Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you… There used in old times to be a controversy respecting the divinity of the Spirit of God. But this has died out. It is, in fact, a question almost without meaning. We might as well deny the humanity of man, or the divinity of God. But more. As the spirit of man is the inmost essence of man, so the Spirit of God is the inmost essence of God — the holy of holies in the Divine nature. There are only two definitions of the Divine essence in the New Testament, and both agree with this — "God is a Spirit," "God is love." I. MANY DIFFICULTIES ARE REMOVED BY DEALING WITH THIS SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF THE DIVINE NATURE. As when, for instance, we ask, "What is man?" The answer is — not his body, but his spirit, his inward affections; as further, when we ask what it is that distinguishes man from the brute? we still answer — his inward affections. So also, when we ask, what God is? whilst we know there is much which we cannot answer, yet when we think of Him as a Spirit, it is then that we can best understand Him. No man hath seen God at any time, but there is a true likeness of God in Christ, because Christ is one with God, through the Spirit of goodness and wisdom. And with that same Spirit bearing witness with our spirits, we also may be, in our humble measure, one both with the Father add with the Son. II. THIS PLACES IN THEIR PROPER LIGHT ALL THOSE WORDS AND PHRASES WHICH ARE USED TO DESCRIBE THE DIVINE NATURE. In proportion as they describe the Divine Being under the form of goodness, truth, and wisdom, as the breath which is the animating life of our souls and of religion, in that proportion they describe Him as He is. In proportion as they describe Him under the form of impressions taken from nature or man, in that proportion they are but parables and figures. Rock, fortress, shield, champion, shepherd, husband, king, and the great name of Father, these are all admirable words, so far as they express the spiritual relations of the Almighty towards us, but they would mislead if they were taken in gross, literal sense. And so, much more it is true of the anthropomorphic expressions, such as fear, jealousy, anger; or the metaphysical expressions, each of which taken separately would lead us away from the spiritual, which is the essential nature of God. III. THIS SAME ASPECT OF THE DIVINE NATURE TELLS US HOW IT IS THAT GOD WILLS THAT THE WORLD SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO HIM, NOT BY COMPULSION, BUT BY THE WILLING ASSENT OF THE SPIRIT OF MAN FINDING ITS COMMUNION WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD. The world must be converted to Christ by the internal evidence of the spirit of Christianity. IV. IT IS THIS WHICH MAKES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VARIOUS OFFENCES AGAINST DIVINE THINGS. Whatever mistakes a man may make concerning the outward form in which the Divine truth is manifested shall be forgiven, even though he blaspheme the Son of Man Himself. For every earthly manifestation must be liable to misunderstanding, and therefore blasphemy against the Son of Man is not against the holy and loving Jesus, but against some false conceptions we have formed of Him in our own minds. For such blasphemies the Son of Man has assured. He has Himself asked the Father to "forgive them, for they know not what they do." But if there be anyone who hates goodness because it is goodness, who closes his heart against purity and holiness, because they are pure and holy, such an one has blasphemed not the mere outward form, but the essence of God Himself. For this sin against the Holy Ghost there is no forgiveness. V. IT IS THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OF GOODNESS AND TRUTH WHICH MUST WRITE HIS COMMANDS ON OUR HEARTS. The letter killeth, it is the Spirit that gives life. Signs and ordinances of religion derive all their force from the directness with which they are addressed by the Spirit of God to our intelligence, conscience, and affections. VI. THUS THE SPIRIT IS THE LIFE, THE LIBERTY, AND THE ENERGY OF THE WHOLE HUMANKIND, of each successive age and each individual soul. VII. IT IS THIS ELEMENT WHICH FORMS THE CONNECTING THREAD OF THOSE ARTICLES AT THE CLOSE OF THE APOSTLES' CREED. 1. The "holy universal Church." The old heathen religions did not tend to raise the thoughts of men to holiness, and therefore they were not holy. The old Jewish religions was confined to a single nation, and therefore it was not truly spiritual. The Christian Church is intended to make men good, and therefore it is holy and the work of a holy God. It is universal, and therefore is the work of a universal Spirit. 2. "The communion of saints." The fellowship and friendship which good men of the most diverse opinions and characters have or ought to have for one another, is the most powerful means whereby the Spirit of God works, and gives the most decisive proof of the existence of a Holy Spirit. 3. "The forgiveness of sins" is realised by the witness of the Spirit. 4. "The resurrection of the body" is directly attributed to this same Spirit (ver. 11). 5. "The life everlasting "is the undying vitality of those affections and graces which are part of the essence of the Holy Spirit of God. These have their immortality from the same source as the eternal existence of God Himself. (Dean Stanley.) Parallel Verses KJV: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. |
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