Complexity part 7: God's Holy Spirit

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” -John 3:8

If you were to go to seminary, you would have to take a class called systematic theology. Which in all honesty, I find absurd. I liken that to phrases such as systematic marriage, or systematic romance. You never hear such things because it would be ridiculous. It would be treating people like mechanisms not living spiritual beings. Yet, somehow we think it's okay to think of God as a lifeless mechanism.

Yet, there is one part of Christian teaching that cannot be made systematic, mechanized, or simplified into a rigid definition. Which would be the Holy Spirit. An important player in the life of a true disciple, for he is our connection to God, his strength, and his wisdom. Someone we very much need to deal with the many variables found in the human heart, not to mention our complicated culture. Since the spirit cannot be defined simply, he is often overlooked by many in the church. Yet, followers who ignore him wonder why their faith lacks true power.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. -2 Timothy 3:1-5

I honestly believe true understanding of the Holy Spirit cannot be achieved by just having him explained to you. He can only be understood by experiencing him. Which means you got to seek him out for yourself. Not the simple, systematic, or formulaic answer you were probably looking for, but a true one. People keep telling me; they just want someone to explain it to them. Do you ask someone else to explain your relationship with your spouse to you? That would be absurd, just like wanting God's spirit explained to you wold be absurd.

A place to start, every one of the verses reveals something about the spirit.

John 14:26

Acts 1:16, 2:4, 7:51, 8:29, 11:12, 13:2, 16:6-7

Romans 8:26-27

1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 12:11

The Visual PARABLEist

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