This episode of Clearview Today is brought to you by LaBlue Ultra Pure Water. What I love about LaBlue is they keep it simple. Hydrogen, oxygen, nothing else. They use a patented filtration process to remove any impurities and deliver ultra-pure water that you can trust. And best of all, they'll deliver it right to your office every month, right on time.
So order today online at LeBlue.com. That's L-E-B-L-E-U, and use promo code today, T-O-D-A-Y at checkout for 10% off. It's going to save you money, it's going to keep you hydrated, and support us here at the Clearview Today Show. Thanks for listening. Thanks to LeBlue for sponsoring today's episode.
Now let's jump in. We talked about who the third person in the Godhead is, but now it's time to really dive into his role. What is it the Holy Spirit does in your life? Let's figure it out together. Coming up right now on the Clear Vee Today Show.
You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. Thanks for joining us on today's episode of the Clearview Today Show with our host, Dr.
Abadan Shah. If you're listening for the very first time, we want to welcome you to the show and let you know we're glad you're here. We want to hear from you. You can text us 252-429-6069. We want to hear what God is doing in your life and your ministry and how this show is being used to impact you and your family.
Dr. Shah, the conversation on the Clearview Today Show is always good. That's right. But these past few episodes, Unpacking the Trinity, Unpacking the Nature of God, has been especially good as we're diving into who God is in these different persons and yet one God is so, so incredible to understand. That's right.
Absolutely. I mean, what we're discussing here and describing here is the traditional Biblical Orthodox view of the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. This is, there's such a desperate need for us to go back to these truths, not become, you know, pedantic or become very academic, but Talk on a level that people can understand, but at the same time, Talk about these very important core doctrines of what makes Christianity Christianity. to give dates and to give place names where these councils were held and what was decided. And I guarantee it there are people who are listening and watching Are going, wow, I didn't know that.
I didn't know that. Because it's unfortunately, these things don't get shared. But I'm hoping that this series on the doctrines will help people get to know God. That's right. You know, we talked about that as soon as this series started: that the doctrines that you believe about God matter because they impact the way that you behave, the way you live your Christian life.
Dr. Shah, tell us why there's such a desperate need. Why is this for the person who was maybe saved yesterday? And they're not cynical, they just don't know. Why is this a problem in Christianity today that we don't know this stuff?
Well, let me just say this. If you just got saved, and you have very little foundational understanding of Biblical doctrines. Then God is not going to say, Oh, you don't understand the Trinity? You don't understand. The doctrine of the incarnation and all the nuances.
Oh, you're going to hell. You didn't give that in the welcome packet? Like, what are you doing? Who didn't give him the welcome packet? Yeah.
And if you did not check every single box, like when you go to the doctor's office, they give you the checklist and you're like, oh my goodness. Surprisingly, you can finish it real quickly. He's just like, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah. So you know, you you think, well, is is that what God is expecting?
Every time someone gets saved, that you have to go through this entire checklist and go. No, if that were the case, most of us would probably not get saved. Because I'm sure there are people who got saved. who had a very improper understanding of the Trinity. But Once you are taught Biblical, traditional, historical, orthodox doctrines of the faith, then you should believe.
That's right. But teaching that Is what we're doing on this show.
So, That's one thing. That This does not mean that if you don't understand these things, that you're lost. That's not what we're talking about here. Once you understand, you need to believe them. But also When we continue in our Christian lives With an improper understanding of who God is.
Imagine Going through life. Having an improper understanding of your spouse. Great point. Right? I feel like that's where most of our marital conflicts come from.
Yes. I just don't. We don't understand each other. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, going through your whole life thinking this person is this way, but actually they're not that way at all. And then having conflicts and having bickering and fussing and fighting because you think they're like this. Same thing happens in our relationship with God when you have a misguided, unbiblical, Understanding of who God is, who is the Trinity, what is the role of the Father. What is the role of the Son?
What is the role of the Holy Spirit? Then, all through life, you just kind of stumble your way through until you get to the end of the line, you know, finished line. You go, well, Here I am. Yeah. And we know that how we live in this life determines how we live in eternity.
That's right. Through Jesus Christ, we're going to heaven. Amen. Praise God. But how we spend eternity is based on how we live here.
And how we live here. Is based on how we understand God. And how we respond to him. That's right. We tend to think that heaven is going to be a cookie-cutter experience.
Like, if you get your ticket, it's going to be the same exact experience for every single person who ever lived, regardless of how I live.
