One In Jesus

Numbers

(Num 11:25-29 ESV)  25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. 26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.

27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Continue reading →

We start, quite naturally, in the Old Testament and in Genesis. Now, the Hebrew word for “spirit” is ru’ach, which is also the word for “breath” and for “wind” — the same is true in Greek. Therefore, while it’s usually clear which meaning is intended, we often see wordplay based on the dual or triple meaning.

Further, “spirit” is used in different senses. It can refer to the person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. It can refer to what makes someone alive. Thus, living beings might be called “spirits.” Or those having “spirit” or “breath.” When we die, we lose our “spirit,” not because the spirit flies away to heaven, but because we stop breathing. “Spirit” is not generally used of the eternal part of us. Continue reading →

The Restoration Movement (or Stone-Campbell Movement), which gave birth to the Churches of Christ, resulted from the merger of two earlier movements, one founded by Barton W. Stone and one founded by Thomas and Alexander Campbell. The Stone movement is quite a bit older than the Campbell movement, but over time, the thought of Alexander Campbell came to dominate, as he was much younger and more energetic than Stone.

Their views differed on many things, including the role of the Holy Spirit. While Stone saw the Spirit as vibrantly active in the church and in the lives of individual Christians, Campbell had little room for the Spirit in his theology. Continue reading →