THE CANDLESTAND STATEMENT

PART TWO. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

2.1 ABOUT TRINITY

 

2.1 * 13 The Triune God

We believe that God has revealed Himself as the One, true and living God, from eternity to eternity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are one, having each His specific identity and function, together working in communion and interaction, accomplishing one will and plan in creation and recreation.

This God, by His Word and Spirit, accomplished the good work of creation, which was corrupted by the rebellion of mankind. God however loved the world, so He determined to reconcile Himself with creation and mankind. He revealed Himself by establishing His faithfulness as the God of covenant. This plan follows the God-given lines and periods of the redemptive history, in which each of the three divine persons carry out their allocated tasks, acting according to His own identity and function.

 

2.1 * 14 God the Father

We believe that God put enmity between Satan and mankind, thus submitting His creation to the powers of death. At the same time He established His Covenant of Grace, by promising a mediating Saviour and Redeemer, to restore the broken bond between God and man, and to renew His beautiful creation. He fulfilled this promise in history, becoming the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the people of Israel. God promised to bless all the nations of the world through Abraham’s seed, fulfilling his promise by sending His Son into this corrupt world, to become the promised mediator, firstly to Israel, then to the whole world. This is Christ, the only and eternal Son, the Word through whom all things were created. In all this God revealed Himself to be the Father of all, the creator and sustainer, full of love for His creation, and especially to mankind.

 

2.1 * 15 God the Son

The Son fulfilled this task by not considering his equality as something to be grasped, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Philippians 2:6-8). He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, thus taking up our infirmities and carrying our sorrows. By doing so He became the true cornerstone of the Church, the gathering of those who believe in Christ. Thus the Son, whom we know by His name Jesus Christ, overcame death and “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:8-10). He sits at the right hand of God the Father, to plead for us. He has promised to return at the end of times, being history's Beginning and End, to judge the living and the dead and to finally and fully accomplish God's plan of restoration of the creation.

 

2.1 * 16 God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is together with the Father and the Son, the one and eternal God. He moved over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2) and guided the people of God throughout the Old Testament, and overshadowed the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35). The Father and the Son poured out their Spirit on the day of Pentecost to bring the beautiful message of reconciliation to all peoples of every language and nation, to the ends of the earth. He is the Comforter of the Church, the one who fills the disciples of Christ with courage and understanding, with faith and trust. He has promised to be with us in the new Covenant, putting God's promises and demands in the minds and writing it on the hearts of the believers, bestowing God's precious gifts to proclaim the Gospel, gathering and protecting God's people, and preparing them for eternal life on the new earth.

 

2.1 * 17 Oneness and interaction

Faith in this Triune God is always focussed on communion with the One God, the Creator of heaven and earth, never on communion with one of the three persons alone. God the Father sent His Son, the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit, to accomplish one and the same goal. The Spirit brings us to the Son, the Mediator, and by the Son we have access to the Father, to become His children, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9a).

 

2.1 * 18 People of the Triune God

As God's people, we know our responsibility and calling to obey our Lord. By our words and deeds we praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, from whom and through whom and to whom are all things (1 Corinthians 8:6). We encourage one another to eagerly long for the return of Christ, and to pray in communion with the Spirit Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus, come soon!

We confess that the doctrine of the Trinity is far beyond our human understanding, and we thank our God, and worship the Three in One according to His revelation.

 

 

REFUTATIONS

 

8. We refute any teaching that distinguishes between three (or more) different dispensations, for instance the dispensation of the Father in the Old Testament, the dispensation of the Son (which is the time of Jesus' life on earth), and the dispensation of the Spirit (which is the time after Pentecost until the second coming of Jesus). According to this teaching, every new dispensation rendered the former as invalid and inferior. This teaching does not acknowledge the unity of God in redemptive history. It causes a separation where there should be communion inside the Trinity.

 

9. We refute the teaching that concentrates the worship to only one person of the Trinity, worshipping the Holy Spirit, or the Son, where we should worship the Three-in-One. This results in a distortion of God's coherent redemptive plan. The work of the Spirit is ineffective without the Son, the work of the Son is ineffective without the Spirit, and the Father will not gather His people without the work of both the Son and the Spirit.

 

10. We refute also the view that the Christ has already returned in other human forms, or in invisible forms. We also can not determine or prophesy when and where He will return on earth. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Mat. 24:36).

 

 

2.2 THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SPIRIT

 

2.2 * 19 Experience

As the people of the Triune God, we live in faith; this faith is the knowledge and confidence that our sins are forgiven and everlasting life is guaranteed to us. This knowledge and confidence has much to do with our minds, but at the same time with our whole human being, addressing and changing all our human faculties. It touches our reality and becomes a true and vivid experience to our mind, will, emotions; it comes in into our daily lives, filling us and leavening us as yeast leavens the whole bread. It goes with us, moves with us wherever we go, and in whatever we do. It covers our whole being.

In this life we are led by the Holy Spirit, who protects us from drifting away with the waves of our human desires and emotions. The ultimate goal of His work is not to produce in us an intellectual understanding only, but to reach our hearts and feelings through the Word, giving us true assurance of our personal bond with the Triune God. In this process the Holy Spirit, through the Word, transforms our lives in all areas.

