Written by Grover E. Gunn |
Monday, November 14, 2022
Notice what Paul said, “Such were some of you, but you were washed.” The converted sinner must no longer identify with the sin that once enslaved him. He must be willing to say, “That is what I once was, but that is not what I now am. For the old me that once was has been crucified with Christ.”

In Genesis 35, God appeared to Jacob while he was living in Shechem. God then specifically commanded Jacob to return to Bethel and to erect an altar of worship there. Now that God had fulfilled His promise to take care of Jacob during his flight from home, Jacob needed to fulfill the vow that he had made there at Bethel decades earlier. Jacob’s time of halfway obedience was over, and now he obeyed God as the angels obey God in heaven. Jacob obeyed fully and without delay.
Jacob prepared his household for an encounter with God. Some in Jacob’s household may have possessed some idols that they had taken with them from Padan Aram. You might remember the household idols that Rachel had taken from her father Laban. Others in Jacob’s household probably possessed idols that they had recently plundered from the city of Shechem. Certain earrings were also idols.
There was nothing intrinsically evil about an earring shaped, for example, like a crescent moon. There was, however, an extrinsic problem with such jewelry in a culture where such a shape was associated with a moon god or goddess.
Jacob told his household to put away all such idols. Valuable as these objects might have been, everyone, without delay or resistance or complaint, turned such objects over to Jacob, who then buried them. The word here translated “hid” can refer to hiding for later retrieval, like a pirate’s burying treasure on an isolated island. The word can also refer to hiding something that needs to remain hidden, like Moses’ burying the Egyptian whom he had slain in his days as a prince in Egypt. In this context, the meaning is hiding something to remain hidden because what is being hidden is something forbidden.
In addition to putting away their idols, Jacob commanded everyone to put on new clothes. This is similar to how Israel prepared to meet God at Mount Sinai under Moses by washing their clothes. Both changing clothes and washing clothes can symbolize changing one’s character through a spiritual renewal. The Apostle Paul later used this symbolism when he commanded Christians to put off their sinful ways of living and to put on righteous ways of living. The Spirit of God must have been moving in Jacob’s household because they obeyed both his commands without questioning them.
This principle of burying idols and changing clothes continues to apply today. For example, if a man today seeks to be ordained as a minister or elder or deacon, then he needs to bury his idols and change his clothes. There are those who have engaged in homosexual acts in the past, who now claim to be converted and called to ordained service in the church. This is possible, even as the Apostle Paul made the transition from persecutor of the church to sacred apostle.
Yet some who make this claim today refuse to bury their idols and change their clothes. They say that their sinful desires are an aspect of their essential self that cannot be changed. They refer to themselves as gay Christians. Some continue to dress and groom in ways that culturally identify them as homosexuals. Some continue to participate in and celebrate certain identifying aspects of homosexual culture.
Our response to this must be an insistence that men bury their idols and change their clothes as a minimal requirement for being ordained as ministers or elders or deacons. Our response in new covenant terms must be the like the statement of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? … And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Notice what Paul said, “Such were some of you, but you were washed.” The converted sinner must no longer identify with the sin that once enslaved him. He must be willing to say, “That is what I once was, but that is not what I now am. For the old me that once was has been crucified with Christ.” How much more this should be true of those who seek to be ordained as officers in the church.
Dr. Grove Gunn is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Pastor of the MacDonald PCA in Collins, Miss.
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Hinn’s discussion of “Spirit-filled worship” (Chapter 6) was my favourite part. Denouncing charismatic razzmatazz on one hand and hidebound conservatism on the other, Hinn calls for worship which is “lifestyle … every moment of every day” (108–109). Worship which prioritises truth and holiness and doesn’t shy away from sin. Best of all, worship that focuses on Christ: The Holy Spirit didn’t come to put the spotlight on us, he came to put the spotlight on Christ. That is where all spirit-filled worship begins and ends … he takes the minds, hearts, and attention of believers and shifts all the focus onto Christ … Spirit-filled worship honours the spirit by making much of Jesus Christ. (118)

