Week 4: Covenant and Holy Spirit

Reading Response 5
Bible: John 14-16
Oden: 623-625; 632-44

Question 1
Please give a general outline/summary of the main points from the reading. You should highlight
a minimum of three points. We are looking for a summary of what you read, not a reflection.

Bible Outline taken from ESV

1. John 14
a. I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
i. There is comfort in believing in Jesus as the Son of God
ii. He has gone to prepare a place for us
iii. He will return to take us with Him
iv. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus
v. You have known and seen me, so you have known and seen the Father
vi. Jesus speaks the Father’s words
vii. Believe in the works of the Father through Jesus
viii. Believers will also do great works
ix. Ask in Jesus name

b. Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

i. Be obedient to me.
ii. I will send the eternal helper
iii. He will live within you forever
iv. Jesus will go away for a short time to the Father but come again
v. Those who are obedient to me love me
vi. The Father will send the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name
1. To teach you
2. To help you remember all Jesus said
vii. Rejoice and don’t be scared for I am going to the Father
viii. Satan is coming and has no power over me, but I’m obedient to my
Father’s commands
2. John 15
a. I am the True Vine
i. Jesus is the True Vine
ii. The Father is the vinedresser
1. The Father removes branches that don’t provide fruit
2. He prunes those that do, so that they can produce more good fruit
iii. Branches can’t produce without the vine
iv. If someone doesn’t abide in Jesus they will be thrown into the fire like
dead branches
v. Keep Jesus’ commands as He kept the Father’s commands
 vi.
Abide with Jesus so that your joy may be full
vii.
Jesus is now calling us friends and will tell us what is happening
viii.
He no longer calls us servants
ix.
Jesus chose us and appointed us
1. To bear fruit
2. To pray in His name so that the fruit would also abide in a loving
relationship with Jesus
b. The Hatred of the World
i. The world hated Jesus, God, before it hated us
ii. If we would conform to the world and not be obedient to God then the
world would embrace us
iii. Jesus is master and the world will also persecute His followers
iv. They don’t know the Father and because they hate Jesus they also hate
Father God
v. Jesus came and worked miracles to show the Father was in Him but the
leaders rejected Jesus
vi. They hated Him without cause
3. John 16
a. Why Jesus said these things
i. I said this to keep you from falling away
ii. A time is coming that Believers will be kicked out of synagogues
iii. Persecutors will think they are killing Believers in the name of God, but
they do not know God; neither the Father nor the Son
iv. Jesus told this to us in advance so that when this time comes, we may
remember He told us
b. The Work of the Holy Spirit
i. Do not be sorrowful, but joyful that I am leaving
1. If I don’t go the Helper won’t come
2. If I go I will send Him to you
ii. The Holy Spirit will convict the hearts of the world
iii. The Holy Spirit will guide you in truth and wisdom
iv. The Holy Spirit will share what He hears from the Godhead
v. All that is the Father’s is Jesus’, and the Holy Spirit will declare it to
Believers
c. Your Sorrow will turn to Joy
i. Jesus told the Disciples He would leave (die on the cross) and that they
would see Him no longer
ii. Then a short time after that He would come back to them and they would
see Him (resurrection)
iii. The Disciples could not understand Jesus’ “little while” of going and
coming
iv. The time is coming…
1. You will weep, but the world will rejoice
2. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy
v. A woman feels sorrow during labor, but joy at birth
 vi. Ask in my name and the father will give it to you

d. I have Overcome the World

i. Jesus previously spoke in parables, but will soon speak plainly about God
ii. Soon you will ask in my name and the Father will answer you because you
love and believe in me
iii. I came from the Father and into the world
iv. No I’m leaving and going to the Father
v. The Disciples now understood Jesus’ plain speech and wisdom
vi. Their faith grew that Jesus is from the Father
vii. Jesus warned that the hour is coming, indeed it has come
1. You will be scattered
2. Jesus will be left alone
a. But Jesus isn’t alone as He has the Father with Him
viii. Jesus wants them to know this to take heart
1. There will be tribulation over the earth
2. But we should take heart as Jesus has overcome the world

Oden: 623-625 & 632-644 (EPUB pages 849-851 & 860-872)

Book Three, Part II, Chapter 5 is about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I realize this reading response is about what
we are learning, not a reflection – however I want to state that I struggled at my previous Bible College because it
was under AG and they insisted if you can’t speak in tongues then you haven’t received the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. This argument is always in the back of my mind while reading.

