Clark H. Pinnnock Holy Spirit Summary

Once again, Clark H. Pinnock opens wide my eyes to the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the world through the church. He highlights the need for the church to be empowered by the Spirit in order to complete God’s mission. For example, Pinnock says, “Like Jesus, the church must live not out of its own resources but by the power of the indwelling Spirit, which breathes, strengthens, inspires and guides” (Pinnock 115). This is a huge reminder for me not to depend on the world’s ideas or even my personal talent to communicate the Gospel; but rather, allow the Spirit to work through me. Also, there is a temptation within churches; and even the church I lead, to get “butts in seats” through fancy tactics rather than having people filled with the …show more content…
To this point, Pinnock adds, “It is not enough to know what is written; we also need to grasp the significance of the Word. It is not enough to recite the text, if we are not saying what is crucial for the present situation” (Pinnock 222). Pinnock’s gives a helpful insight by saying that it is only through the Holy Spirit that we know what the Bible is saying to the world today. I need, we all need, the Spirit to show up in our lives and teach us what God is saying in our day and our time. The power of this lies in Pinnock’s examples of people like William Carey, William Wilberforce, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who through the Spirit’s illumination of Scripture, changed the world and grew God’s Kingdom. He asks, “So how did these people know what to do? They listened to the Spirit as they read the gospel” (Pinnock 242). This rounds out Pinnock’s most helpful thought. We need the Holy Spirit like never before to empower his church and bring to life the Gospel within our world today. Finally, I do not want to just read the Bible to know what God said, but know what God is saying to us