tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post4293258503917668779..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Lord, teach us to pray. . . Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-77632497783192377472016-07-26T13:54:02.817-05:002016-07-26T13:54:02.817-05:00I was startled to read, “how much more will our he...I was startled to read, “how much more will our heavenly Father give us the good thing of the Holy Spirit?” (Lk 11:13) , because all of the English translations I have seen, and my Greek NT, all have the equivalent of, “give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” My hope was buoyed by the thought that at last someone has discovered that this passage cannot be used to argue repeated receiving of the Holy Spirit. I would appreciate knowing, which English translation was used in this case; I was unable to find it in my limited search.<br />The fact is that the Mathew 7:11 parallel passage, which without any doubt describes the same event, and the same words of our Lord, simply refers to our Father giving “good gifts” to them that ask Him.” It is impossible that our Lord said different things at the same time. The solution to the problems, I believe, lies in the translators’ choice of manuscripts. Among them are the following, with the corresponding readings:<br />πνευμα αγιον (Holy Spirit) – 75, א, B, C, K, W, X, Δ, Π, Ψ, f1, f13, 28<br />πνευμα αγαθον (a good spirit) – L 1230 1253 1646, ℓ 4, ℓ 12, ℓ 15, ℓ 19, ℓ 69, ℓ 185, ℓ 211<br />δοματα αγαθα (good gifts)– Θ, ℓ 32m<br />Quite honestly, I do not understand the designations of the manuscripts; I copied them from a web site of NT variant readings, that had no ax to grind in this matter.<br />To the best of my knowledge, there are no manuscripts with variant readings for the Matthew text. <br />But my hope was dashed by the final sentence of that paragraph: “God will most certainly give us the good things, He’ll give us the Holy Spirit because He is our gracious Father.” HE WILL NOT GIVE US THE HOLY SPIRIT, because He has given Him to us once when we were baptized, and there is not a single passage in the entire Bible that tells of anyone who has received the Holy Spirit more than once. On the contrary, Scripture teaches (and I will be happy to provide the loci; space limitations do not permit it here) that we receive Him once (as a rule, in Baptism) and that He stays with us to do the work Luther describes in his explanation of the Third Article of the Creed until we go to be with our Lord. <br />To ask our Father to give us the Holy Spirit again and again, and to expect to receive Him again and again is to call God a liar, because we ask for what He has revealed He has already given us. It also brings doubt to the believer, who may wonder whether God has answered his prayer and has given him the Holy Spirit. This teaching takes away the objective Gospel and adds subjectivity to it; in other words, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in me depends not on God’s objective, undeserved gift, but on the efficacy of my prayer. To cast doubt into the heart of a believer is to do the work of Satan. <br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. Marquart<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com