Today we move into verse 4 of Romans chapter 1 in our study through the Book of Romans. If you have missed any of this study you can find the posts on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power^[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. rO. 1:4

I want to begin our study of this verse by studying the one who appointed Jesus to be the Son of God in power. That would be the Spirit of holiness, the πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνη, the Holy Spirit.

In Christianity we worship the Triune God, the Trinity. That is not three Gods but One God expressed in three distinct personalities. You might not totally get that, and that is O.K. There are lots of things we don’t totally get about God, like the balance between sovereignty and free will (we will get into that in our study of Romans chapter 9). The trinity is one of those things that can be explained but still defies explanation. I just accept that in faith. That said what I know is that each member of the Trinity has a different part in the plan of salvation. Each part is intrinsic to the plan and if at any place the whole Trinity did not work together the whole plan would fall apart.

The Father’s Part: To Create the plan of salvation

The Son’s Part: To Execute the plan of salvation (to die and rise from the dead)

The Spirit’s Part: To reveal the plan of salvation to the recipients of salvation (that would be us humans).

Of the Spirit of Holiness Jesus said, very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16: 7-15

So according to Jesus it is the Spirit who reveals the need for salvation and it is also the Spirit who applies the power of salvation to our lives. Jesus made that final point clear when he told the Pharisee, Nicodemus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” John 3:6

So let me conclude this portion of our study with two questions:

Do you think the Holy Spirit reveals the “truth” to everybody?

If so why doesn’t everybody come to Jesus?