“Understanding The Covenants & Understanding The Holy Spirit & Who He is!” — Part 1

For a lot of reasons there are denominational mixed beliefs about the Holy Spirit. A lot of denominations believe that it is only the Pentecostal denominations who believe in the Holy Spirit, The Baptisim of the Holy Spirit and Speaking in tongues. Probably because of the scripture references on the day of Pentecost referred in (Acts 2). Fortunately, today, this is not just a pentecostal belief. Not only is it a belief it is biblical. It's scripture from Gods' living word, that the holy spirit is real and sent from God to you and I. In His word we can learn about who the Holy Spirit is and Why He is here for you and I as well as what his purpose is. I believe a lot of the mis-understanding developes from the understanding of the covenants. Not everyone understands the covenants, Not everyone accepts both covenants. Since the covenants raise a lot of questions, why not start there first...

In (2 Corinthians 3:7-18), we read about the old covenant and the new covenant. First off, What is a covenant? A covenant is an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified. A law or a conditional promise(s) made to Israel by God, as revealed in Scripture was a covenant, and God promised to protect and bless them if they kept His law and was also faithful to Him. With that covenant came laws, ordinance, lands, and the priesthood to enforce the laws, as well as teach, and perform worship services for the people on the Sabbath and the seven annual holy days which came much later. God desired for Israel to grow into a great Nation by using His laws and wisdom to show all mankind what life could be like if all mankind would follow and obey Him.

In the beginning of the bible and through out the Old Testament we know that God's presence was made known to individuals. He not only was presant with them, He spoke directly to them through out the old testament. 
(Few scripture references: Genesis Chapters 3, 12, 17 & Exodus Chapters 6, 14, 33, amidst some others) The old covenant is also where the 10 Commandments were born unto Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20). Also, In the old covenant there were only a few times mentioned where God was in human form, (Genesis 18 & 19).

In the new covenant God has made with mankind, It is the same relation as the marriage covenant we make with our spouses to be. In detail: The husband turns his life over to the wife, and the wife turns her life over to her husband. Under the new covenant, when we repent of our sins, accepting Jesus' shed blood, and are baptized, and then receive God's Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, we are in fact entering into a marriage relationship with God, stating that we are willing to turn our lives over to Him. Some Christians believe they are still under the old covenant to some extent without truly understanding the statement by Jesus Himself in Mark 1:14-15 stating; "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." What did Jesus mean by this? It could be ineterpreted as... The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand repent, of the old covenant and believe the new teaching of the new covenant. We find in the book of Hebrews that this is just what Jesus and His apostles taught. The new covenant was introduced at the passover by Jesus as noted in (Mark 14:22-24). Although some have believed it may have been introduced in the book of Matthew.

Although its noted through out the old testament that God made covenants with different individuals or groups of people. To help us understand a little better, we need to realize that there are only two main covenants God established with mankind; and the key is to understand that one was physical, and the other is spiritual. The physical covenant had to be structured much differently than the new covenant because, before Jesus came, mankind was cut off from the Most Holy Father. Everything had to be on physical terms and the priesthood was set up to be the mediator between God and mankind.

What would be the reason for changing the order of government when the covenant changed? As stated above, because the old covenant was physical and the new covenant is spiritual! In the new and better covenant Christ is governing His Church not by law, but by love. We should understand that this does not mean we no longer accept or live by the 10 commandments. As you will see from scripture, Jesus is now governing from His throne in heaven. (Other Scripture related references: Ephesians 2; Hebrews 12: 22-24) So we know that Jesus is the author of the New Covenant, Which is what we live by today. (Hebrews 9:1 through chapter 10:31) Jesus is God in the form of man (John 1: 1-18; 10:30-33). He gave His life on the cross for you and for me. Only through Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven, thus restoring our relationship with God and removing the separation caused by sin.

Where does the Holy Spirit come in? In John 14 we learn that Jesus is preparing the deciples for his departure and an introduction of the Holy spirit is made (vs 15). Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our advocate, His representative. When Jesus dies on the cross the Holy Spirit (Our advocate, Christs Representative) is sent to earth on our behalf.. Who is the Holy Spirit? As noted above in John 14:15, He is our Advocate and Christs Representative. The Holy spirit represents God's power. He was sent to intercede on our behalf. The holy spirit was sent here to gently correct or convict us of our sin and assures us that we are saved. The Holy Spirit is mentioned on equal level with God (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 & 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6) The holy spirit has 5 names as noted below along with scripture references.

• 1) Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2; Romans 8:9)
• 2) Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9)
• 3) Spirit of your Father (Matthew 10:20)
• 4) The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17; John 15:26)
• 5) The Spirit of the Lord (Acts 8:39; Judges 15:14; 1 Samuel 16:12)

The Holy Spirit is also referred to as a person by the noted scriptures:

• Romans 8:11; John 6:63; 1 John 5:6; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Timothy 1:14 Here He is referred to as WHO.
• John 14:26 Here the Holy Spirit is referred to as HE
• Romans 8:16, 26 Here the Holy Spirit is referred to as HIMSELF

Did you know the Holy Spirit has emotions and He can feel, just like you and I? The Holy Spirit is able to understand the way we humans feel. You can refer to the following scritpure references to learn more about the Holy Spirit.

• He Grieves ( Isaiah 63:10; Ephesians 4:30 )
• He Loves ( Romans 15:30 )
• He Has A Mind ( Romans 8:27 )
• He Speaks ( 2 Samuel 23:2; Acts 8:29, & Chapter 10:19, & Chapter 11:12, & Chapter 13:2, & Chapter 21:11, & Chapter 28:25-26; 1 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 3:7-8; Revelations 2:7, 11, 17, 29, & Chapter 3:6, 13, 22 & Chapter 14:13, & Chapter 22:17
• He Knows ( 1 Corinthians 2:11 )
• He Has An Awareness of Goodness ( Acts 15:28 )
• He Can Be Lied To ( Acts 5:3 )
• He Can Be Tested ( Acts 5:9 )
• He Makes Overseers ( Acts 20:28 )
• He Can Be A Witness ( Acts 5:32 )
• He Can Be Resisted ( Acts 7:51 )

The Holy Spirit does the following:

• He Teaches ( John 14:26; Luke 12:12 )
• He Intercedes ( Romans 8:26 )
• He Leads ( Matthew 4:1 )
• He Gives Life ( John 6:63 )
• Fills Believers With The Spirit ( Acts 2:4 )
• He Comforts ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; Acts 9:31 )
• He Convicts ( Acts 17:11; John 16:7-14 )
• He Assures ( Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:13 )
• He Testifies ( John 15:26; John 16:14; Mark 3:28,29; Matthew 12:31,32 )
• He Counsels ( Isaiah 11:2; John 1:1; John 16:13; John 14:26; Ephesians 1:17-19, & Chapter 3:4-5; Luke 11:9-13 & Chapter 24:45 )

So we have taken the beginning steps on learning about the Holy Spirit. There are more scripture references noted below about the Holy Spirit. I will continue this post in part 2 on the Holy Spirit and it will be posted within a day or two.

Happy learning and growing in Christ in the Holy Spirit..
Be Blessed!

( Some other scripture references noted here: John 16; 1 Corinthians 2; Romans 8:16-30; Book of Acts; Mark 16: 15-18; Jude 1:20; Isaiah 28:11; Titus 3:5; )