THE
HOLY SPIRIT IS CO-REDEEMER
AND
CO-MEDIATOR OF ALL GRACES
Bishop Brian J.
Kennedy, O.S.B.
The Divine Office of the Holy Spirit is to reveal and
witness to the Christ and through the Christ make possible for men to enter
into the life of the Trinity.
HIS IS THE DIVINE OFFICE
OF CO-REDEEMER.
All Graces come to man through the action of the Holy
Spirit.
HIS IS THE DIVINE OFFICE
OF
CO-MEDIATOR
OF ALL GRACES.
God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, (Acts 10:38)
______________________________
All Graces come from God in a wondrous
three-fold manner from the Father, through the Son by the action of the Holy
Spirit. The Father is glorified in the Son and the Son is glorified in the
action of the Holy Spirit. By the
action of the Holy Spirit we have a sharing in the divinity of the Christ who
humbled Himself to share in our humanity.
To be a Christian means to have a sharing in the anointing of the
Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who lives out in the Church the redemption of
Christ and it is the Holy Spirit who mediates the fruit of our redemption to a
sinful world.
Christ is the sole arbiter and dispenser of
all the graces that come from our Heavenly Father. Christ determines who receives what graces from God and these
Graces are administered through the action of the Holy Spirit. The Christ and the Holy Spirit work together
so closely that all graces received from and through Christ He gives to a
sinful world through the work and action of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy
Spirit given on the Feast of Pentecost who makes possible our integration into
the life of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the witness to the Christ and
testifies to the work and doctrine of Christ.
The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete. The word Paraclete means advocate,
intercessor and teacher. The word can
also mean comforter. As none can go to
the Father other than through Christ, so none can approach Christ with faith
unless the Holy Spirit draws the person to Christ.
The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, convinces us of the truth of
the Gospel. The Holy Spirit mediates
the merits of Christ to man by preparing the heart and the mind of man to
receive the Gospel message in faith. The Holy Spirit excites the soul of man to
repent and seek the Savior of our souls with willing obedience. The Holy Spirit
teaches us what Christ wants us to know and believe. It is the working of the Holy Spirit that predisposes man to
recognize the ‘ring of truth’ in the Gospels and in the preaching of the men of
God.
The Spirit imparts Sanctifying Grace, a new life, to those who
will respond to the conditions of salvation (Titus 3:5). The “renewing” (the
new life) is of the Holy Spirit. The word “regeneration” in Titus 3:5 is the
same as the phrase “born from above” in John 3:3 (in the Greek text). When a
person bows his natural will to the will of God and repents of his or her sins,
the Holy Spirit makes him a new creation in Christ.
In Baptism the Holy Spirit brings a new life to the soul and
through the power of the Holy Spirit exercised through the ordained Priest, we
become a new creation in Christ, a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, a
child of the Father by adoption and brother to Jesus the Christ. The aorist Greek tense in 1 Corinthians
12:13 indicates that this baptism with water and the Holy Spirit is an
experience that is not repeated.
In the Sacred Mystery (Sacrament) of Chrismation the Holy Spirit
actually comes into the heart of the newborn child of God to abide there (1
Corinthians 3:16). The Christian is really indwelt by the Father (Ephesians
4:6), by the Son (Galatians 2:20), and by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).
The early Church and the Orthodox Church today never separates Baptism from
Chrismation and the Sacrament of Baptism is never complete without Chrismation
and also reception of the Eucharist.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples
“all truth” (John 16:12-13). The Holy Spirit teaches us knowledge of the things
of God (1 Corinthians 2:12). Normally, the teaching is done through the Church,
the Priest or other believers who have the gift of teaching (Ephesians
4:11-12). Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God.”
Resisting the Spirit is to willfully reject the Word of God, the
truth of God, when it is clearly presented. It speaks of one who is brought
face to face with truth but refuses to act on it.
It is possible to “insult” the Spirit (Hebrews 10:29). Insulting
the Spirit is to refuse to accept and act on one or more of God’s known truths,
seeing in these truths only a natural cause or a deception of the devil. The Church calls this material heresy. The
person cannot claim ignorance because they have been taught; they just refuse
to accept it. If we respond to the
faith and praxis of the Apostles and the early church with a statement, “That
was fine for them but we don’t do that anymore” we insult the Holy Spirit. Some
men act as if the Holy Spirit has been in error for the last 2000+ years but
now has chosen to reveal the truth to them. When we look back at the history of
the undivided church catholic we see evidence from the very beginning, even in
the life-time of the Sainted Apostles, men who knew better (or thought they
did) than the Holy Spirit and rejected the inspired teaching and praxis of the
Apostles.
