[1000 silverlings]

It occurs to me that some Christians these days may also be resisting the Spirit.

I don't think so and this is why: the stiffnecked people mentioned in Acts are unconverted Jews. Whenever the HS came to them, He was external and it was for but a short while.

Christians actually receive the Spirit who proceeds to complete a work in them. They can now grieve the HS, literally make him sorrow, but they cannot resist Him.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

So this idea of "resisting" the Holy Spirit is untenable. Unless of course, one isn't resisting Him, but the Truth of what He teaches. Then perhaps comes the itching ears and the desire for

2 Timothy 4:3

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Simon Magus asked for the Holy Spirit, but not to pursue the truth of Jesus alone with it, (Acts 8)and from other accounts not found in the bible, we learn where he was led.

Now without being flip or contentious, it seems to me that if you are saying that you can use the Holy Spirit something like the Ummin and the Thummin, that this not biblical, unless of course you can show me that it is. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss this, it's always enjoyable to touch on the deeper things of scripture.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for your reply!

You say a Christian cannot “resist” the Holy Spirit but can “grieve” Him. But they are not equivalent in this context - grief is what the Spirit feels, resist is what a mortal does.

Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. - John 8:43

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. – John 12:47-48

[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. – Romans 8:1

Those who believe in predestination only, which is to say that man has no free will at all would protest that all is predetermined, that man cannot resist the Holy Spirit (or anything else for that matter).

That theology is anathema to me because God’s commandments are not just meaningful they are alive within.

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. [Whereof] the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. – Hebrews 10:14-17

The predestination only theology, by the way, is indistinguishable from the atheist and Deist view of “strong determinism” which also says that everything unfolds irresistibly (but in their view, according to physical laws and constants) --- that the mind, will, consciousness, soul, spirit is merely an “epiphenomenon” of the physical brain.

An epiphenomenon is a secondary phenomenon which can cause nothing to happen and therefore there is no such thing as personal responsibility, the unfolding was irresistible.

But it neuters both the laws of God and the laws of men to embrace the concept that the mind, soul or spirit cannot cause anything to happen.

Now without being flip or contentious, it seems to me that if you are saying that you can use the Holy Spirit something like the Ummin and the Thummin, that this not biblical, unless of course you can show me that it is.

The urim and thummin were lots cast to determine the will of God. It was ordained of God as we can see in Exodus 28:30. Remember, not a jot or tittle will pass until the new heaven and new earth (Matt 5) so the urim and thummin remain in the law.

Likewise, Gideon used a fleece to determine the will of God (Judges 6).

But as you say, there is a huge difference between the old covenant and the new in determining the will of God. Before Pentecost, before the indwelling Spirit, man was in one domain and God in another, those who loved God were not baptized with the Holy Spirit – and such ways (lots) were ordained to determine His will.

But we Christians have been baptized with the Holy Spirit (Matt 3, John 1) and thus we have the mind of Christ (I Cor 2) because we are dead to this world and alive in Him:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. – Gal 2:20-21

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. – Col 3:3

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Romans 8:9

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. – John 6:63

We don't need lots. The indwelling Spirit leads us, if only we let Him. (John 14-17, Romans 8, I Cor 2)

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Christians actually receive the Spirit who proceeds to complete a work in them. They can now grieve the HS, literally make him sorrow, but they cannot resist Him.

Amen. As if.

"For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.

Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him." -- Ecclesiastes 7:12-14

[Uncle Chip]

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures go hand in hand. It was the Holy Spirit that "inspired" them and it is the Holy Spirit that helps people to understand them. Since the Holy Spirit is the author of the Scriptures, wouldn't it be appropriate to have the author's help in understanding what they mean, rather than a magisterium somewhere who may or may not be hearing from the same Spirit?