 

2.2 * 20 Experience and Emotions in the Bible

Experience and emotions form an integral part of our Covenantal life. Paul shows us that love is the most excellent way (1 Cor. 13). This is in line with the words of Jesus, when He said that the core of God’s law is love. This has to do with our actions, feelings and experiences. In the Covenant of grace we experience all kinds of emotions, for example, peace (Ps. 131), joy (Phil. 4:4), grief , sorrow (Ps. 42; 51; 2 Cor.7), anger (Gal. 1:8,9; Luk. 19:45-46), contentment and satisfaction in all situations (Phil. 4:11-12).

Our mind and thoughts are to be seen as essential levels of Christian experience; the Spirit guides us into the full understanding of the Apostolic Faith by providing insight and wisdom. The Apostle Paul is overwhelmed with joy and praise when he experienced this work of the Spirit in his life. Although he was aware of the limitations of human understanding, he could not help but express himself thus: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)

 

2.2 * 21 Experience of the Spirit

The church experiences the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in diverse forms:

 

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Acts

We believe that Jesus Christ poured out the Holy Spirit upon His church in Jerusalem, at the Day of Pentecost, (Acts 2:1-4). In accordance with the promise, the Holy Spirit guided the Apostles into the full truth of Christ (John 16:13). In this way they became the legitimate, authoritative and final witnesses of Christ in the times of transition of the church in the New Testament age. In order to overcome the problems of this transition, the Spirit gave extra demonstrations as signs to make the Jewish believers accept the spreading of the Gospel beyond Jewish boundaries, to an international and intercultural unity of the church. Firstly, in Samaria the Spirit publicly and immediately underlines the entrance of the first non-Jews in the New Testament church at the request of the apostles (Acts. 8:14-17). Secondly, the same happened when the first Roman believers in Ceasarea confessed Christ being their Lord, (Acts 10:44-48), and also to convince Peter and the apostles themselves (Acts 11). Thirdly, in Ephesus, the Spirit demonstrated His presence because John’s disciples had an incomplete awareness of Christ, and to emphasize Paul’s authority (Acts 19:1-7).

 

The Filling of the Holy Spirit

We believe that Scripture teaches Jesus’ ongoing immersion of people with the Spirit and fire, which means blessing and judgment (Mat. 3:11-12).

In a context of being holy and not filled with wine, Scripture tells unholy people to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). We also read about this ‘filled with the Spirit’ when Scripture describes the state of the Son, being sent by the Father (John 3:34). We also read about the apostles, that they, in order to confront opposition to the gospel (Acts 2:12; 4:8), were filled with the Spirit. This being filled with the Spirit especially is dispensed to believers to make them able and bold to bring the Gospel of Christ, according to times and locations, to encourage one another, to worship in truth and to enjoy the Christian life.

 

The Purpose of the Filling

To be filled by the Spirit means that our heart, soul, mind and will is led and governed by the Spirit, to enable us to boldly confess Christ and to be fully committed to Him. The Spirit will then perform in us His ongoing comprehensive transformation of our spirit, mind, emotion, desire and will. The believer thus becomes like a spring of water to eternal life (John 7:38-39). This experience serves our sanctification and impacts on the preaching of the Gospel. Believers are therefore urged to be eager in praying to receive spiritual wisdom and love, to live the life as children of light, (Eph. 5:8-21), producing the fruit of the Spirit, and long for the return of Christ.

 

The glory of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit grants us the joy of intimately knowing Jesus Christ, as our Saviour, and unites us in the body of Christ’s world-wide church. We praise and glorify Him for His wondrous work of regeneration, faith and transformation of our lives. We thank Him for His interceding in prayer, and the steady renewing of our hope (Rom. 8:26,27).

Glory, knowledge, wisdom and power be to the Holy Spirit, in unity with the Father and the Son, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

 

REFUTATIONS

 

11. We refute the misuse of the term 'baptism with the Spirit' as a separate experience, to be expected or required in the lives of all believers as 'a second blessing'. It disqualifies the work the Holy Spirit has already done and over-emphasizes the experience that is expected, especially the emotional and the extra-ordinary manifestation of it. The term 'baptism with the Spirit' refers to the totality of the Holy Spirit's manifestation.

 

12. The event of Pentecost happened once and for all in the redemptive history, and we refute the teachings that present it as a model of a believer, suggesting that we all should have our own personal Pentecost.

 

 

2.3 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

The Holy Spirit, whom we glorify graciously, equips the Church with various gifts, also called charismata.

 

2.3 * 22 Definition of gifts

Charismata are by its literal meaning to be understood as gifts of grace that are given freely by God, and cannot be earned, or claimed by men. God will give them, dedicating them according to His will, with the purpose to meet the actual needs of His people and to accomplish His plan of reconciliation following the pattern of the redemptive history.

This means that these gifts always are given to meet a special need, or development, to guide the people of God, to found, unite and expand the Church. He gave gifts during the Old Testament times, and gifts during the New Testament times and also today.