It is possible to “blaspheme” the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29-30).
Blaspheming the Spirit is to deliberately and willfully, against better
knowledge, give credence to the devil when he, through false apparitions and
visions and false teachers, tries to deceive even the elect if that were
possible. We also blaspheme against the Holy Spirit when we refuse to accept
the saving work of the Christ on the Cross or refuse to accept and act upon the
Word of God.
One can “grieve” the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). Grieving the
Holy Spirit is to make the Holy Spirit sad or sorrowful by our failure to see
ourselves as a people called apart to be a people uniquely His own. When we become worldly minded we surrender
to the world, the flesh and the devil.
We “lie to” the Spirit (Acts 5:3-4) when we appear pious and
consecrated on the outside, when all the while the heart is dishonest and
selfish. It is characterized by putting on a “smooth front” pontificating
around but with no real spiritual substance. More often this is a sin of the
Priest or Bishops.
One can “quench” the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Quenching
the Spirit is to disobey His voice. If
we reject what we know is true long enough, eventually God will withdraw
“prevenient” grace that leads us to follow God’s Law. If we refuse, long enough to abide the truth given through a
Priest or the church we can eventually learn that God has no longer given us
the grace to follow Him. Sometimes it
is easier to do nothing than to act on what we learn but this leads to the Holy
Spirit withdrawing from us.
Without the Holy Spirit you can never hope to approach Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit you will never actuate the fruits of Christ’s
redemptive act in your life. Christ is
the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit is the Co-Redeemer of our salvation.
THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS CALLED THE “SEAT OF WISDOM”
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, usually
numbered as seven from Isaiah 11:2-3, begins with the Gift of Wisdom. Because the gift of Wisdom is the first and
highest gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is called the SEAT OF
WISDOM.
1.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the first and highest gift of the Holy Spirit, because it is
the perfection of faith. Through wisdom, we come to value properly those
things, which we believe through faith.
2.
Understanding
Understanding is the second gift of the Holy Spirit. While wisdom is
the desire to contemplate the things of God, understanding allows us grasp, at
least in a limited way, the very essence of God's saving truths.
3.
Counsel
Counsel, the third gift of the Holy Spirit. Through this gift of the
Holy Spirit, we are able to judge how best to act almost by intuition.
4.
Fortitude
Fortitude is both the fourth gift of the Holy Spirit and a
cardinal virtue. Fortitude is ranked as the fourth gift of the Holy Spirit because
it gives us the strength to follow through on the actions suggested by the gift
of counsel.
5.
Knowledge
The fifth gift of the Holy Spirit, knowledge, is often confused with both
wisdom and understanding. Like wisdom, knowledge is the perfection of faith,
but whereas wisdom gives us the desire to judge all things according to the
truth of the Gospel message, knowledge is the actual ability to do so. Like
counsel, it is aimed at our actions in this life. In a limited way, knowledge
allows us to see the circumstances of our life the way that God sees them.
Through this gift of the Holy Spirit, we can determine God's purpose for our
lives and live them accordingly.
6.
Piety
Piety, the sixth gift of the Holy Spirit. Piety is the willingness
to worship and to serve God. Piety takes that willingness beyond a sense of
duty, so that we desire to worship God and to serve Him out of love.
7. Fear of the Lord
The seventh and final gift of the Holy Spirit is the fear of the
Lord. This gift of the Holy Spirit gives us the desire not to offend God,
as well as the certainty that God will supply us the grace that we need in
order to keep from offending Him. Our desire not to offend God is more than
simply a sense of duty; like piety, the fear of the Lord arises out of love.
Spirit
of Truth-St Hilary
St. Hilary of Poitiers
Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church
teaches us
“Since our weak minds cannot
comprehend the Father or the Son, we have been given the Holy Spirit as our
intermediary and advocate, to shed light on that hard doctrine of our faith,
the incarnation of God.”
See: http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/baptism.html
Home page: http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/