The Holy Spirit In The Church Of
Laodicea
[Introduction] [Part
I] [Part II] [Part
III] [Footnotes]
FOOTNOTE #3. Identifying partiality to the Comforter as the major problem of the age is not to minimize the very real distortion that occurs when the Spirit is received as the Truth but denied as the Comforter. Anyone who has suffered under the bondage of isolated, self-preoccupied groups who continually preach a legalistic "purging" and mystical asceticism while railing against the Comforter's broader ministry knows how painfully destructive this error can be. A great evil that exalts the hard-core nature of the Old Testament prophet as the complete essence of Christ exists in its own right. However this is not the majority error among those that have welcomed the Spirit's outpouring—nor therefore the focus for this letter. This topic requires its own discussion, but must not blind us to the larger problem in the spirit-filled church.
We also do not want to minimize the distortion that exists where truth is proclaimed as a form, but the Spirit is not acknowledged. The intolerable state of judgmental legalism that exists among those who exalt the Bible as its own end cannot be overstated. However, this study is not addressed to that portion of the church which has rejected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
[Introduction] [Part I] [Part II] [Part III] [Footnotes]