dr. olson continues, CITING n. t. wRIGHT:

“…when we say the holy spirit desires control, it means he longs to guide, teach, transform, protect, and empower us in every area of life - our thoughts, decisions, relationships, habits, work, and even our emotions. surrendering to the spirit does not mean losing our will, but rather aligning our will with god’s perfect plan - a plan that leads to true freedom, peace, and purpose. god wants us to be holy, becAUSE HE IS HOLY. HE WANTS US TO BE PERFECT BECAUSE HE IS PERFECT. BUT WE CAN’T GET THERE ON OUR OWN, WITH OUR OWN CONTROL. WE CAN ONLY GET THERE UNDER GOD’S [INDWELLING] DIVINE INFLUENCE [ON OUR SOUL]. . . . PAUL TELLS US IN ROMANS 8 AND OTHER PLACES IN HIS EPISTLES THAT DURING OUR TRANSFORMATION WE ARE BECOMING A NEW CREATION, I.E., A PART OF GOD’S FUTURE WORLD, EVEN AS WE CONTINUE TO LIVE WITHIN THE PRESENT OLD CREATION, IN WHAT PAUL CALLS ‘THE PRESENT EVIL AGE’. . . . WE ARE GETTING A FORETASTE OF WHAT THE NEW WORLD WILL BE LIKE. WE ARE PART OF THE NEW CREATION IN ADVANCE.”

“ALREADY BUT NOT YET” DESCRIBES THE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL CONCEPT THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS BEEN INAUGURATED THROUGH CHRIST’S FIRST COMING, BUT ITS FULL CONSUMMATION IS STILL IN THE FUTURE. gEEHARDUS VOS OF THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IS CREDITED AS FIRST USING THE PHRASE. THAT BELIEVING, SAVED CHRISTIANS ARE INDWELLED AND FILLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, SENT AS PROMISED BY THE RISEN JESUS CHRIST, GIVES TESTIMONY TO THE FUTURE NEW CREATION WHEN THE GLORIFIED SAINTS ARE IN THE ETERNAL PRESENCE OF jESUS.

“indwelling of the holy spirit happens only once at the time of regeneration and it is permanent. it is a gift from god to all believers and is an act of the holy spirit alone, i.e. we do nothing. filling by the indwelling [holy] spirit on the other hand occurs innumerable times over our lifetime and it is a cooperative act between us and the holy spirit. . . . filling here means to allow the spirit to control our lives. a good way to look at it is not how much of the spirit we have, but how much the spirit has of us. . . . accompanied by trust and reliance on the spirit.”

Dr. olson shares the following comments about the sanctification process:

“it is a journey of the [human] spirit from its bodily home to its union with god. god wants us to empty ourselves of ourselves that is controlled by our sinful human nature, and replace it with the likeness of christ, shaped by the holy spirit. this can take a lifetime. . . . [it is] the purpose of the journey god wants his children to take. . . . it is to take our [human] spirit out of a self-centered destructive world of sin and bring it to a god-centered state of holiness. . . . it is a joint venture with the holy spirit as our helper.”

dr. olson states that the four transformative events described in the blog below prepare us for a “relationship with god and journey with jesus, particularly in the process of sanctification. . . . sanctification is a crucial part of the christian life, and the holy spirit is at the very heart of this transformative process.” it is a gradual process, “requiring both divine assistance and human effort.”

“to live by the spirit [of god], as paul commands, we must cultivate a relationship with him. . . . it is about communion with god’s presence. . . . to live by the spirit is not to strive under our own power but to surrender to his leading. . . . being attentive to his voice.

“. . . the final step of the journey, full union with god, does not occur in this life, but after death. . . . it’s important to understand this not as the [human] soul being dissolved into god, but as a profound and perfect union [/communion] in which the soul is fully united with him while still retaining its god-given distinctiveness. at that moment, glorification completes our spiritual sanctification. believers are now not only in heaven but are made fully whole, holy, and beautiful, fulfilling god’s redemptive plan. this transformation is the crowning work of god’s grace, in which we reflect his glory and reign with him forever.”

dr. olson asks in chapter 6, “so how does the holy spirit begin [his] work in us? he lists four transformative gifts of grace, leading ultimately to sanctification.

justification, which “is god’s act of forgiving our sins - past, present, and future. . . . through justification, god declares us righteous. . . . [it] is the gateway to spiritual growth and eternal life in union with god. this incredible gift comes solely from the grace of god.”

