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Evidence of the Trinity in the Hebrew Scriptures

...on of the Holy Spirit.”4   III. God Is Three How Many Persons Are There? If the Hebrew Scriptures truly do point to plurality, the question arises, how many personalities in the Godhead exist? We have already seen the names of God applied to at least two different personalities. Going through the Hebrew Scriptures, we find that, in fact, three and only three distinct personalities are ever considered divine. 1. First, there are the numerous times when there is a reference to the Lord YHVH. This usage is so frequent that there is no need to devote space to it. 2. A second personality is referred to as the Angel of YHVH. This individual is always consid...

Lent Day 32: Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XXI

...gn of the Holy Spirit's sealing upon them, since they have “put on Christ” (Gal 3:27) and are adopted as sons (Eph 1:5) and are now partakers of Christ also (Heb 3:14). Because Jesus “was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised” and they, in baptism, also were partakers in this figuratively, likewise when Jesus was baptised and then anointed by the Holy Spirit, so these now also partake in Christ by being anointed by the oil as the Holy Spirit on them (Isa. 61:1; Acts 10:38). “But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment”, he says, since after it is prayed over, “this Holy ointment is no more simple ointment” –  much like the bre...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...where the Holy Spirit leads you. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for protection. You will no doubt experience some sort of Spiritual attack and strong temptation. Keep your guard up and mind focussed on God. Put on the armour of God (Eph 6:11). Remember, even Jesus didn’t escape this attack from the devil during His long fast (Matthew 4:1-11)! Learn to pray contemplative prayer. Ps 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God!” This is an ancient type of Christian meditation which is the complete opposite to secular and Eastern religious meditation which aims to empty your mind. Christian meditation is about filling your mind with thoughts and reflections...

The Reality of Sin

...Sin is like a mold on us, like a rotting, black skin disease. If only we could see it on us, we'd be disgusted and repulsed! Zombies are popular on TV etc. right now, think of the grossness of those images and realise that when we sin and keep sinning, that's what we end up looking like before God! We are living stones, together building up the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 2:5; 1 Cor 6:19). Think about that for a moment. Think of the splendor of Solomon's temple when it was built (re-read it again if you can’t remember: 1 Kings 6:14-36). We are that and SO much more! But now imagine it with mold and mildew and all that horrible black damp growing and sp...

It's no longer about land!

...e" by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-7). The Kingdom of God is a new creation of a new people group, birthed by God's own Spirit and not by natural means. To be "born again" means the old has to go; it has to die, which is precisely what Jesus and the Apostles taught (Jn 12:24; Luke 9:23-24; Mat 10:38; Gal 5:24; Col 3:1-7; Rom 6:11). We do this through faith in Jesus by putting away earthly things and desires which hinder our walk with God and life in the Spirit until such a time that we physically die and go to new life eternal. Until then though, we should strive to "regard no one from a human point of view" as Paul wrote, and remember that we are a ne...

Fasting: A Spiritual and physical discipline

...where the Holy Spirit leads you. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for protection. You will no doubt experience some sort of Spiritual attack/oppression and strong temptation. Keep your guard up and mind focused on God. Put on the armour of God (Eph 6:11). Remember, even Jesus didn’t escape this attack from the devil during His long fast (Matthew 4:1-11)! Learn to pray contemplative prayer to help keep your mind stilled and focused purely on God. Ps 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God!” This is an ancient type of Christian meditation which is the complete opposite to secular and Eastern religious meditation which aims to empty your mind. Christia...