Building my theology. Spirit.

I can’t build a house. I can’t even finish off my basement! O.k., I could try, but it would be a mess, I’d damage the house, my pride, my marriage, and my finances. My neighbors have finished their basements, some by doing it themselves, some by hiring a contractor to oversee the work. If I am to tackle this project, I will have to enlist an experienced contractor to make sure the job is done right. And I’ll have to pay him.

I could build my own theology by myself – but I really don’t know what I’m doing. Yes, I have an intellect, yes I can read and talk to others who have tackled it. But the bottom line is, none of us have been here before, this is our first pass through life. I’d like to have a more experienced Counselor for this endeavor.

The Holy Spirit of God built the earth. He moved on the dark waters and began shaping earth [genesis 1:1]. Spirit continued his building work by constructing the revealed, written word of God. 2 Peter 1 says we “must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Spirit guided the Son through his earth journey, from his desert battle with Satan to his prophecy-fulfilling first sermon – “”The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [luke 4]

When Jesus left, Spirit switched to a new building site – the church. Jesus gave instructions through him to the apostles about the new church [acts1:1]. Acts 2? You remember what he did there.

And what does this master craftsman want to do in my soul? “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. [1 corinthians 2]”

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. [2 corinthians 3]

So it just makes sense that the Spirit should build my theology. I want him to be the guiding force, the contractor who pulls all the resources together, the one who teaches me how to understand and practice the truth. I must submit to him. I will pray daily and listen to him teach me as I study the word. I will let him test any and all new thoughts, new teachings I hear to see if he approves, to see if he thinks they can be added to my theology.

And I don’t even have to pay him!