Wyatt Graham

Faith | Books | Culture

Holy Spirit

What does it look like to change by the Spirit?

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Christians are supposed to be new creations whose lives exhibit the power of God (2 Pet 1:3ff). As new creations, we walk and live by the Spirit. Even knowing this, many of us struggle to understand what it looks like to change by the Spirit. We attend regular churches full of regular people who don’t appear very much like Spirit-indwelled new creations. What are we missing?

The answer to these questions involves understanding how we change, what the power of God means, and why sin still exists even among Christians.  [Read more…] about What does it look like to change by the Spirit?

What Is The Glory That Jesus Gives Us in John 17? Answer: The Holy Spirit

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In John 17, Jesus promises to share the Father’s glory (that he too possesses) with his disciples. He prays, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22).

What does this mean? And to complicate things, how does this fit with Isaiah 42:8 which reads, “my glory I give to no other”?

The answer requires paying close attention to the argument of John, the order of redemptive history, and reflecting theologically on the meaning of both. I argue that “glory” in John 17 means “Holy Spirit.”

To make this argument, I will outline, augment, and strengthen Gregory of Nyssa’s (335–395) argument for this position in his letter: “On ‘Then Also the Son Himself Will Be Subjected to the One Who Subjected All things to Him.’”

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Why I Affirm Double Procession (the Spirit Proceeds from the Father and Son)

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For some time, the single procession of the Spirit made good sense to me. In the monarchy of God, the right order seems to be: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the sole principle who begets the Son and from whom the Spirit proceeds.

I found the phrase “the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son” helpful because it mediated the two positions (single and double procession). Like single procession, the Spirit comes from the Father. And like double procession, the Spirit comes from the Father by coming through the Son.

I was satisfied. Then I read Thomas Aquinas and Gilles Emery. They forced me to reconsider what the Bible said and to re-reflect on my theology.

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