{"id":202,"date":"2026-01-22T20:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/?p=202"},"modified":"2026-01-22T20:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:29:19","slug":"the-holy-spirit-for-faith-or-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/2026\/01\/22\/the-holy-spirit-for-faith-or-works\/","title":{"rendered":"The Holy Spirit: for faith or works?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

‘Common Ground’ Song 116 \u2018Spirit of the living God\u2019
<\/strong>Words & music: Daniel Iverson \u00a9 Birdwing Music\/EMI
YouTube recording: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1J3lrSFEnHQ<\/a>
Featured image: Altar canopy, Whalley Abbey \u00a9 Stephen Craven<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Tuesday\u2019s song (Jubilate, everybody) was something of a \u2018golden oldie\u2019 among modern worship songs, today\u2019s is even more so. Stemming from the early days of the Charismatic movement in 1963, this simple chorus has been a favourite to more than one generation. Again, I have known it since student days. It is usually sung in unison, but the arrangement in \u2018Common Ground\u2019 is a four-part harmony. It can also be used as kind of mantra in personal prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are four lines of music in the tune, three of which are set to the words \u2018Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me\u2019. The third line is different, and I know at least three versions of the words for it! \u2018Common Ground\u2019 goes with the one I first learnt: \u2018Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me\u2019. It expresses a desire to be changed: to have my self-will broken, and to be remoulded in the way God intends, to be in right relationship with Him (perhaps with implied reference to the parable of the Potter in Jeremiah). The version linked above uses an alternative: \u2018Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me\u2019. The difference is slight, but the intention is radically different: not to be changed for my own benefit, but so that God can use me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This apparently slight difference in wording could be seen as emblematic of two distinct approaches to evangelical Christianity, which sometimes lead to culture wars within the wider church: is the role of the Holy Spirit, or for that matter the role of the Church, to grow individuals in their own faith, or to make disciples who will do God\u2019s work in the world? This is sometimes framed as a \u2018faith and works\u2019 debate: are we saved (made complete in Christ) by our beliefs and lifestyle, or by our actions towards others? Of course, both are important, and a Christianity which emphasises one to the total neglect of the other is a warped form of faith indeed. But where the balance of teaching lies in any one congregation will determine its character, worship and actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footnote: the featured image is of a piece of modern art depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit, in the chapel of a retreat house in Lancashire. It was made to be suspended above the altar, where in the Eucharist or communion service the priest invokes the Holy Spirit to make the bread and wine be to us the body and blood of Christ. That is how I photographed it in 2015. At a return visit in 2022, it had been moved and mounted on the wall behind the altar instead of suspended above it. The wording, difficult to read in this thumbnail, is \u2019Forth from the Father he comes, with his sevenfold mystical dowry pouring on human souls infinite riches of God\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Common Ground’ Song 116 \u2018Spirit of the living God\u2019Words & music: Daniel Iverson \u00a9 Birdwing Music\/EMIYouTube recording: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1J3lrSFEnHQFeatured image: Altar canopy, Whalley Abbey \u00a9 Stephen Craven If Tuesday\u2019s song (Jubilate, everybody) was something of a \u2018golden oldie\u2019 among modern worship songs, today\u2019s is even more so. Stemming from the early days of the Charismatic movement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[93,31,85,92],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-common-ground","tag-charismatic-movement","tag-faith","tag-holy-spirit","tag-whalley-abbey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pilgrims.org.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}