I know those are deep water teachings J4C. I can only say, buy the book Word Studies on the Holy Spirit by EW Bullinger if you really want to plumb the depths. It was written over a hundred years ago and is still being printed. I will just share a Forward written in that book. A book which I bought over 20 years ago;
"FORWARD The emphasis in recent years on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has helped to produce a great number of books on that subject. Some of these books are immature and will not last. Their theology (to borrow a phrase from P.T. Forsyth) is “like a bad photograph-over-exposed and under-developed.” But a few books have made a definite contribution to the subject and will surely last. Word Studies on the Holy Spirit is one of the older works that has had a steady ministry and is sure to last.
WARREN W. WIERSBE"
[
FYI Warren Wiersbe was born 1929, a former pastor of Moody Church as well as an author of over 160 books]
I will warn you, this isn't a cookie eater's book. You'll have to put on your 'big boy/girl pants' to get through it, I believe.
And I'm going to share one short summarizing paragraph to give you just a peek at where I've been led to come from, in this 200 page book. Read the following sentence;
Oh, that's a nasty cut you have, the doctor is in his office, let's have him doctor it up for you.
Which '
doctor' in this sentence
is a person and which
doctor is an action FROM that person? It is the presence of a 'definite article', the word
THE. In a Greek Interlinear bible you read a literal translation of the Greek sentences above, and all he English worded sentences of an English translation below it. You will find that the transliterated 'GREEK worded sentence', which is above the KJV sentence below it, that the translators ADD a the in brackets
[the], changing the sentence to mean
the person of the Holy Spirit, when it always meant
action/power released FROM
the Holy Spirit. Bullinger's book, as well as his KJV Companion Study Bible, (which is also still in print after a hundred years) both state that translators capitalized the word
holy spirit or
spirit INCORRECTLY 52 times in the New Testament. That my brother has led to a whole lot of the dumb theology that the 'spiritually gifted' tongue talkers have, as well as the "
ungifted" non tongue talkers. That's why I challenge both sides when I believe they're wrong. And the harder they fight to defend what I USED TO ALSO BELIEVE and had to re-think through, the harder I slap back. Just like Jesus slapped the religious pharisees of his day who thought they knew better than Jesus. Am I Jesus? NO! Am I trying to offend? No, I'm trying to enlighten. Do I intentionally try to offend? No! Do they intentionally take an offense? All the time.
When I was 20 years old in the Lord, I'd have said the same thing you just said. All I can say is, you have maintained an attitude of disagreement with me that I respect. So far anyway.
I understand your dilemma. It is mine also. I skip over many posts here too. Usually I do so because I've already gone around with them many times in the past. They run every time they can't win but they never change when they come back. And, as you've seen, I also won't line up with everyone on 'our side', and agree to back them, just because it's 'our doctrinal POV against theirs'. Let US be
iron sharpening iron and not sparks flying from swords. I do try to pursue peace with all men first, even as I believe you and I still have.