In this post, we will explore the person and work of the Holy Spirit. This post is adapted from my systematic theology book - Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible. In my previous post, we noted that the one true God eternally exists in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Various passages mention all three persons of the Trinity: “16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”” (Matthew 3:16–17, NRSV) “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, NRSV) “26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my [Jesus’] behalf.” (John 15:26, NRSV) “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38, NRSV) “13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (2 Corinthians 13:13, NRSV) “30 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf,” (Romans 15:30, NRSV) Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is God. This is evident from the fact that He is called the “Spirit of God” and “the Lord”: “16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” (Matthew 3:16, NRSV) “17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17, NRSV) Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is eternal: “14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14, NRSV) Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is a person and not merely a power. That He is a person is evident from the fact that He speaks; and has a mind, will and emotions: “19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, three men are searching for you.” (Acts 10:19, NRSV) “27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:27, NRSV) “11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Corinthians 12:11, NRSV) “ But they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit…” (Isaiah 63:10, NRSV) Here are some of the names by which the Holy Spirit is known:
In addition to being one of the three persons of the Trinity, the Spirit is also the active power of God throughout the universe. This is evident from the fact that the Spirit is the means by which all things are created. God created through His Son, by the power of the Spirit: “30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” (Psalm 104:30, NRSV) The Spirit is the means by which God is present everywhere in the universe: “7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7, NRSV) The Spirit is the means by which God knows everything that is happening everywhere. He is the metaphorical “eyes” of God: “3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3, NRSV) “6 Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” (Revelation 5:6, NRSV) The Spirit is the means through which God empowers His servants. The supreme example of this is the Spirit’s empowerment of Jesus Christ when He became a human being. It was through the Spirit’s power that Christ worked miracles: “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38, NRSV) The Spirit enabled the apostles to remember Jesus’ sayings, told them about the future, and empowered them to testify about Him. Jesus spoke the following words to His apostles: “26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26, NRSV) “13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13, NRSV) “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8, NRSV) The Spirit also gives special abilities (i.e. spiritual gifts) to believers so that they can serve God and one another: “7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Corinthians 12:7–11, NRSV) The Spirit was the supernatural means by which Jesus became a human being: “18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18, NRSV) God lives in His children by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to experientially know God as our Father: “15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:15–16, NRSV) The Spirit is the means by which God inspired the writers of the Bible: “20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20–21, NRSV) The Spirit enables people to understand God’s truth: “17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.” (Ephesians 1:17–19, NRSV) The Spirit empowers Christians to pray effectively: “20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;” (Jude 20, NRSV) The Spirit is the means by which Christians are marked as belonging to God: “30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30, NRSV) The Spirit is the means by which Christians have a foretaste of the coming age: “That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it—to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:14, AMPC) The Spirit is the means by which we are progressively made like Jesus: “18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NRSV) The Spirit empowers us to live godly lives: “ 16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16, NRSV) “22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” (Galatians 5:22–23, NRSV) The Spirit convicts unbelievers about their sin, God’s righteousness, and the coming judgement: “8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:” (John 16:8, NRSV) The Spirit guides Christians. For example, the Spirit’s leading did not allow Paul and his team to enter Asia or Bithynia, but directed them instead to Macedonia: “6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.” (Acts 16:6–10, NRSV) The Spirit prays to God for Christians: “27 … the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:27, NRSV) To speak evil of the Holy Spirit is a sin that will not be forgiven: “10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Luke 12:10, NRSV) In the Bible, various symbols are used to represent the Holy Spirit, all of which help us to understand more about Him. Here are seven of them: 1. Fire I understand this to represent the burning away of sin, blazing glory, and zeal for God that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives: “3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” (Acts 2:3–4, NRSV) 2. A Dove This portrays the Holy Spirit as a person who is gentle and comforting: “22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”” (Luke 3:22, NRSV) 3. Water This denotes the fact that the Holy Spirit gives life and refreshment to those who receive Him. He satisfies our spiritual thirst: “38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:38–39, NRSV) 4. Wind In nature, the wind is a powerful force. This is evident from the destruction that it can cause. Even so, the emblem of wind portrays the Holy Spirit as the power of God: “2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:2, NRSV) 5. Oil In the Old Testament, oil was used to consecrate selected persons for their service (e.g. Exodus 28:41). In the New Testament, we are anointed with the Holy Spirit. The emblem of oil points to the fact that the Spirit consecrates and empowers us for service: “21 But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, 22 by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” (2 Corinthians 1:21–22, NRSV) 6. A Seal In the days of the New Testament, a “seal” served as a stamp of ownership. The Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives marks us as belonging to God: “30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30, NRSV) 7. A Gift The Holy Spirit cannot be bought, He is a gift given by God to His children: “38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38, NRSV)
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Stuart PatticoI'm the Pastor of Joy Community Church. You can follow me on YouTube here. Archives
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