death, the Spirit brings life. Where was Christ’s salvation? Who saved our Savior? Who rescued Jesus from the death that sinful flesh brings? It was none other than the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God raised Christ from the grave, revived his mortal body, and granted him eternal life. And he who raised Christ from the dead will also raise us up, giving life to our own mortal bodies through His Spirit (the Spirit of God) who dwells in us. So we can hold tight to the proclamation that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, as well as the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, thus also assuming the name “Spirit of Christ”. The same Spirit who raised Christ (therefore the Spirit of Christ) must dwell in us if we are to overcome the death inherent to our mortal bodies. Christ died by the flesh, but now lives again because of the Spirit. Therefore, those who live by the flesh will perish, while we who live by the Spirit shall not perish, but live again, just as our Lord lives now. It would appear that the Spirit is very much associated with salvation, not simply gifts of subsequence. So, is the Spirit simply the one who bestows the benefits of Christ? Did Christ save himself by his own power, and now uses the Spirit to bring us his own self-salvific power? This seems to fly in the face of the previous

discussion. It is my belief that the Spirit does not bestow the benefits of Christ, but the Spirit is the benefit of Christ. I’ll continue with Romans first, that way there will be less page flipping. Romans 5 declares that sin entered the world through one man, and death came about as a result which spread to all men. Paul is asserting that sin was present even before the Law of Moses was established to identify it. The main point is death, not individual transgressions of the Mosaic Law. Sin came into the world, and with it came its consequences, that being the inescapable mortal death of all humanity. Paul then goes on to say that just as death reigned as the result of one man, through the One, Jesus Christ, we receive life through his free gift of righteousness. “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” The chapter ends by saying that grace will “reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So how does this passage relate to the Spirit? How does this prove my point? I previously quoted Romans 8:10 which stated: “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Through one man death entered the world. righteousness.

Through the One, Jesus Christ, we receive his free gift of

Romans chapter 5 states that Christ’s gift of righteousness came to all men, resulting in

justification of life. Romans 8:10 states that the Spirit is life… because of righteousness! All the pieces are beginning to fit together. Through Adam, sin entered the world and resulted in physical death. Through Jesus Christ’s gift of righteousness, we can be justified to receive eternal life.

So, righteousness brings humanity eternal life.

According to Romans 8:10, the only way to attain righteousness is by the Spirit, which is life. So, if Christ’s gift to us is righteousness, then his gift to us is the Spirit, since only the Spirit can bring righteousness. Therefore, accepting Christ’s free gift of the Spirit (who brings righteousness) brings justification of life. And the same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead (since he lived a perfect and righteous life) will also raise us from the dead because the Spirit of righteousness dwells in us. Now we can begin to see the Spirit differently. There is a definite connection between Christ’s work and the Spirit’s work. We profess Christ as savior, which he is, but forget (or fail to ever see) that the Spirit is the other side of the same salvific coin. If Christ is anointed by the Spirit at the Jordan, this is significant. If he is to be our model of righteousness, he must carry out his Messianic mission by being righteous. Was Christ alone in this endeavor? It is not until he is anointed that he begins any type of ministry (at least as communicated in Scripture). The Spirit is responsible for miracle working power throughout the Old Testament. The Spirit also is responsible for prophetic words from God. We see the empowerment of the Spirit in Christ’s Messianic mission, and this power appeared to be present throughout the remaining period of his life. If Jesus, in his humanness

