No. 31 Good morning, Dr. Sanchez. I�m working among the Lutherans of downtown Cleveland and, like Joshua, I always have far more questions than I have answers. So here�s my first one: Does the Holy Spirit sanctify me because He is God? Or is the Holy Spirit God because He sanctifies me? Should a pastor opt for only one of these statements, or is there a way to reconcile both statements? Ah, my name is David, by the way. >>DR. LEOPALDO SANCHEZ M.: Thanks for your question, David. I would say that both statements are true. Perhaps we can sort this out a little bit by making a helpful distinction between what's called the order of being and the order of knowledge. Let me get into that a little bit. The order of being first tells us who the Holy Spirit is. That is to say that he is God in eternity. That's the starting point of the order of being. It tells us who the Holy Spirit is from eternity. And then in a second moment of reflection, it tells us what the Holy Spirit as God does for us and for our salvation in history. So there's sort of a move from above. First we talk about who the Holy Spirit has always been, God. And then we talk about his works for us and for our salvation. So under the order of being you could say something like: Because the Holy Spirit is and has always been God, therefore, the Holy Spirit is able to sanctify me. So that's the order of being. In the order of knowledge, we have a different starting point. The order of knowledge first tells us what the Holy Spirit does for us and for our salvation in history. So it begins from below. And then proceeds to tell us who this Holy Spirit is and has always been, namely God. So under the order of knowledge, you can make a statement like this one: Because the Holy Spirit sanctifies me, therefore I come to know the Holy Spirit as God and the giver of life. So you see both statements are true. The first one in the order of being tells me that the Holy Spirit has always been God. Even before he made me holy through the Gospel. So the order of being is very strong when it comes to the Holy Spirit's free divine initiative to make us holy. That there was a Holy Spirit even before he made me holy. Even before he created the world and sanctified me through the Gospel. The second statement under the order of knowledge tells me that I can only come to know and to believe in the Holy Spirit as the Lord and giver of life because he has first come into my life and made me holy through the Gospel. The order of knowledge, as you can see is very strong on this Spirit's work in the economy of salvation, in the history of salvation. It's very strong on the fact that there is no access to the divinity of the Holy Spirit apart from what the Holy Spirit does for me. It's very strong, the order of knowledge, on the notion that to know God, to know the Holy Spirit in this case, is to know his benefits. Is to know that he has made me holy through the Gospel.