LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1973, Page 452

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

452

CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT AND LUTHERAN THEOLOGY

of charismanec gifts. They assert that when Scripture urges che
behever to be flled with che Spirit :Eph. 5:18) ic 1s encouraging
him to seek and pray for the bapusm of the Holy Spint. which
will bestow on him such spiritual gifts as prophecy. divine healing,
miracles. or speaking in tongues ‘1 Cor 12.8-10:

However, a study of pertinent passages in the Scripture indicates
rather clearly that these expressions may have various meanings
On Pentecost the disciples, hlled with the Spirit, spoke in tongues.
proclaiming the wondrous works of God «Acts 2:11) The deacons
in Acts 6:3 were to be men full of the Spirit and of wisdom in
order that they might diseribuce food and clothing to the needs
in a fair and equitable manner. Stephen, full of the Spirit, disputed
with the members of the Jewish Sanhedrin and put them to
silence :Acts 6 10). Paul was filed with the Spirit at his bapusm
and so was equipped to be a missionary to the Gennles «Accs
9 15-18). Im Ephesians 5 18 the aposcle exhorts all Christians to
be flled with che Spirit, obviously meaning chat they should
employ the powers given them by the Spirit to live Christian
lives. for the entire fifth chapcer of the epistle deals with sancnfica-
uon

Thus the expression “filled with the Holy Spirit.” as i¢1s used in
Scripture, very frequently has no apparent relationship co cha-
rismatic gifts. Consequently, it 1s often used in conjunction with
such terms as “wisdom” or “faith” ‘Acts 6:31. Men full of the
Spine are children of God whom the Spirit has endowed with the
gift of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord 11 Cor, 12.33, as well as ites
and talents that enable chem to serve Christ and their fellowmen
in the church

B The Ho's Sprrit and His Gifts

The baptism of the Holy Spirit must be studied in the larger Biblical con-
cext of the Holy Spirit and His spiritual gifts. One of the chemes that ap-
pears prominently in both Testaments represents the Holy Spirit as the
Spirit of Power who gives special gifts to the people of God tn order to
enable them to serve Him according to His will In Old Testament umes
it was the Spiric who gave the rulers and military leaders the abibty to
govern in times of emergency. (1 Sam. 10 1-7, 16:13)

He pave the judges of Israel physical strength, courage, and wisdom to
wage war against the enemies of God's people ‘Judg. 3 7-10, 6.33 ff). He
endowed the artisans with craftsmanship in building the tabernacle (Ex. 31
2.4), Ina very special sense of the word, He equipped His “prophets” to
serve as mouthpieces of God in order to reveal His will to the people
12 Sam.23 2. Neh. 9:20, 30, Ezek. 11:5, Hos. 9.7, Zech. 7.12)

15

After Pentecost the Holy Spirit took a very active part in direceing the
early Church into an intensive program of carrying the Gospel into all the
world. It was the Spirit who led Philip to the chariot of the Echopian and
gave him the opportumty co speak to him of the Savior Acts 8.29). It was
the Spirit who directed Simon Peter to the house of the Gentle Cornelius
to proclaim to him the Gospel Aces 10) Again it was the Spirit who chose
Paul and Barnabas to be missionaries to the Genule world Acts 14 1-3:
and then directed them through Asia Minor into Macedomia ' Acts 16 6-10)

The Bible also provides a number of lists that enumerate specific
spiritual gifts with which God has endowed His church. One of the more
famihar listings 1s recorded in 1 Corinthians 12 where the spiritual gitts
menuoned are wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of mir-
acles. prophecy, the ability to distinguish becween spirits, various kinds of
tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. It should be carefully noced
that while the apostle clearly indicates that miraculous gifts of the Spirit
were possessed by some individuals in the Corinthian congregation, he
does not deal with the subject extensively in bis leccers to other churches
When Paul in other epistles presents to his readers lists of spiritual Rifts,
or when he discusses the duties and functions of the church, or even when
he catalogs the qualifications of pastors and other church leaders, he men-
tions only the less spectacular gifts, and his emphasis ts on communicating
the Gospel ‘Eph. 4.4-11. Rom. 12.6-8, 1 Tim, 3.1-13, Titus 17-9) Some
have interpreted this silence to mean chat the miraculous kitts that were
originally given to the followers of Christ soon disappeared trom the early
church after they had served their special purpose. Others, however, feel
that such an argument from silence 1s inconclusive because there may
have been no problem in these churches with regard to the proper use of
these gitts

In the fifth chapter of Galatians the apostle discusses the fruits of che
Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful-
ness, gentleness, and self-control (vv. 22-23), Here it should be noted
that Sr. Paul lists the less spectacular gifts of the Spirit, namely, the more
common attitudes and spiritual qualines of the Christian that result from
his regeneration

To be considered also 1s that Holy Scripture indicates with remarkable
consistency that the Spirit imparts His gifts in response to the needs of
His kingdom (Gen. 41:38, Num. 11.16-17, 24-26, 29, 2718-23, 1 Sam. 16
13, Judg. 6.1-6, 33-34, 13.1-3, 24-25, Acts 2.1-43, 41-22, 6:1-11, 8:26-40)
He bestows His special gifts on God's people in a historical contexe. In the
New Testament the primary emphasis is that the Spirit equips the church
to meet the world’s need for the Gospel (Acts 8:5-8, 8:14-17) 111-18,
131-3, 166-10), For this reason the apostle strongly emphasized the
importance of proclaiming Christ in a clear, intelligible manner. (1 Cor.
141-12)