Oden affirms my own belief that we are all blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit
whether we can speak tongues or not. He supports that “all believers are baptized, but not all
speak in tongues.” He references 1 Corinthians verses 12:10, 12:13 and 14:1-12. I enjoyed
learning about why and how Paul regulated praying in tongues within the corporate setting. I
knew He discouraged praying in tongues without an interpreter but Oden illuminated this more
for me when he wrote, “In reordering shaped by grace, sufficient room must be left for Christian
liberty, freedom of conscience, and the gifts of the Spirit” (page 869-870).
The chapter is about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Oden doesn’t only explain about the
baptism of receiving the Holy Spirit but also what the indwelling the Spirit does for believers
(regeneration, washing, grace), gives access to (new knowledge of God, new affections) and
most especially unity with God. The scope continues to broaden as Oden includes the
inheritance of Abraham’s promises.
While many of the sections within this chapter I already had solid understanding of, Oden
was able to expand upon commonly discussed topics with new insights and analogies. His
comparison of priests cleansing their hands and feet (which I believe Oden illustrated as also
preparing their hearts) before entering the Holy Place to the cleansing of baptism as a washing of
rebirth that affects our spiritual and moral behaviors. He illustrated that it is the beginning of a
transformation within us.
 I eagerly read in the words of the section titled “Preparatory Grace Among Children”
because I’m called to children’s ministry. In this section Oden discussed the well discussed
verses of us being set apart before being formed in our mother’s womb, and Jesus calling allow
the little children to be brought before Him unhindered. Oden also wrote from less familiar
verses in Psalms (22:9, 22:10, 71:6, 139:13-16) that gives hope to the unborn nascent infant.
Oden discussed Luther’s beliefs and teachings about having “believing parents.” Oden seems
inclined to believe that those verses apply to babies whose parents lifted up prayers for them and
not to all babies.
Oden went into detail on the Gifts of the Spirit. He taught how not every gift is given to
every single Christian, but are divided among the Body of Christ to make the whole Bride
complete. The distribution is diverse among the people making up an assembly of believers. I
enjoyed how Oden taught that singleness and marriage are both unique gifts with their own
challenges, yet are both needed within the plan of redemption. He illustrated how the gifts
complement each other in their diversity. Oden engaged the concern of “seeming inequality of
gifts” appear unjust when one believer looks selfishly upon another’s gifts, but when we look at
the entire body of believers it is more obvious of that the needs of the body are being equally
met.
Near the end of the selection of reading I found myself confused by the terminology
Oden chose to discuss “faith, hope and love” from 1 Corinthians 13:13. He titled this section,
“Cardinal Virtues…” and every source he referenced came from centuries old writings and gave
me the impression they were only Catholic based. (I am aware that the book’s preface or
introduction clearly stated Oden was trying to cover all major doctrines.) I had to go to a
dictionary to realize Oden’s use of cardinal meant “top priority”. I felt clarification upon
reaching the last sentence in the section when he clarified that these virtues convert our “natural
moral values” and allow those to grow in reference to the final judgement and eternal
blessedness.

Question 2
What are three questions that you have after the reading?

1) I would like clarification on John16:26, “In that day you will ask in my name, and I do
not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf”. I believe we pray in Jesus’ name
and that the Father grants that prayer because of our faith in Jesus. Am I correct?

2) After discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Oden writes about the seven summative gifts
of the confirming Spirit to the church on page 870. I’m unclear if these are gifts that
everyone receives – separate from the other gifts? Also are these seven related to Jesus in
Revelation 1:4 “…and from the seven spirits who are before his throne”?
 3) The topic of Chrism was a real head scratcher to me. I had to research both chrism and
unction in the dictionary. Oden refers to the Holy Spirit as being the unction or
“ointment” that seals us the Jesus. In researching the terminology of chrism and unction
it sounds like we are anointed by God through the Holy Spirit. However I feel Oden’s
meaning is not an anointment but a guarantee of sealing our spirit to Jesus. In the end
I’m not clear what this passage is about?

Question 3
What are 2-3 things from the reading that were new to you? Was there something presented that
was different from a belief you currently/previously held?

My questions above illuminate a few things that are new to me. What really are the “chrism”
and “unction”? Do believers still practice Chrismation? Perhaps it is a Catholic or Orthodox
rite? Is it fulfilled for Christians and we no longer do this?
I’m hoping I misunderstood Oden’s section about infants and “Preparatory Grace Among
Children.” I have always thought every child in the world that dies young would go directly to
heaven because of their naïve faith. Oden’s teaching left me thinking he believes this not to be
true, but perhaps only children from believer’s families – and perhaps only to those children
whose parents had enough faith to lift their child up in prayers, or presented them in church?
I personally dread a new believer, perhaps one of my own disciples back in China, asking me
about John 3 and what Jesus meant regarding being born of water and Spirit. I flipped the pages
of Oden’s book back and forth as he referenced John 3:4-7 several times. I searched one of his
sources, Basil of Caesarea – “Saint Basil the Great” and his writing, “On the Spirit”. After all of
this reading I wasn’t satisfied that I understood. Because I was concerned about the topic I spoke
to Zach in class this past week during class. He explained his view on the “water” in John 3. I
don’t know why my eyes hadn’t been open to see before, but Zach’s clarification of the “water of
birth from a mother” was clearly the water being discussed. For a decade I’ve really thought it
was baptism in water that Jesus had meant, while Nicodemus had been confused thinking it was
the water of a mother. With this new understanding I understand Oden totally, but I think a brief
paragraph in this chapter explaining what Zach told me would help others. Surely I’m not the
only one confused? ;)

Question 4
I have read/watched ______ % of the material this week.

110% 