Rees: the Holy Spirit (I)

Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Meditation:
    Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba , Father.”
    —Galatians 4:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The experiencing of divine sonship, of adoption, is the act of the Spirit in our hearts crying Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15,16)... Liberty, peace, and joy are correlative factors in the same moment of experience, and they are all attributed to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:2,6; 14:17; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 1:6). In the allegory of Abraham’s two sons, Paul contrasts the state of bondage under the law with that of liberty under grace, and defines the one as being after the flesh, but the other after the Spirit (Gal. 4:21-29)... The first great moment of the new life, whether it be called justification by faith, the realisation of sonship, or peace with God, is a work of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the word. But [Paul] does not indicate... the exact logical or historical sequence of the various elements in the experience, and it may be doubted whether he would have entertained any idea of sequence within the complex experience of justification. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Thomas Rees (1869-1926), The Holy Spirit in Thought and Experience, New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1915, p. 81-82 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:2,6,15,16; 14:17; Gal. 4:21-29; 5:22,23; 1 Thess. 1:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I now know my Father. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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