Work of The Spirit

 Michael Horton

We must walk a tightrope—Scripture does underscore the Spirit’s role in regenerating us; of uniting us to Christ and, in him, to the Father; of indwelling us and interceding within our hearts; of stirring us to love and fellowship with the Father and the Son as well as each other. Since our first contact with the triune God is with the Holy Spirit, who raises us from spiritual death and indwells us, we can wrongly conclude that the Spirit is the approachable person of the Trinity. Instead, we should see this work of the Spirit as initiated by the Father and purchased and mediated by the Son. Through the Spirit’s operation, all three persons come near to us and bring us into their fellowship.

Curt Thompson

We have come to the expectation of being entertained. There is little or no expectation that suffering has the lotential to form us into more resilient people. When it comes to suffering, I not only anticipate the emotional state I will occupy in the hard times, but I also assume that I will be alone in my distressing affect. I’ll be powerless to change it. This reveals our insecure attachment mindset. We do not anticipate that anyone will be coming for us, to join us in our trials. We will not be seen, soothed, safe or secure as we had hoped or longed for. We fear being left alone in isolation where evil takes advantage and shame takes up residence.

Curt Thompson - as we turn more and more to the Light, we find that our eyes continually have to adjust to the Light that is becoming brighter and brighter. And it turns out that naming the sources of our trials and difficulties (what has happened to us, what we have done to ourselves, or the consequences of not conforming to the world’s standards) allows us to follow Paul’s algorithm of moving closer and closer to hope.