Costi W. Hinn’s Knowing the Spirit is a wide-ranging, easy-to-read and eminently practical introduction to a doctrine of the Holy Spirit as well as a response to the modern charismatic movement that Costi grew up with.
Hinn brings a unique perspective to the charismatic/evangelical divide. As nephew to the famous faith healer Benny Hinn and former beneficiary of the prosperity network, he knows the movement’s excesses and its self-serving theological abuses from the inside. As a convert to reformed evangelicalism, he has also witnessed enough ignorance of the Spirit in the Christian mainstream.
Responding To Misconceptions
Hinn structures his book as a response to the problems he has observed. For those who see the Spirit as an impersonal force, he opens with a robust defence of the Trinity, insisting that the Spirit is both God and a Person to whom we owe worship, praise, prayer, and relationship (Chapter 1). Against shallow experientialism that hopes for guidance and transformation through mystical encounters (e.g. tongues-speaking, stirring worship), Hinn serves up a meatier biblical spirituality: the Spirit convicts us of our sins (Chapter 2); comes to give us new life, justifies us and helps us understand Scripture, live it out and stay Christians (Chapter 3).

Knowing the Spirit: Who He Is, What He Does, and How He Can Transform Your Christian Life
Costi W. Hinn

Whether intentionally or not, many Christians today seek health, wealth, and happiness by summoning the Holy Spirit like a genie to grant their wishes. When things don’t go the way they think they should, disappointment and disillusionment abound. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
In Knowing the Spirit, author, pastor, and speaker Costi Hinn shows you why a relationship with the Holy Spirit is the most important next step on your journey as a Christian. Using clear and sound interpretation of Scripture, Costi clarifies who the Holy Spirit is–and who he isn’t–and answers some of the most important and most frequently asked questions about him.

Zondervan. 272.

In the next chapters, Hinn attempts to correct some sub-biblical understandings of biblical concepts. In Chapter 4, the question, “What does it mean to walk by the Spirit?” leads to a detailed exploration of Galatians 5:16–17. Hinn steers readers away from legalism and sinful license to the new life Paul wants for us; a life of Spirit-empowered holiness.
In Chapter 5, Hinn turns to ideas of spiritual “baptism” and “filling”, showing that the former is not a “second blessing” but a “free, God-given experience that is always linked to conversion” (94). Spirit-filling, on the other hand, is an occasional event that “provides the empowerment of the Spirit to live a faithful and godly life each day” (100).
Leaving Some Wrinkles Untouched
I wasn’t always sure that Hinn did enough work on ironing out the wrinkles in these discussions. Here are three observations.
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When frustration calls and bitterness looms, when prayers go unanswered and trust is difficult, look afresh to God’s Word and his creation for glimpses of his beauty, power, and majesty. Basking in the glory of God doesn’t change my circumstances, but it often changes my disposition and the attitude of my heart. Being reminded of the glory and power of God helps me to see that he has a plan and is able to execute it.

My son and I enjoy hunting together, and if we have a successful season we have enough meat to feed our family all year. On one occasion, we were walking back to the truck bundled up in camo on a cold night. He said something to me, and I quickly snapped back at him. Later, I lay in bed and thought about my reaction. I tried to figure out the source of my frustration and realized it was due to some struggles I was facing and what seemed like a barrage of unanswered prayers.
I thought about recent prayers where I had pleaded with God to work. They weren’t selfish prayers, just requests for God to correct prevalent evil or relieve pain in situations where people were suffering. Why wasn’t God working? Why hadn’t he swooped down and righted the wrongs I was praying against? Why hadn’t he delivered?
The most natural answer is that there must be something wrong with me. Perhaps I wasn’t faithful enough, or maybe it was some sin in my life. While these are certainly possibilities to be considered, they are not always the answer. Oftentimes, the Lord works in ways we don’t understand, and he never seems to work on the timetable we’ve established.
Leaning on Him
As we enter the new year, I find Proverbs 3:5–6 on repeat in my mind:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

These verses are so popular that they’ve become cliché, but they are the Word of God so don’t let their familiarity cause you to overlook them. Perhaps they’ve become so popular because they deal with one of the most difficult things we as humans struggle with: trusting God instead of ourselves.
“Lean not on your own understanding.” It can often be true, perhaps more than we realize, that our understanding is opposed to trusting in God. What seems to our finite minds the right way that God should answer our prayer can simply be wrong. Proverbs 14:12 states, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” We can pray for his will to be done then still get upset when he doesn’t do ours. When we can’t understand why God hasn’t worked the way we think he should, we are to trust that the Lord knows better than we do. We are to trust his ways instead of our understanding.
I see this in my relationship with my kids. As much as I love them, I must often withhold something that seems good to them. Their young minds can’t understand why I won’t let them ride their bikes in the street, eat another candy bar, or stay up later.
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