Newbigin: the mark of the Spirit

Friday, January 19, 2018
    Commemoration of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095
Meditation:
    And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
    —Romans 8:23-25 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:11,17,23-25]
    The counterpart of this withdrawal of Christ [the ascension] from the reach of the senses was the gift to the apostles of the Holy Spirit by whom Christ was made present to them in a new way. They now knew him no more by sight and after the flesh; they had His Spirit. And this “having” is both a real possession and a foretaste, an earnest of what is in store... The Spirit assures us that we are heirs of a kingdom yet to be revealed (Rom. 8:17). The Spirit wars in us against the flesh (Gal. 5:17) and gives us assurance that even our mortal bodies shall be quickened (Rom. 8:11), and that what is mortal is to be swallowed up of life (2 Cor. 5:4-5). Meanwhile the very mark of the Spirit’s presence is that we groan waiting for our adoption (Rom. 8:23) and hoping for that which we do not yet see (Rom. 8:24,25).
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press, 1954, p. 115 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:11,17,23-25; 2 Cor. 5:4-5; Gal. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have sent Your hope to live within me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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