Wednesday, June 18, 2014
1 Corinthians 12:3 ... no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
THE PERSUADER
The triangle has long been a common symbol in the Christian Church. The three sides remind us of the three persons mentioned in the great commission, but the triangle is only one geometric figure; there is only one God. We must, of course, be careful not to let our symbol lead us to anything which the Scriptures do not say about God. One thing is certain, though, you cannot make a triangle with only two sides, and if the Spirit were not a person or were not God, we would have a different god than the one into whose name we were baptized (Matthew 28:19).
We have an even better reason, though, to rejoice that the Godhead has been revealed to us as including the person of the Holy Spirit. It was by the Spirit that men of God were carried along to write the Word of God for future generations. And it is through hearing the Spirit's Word that people are persuaded to trust Jesus.
When Paul was in Rome, Acts 28, he was kept under "house arrest," but many people came to him to hear what he had to say, and he spoke with them from morning to evening trying to persuade them of the things about Jesus. What words did he use? The Old Testament, Moses and the Prophets, the Word of God. Some were persuaded, some remained unbelieving (v. 24). We need to know about the Holy Spirit and His work lest we try to take credit for "our decision" to believe, and fail to glorify God who called us by the gospel. After all, who can take credit for being persuaded of the truth?