 

2.3 * 23 Purpose of gifts

We add that the Holy Spirit dedicates his gifts for the good of the church, as it is written: 'Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good' (I Corinthians 12:7). From the imagery of the body, we learn that the unity of the Church has priority above the diversity of the gifts. The diversity is given to the Church to strengthen the unity, and each gift that exalts itself above another disqualifies itself: 'until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ' (Ephesians 4:13). It is therefore our hope and joy to see all members loving and serving one another with the various gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 

2.3 * 24 Gifts in history

We learn from the Bible that the Holy Spirit bestows His gifts upon the Church in various ways, in accordance with needs, times and circumstances:

 

Charismata in the Old Testament

God used a range of gifts among His people, in preserving the Covenant, protecting them, establishing worship, and in preparing for the coming of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ; for example, the Judges, the Prophets, the Kings, gifts of speech and wisdom, gifts of interpreting dreams, gifts to build the tabernacle and temple. Thus God preserved the progression of His work throughout history.

 

Charismata in the New Testament

The Lord Jesus Christ sent out His disciples to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. This mission required enabling gifts, all serving God's purpose to reconcile Himself with creation and mankind. He gave His Holy Spirit, who is the most precious gift of all. To the first Church, He gave gifts, fitting to the needs of the young congregations. This tells us that the Spirit gives according to special needs and times, for example:

- Gifts to found the church, apostles, prophets, eyewitnesses, words of wisdom, signs of tongues, miracles;

- Gifts to unite and to guard the church, apostles, elders, shepherds, love;

- Gifts to prepare the return of Christ, teachers, preachers;

- Gifts to worship God, ministers of the Word, presbyters, involvement of gifted members;

- Gifts to edify the congregation and shepherd its members, presbytery, wisdom, administrators, etc;

- Gifts to proclaim the Gospel and preach the Kingdom of Christ , evangelists.

 

2.3 * 25 Foundational gifts

We receive '…the apostles and prophets as the foundation of the church, with Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone…' (Ephesians 2:20). The office of the Apostles came to an end after the death of the last of the Apostles. However, the fruit of their ministry, witness and teaching lives on in the life and ministry of the Church today. The Bible remains the basis of this apostolic faith. The office-bearers of the Church, namely elders and deacons, are called to preserve the Church on this foundation and to prepare God’s people for the various works of service (Ephesians 4:12). We accept these leaders as gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that faith, hope and love are permanent and most important gifts for the well-being of the Church. And even more, as witness to the world, so that the world may believe that the Father has sent the Son for our salvation (John 17:21).

 

2.3 * 26 Additional gifts

We believe that the Lord adds many kinds of blessings to build the Church on this foundation. The continuity between the first Church and the Church of today is given and guaranteed in the living God and the foundational gifts. We gratefully admire His administration of additional gifts, as He determines in time and space. The authority of the Lord and the apostolic teaching governs the application and use of the gifts by the believers. As a result, believers cannot claim specific gifts to be given today or any permanent gift-related office or authority. We state also that believers cannot limit the Holy Spirit in giving what He wants. We cannot list all the gifts of the Holy Spirit or comment on it, because they are multiple. On the most debated gifts we want to give this comment:

 

About tongues

Tongues is the speaking in strange utterances, or real languages, which are non-understandable unless interpreted. We see it as a dispensable gift and we want to treat it according to the instructions of the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12-14.

 

About healing

The Lord can heal the sick in answer to our prayers, but we do not recognise the authority of the healer exceeding the Scriptures’ authority nor do we recognise the gift of healing as a permanent office (see Earthly Blessings).

 

About prophecy

The application of the apostolic word can be considered as prophetic speech, but we don’t expect any additional revelation and do not believe the restoration of this office (See Revelation).

 

2.3 * 27 God’s Sovereignty and our responsibility

It is our conviction that the Holy Spirit, in correlation with the triune Godhead, decides on what, when and how He wants to bless us with His gifts. The Church has the responsibility to observe both the creational and the spiritual gifts, and to acknowledge them with discernment. The Apostle John admonishes us: 'Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…' (1 John 4:1).

With full dedication the Church has to use the provided talents and received gifts. She should be open to reform habits, structures and other practices that can hinder the building of the Church as a royal priesthood. This responsibility compels the Church to pray and to strive for the greater gifts, not in a way of claiming, pushing and manipulating God, but always in dependance and accordance with His Divine will and wisdom, saying Not our will, but Your will be done (see Matthew 26:40).

 

 

REFUTATIONS

 

13. We refute the teaching that churches, which do not practice speaking in tongues during worship service, are guilty of having quenched the Holy Spirit, or of expecting too less from God.

 

14. We refute the teaching that the gift of speaking in tongues was ever meant to serve the enlargement or enrichment of Christian experience.

 

15. We warn against pride, because many times in the church history, the additional gifts prevailed over love and distorted the unity.

 

16. We also refute the view that we can push or even force the Lord to give special gifts by our prayers and fasting.

 

17. We reject all claims of divine authority without the basis of the Word. We also remember the warning of the Apostle Paul: '…savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! (Acts 20:29-30)