Well, then, why live correctly? Oh, because it's the right thing to do. That's not, I mean, and I mean, yeah, maybe you could say that, but there's very few idealists here on earth who are willing to live that way. It's because there's treasures and rewards waiting for me in heaven. That's right.
Based on my obedience, based on my knowledge and my love for God, based on my desire to share the good news with the lost, based on my desire to love others in the body of Christ and to help them grow and to edify one another. I mean, all that is important. That's right. And all that is connected. With who God is.
You said something. Go ahead. I was just going to say, in this conversation, we have been talking about the nature of God, God the Father, and we've talked about God the Son, but we've landed on the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, and talking about who the Holy Spirit is, who the Holy Spirit is not, and what the Holy Spirit does for us as believers. That's right. Well, you know, a lot of times when we talk about the Holy Spirit, we talk about his functions, what he does.
But yesterday, we did a great episode. And if you're listening for the very first time, I want to encourage you to go back and listen to yesterday's episode because I think it's a conversation that you're not going to hear very often on Christian radio or any podcasts out there, but who the Holy Spirit is. And we talked about that yesterday, but today, maybe Dr. Shaw, we can talk about more what he does, you know, functions in our life. Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
There was a book, Believe by Ari Torrey, that I had to read back in college in the early 90s. And that's a great book. I encourage it to people, even today, read Ari Torrey's The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. And I hope I'm right on that because I believe he's the one who wrote that book. But great book.
Person. Who is He?
Well, we talked about it. He's the third person of the Trinity. He guides men and women, boys and girls into all truth. Exalts Jesus Christ the second person of the Godhead? convicts of sin Righteousness and judgment.
He cultivates Christian character, he comforts believers, he bestows spiritual gifts. by which believers serve God And he seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. I mean, this is the seal of the Holy Spirit that is upon us. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers is the assurance of God. to bring us into the fullness and the stature.
Of Jesus Christ. That is As comprehensive as you can get. Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology is where I'm getting all this information.
So if you want to read more on that, Please go and check it out. His hi there's a Christian doctrine. Version Of Grudem's book, and then there's a systematic theology, which is the much thicker, bigger one. I don't know how utilized he is in like seminary level, but if you're an undergrad in any Bible institute, you're going to read systematic theology.
Sooner or later, you're going to read either Millard Erickson or you're going to read Wayne Grudem. And there are several others out there that I prefer. But these are some solid. Good. theology books.
I mean they they they they Stick with the truth of God's word. Is it fair to say, Dr. Shaw, when we're talking about the Holy Spirit, just reading through this list that comes from Wayne Greedam's book? Is it fair to say that the Holy Spirit is more of the I guess doer, the active. Role in shaping believers and drawing people in applying God to our lives in our day-to-day?
I would say so.
Okay. You know, there was a controversy in the church about how much the Holy Spirit was subjected or submitted to the Father and the Son. And thank goodness they landed biblically, which is that the Holy Spirit is submitted both to the Father and the Son. It's not like this is the poor one who suffers in the Trinity. No, no, no.
That's what he wants to do. That is the person of the Holy Spirit. His job is to submit to both the Father and the Son, and then to actually make it happen. You say, Well, wait a minute.
So the Father and the Son are superior? Not superior in the sense of better, but they have that sense of. Authority. They don't have more value. Right.
Yeah. The nature is the same. Yeah. The essence is the same. Father, Son, Spirit, three.
They are equal. They're fully God. They're not like demigod and semi-God and one-third God. No, they are fully God, fully God. You say, well, that's kind of contradictory.
Yeah, if your mind cannot comprehend them. Right. Yeah. We're talking about. The God of the universe.
I guess it's because we're human, and a lot of times that hierarchy brings resentment and pride and all this stuff that doesn't exist within the Godhead. No, it doesn't. We try to map it onto them, right? Yeah, there's no like, oh my goodness, these father and the son, they just like completely, you know, take advantage of the Holy Spirit, and he's just like pushing him to do all these things. And poor God, he gets stuck with all the work.
Yeah, all the work. That's not how it works in the Trinity. Right. It is with joy, it's with eagerness, it's with speed. That the Holy Spirit does what he does.
And man, you know, if you think about what Jesus said, and maybe we'll talk about this later on. When they were blaspheming Jesus And at that moment they talked about, you know, what kind of spirit he has in him, blah, blah, blah. If you remember what Jesus said, If you say something blasphemous about me, it will be forgiven. But if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, it will never be forgiven. Wow.
That's crazy. That's crazy. It's like you said that about the father.
