Thesis 03/36: Holy Spirit

DOCTRINES OF GOD:
Doctrine 3 / 36: Holy Spirit

The third Person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit, also called the Holy Ghost. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit in a masculine tense to confirm that the Spirit is a Person, not just a thing. That is why it is proper to refer to the Holy Spirit as "He" and not always "It." The Holy Spirit has a distinct role in the lives of Christians in this present age of the Church. While He has always worked in the world, and will always work, He has a peculiar function in the lives of believers. In a sense unlike to the Father and Son, the Spirit lives inside of the believer.

There are a few verses in the Bible that show clearly that the Holy Spirit is a distinct, third Person of the Trinity, and not just the Spirit which the Father is. The Baptism of Jesus is a great place to look at this. Matthew 3:16-17 says, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." In this scenario, Jesus, the Son of God, is coming up out of the water. He is physically seen to all men. Jesus sees the Holy Ghost like a dove coming down. And while the Son sees the Spirit, everybody hears the audible voice of God the Father speaking about Jesus. Another example of the distinction between the Father and the Spirit is found in John 14:16-17: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth..." Jesus asked the Father to send the Spirit. The three distinct persons of the Trinity.

As for the Deity of the Holy Spirit, it can be seen in the fact that He shares some of the incommunicable attributes of God. He was involved in the creation of the world in Genesis 1:2, even though it was God that created, and all things were made by Jesus. He shared in the creative work of God. He also is called in Hebrews 9:14, "the eternal Spirit." Only God is eternal; only God is eternal. For the Holy Spirit to share the incommunicable attributes of God, it must be that He is God. Also, the name in which Christians are to be baptized, is a name shared between the three of them: "...baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

The role that the Holy Spirit plays in the world today can be found in John 16:7-11: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (8) And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) Of sin, because they believe not on me; (10) Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (11) Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." Referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus says that when He comes he will reprove the world of three things: sin, righteousness and judgment. This is the Spirit's role specifically to the lost world, in which all men begin.

He will reprove the world of sin. The Holy Spirit convicts the lost man that he is sinful. If a man were left to his own, his depravity would continue to move him deeper and deeper into sin. He would not care about the effects on others, and would digress until he could be no more vile. However, God, in His grace, did not leave man to his own self. God gave the world the Holy Spirit to reprove the world of sin. The Spirit teaches the lost man that their deeds are sinful, and it restrains man from being as vile as he is capable of being.

He will reprove the world of righteousness. The lost world has no idea of what righteousness really is apart from the Spirit's reproof. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes. What is right? If man is left to answer that for himself, he will answer with whatever pleases him. However, with the Spirit, righteousness is revealed in God's word. When Jesus was on the earth, everybody could know exactly what righteousness was. However, since Jesus has left, the Spirit is necessary to lead a man to recognize what is right.

He will reprove the world of judgment. The Holy Spirit convicts people that their sin deserves a punishment. Even a lost man knows, or at least fears, that their immoral actions will bring about consequences. This is true, and will even be demonstrated in the final judgment of Satan. The Holy Spirit is that spirit which puts those ideas and thoughts into the lost man.

His work for the world is reproof of sin. He does the same in the life of the Christian, but it does not stop there with him. First of all, the Christian is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth," Jesus said in John 6:63. Man can not make himself born again. He does not have the power to regenerate himself. The Holy Spirit convicts the man of sin, and if man responds with faith, then the Holy Spirit quickens that man, makes him born again, born of the Spirit (John 3:5). After a man is born of the Spirit, he then is sealed by the Spirit as well (Ephesians 1:13). The Spirit then dwells inside the life of the believer, making the man's body the temple, the habitation of God, through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). In this indwelling role of the Spirit, He continues to work in the life of the believer as: Comforter, Teacher, Leader, Intercessor, and Source of Fruit.

The Holy Spirit is also the medium through which gifts are given to the church to empower them to move the body of Christ aright. Jesus promised His disciples that they would receive power after the Holy Ghost came. That was fulfilled in Acts 2 at Pentecost, and the disciples were given the power necessary to fulfill the purposes of the church - to witness and to worship (Acts 1:8; John 4:24). Anything that the church can do for God, it must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Without God they can do nothing. However, the Holy Spirit gives gifts to the saints, such as: teaching, administration, preaching, wisdom, knowledge and more. There is no place in the Bible that produces one exhaustive list, as God can work in whatever way He wants. With the apostles at Pentecost, He had them speak in languages that they had not known, and to confirm His word through them, He gave them power to do miracles and signs (Hebrews 2:3-4).

One last consideration of the Spirit is in what way a Christian is "filled with the Spirit." That phrase, from Ephesians 5:18, has been given different interpretations. Some would say that to be filled with the Spirit is something that happens after a person is saved, he is later "baptized in the Spirit," tha it is some sort of second giving of the Spirit. However, as was already noted, when a person is born again, he is sealed by the Holy Spirit. He either has the Spirit, or he is "none of his" (Romans 8:9). To be filled with the Spirit is to walk in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to abide and be in communion with God, hearing His word come alive and being obedient to it. How can one know if he is walking in the Spirit? There will be fruit if a person is walking in the Spirit. This fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

"Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."