The Holy Spirit is your Guide

 When Mary became pregnant, her fiancé Joseph was shocked because he was not the father. An angel of the Lord visited him in a dream and explained God's plans to him.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Mt 1:23 NIV

The Father was actually God Himself! We are familiar with this now, but imagine how staggering this was for Joseph! But Joseph believed God.

How often does God Himself intervene in this world, but devout Bible-believing Christians assume it must be from below? Conservative unbelief is a major obstacle for God in our generation, just as it was in the New Testament when the Pharisees questioned everything.

How can we distinguish between what comes from God and what does not? Bible knowledge is important, but the Pharisees in the New Testament were the world champions in Bible knowledge.

In the New Testament, lepers, corrupt officials and prostitutes recognised Jesus as the Son of God, but most Bible experts misinterpreted everything.

The Word of God is our standard in everything, but how we understand God's Word can often be miles away from God's wisdom.

We cling tightly to certain proof texts that confirm our beliefs, but why are we always so sure that our beliefs are always 100% flawlessly correct?

No one is flawless in this life. Is your faith based on the teachings of the Reformers? We find considerable disagreement among the leaders of the Reformation.

Calvin claimed that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit in the New Testament were only for biblical times. Many Reformed Christians believed the gift of prophecy was not intended for later generations.

The leader of the Reformation in Scotland was John Knox. His doctrine of salvation was exactly like Calvin's, but he was recognised as a prophet, and so was Luther.

Many Reformed Christians in our time do not believe in miraculous healings. Martin Luther didn't believe in it at first either, but later he prayed for miraculous healings and God healed.

If we cling inflexibly to doctrines, we can often be wrong.

God sent his Son from heaven to die for our sins and open the way to eternal life.

But before his death on the cross, Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. The Bible experts of his time had spread many erroneous doctrines, but Jesus rejected their faulty theology.

Then Jesus promised that after his ascension, God would still be with us.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. Jn 16:13 NIV

This refers to the inspiration of the writers of the New Testament but not only that. The same Holy Spirit inspires all believers in all generations. We all need the Holy Spirit to help us understand what God is saying to us in prayer and in our reading of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit helped the Reformers and later theologians, but they, like us, were not flawless. Each of us needs the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him. 1 Jn 2:27 CSB

So should we ignore all Bible teachers and reject all theology? No. We must be teachable, but each of us must be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, just like Joseph, who experienced a visitation by God's angel in a dream and he obeyed.

Women in Ministry

Why I do not agree with John MacArthur’s view that women may not teach or lead in church:

(Article by Bob Edwards. Copied with permission)

This is how the Greek New Testament describes the ministry of women:

• Phoebe: διάκονον (deacon) and προστάτις (leader), Romans 16:1-2

• Priscilla: one of the συνεργούς (co-workers) of Paul, Romans 16:3; ἐξέθεντο (expounded, interpreted) “the way of God more accurately,” to a man Acts 18:26.

• Junia: ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις (outstanding among the apostles), Romans 16:7

My understanding of why 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 do not prohibit women from teaching, leading, or speaking in church:

1st Timothy 2:12 is not a prohibition against “all” women teaching or leading in the church of Ephesus.  Priscilla taught a man the way of God more accurately, in Ephesus.  

The context of the verse is in a letter against “false doctrines” (1 Timothy 1:3), “godless myths” (1 Timothy 4:7), “opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20).  A woman *engaged in false teaching* should learn before teaching.

I do not believe 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 was a command from Paul telling women they must be silent in church; nor do I believe Paul was saying it is “shameful” for women to be heard in church.  The rabbinical oral law of the day said those things:

“A woman’s voice is prohibited because it is sexually provocative” (Talmud, Berachot 24a).  
“It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men” (Talmud, Tractate Kiddushin).

I believe Paul’s response to the oral law appears in 1 Corinthians 14:36-39:

“What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? … Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.”

In other words, oral tradition should not be used to prevent women from expressing their spiritual gifts in church, everyone must simply express their gifts in an orderly manner (see verse 40).

Ministry roles are not given according to gender.  They are given according to spiritual gifting: 

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;  if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:6-8)  

The Greek word used to describe the gift of leading is προϊστάμενος; it is the verb cognate of προστάτις, the word used to describe the leadership role of Phoebe in Romans 16:2.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). 

 Paul really believed this.  When Peter related to Gentile Christians differently than Jewish Christians (by refusing to eat with them) in Galatians 2:11-14, Paul rebuked him.  As in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul explained that it is wrong to “force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs” (Gal 2:14).

When John MacArthur tells women that they may not teach or lead in the church, I believe he is acting like Peter in Galatians chapter 2, he is nullifying the word of God by holding on to human tradition (see Jesus’ remarks to the religious leaders of his day in Mark 7:13