As mentioned earlier (in God), there is only one god who exists co-equally and eternally as three persons: God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one of those three persons of the Godhead or Trinity.

He is equal and One with God the Father and God the Son as referenced by His power (Micah 3:8; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:10), His work in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30), and His omnipresence (Psalm 139:7).  In the New Testament of the Bible the Holy Spirit is clearly called “God” (Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

The Holy Spirit is not merely an impersonal force or just an extension of God, but a unique individual that is equally a part of the Godhead or Trinity, shown by His ability to be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), resisted (Acts 7:51), and insulted (Hebrews 10:29).

Before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would be sent to His followers (John 14:15-17; Acts 1:4-8). On the Day of Pentecost this promise was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit did descend upon the Followers of Jesus (Acts 2:1-40)  and continues to be fulfilled today as the Holy Spirit is active in the world.

The Holy Spirit is active today in convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11); thus having an active part in God’s gift of salvation through Jesus(John 6:63; John 3:5-7).

The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-15), dwells within every believer from the moment of salvation (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and seals the believer until the Day of Redemption (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30).

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer-making them more like Jesus- (John 14:26; Romans 8:9), thus regenerating the believer and giving them a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Holy Spirit comfort us in times of trouble (Acts 9:31), even giving us words to say when we know not what to (Matthew 10:19-20).

The Holy Spirit helps us and empowers us to do God’s work and spread the Good News of Jesus to all men (John 3:34; John 7:38-39; John 15:25-27; Acts 1:8; Acts 9:31). The Holy Spirit gives every believer a Spiritual Gift (or Gifts) to accomplish His work on earth (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:11-12).

God is not completely comprehensible to the human mind (Isaiah 45:15), but He reveals many important things to us about Himself through His creation (Psalm 19:1-3; Romans 1:20), His goodness (James 1:17), and most importantly His Word (Luke 16:29-31).

There is only one god (Deuteronomy 4:35; John 5:44) who exists co-equally and eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

God is superior to humanity in that He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-12), omniscient (Psalm 147:5), omnipotent (Job 42:2), immutable (Hebrews 13:8), eternal (Psalm 93:2), and sovereign (Psalm 103:19).

God gave humanity the ability to share some or strive towards some of His attributes (Genesis 1:26): spirit (Psalm 103:19), holiness (1 Peter 1:16), love (1 John 4:8), goodness (Psalm 84:11), truth (John 14:6), justice and righteousness (Exodus 34:7), mercy (Titus 3:5), and beauty (Psalm 27:4).

God not only posses these attributes, but literally is them. For example 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” It doesn’t say that God only posse’s love or feels love or acts out love, but that He is love. And not only does God have the ability to be perfect, holy, and pure; He actually is perfect, holy, and pure (1 Peter 1:16).

God created everything in existence from nothing for His pleasure and purpose (Colossians 1:15-17; Revelation 4:10-12).

All of the paper in the world could not be used to write down all of the wonders of God.

Tomorrow? The Person and Work of Jesus.

So I have been starting to look for a new job- for far too many reasons to list for the purposes of this site.

Ministry job hunting is very different than “secular” job hunting. If a secular company asked the kind of bizarre questions that churches ask their potential employees, it would be considered discriminatory- that is not an exageration. I totally understand why though, and appreciate the precautious lengths that churches go to to make sure that they place a minister who will best fit in with their community.

Once I was interviewed by one of the largest and most influential churches in the nation. The interview did not go good. I thought I would be asked spiritual questions about my walk with the Lord, my ministry philosophy, or my heart for the lost. Instead I was asked…”Have you ever hired or fired someone?” What?! Of all the questions they could ask, this was one of the first ones they pulled out?? One of the next questions: “What kind of fishing do you like to do?” once again, not the most spiritual of questions.

Today I had a pleasant talk with a nice pastor and his wife. This was my second “interview” with them. One of the first questions I was asked? “Do you like sports?” Where does Jesus fit into this equation? This is nothing against the people or churches that I have interviewed with- just once again I am surprised by the things that matter to a church or a pastor when they are trying to fill an open minstry position.

So what does this have to do with doctrine…I know…I have been ranting and I am sorry. It’s just easy to get frustrated over things like this. Anyways, I am in communication with a church up North and they have asked me a lot of questions- a lot of great questions.

Yesterday they contacted me again and wanted to know what my ‘Statement of Faith’ was. I could easily give them a one sentence Statement for each category of my Christian Faith, but I felt it was important to give a more detailed answer with Scriptural references to each of my points. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I already had a paraphrased personal statemet of faith jotted down, but I wanted this to be an introductory to those who don’t know me to the deep faith that I have in God and His Word.

I know it’s cliche’, but I really do take a two-fisted approach to doctrine: closed-fisted and open-fisted.

Closed-fisted doctrine is that which I am unshakable about. I rest on it for all things involving  belief, hope, faith, decision, and relationship. The Closed-fisted stuff is what the Bible clearly states. It is essential doctrine to being a Follower of Jesus- being a Christian. With me, it is not open to debate or questioned within my life or ministry. I’ll gladly discuss it and listen to other perspectives. But I know that it is those closed fisted things that make me who I am in Christ.

Open-fisted Doctrine is the stuff that we as Christians can agree to disagree on. It’s the stuff that’s not essential for salvation. It’s sometimes the stuff that the Bible is unclear or vague about. Or the stuff that people have a really hard time understanding. These are the things that we usually all have opinions on, but are willing-sometimes to openly debate and discuss. Often, Closed-fisted doctrine is not as much about doctrine as it is about methodology.

I will describe both of these types of doctrine as we go through this blog series. I will start with the Closed-fisted doctorine and then work my way into the Open-fisted stuff.