Okay. Repent, you'll be forgiven. The son. Yes, you can be. The Holy Spirit.
No. Both the father and the son at that moment stand up and say You're done. Jeez. And the question then is: well, what is that sin against the Holy Spirit? Basically, it is.
Bottom line. Rejecting the Holy Spirit. That's right. That's right. Yeah.
Not accepting the Holy Spirit's conviction and direction and bringing you to the salvation that comes through the second person of the Godhead. Yeah. It's so interesting to see how those different persons within the Godhead relate to one another because there is sort of a there's a functional submitting that happens, but at various points you have one that is held up over the others where the others are saying, No, no, you're not going to do that. You're not going to you're not going to treat us the godhead that way yes sir i mean like the father you know kind of if we're backing up Here The Father, if you say, I'm going to come straight to you, Father. The father says, No, you got to go by the son.
That's one of the core things that people don't like about Christianity, right? Is that you have to, you can't get direct. There's this quest, this human quest to get to God. And Christianity says, we have the way, but it's only this way. And they're like, no, no, no, I don't like that.
I don't like that at all. I want direct access. No, it doesn't work like that. You have to come by the way of the sun. It's kind of crazy if you think about it.
Like, imagine a room with like $10 billion in it. And it's like, You can go in that room, and all that money is yours. The only thing is, you have to come through this door that I'm going to open up for you. That's the only thing you got to do. It's like, no, I'm going to go the other way.
Yeah, I'm going to look. I'm going to go through this wall. I'm going to try to break in. It's like, I'm going to open the door. All you have to do is walk through it and just, and just.
Go through my door. There's got to be another door. I mean, Jesus said it. I am the door. Yeah.
So What does the Holy Spirit do? There's so much we can say.
Well, the Holy Spirit empowers us. By giving us life, By giving us power for service, he is the empowering one.
So, when you, as a pastor, you have to preach. The Holy Spirit is the one who's going to give you the power. You lead worship. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives you power to lead. It's not just about talents and gifts and hard work and determination and consistency.
All those things are very good. But it's the Holy Spirit who gives you the power to lead people to the throne of God. I might use that this weekend. Do you mind? Go for it.
Go for it. I mean, same thing with leading students or producing this show or all the other things that go around in this church or in academics or in broadcasting or in the community. It's the Holy Spirit who empowers you. He gives you power for service. Amen.
And we talked about that a little bit yesterday about how he, you know, he gives you life. He gives you power to serve. But there's other functions too, right? We talk about this all the time, how he's our comforter and how he's our God and all of these things.
Well, another one that we need to begin with, actually, before we go to the comforter is that he is the one who purifies. The Holy Spirit is the purifier. In John 16, 8. And when he has come, this is Jesus speaking. About the Holy Spirit, when He has come, He will convict the world of sin.
and of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they do not believe in me of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more of judgment Because the ruler of this world is judged. You know, we think about the Holy Spirit purifying us, right? Like, he's just this presence that comes in and just makes us clean. It's this beautiful process, but it says he's going to convict the world. It's not a, and it's, I think it's a sign of maturing that you realize that purification is not pleasant.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's not a pleasant. Fun.
Enjoyable process. No, I mean, you use the analogy of metal being purified, of going through the refining fire. And if the metal could talk, I would imagine they would say, Hey, this is not fun. This is really hot. I don't like this.
But it's necessary in order to purify that metal for those impurities to come to the top.
So, too, with us. The process isn't fun, but you emerge on the other side pure and more Christ-like than you were when you went into the fire. And there are some who have rejected. You know, in Acts 7.51, It says, you stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you.
Always resist. Imagine an apostle of Jesus Christ telling you that. Yeah. Coming to your church and saying that. Yeah.
Golly. You know what's funny is we read something like that and we say, No, not my, not my church. Every other church in the world, yeah, probably, but not mine. But like uh and or even not even my church, not even me. Is he talking to me right there?
The last line of that verse is really grabbing my attention, Dr. Shaw. As your fathers did, so do you. How, I mean, I know that's your dad's story of generations of people not believing in Jesus, not believe, not following God, and then your dad coming to faith. How hard is it for someone who has grown up in a family that does not believe?
to make that Shift to come to faith in Christ. Great, great point. I believe it is the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit that a person can go from absolutely. Contradictory, contrary views to the truth of the gospel and one encounter with Jesus Christ, and it's like completely different. think about the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.
