A Brief Chapter Summary from Books At a Glance
By Steve West
Today many people are talking about spirituality. But what is it? It is often very vague, but it is assumed to be personal and plural. In other words, people find their own spirituality in themselves. The Bible, however, teaches that people are spiritually dead and need to be given spiritual life. Only Jesus can make us spiritual.
In the church, there is currently all kinds of talk about the Holy Spirit, but much of it is confusing. Who should we listen to? The fact is that the Spirit speaks through the Scriptures, the Word of God. Our experience can corroborate the truth of God, but our experience is not our authority for truth. We should not adopt the Pentecostal model of looking at prophecy, tongues, and miracles as being normative for the Christian experience today. The Book of Acts shows the growth of the church from Jew to Gentile (Acts 1:8). It shows that this was completed by the apostles. The New Testament prophets and the apostles were the foundation for the church. That foundation cannot be laid again. Apostles and prophets had a historical work to do, and that time is past. . . .
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THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, by Richard B. Gaffin