Part 5 of 10 of the theme 'The Holy Spirit in the NT ' by Gijs van den Brink
We have seen previous times that all the highlights in the life of Jesus also have significance in our life of faith. So does the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost.
Paul speaks in this context of the "seal" of the Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22) or the "sealing" with the Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The Spirit is then the "collateral" (arrabon), the down payment on a much larger promise.
John, in his letters, calls this personal Pentecost an "anointing" of the Spirit (1Jn.2:20,27; cf. also Luke in Acts 10:38) given to believers.
I learned from Prof. Graafland that this analogy between salvation history and our spiritual life is called "salvation order" in dogmatics. Thus you can speak salvation-historically about revelation in Scripture and "salvation-orderly" about a person's path of faith. There is an analogy between salvation history and personal salvation order.
In the great Christian traditions, such as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, as well as in the Anglican and Lutheran traditions, the salvific significance of Pentecost has always been preserved, namely in the doctrine and practice of confirmation or confirmation.
Since Tertullian (pl. 200 AD), this has been a widely held view for centuries, which I believe is thoroughly biblical. Water baptism is aimed at preservation, Spirit baptism or confirmation at equipping the Christian with the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the Reformed tradition, unfortunately, this point of faith has become very blurred. However, the missiologist prof . Dr. J.H. Bavinck has, since the middle of the 20e century made a tremendous effort to bring this point of faith back into focus. In his booklet "I Believe in the Holy Spirit" (1963), he too distinguished between the "regenerating action" of the Spirit and the "empowerment" with the Spirit.
It was Pentecostalism that put this important theme forcefully on the map in the 20th century, in writing, but especially in practice. What it is about then will be discussed in subsequent contributions.
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 5 of 10 concise blog on the topic of "The Holy Spirit in the NT" from Study Bible Magazine, Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!
