Spirit Baptism: Glory in Clay Pots

The events of the day of Pentecost are like a two-sided coin: that which is seen and experienced on earth is in response to heavenly activity. The heavenly action is rarely discussed when the topic of the Pentecostal outpouring comes up. So much focus has been placed on a specific manifestation (speaking in tongues) that the richness of our full inheritance in Christ is often overlooked. What precipitated the Pentecostal outpouring? What is it in essence”? What did the believers receive as a result? What did God receive? What does it mean to us today?

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Kenosis: Empty of What?

Philippians 2:6-11 is one of the most important and controversial verses in New Testament theology. It has crucial bearing on the manifestation of supernatural power through the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and spiritual gifts through the rest of us.  Did Christ display power through inherent and independent deity to try to “prove something” about Himself? If so, His example has no bearing whatsoever on the believer as the Christian is not inherently divine. If so, He is an impossible model only for holiness, but not power. To me, this seems very arbitrary, and not the least problematic.

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Jesus is the Pattern for Piety and Power

Because of centuries of debate both pre and post-Reformation, the belief that Jesus is “God in the flesh,” is nearly universally understood at least at a dogmatic level among anyone who claims adherence to two millennia worth of Christian doctrine. However, among that same company, the implications of the full humanity of Jesus are not nearly as well understood. Jesus is God is a convenient escape hatch: “Well, let’s be reasonable, I mean, after all, He was God and I am not, so the best I can do is try to be like Him in character.” Jesus–fully human and fully representative as the pattern human–closes that escape hatch, and our carnality would rather leave it open. The implications are too profound, too deep, and too challenging: Jesus is not just a moral example. He is the pattern for piety and power.

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Spiritual Gifts – Can’t Bake a Cake Without Them

The belief in the present day continuation and manifestation of all the spiritual gifts is not now, nor ever has been a fringe issue. There is much at stake on what one believes on this topic. Critics try to portray belief in all the gifts of the spirit for all time as belonging to the kook fringe of Evangelicalism, a late development in theology of a small segment of the ekklesia. This is far from the truth. There is much that is foundational to the gospel at stake on this issue. If you removed one of the constituent elements from the ingredients of a cake, your end result would not be much of a cake, regardless of how excellent the remaining ingredients might be. Cake that is missing an ingredient is simply not cake, and not worth eating. Excise some of the spiritual gifts, as Cessationists try to do, and you are not left with anything accurately resembling cake.

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