alone, was capable of attaining righteousness with no other help than an iron will, then why do we see the Spirit at all? The fact that the Spirit anoints him at his missional inauguration is, if nothing else, very suspicious. There appears to be a dual aspect of what is going on. If righteousness is the only way to have justification for one’s life, and the Spirit is life because of righteousness, then it appears Christ could only achieve righteousness by living in the Spirit. To give the gift to us, it would appear he had to first receive the gift himself, which he proved was accomplished at the resurrection confirming his life as being justified. Now we can move past the one-dimensional view of the Spirit only being present for the Church’s postascension Pentecostal praise parties. But let us not stop short of seeing the full picture. It is a glorious portrait thus far, but there is more that needs to be revealed. When I am finished, you shall see the Spirit has a much deeper-reaching history and presence in our tradition than previously thought by many. I hope you have ears to hear. In the beginning, God breathed life into Adam’s nostrils. Man became a living soul by virtue of this breathing of God. Humanity was to enjoy life to its fullest, no fear of mortality, deterioration, age, or this thing we call death. What was death to the creation filled with the breath of God? How could anything end which possessed that very life-giving “breath” as we read about in Genesis? It was unthinkable, impossible. Humanity was free to partake of the Tree of Life. Yet, as we have already established, mortality and death came into the world as the result of one man. Somehow this Adam had lost this breath of life, otherwise he would still be alive today, as would all others which came from him. The breath of life, as well as access to the tree of life, was lost. What does this have to do with the Holy Spirit as known to us? The Gospel of Luke tells an account of the man we know as Jesus. After the baptism in the Jordan, we see a tracing of Christ’s lineage all the way back to Adam, the “son of God”. The genealogy is not to show his connection to the Davidic throne, but to the very first son of God, Adam. Jesus represents a new son of God, a new beginning for humanity, a fresh start. Jesus, “full of the Spirit”, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he would be tempted into proving he was the “Son of God”, the title quoted by Satan. The rest of the gospel is Jesus moving ever-closer to the cross. But Luke uses another word for the cross. He calls the cross a tree. In Acts, Luke makes this very clear. In chapter 5:30, Luke writes about Jesus who was “murdered by hanging on a tree”. In chapter 10:39, again Jesus is said to have been “killed by hanging on a tree”. And in chapter 13:29 he speaks of when Jesus was taken “down from the tree” and was laid in a tomb. Is this phraseology just a coincidence? “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse,” says Deuteronomy 21:23. Luke used this idea to make a statement. Jesus, son of Adam and son of God, partook of the “tree of death” (as opposed to the tree of life). As a son of Adam, he suffered the curse of death. But being the son of God, he represented something else entirely. As we all know, Christ was given new life. He did not simply enjoy this new life, but he gave it to others. Let us turn to Acts 2.

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

At first glance this appears to be nothing more than the traditional account of the beginning of Pentecost. But if we look past the English translation, back to the Greek, we find something interesting. We see the word “wind” here in the second verse. Luke uses the word pnoe in the Greek. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, pnoe is the word used in Genesis 2:7. God breathed the “breath of life” (pnoe zoes) into man, and man became a living being/soul. Here at Pentecost we see that after Christ had ascended, the pnoe is sent to humanity, and they are filled with the Holy Spirit. God breathed (pnoe) life into Adam. Adam ate from the Tree of Life. Adam lost the breath of God and the Tree of Life, resulting in death for all humanity. Jesus, being both son of Adam and son of God, represented a new type of humanity. He had to seek out and find the breath of life, because he did not have it yet (as Adam did in the beginning). Instead of eating from the Tree of Life, Christ (being a son of Adam) partook of the Tree of Death, suffering the curse of all humanity, which is death. Christ did find the breath of life, which brought him back to life and resulted in a new Adam, the first of a new type of human. Christ then ascended and filled his followers (breathed into them?) with the breath (pnoe) of life, which can be nothing other than the Holy Spirit (2:4). What does this say about the Spirit? It says that humanity was given the Holy Spirit at the outset. Adam received life by the Spirit being breathed into him by God. By virtue of possessing this life-giving Spirit, Adam and all who followed could partake of the Tree of Life, meaning eternal life. When humanity lost the Spirit, they were doomed to mortality. Therefore all who followed Adam were cursed in this way. Christ was able to gain back this breath of life, this pnoe, this life-giving Spirit of God. In order to get it back he went through the Tree of Death, the cross. But he was reborn at resurrection and given the breath of life, (that being the Holy Spirit), thereby giving humanity a new beginning. Christ then breathed life into us, giving a new emphasis to the term “born-again Christian”. We accept the free gift of righteousness, which is the Spirit, therefore our lives are justified. We are literally reborn, partaking of the Spirit of God (the breath of God) which awakens us from nonexistence and brings us into a new mode of existence. Like Christ, we will all follow suit. We will all experience our own personal tree of death because of mortality, but the breath of life that Christ has breathed into us will not forsake us nor leave us for destruction and decay. Just as Christ was raised by the power of the Spirit, so shall it be with us. Amen.

Endnotes I am speaking to the Pentecostal audience I am all too familiar with who only attributes Spiritual gifts to the Holy Spirit, as well as those who have a completely Christocentric view of soteriology. There are vast theological and ecclesiological implications if the Spirit is given the proper place in salvation history. It presents the nature of salvation in a less deterministic way and in a more inclusive way, giving potential for healthy dialogue about the new thoughts about the nature of God and God’s relationship to creation. I primarily used lecture material from point number three under NT Trajectories, entitled “Possession of the Spirit is possession of salvation” which I believe to be absolutely true. I used this in conjunction with the scriptures that these lectures were referring to. This allowed for a mix of exegetical and traditional theological discourse, resulting in what I think to be a more complete picture. The bulk of materials were from Romans chapter 5:12-21 and chapter 8, as well as the Luke/Acts material as referenced in the sermon. When the themes and literary structures are revealed, greater clarity of understanding concerning the Spirit’s role in salvation is present so I thought it advantageous regarding my usage of them towards making the point of the sermon seem logical.