17

Throughout the New Testament, the Spint is presented as the mark of
the new age that began with the resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost. The
Holy Spirit in whose name we are bapazed is the Spirit who was promised
in the Old Testament icf. Exek. 36:25-38, Jer. 31.31-34, Ps. 5110-12), But
He is associated with God's new covenant and the passing away of rhe old
covenant ‘ct 2 Cor 3: To contess Jesus as Lord by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor
12.3) 18 tw confess that we stand in the new testament in distinction from
the old, for the Spirit is che ‘down payment’ or “frsttruits” of the new
age of Rom 823, 2 Cor $5: 1.22) The church, created by the Holy
Spirit through Bapasm and the Word. is the net Israel of God

In the New Testumenc the Spirits work was intensitied. This became
evident even betore the events of Pentecost. Early in his ministry John the
Baptist proclaimed the good news that Jesus would “bapuze” His people
with the Holy Spine. This indicated that with the coming of the Kingdom
Jesus would pour out His Spirit on them ina very special measure

Prior to His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus gave His disciples
the promise of the Spirit The Spiric would be their parvdleetus, their
Comforter and Counselor John 14.261. He would guide chem into all
truth, He would teach them all things and again remind chem of all that

Jesus had told them while He was with them iJohn 14:17, 26, 16 13)

Shortly before His ascension into heaven. the Savior told the disciples
to remain in Jerusalem uneil they had received the bapasm of the Holy
Spirit (Acts 1.5), then they should employ this power to bear witness to
Christ in all the world . Aces 1.81

In the Book of Acts it is evident that these promises concerning the
Holy Spirit were fulfilled. The coming of Pentecost brought wich it the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus equipped His followers wath such spiritual
gifts as were needed to carry out the task of evangelizing the world. Some
of these gifts were miraculous. The disciples on Pentecost were heard
speaking of the wondertul works of God in languages they had not learned
(Acts 2:6-12). Some ume later in the history of the early church, this
experience was repeated with other believers in Christ, (Aces 10:46, 19 o

Filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples of Jesus performed many signs
and wonders :Acts 5:12, 6.8), they healed the lame (Acts 3:6), the sick
and those afflicted with unclean spirits (Acts $.16, 8:6-8), and those who
were paralyzed (Acts 9.341, on occasions they even raised the dead, ( Acts
9.40; see also Aces 13.9-11; 14.8-11, 16:18. 1911-12. 207-12)

Of special importance. however, were the less spectacular spiritual
gifts chat were directly related to the proclamanon of the Gospel After
Pentecost the disciples possessed an intense desire to preach the Gospel of

Jesus Christ. They employed every opportunity co witness to the cruci-

fixion, death, and resurrection of their Lord. They proclaimed Christe with
new courage and boldness, and it is very evident they they understood
better than before Pentecost the purpose and significance of Christ's death
and resurrection. (Acts 2. L440; 3:12:26, 4 1-22, 9:29-32, 71-60, 8:32.35)

16

In short. the Spint is the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord and no other
Jesus promises not only that the Spirit “will convince the world of sin and
of righteousness and of judemenc’ but that He will glorify Jesus Chriss,
“for He will take what 1s Mine and declare it to you” John 16:8, la. He
Is quite willing to be anonymous as long as Christ is proclaimed and exalted
John 16 13-14), The Spirit does not provide a second foundanon for faith
but bears witness to Jesus Christ as the church's one Foundation, Through
Him we confess Jesus as Lord «1 Cor 12 3) and call God our Father 'Gal
46) It 1s through the Spirit that we serve God and one another and
overcome the temptations that arise in our lives. The Spirit transtorms
and empowers the whole life and oudook of those who receive Him, gives
birth to the community of the church, and enables that church to proclaim
the Word with boldness

C The Nature and Purpose of Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14

One of che most instructive sections in Holy Scriptures on the nature
and purpose of spiritual gifts is | Corinthians 12-14. We shall not atcempe
to reconstruct the total problem that troubled the church at Corinth with
respect to charismatic gifts, nor shall we seek co review the questions that
may have been asked by the congregation. Instead we shall nore some of
the basic instructions that Paul gives in these chapters regarding spiritual
gifts. Among the points made by S¢. Paul thae are particularly relevant to
our discussion are the following

1 Already in the pretace to his lecter the apostle calls the attention
of the Corinthians to the many blessings they possess in Christ
In Him they have every spiritual gift (1:7), they have sanctinica-
tion (1:2), the grace of God (1.4) enrichment in speech and
knowledge (1.5) Because they are in Christe. they lack no
spiritual gift. They also wait for the “revealing of the Lord Jesus
Chris.” Only the return of the Savior would bring complete
victory for them. Apparendy the Corinthian Christians chought
of themselves as already existing in the realm of glory, engaging
in the work of the Spirit, which they conceived of as being
beyond Christ. Therefore, the apostle reminds them again and
again that the spiritual gifts they now possess are theirs #7 the
cructped and resurrected Christ. And at His recurn they will be
complete.

Buc while possessing all spiritual blessings, they were not using
them as they should, and in chapters {2 to 14 Paul proceeds to
give them instructions on the nature, purpose, and proper use of
these great gifts

2. The fact chat an individual is in an ecstatic state does not in
itself indicate that he is spiritual. Ecstasy is not limited co Chris-
tians. The Corinthians knew this from past experience. Before
they were children of God, the very essence of their religious

18