The Father chose the Elect and then the Son came and died for them. After it was finished Jesus told his disciples to wait on the HS and then when the Spirit came the call was sent out to go to all the earth....

My question is what role does the HS have specically in missions and evangelism?

The Holy Spirit seemed to empower the outreach, direct the outreach and give the fruits of outreach.

Is it proper to say that we go in the power of Christ, or in the power of the HS...or maybe in the power of Christ through the HS - since it seems that all we do evangelistically is through the HS in order to show Christ (which also is a further evidence of the bashfulness and humility of the HS in never glorifying Himself).

Also, is it proper to speak of stages of salvation whereby the Son finished His work and now the Holy Spirit picks up and regenerates all those for whom Christ died....and searches for them through the church to the very ends ofthe earth?


And thoughts on the HS and missions?

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

The Holy Spirit is ALWAYS before the word preparing the elect who hear it to embrace it fully. THe parable of the soils is a great lesson in this. IF you also notice, Christ himself only got a 25% return on His investment!!!! Therefore do not feel bad if conversions do not happen by the millions!!!

__________________
N. Robert; Trinity Reformed Church RCA, Holland MI

Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

I heard 'ol Billy Grahm got less than 10%. Too bad the other 90% thought they were saved. He shouldv'e got a real job...

__________________
יונתן פדוי
Jonathan
Assemblies of God (*GASP*)
Kentucky

... yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

1 Corinthians 8:6

I would say that we go in obedience to Jesus Christ and in the power of (instruments of) the Holy Ghost.

__________________
Bob Lynam
Pilgrim Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Raleigh, NC

I don't know about stages of salvation, per se. How about application of salvation? In the 5 points of Calvinism, its interesting to note that the ULI represents the work of the Trinity in salvation, where the "U" is the work of God the Father, "L" is the work of God the Son, and the "I" is the work of God the Holy Ghost.

Additional thought on the HS and missions:

We go, in obedience to Christ, willingly and unwillingly at times, and our going is the result of the work of regeneration in our lives. Going as an ambassador of Christ is as natural as breathing, because, if nothing else, our life is a testimony to the regeneration wrought by the Holy Ghost. Right?

(Act 1:8 ESV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

I take this to be the consummate edict of our Savior for the world.

__________________
Bob Lynam
Pilgrim Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Raleigh, NC