The Holy Spirit. The person of the Holy Trinity who is completely misunderstood. Let's simplify it.
Word + Water = Holy Spirit
Word + Bread and Wine = Holy Spirit
Going to Church = Holy Spirit
God's Word in study = Holy Spirit
There is nothing more to it.
The Spirit's Work is the Trinity's Work
Why is He so terribly misunderstood?
Because we try to separate Him from the work of the Trinity. There is so much bad information out there. The new age movement took advantage of the Holy Spirit as if the Spirit's work isn't the work of the Holy Trinity.
Two examples of this are Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyers. These two popular television preachers reject the work of Christ in Baptism and the Lord's Supper, exactly where the work of the Spirit takes place. They try to build their followers around the Holy Spirit instead of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. They believe the Spirit works outside of God's means of grace. It is why Joyce is a former member of OSL. She simply doesn't believe Jesus' words, Given and shed for you, nor baptism for the forgiveness of sins - the two things you can't do on television within the community of saints.
The Spirit Gives You Gas, But You Don't Brag about Having Gas
When the Spirit becomes the focus of the work of the Trinity, then Satan has done his job. The work of the Spirit is completely behind the scenes. He is the gas that powers the engine of condemning sin and forgiving it. The focus of the work of the Spirit is Jesus' life, death, and resurrection in exchange for ours. In other words, His work is like the gas engine of your car. If you smell gas, there is something wrong. The engine is God's Word, not the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, we confess the work of the Spirit as the gasoline that drives the power of the Word of God. Lutherans never judge the work the Spirit is doing because we don't pretend to know when and where He does His work outside of the bible and the sacramental life. True, the Spirit gives you gas, but you don't brag about having gas.
He empowers you and drives you to the humility of a penitent heart. He brings the very forgiveness
you need in the Word. The Spirit powers the engine that runs the church. That is what the Spirit does when He "moves you." He moves you to be one with Christ in the Lord's Supper to receive forgiveness. He moves you to get to the place where the body of Christ dwells - only in church, because that is where the sacraments of Jesu dwell.
99.9% of the Spirit's Work is Unknown
The Spirit powers your life to follow God's will and do the right thing as God revealed it in His law. Of course, this means that 99.9% of your life and the work of the Spirit is unknown - except that we know 100% that the Spirit is at work in the word of God alone and any other place is none of our businesss. (1 Corinthians 12:28)
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