Here and Now...and Yet To Come

Empowerment by the Spirit
1 Thessalonians 1:5 tells us that the gospel message has been spread not only by word but also by the power and witness of the Holy Spirit. Paul states, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.” So it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to accept Christ and His message.

Trinitarian Ethical Love
The triune God not only bears witness to relational ethics, but He also invites us into relationship with Him to participate and live within that ethical love. “Unconditional, self-giving love, that is central to who the Triune God is, also becomes the motive behind drawing other persons into this relationship of love with the Triune God.” Galatians 5:22 tells us that love is the first fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love…” “Love is the specific pattern of life by which grace forms the new reality of the believer.” All of our conduct and habits are shaped through the lens of love through God’s grace. “God’s grace is a power within the believers reproducing its own character.” Thus we find that we are given the power of love from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit that accomplishes a new work in us making us new creatures in relationship with the Triune God.