He thought he was doing something right. Paul was not going out there feeling guilty for his sins or something like that. Maybe he was feeling guilty and that's why he was doing more, but it wasn't it wasn't it was He was full of zeal. He was full of zeal for what he thought was right. Yeah.
This wasn't some like secret sin he was trying to keep hidden. Yeah. Or even struggling with his salvation and all that stuff. No, he was so dead set going the opposite direction and thinking that this opposite direction is actually the right direction. And then on the road to Damascus, where he was going to go and drag believers, men, women, back to Jerusalem and kill them in the process.
Jesus encounters him. And he he is radically Challenged. And his question is, Who are you, Lord? We said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And then he's given some instructions on what's going to happen, what needs to happen.
And all of a sudden he makes an a hundred and eighty degree change. In the Opposite direction, going this way, full force. Stopping or being stopped and then going the opposite direction. How is that possible? It is possible because the Holy Spirit was operating in Paul's life.
Now does it happen with every person that way? Probably not. I would say no.
Some people, it's a process, it's a growing process, it's several invitations to the church or some functions, or inviting someone to your home for a small group study, or something like that. I mean, it's a lot of things, a lot of strands. That are connected until we get to that point. But The principle still stands is the Holy Spirit of God, Who makes a hundred and eighty-degree change in our lives?
So, what happened to my dad is the Holy Spirit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, we see that, and we see that even in our own lives.
You know, we see that every single person. And it is crazy because we want more of the Holy Spirit and we pray for that. God, give me more of your Holy Spirit. But if you've been saved, the Holy Spirit is there with you. And I think we said that on yesterday's episode.
I think we do neglect that. We neglect that truth that the Holy Spirit is living in us right now, enabling us to say the words that we're saying. Yeah, we are so we're so self-centered. We think about ourselves more than anything else, especially more than God, thinking that the Holy Spirit is with us at all times. And the thing that we, you know, we push the Holy Spirit to the side to engage in these sinful behaviors is just, it's shameful.
It is. It is. And it's something I think that we wrestle with. I think it's why we're always looking for more of the Holy Spirit. I think people pray for that.
God, pour more of your Holy Spirit upon us. But, Dr. Sha, is that even a prayer? Like the Holy Spirit, we have him in full, right? Yes.
The Holy Spirit is fully in us. That's right. It's more about submitting yourself. to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. That's a little different.
Okay. So when we're talking about How much can the Holy Spirit you can have? As much as you want, yeah, but it's not like water that you can just keep pouring in there, it's more about. Submitting. And so we often reuse the analogy of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And we think like he's like some liquid that has to be poured into us. It's an analogy. It simply means complete control. complete completely Full of the Holy Spirit means no place. For My sin, no place for the world, no place for the enemy.
Okay. Yeah. Like like like if this coffee cup had anything in it. Then I cannot fill it completely with coffee because there's something in there.
So I have to repent of that something. In other words, I have to remove that something and then fill the coffee cup with more coffee. Because as long as that rock's in there, it may look like it's full, but it's really not. That's right. Remove that rock, all of a sudden the level drops.
Pour more coffee in there.
So, in a sense, you can say that. That Holy Spirit Fills us, but it's not filling like pour more liquid in me. Filling means. remove everything in my life that's right that is not from god well i think you said it best there we can have as much the holy spirit as we want yes if i don't want to remove this area of disobedience of sin in my life then i'm not going to be able to be as filled with the holy spirit so it comes down to am i willing to submit everything that i am and everything that i i i want to to god and to be filled with the holy spirit you mentioned earlier about how pastors when when we preach or when you preach that you are doing so because the holy spirit is the one who is is empowering you to do that but maybe you can also talk a little bit about how the holy spirit reveals that wisdom to you in the first place like how he's there with you in the prep in the study i think especially in worship right the holy spirit moves in worship but he doesn't start moving until we get on the stage and start singing that's how people act When really the Holy Spirit is the one who's In your prep. Absolutely.
In your study.
Well, the revealing power of the Holy Spirit has been manifested throughout history.
So, if you go back in time to the prophets and the apostles, it talks about the revealing of the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21, it says, For prophecy never came by the will of man. But holy men of God spoke as they were. Moved by the Holy Spirit. Yeah.
Yeah. Who revealed to them Two Isaiah and Jeremiah. To David and Daniel, to Moses To Ruth? To Esther, who revealed to them?
Well The Holy Spirit, that's right. John sixteen thirteen. Jesus said, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth for He will not speak of His own authority, or on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. And he will tell you things to come. He will tell you things to come.
