SPCC Winter School 2003

Introduction

1. The Human spirit and Christian Spirituality

close connection between Holy Spirit and human spirit e.g. John 4:24; Rom 8:10, 16; Eph 5:18-19 etc.
prophecy (1 Cor 14:32)
supernatural insight (Mark 2:8)
recognition of God’s Fatherhood (Rom 8:15)
realm of worship and prayer (John 4:24; 1 Cor 14:15-16)
spiritual warfare/false teaching/discernment of spirits (1 Cor 12:10; 1 John 4:1)
spirit as realm of sensitivity to God (not a source of sin but can be “defiled” 2 Cor 7:1)

2. The Human spirit and non-Christian Spirituality

intimate awareness of God lost through sin (Gen 2:17; Eph 2:1; 1 Tim 5:6 cf. Rom 3:23)
loss of Holy Spirit as indwelling reality (Ezek 36:26 – 27; John 3:1- 10; Jude 19)
human spirit is now self-oriented i.e. to “flesh / sinful nature” (1 Cor 2:11)

3. What Blocks Spiritual Sensitivity?

lack of sensitivity not the usual Christian experience (as per above); the New Testament church operated in all the gifts and graces of God, though these needed proper functional ordering
lack of sensitivity means opposition to Holy Spirit because the Spirit is the sensitivity of the Godhood (1 Cor 2:10 -11)
“flesh/sinful nature” (Rom 8:11; Gal 5:17)
“works of the flesh” (Gal 5:19-21) e.g. flattery (John 5:44; Rom 2:28- 29)
preoccupation with the things that are below (Col 3:1-4) e.g. distraction, busyness, and tiredness
grieving the Holy Spirit (Isa 63:10; Eph 4:30)
the problem of a guilty conscience (“cover up”) O.T. kipper “atonement” or “covering” (Ex 25:17; Lev 16) for breaking the law; fear of intimacy with God (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:4- 6 n.b. role of law); fear relates to punishment (1 John 4:17)
attack of evil spirits n.b. through the law (Gal 4:2, 8 -11;Col 2:20-23)
legalism the opposite to true Christian spirituality (Gal 3:2-3;4:15)
disobedience to God is basically a condition of unbelief (Acts 5:32)

4. What Releases the Human Spirit?

a. Release of the Holy Spirit

the release of the Holy Spirit opens up the human spirit to God; hence vast difference between spirituality of Old and New Testament (Acts 2:1-4,11,17-18; Eph 5:15-20)
the task of the Holy Spirit is to make us sensitive to the things of Christ (John 14:26; 1 Cor 12:3; Eph 3:16-17)
the fullness of the Spirit, received and maintained, depends upon the work of the cross

basic principle: God applies/repeats in us what he did in Jesus (Rom 6:1ff; 2 Cor 1:8 -10; 4:7- 12; Phil 3:10etc.)
how is the cross a release of the spirit of Jesus?
normally his communion with the Father is as complete as humanly possible (John 3:34-35)
on the cross he becomes sin (2 Cor 5:21), subject to God’s wrath (1 John 2:1 – 2), “uncovered”(Mark 15:34),under the curse of the law (Gal 3:13) and so subject to evil spiritual powers (Col 2:13-15)
in this condition his spirit finds no space in God and knows no sense of the Spirit’s presence; he is in the condition of human flesh/sinful nature but puts it to death by his total surrender to God (Rom 8:3)
Jesus’ final act is one of the total triumph of the human spirit (Matt 27:50; Luke 23:46; John 19:30)
the way into the holy presence of God is opened up for all through Jesus’ death (Matt 27:51; Heb 10:19-20

“what the cross cleanses the Spirit fills” (Roy Hession)
conversion experience of early believers is one of inner cleansing (Acts 15:9; 1 Cor 6:9 – 11;Titus 3:5 -6) and therefore spiritual vitality
this cleansing comes by application of the blood/death of Jesus in the power of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:4; Rom 15:18-19)
cleansing from dead works (Heb 9:13-14)
protection from the wrath of God; “atonement” (Rom 3:21- 25; Heb 2:17), “forgiveness” (Eph 1:7); “reconciliation” and “peace” (Col 1:20)
this opened up the hearts of people and brought deep repentance (Acts 2:36;3:19;16:14; 1 Thess 1:9)
only when all human efforts (“dead works”) are exhausted and surrendered to God can we know the release of S/spirit in our lives (Rom 8:4ff)
deepening of spiritual life comes through loss of spiritual sensitivity that is yielded to God in a faith that defies all experience and results, in God’s time, in deeper and deeper “Spirit to spirit living.”