The Holy Spirit is Given

Luke recorded the following concerning the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13 NET): Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all1 together2 in one place.  Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled (ἐπλήρωσεν, a form of πληρόω)...

The Holy Spirit is the ἐπαγγελία of the Father

Luke continued his written account in Acts 1:1-8 (NET): I wrote (ἐποιησάμην, a form of ποιέω) the former account, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do (ποιεῖν, another form of ποιέω) and teach (διδάσκειν, a form of διδάσκω) until the day he was taken up to...

Religious and Righteous Prayer

Jesus contrasted religious and righteous prayer in a parable in Luke 18:9-14.  When his disciples were curious why He spoke to people in parables (Matthew 13:10), Jesus answered in two different ways, first (Matthew 13:11, 12 NET): You have been given the opportunity...

Everyone Fathered by God Does Not Sin

John wrote, We know (Οἴδαμεν, a form of εἴδω) that everyone fathered (γεγεννημένος, a form of γεννάω) by God does not sin (ἁμαρτάνει, a form of ἁμαρτάνω), but God protects (τηρεῖ, a form of τηρέω) the one he has fathered (γεννηθεὶς, another form of γεννάω), and the...

More Than the Minimum

To leave the giving, receiving and power of the Holy Spirit out of the Gospel is frankly absurd.  I doubt that was Paul’s intention in his first letter to the Corinthians.  The omission is mine if I limit my view to a specific text.  Jesus, after his resurrection,...

Introduction

This is my attempt to use the sharpness and precision of Scripture to distinguish the Gospel from what I call the religious mind.  Admittedly, the religious mind may be nothing more than a subspecies of the carnal mind (KJV) or the outlook of the flesh (NET),1 but it...