So. to prophets and apostles. It's the Holy Spirit who revealed to them the truth of God. But also He is the evidence of God's presence. John fifteen twenty six But when the helper comes...
whom I shall send to you from the Father. The Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me.
So, when we say, like, God, I want to see you, I'm frustrated because I can't see you working and moving in my life. Really, it's the Holy Spirit who's moving those sins, those obstacles out of our way. Of course, revealing God's Galatians 4:6. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba Father. I John four two, By this you know the Spirit of God.
Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.
So, the Holy Spirit not only revealed himself or revealed the truth of God to the apostles and prophets, but prophets and apostles, but also he gave evidence. To God's people, of God's presence. I mean, how this is where you find the model of true loyalty is how. They treat each other. Like like you could never st Tell the son.
Hey, can I talk to you about the spirit? He just convicted me really harshly the other day, and I just really didn't like that. I feel like he was out of line. It just wasn't the what he said, it was like how it was how he said it. Yeah, and he's like, You cannot talk to people like that.
Can you see the son and the spirit going against the father? Like, they're conspiring, like, hey, so you know, why do we need him? Right. Yeah. No, no way.
Imagine if that kind of a unity was in a family. Yeah. That kind of a unity in the church. That's what I was going to say. Yeah.
Imagine if you had that in your life. And I think a lot of people listening to that are like, well, of course, I mean, that's God. But I mean, God gives you the opportunity to do that. He's modeling it so that you will do that in your family, in your church, in your ministry, in your life, in your workplace, and how much better life would be. Yeah.
Hallelujah. Aren't we created in the image of. I don't know what you're going to say. No, I'm joking.
Sorry. In the image of God. No, we're created in the image of God.
So, you know, we are imperfect. We're sinful, but we can, we have the capability to display that unity. We have the capability to experience that. I think that's why people, when they experience closeness, when they experience, you know, church, family, and things like that, it really creates a hunger for them because that's how we're designed. We have that imprint.
And that's what we are called to do, imitate God. Which one? There's only one God. Father, Son, Spirit, imitate them, imitate him. It's not contradictory.
That's right. Dr. Sha, we got like two minutes left in the show, but someone's listening to this right now and they're saying, you know, I want this. I genuinely want what you're talking about. Maybe they're not saved.
Maybe they've been saved for a while, but now their view of God is kind of fuzzy and they're coming back into how how do you just want to encourage that person as we're exiting the show today? Christianity or Our faith is not just I am a good person now. Or I know God now, or I pray every morning, or I go to church, or I have a membership in such and such a church, or I'm a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Lutheran, or a Presbyterian, or a Pentecostal, or a Catholic, or whatever. That's not Christianity. True biblical faith the way you know that's what that's what we were called the people of the way Is To know that Now It's not just that God is in me.
but that I am in God. And a few weeks back, or a few shows back, we talked about how through Jesus Christ we are connected to God. How do we do that? Because we are connected to the humanity of Jesus in that. Connection, we are also connected to God.
So, this truth can be applicable in your life. Because you and I are connected. To God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Through the humanity of Jesus we are one with God. These are spiritual truths that you need to not really just exploit, but take advantage of.
Amen. Pray with that kind of a confidence. That you are connected to God. It's not like He's up there, I'm down here. look at problems with that kind of confidence.
that God is with you. and you are with him and no nothing is impossible. For God. Nothing is impossible in your life.
So I would say Truly spend time in thinking how you are now connected to the Trinity through the humanity of Jesus. That's right. Folks, these episodes are going to help you live the Christian life, help you understand what the Holy Spirit is, what He does for us, and how connected to God we are. He's right there with us. As you heard on today's episode, Thanks for joining us for today's broadcast.
If you haven't already, make sure you're following along on all social media platforms and anywhere podcasting content can be found. That'll help you share these episodes with your friends and with your loved ones so they can benefit from the conversation as well. And also consider supporting the show financially. It's through donors just like you that we're able to do what we do.
So head over to Abadanshah.com forward slash give and become a financial sponsor of the Cleary Today show. You can also do that by visiting the description box of this video and hitting support the show. That's right. Big thank you to all of our sponsors: Blue, Ultra Pure Water, Mighty Muscadine, Watch Safe. These are all organizations who've partnered with us.
And if you want to do the same thing, if you want to become a sponsor of the show, advertise your business, you can email us info at clearviewbc.org. You can always text us. That number is always, always open: 252-429-6069. That's right. We love you guys.
We'll see you tomorrow on Clear Read Today.