regeneration, [which] “occurs the moment our once-dead [human] spirit is brought to life, a transformation that jesus described as being ‘born again.’ it is a spiritual awakening that draws us into a vibrant, life-giving relationship with god as his beloved children and ushers us into his kingdom. at the heart of this awakening is god’s boundless love [reflecting the title of my second book], breathing life into our [human] spirit and awakening us to his presence and purpose. . . . we are not merely renewed; we are welcomed into a deep and intimate relationship with god, where our [human] spirit begins to experience the fullness of his grace, joy, and peace.”

sealed with the holy spirit, [marking] “believers as god’s own, setting us apart. . . . the lord is our god and we believers are his people. . . . the holy spirit guarantees our salvation. . . . we are given the holy spirit as a seal which makes us a member of god’s family, gives us eternal life, and guarantees us a place in heaven to spend eternity with the lord. . . . all through god’s grace.”

indwelling of the holy spirit, [whereby] “the holy spirit takes residence within you. . . . the holy spirit is god just as jesus is god. . . . as jesus said in john 14:26:

but the counselor, the holy spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that i have said to you.”

the apostle “paul captures this transformation in galatians 2:20:

i have been crucified with christ; and it is no longer i who live, but christ lives in me. that life which i now live in the flesh, i live by faith in the son of god, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”

thus begins a dualist interactive relationship with god’s holy spirit that i have described extensivey in my books and blog posts.

elaborating on the previous post, dr. olson writes, “paul tells us that only we who have the holy spirit dwelling within us can know god and the thoughts of god and this happens through a [holy] spirit-to-[human] spirit communication. he adds that those who don’t have the holy spirit think that our beliefs are bunk, or foolishness. the reason that they don’t get it is because they depend on their mind to discern, whereas this knowledge can only be discerned by our [human[ spirit. our [human] spirits discern this knowledge directly from the holy spirit.”

Dr. olson writes that the apostle paul stated “that the holy spirit dwelling within [italics added] us is directly informing our [human] spirit of new knowledge. this would mean the communication is not coming in via the normal channels of our senses and intellect or mind. what the holy spirit is telling us in this case is coming in directly from [the holy] spirit to [the human] spirit.”

i offer a note of clarification concerning the spirit-to-spirit communication above. as one reads scripture the word spirit may relate to the human spirit or to the human soul, comprising the cognitive mind, the will and emotion. i have addressed this distinction in my writings. indeed, the holy spirit has direct interactive access to the human spirit which, in turn, interacts with the neural synaptic networks generating linguistic codes with meaning and purpose. the cognitive mind of humans interprets the codes, accounting for acquiring “new knowledge” or understanding or discernment. in earlier blog posts i have addressed this topic in detail. i distinguish between the human spirit and the human soul in my writings.

i include a statement by john wesley, founder of the methodist church:

it is hard to find words in the language of men to explain the deep things of god. indeed, there are none that will adequately express what the spirit of god works in his children. but . . . by the testimony of the spirit, i mean, an inward impression on the soul [in my writings i have addressed how the dual interaction between the spirit of god and the immaterial cognitive mind, will and emotion (soul) of man occurs through the neural synaptic networks of the human brain], whereby the spirit of god immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit, that i am a child of god; that jesus christ hath loved me, and given himself for me; that all my sins are blotted out, and i, even i, am reconciled to god.

Olson begins chapter two identifying who the holy spirit is. “one thing that can definitely be said is that the holy spirit is not an ‘it’. the holy spirit is a person [italics added]. . . . is the holy spirit truly divine? scripture reveals to us that the holy spirit is god and it does so in abundance.”

“. . . when jesus was with his disciples at the last supper shortly before he went to the cross,” it is recorded in john 14:15-17 that he said, "“if you love me, keep my commandments. i will pray to the father, and he will give you another counselor, that he may be with you forever: the spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive, for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you [bold type added].”

i begin posting an excerpt from the introduction in Olson’s book:

“. . . the holy spirit sets us apart, regenerates our [human] spirit, and opens the door to a deep relationship with god. through sanctification, the spirit guides our transformation into a new creation and nurtures our spiritual life so it may grow and flourish.”

as we proceed through the following blogs, we shall gain a deeper understanding of the truths related in the above post.