“You stiff-necked Christians! Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit?" Acts 7:51 abridged for the church.

"One of the most telling blows which the enemy ever struck at the life of the Church was to create in her a fear of the Holy Spirit.

No one who mingles with Christians in these times

will deny that such a fear exists.

Few there are who without restraint will open their whole heart to the blessed Comforter.

He has been and is so widely misunderstood that the very mention of His name in some circles is enough to frighten many people into resistance. The source of this unreasoning fear may easily by traced, but it would be fruitless labor to do it here. Sufficient to say that the fear is groundless.”-A. W. Tozer,

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said it this way:

“Got it all? Well, if you have ‘got it all’ I simply ask in the name of God, why are you as you are?

If you have got it all, why are you so unlike the New Testament Christians?

Got it all! Got it at your conversion! Well, where is it, I ask?”

If the teachings of Calvin, or of more recent teachers such as John MacArthur, John Piper, J. Vernon McGee, or other influential voices within Reformed theology, have caused you to “resist the Holy Spirit” for whatever reason, I urge you to reconsider.

We must be careful not to let our theological convictions become barriers to the very work of God we long to see accomplished in our lives.

We may disagree about the nature, purpose, or continuation of certain spiritual gifts, yet still remain humble and receptive to the Spirit's transforming presence.

Paul's exhortation remains worthy of our attention: “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

Whatever your theological convictions, do not let fear of excess, suspicion of others, or loyalty to a particular system of doctrine cause you to withdraw from the Spirit's sanctifying work.

Let your heart remain open to all that He desires to accomplish in you, always testing what you hear against Scripture and seeking to glorify Jesus Christ.

The question is not simply what we believe about the Holy Spirit, but whether we are willing to yield ourselves to His work within us.