I Believe in the Holy Spirit

Robert Murray McCheyne produced a set of resolutions: One of them was this: ‘‘I ought to study the Comforter more – his Godhead, his love, his almightiness. I have found by experience that nothing sanctifies me so much as meditating on the Comforter, as John xiv. 16. And yet how seldom I do this!’

Perhaps the striking aspect of the statement in the Creed about the Holy Spirit is its brevity. The brevity is not due to lack of controversy about his person and work. Nor does the brevity mean that there is little to be said about the Holy Spirit. Indeed, as we know, many books have been published about him and there are still big debates concerning his activities. In this chapter, we will do a survey of who he is and what he does, while always remembering that much more could be said about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. 

 

In the Trinity

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is an equal member of the Trinity, as are the Father and the Son. He possesses all the attributes of God. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He enjoys eternal fellowship in the communion of love within the Trinity. In the Bible, we also are told about his activities in creation, providence and salvation, of his personal contact with men and women. Those areas are connected to the great covenant arrangement made by the persons of the Trinity before the universe was made. The various aspects that we will consider are all part of the outworking of that arrangement.

 

The place where we find the information about God and his purposes is in the Bible. The Holy Scriptures are a collection of writings from different periods of time, and each of the writings was inspired by the Holy Spirit as he guided its authors to write the words that he wanted them to use. He also led them to select the incidents that they described in the lives of people and nations, and they wrote about them without error because of his supervision.

 

The Spirit as Creator

Near the beginning of Genesis 1, we are informed that ‘The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters’ (Gen. 1:2). The description of the activity of the Spirit uses the illustration of a mother bird looking after her young. What does this mean? According to Calvin, Moses ‘asserts that this mass, however confused it might be, was rendered stable, for the time, by the secret efficacy of the Spirit.’ The Spirit was preparing the earth for the future divine activities connected to the work of creation. Moreover, the imagery of a bird hovering indicates affection in the Spirit’s action. 

 

The book of Job might be regarded as an unlikely source for discovering the work of the Holy Spirit in creation. Yet it contains an important statement about what the Holy Spirit does. Elihu says in Job 33:4: ‘The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’ There is disagreement as to why Elihu included this statement in his speech to Job, but what is clear is his affirmation of he himself being a divine creation and his assumption that Job would not dispute the claim. When we connect this verse to Genesis 1:26, where God speaks about making man in his image, we can see that the creation of Adam and Eve in the image of God involved the Holy Spirit. The claim of Elihu is also connected to another verse in Genesis: ‘then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature’ (Gen. 2:7). Elihu spoke for every person when he said that the Spirit had made him.

 

In Psalm 104, the psalmist considers the connection between God and his creation, including humans, animals, and sea creatures. He mentions that God provides lower creatures with food and decides when their lives will end. And he also says how they are brought into existence: ‘When you send forth your Spirit, they are created’ (Ps. 104:30). Every time we see a creature, whether while walking along a road or even when looking through a window, we are observing one created by the Holy Spirit.

 

Those biblical references are sufficient to show that the Holy Spirit participated in the original work of creation, including that of humans, and participates in the ongoing creation of humans and other creatures. This means that he was involved in the creation of us as individuals and of who we are, with our personal qualities and abilities.

 

The Holy Spirit and Christ

We have already seen, when considering what happened to the Son of God, that the Holy Spirit was involved in the conception of Jesus, ensuring that his human nature remained holy. And the Holy Spirit remained involved in the life of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah predicted in connection to the Messiah: ‘And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD’ (Isa. 11:2). His holy life was the perfect expression of what it means to have the fruit of the Spirit. The word ‘rest’ in that quotation informs us about the pleasure experienced by the Spirit in enabling the Saviour to be who he became as he instructed sinners in the ways of God.

 

We are not told much about the silent years in Nazareth which concluded when Jesus was baptised in the Jordan by his relative John who was now the forerunner announcing the arrival of the Messiah who would baptise with the Spirit and with fire. When he was baptised, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and rested on him. The Spirit then led Jesus into the desert where he was tempted for forty days by the devil. He had come to confront and defeat the powers of darkness, and he did so by the help of the Spirit.

 

Shortly afterwards, Jesus, by quoting another passage from Isaiah, informed his fellow townspeople that the coming of the Spirit was an anointing by the Father to enable his Son fulfil the role of the Messiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4:18-19). Later on, he told the Pharisees that he performed his miracles by the power of the Spirit (Matt. 12:28).

Then, when Jesus was on the cross, it was through the eternal Spirit that he offered himself to God (Heb. 9:14). The Spirit had been with him throughout his years on earth, and when Jesus came to the time when he achieved his greatest success, when he paid the penalty for sin, the Spirit was there.

 

When Jesus ascended to heaven, Jesus sent the Spirit to enable his church to function for and witness for his glory. This sending of the Spirit was connected to the promise made to Jesus by the Father, and the Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost in fulfilment of the promise. Jesus, when informing his disciples that he would leave them and return to heaven, revealed that the Spirit would come to them as another Comforter and reveal the things of Christ to them, which they would pass on to others through their preaching and teaching (John 14–16). 

 

Each of the above aspects of the Spirit’s work in connection to Jesus could be explored in great depth. But it is also good to consider then in an overall way. Such consideration leads us to be thankful for the activities of the Spirit in the life and work of the Saviour.

 

The Holy Spirit and the Christian

What is a Christian? There are many ways of answering that question. One answer is that a Christian is a sinner in whom the Holy Spirit has been at work, is being at work, and will be at work. What are some of those activities?

 

Regeneration

First, the Holy Spirit blesses the gospel to the sinner we are considering. The reason he believes the gospel is that the Spirit has regenerated him, made him alive. Prior to the moment of regeneration, the sinner was spiritually dead. Jesus on one occasion interacted with a religious man called Nicodemus and informed him that he needed to experience a new birth (John 3). At that time, although he was a religious and intelligent man Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus meant, even although the Old Testament referred to it. Although a religious teacher, he was spiritually blind. Later references to Nicodemus indicate that he eventually did experience regeneration because he became a disciple of Jesus.

 

Paul reminded the Ephesians that, before they became Christians, they were dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1-5). They were not in contact with God and did not belong to the people of God. One day that changed, and the reason for the change was that the Holy Spirit made them spiritually alive. They now understood the gospel and responded to it with faith in Jesus and repentance towards God. Their response did not precede regeneration but followed it. They were raised from the dead in a spiritual sense.

 

Adoption

When a sinner believes in Jesus, he is pardoned by God and given the status of a son in God’s family. At the same time, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell him. One consequence of the indwelling of the Spirit is that the believer is enabled to recognise that God is his Father and that, as a believer, he can have an intimate relationship with God through Christ. The Spirit enables him to cry ‘Abba, Father,’ and to do so in a strong way. This response to God is sometimes called the witness of the Spirit and is an aspect of the spiritual assurance that a believer can have concerning his spiritual state. There is more to the doctrine of adoption than this experience of assurance, but the expression of delight in God as Father comes from the work of the Spirit in the believer’s heart.

 

Sanctification

Another consequence of the indwelling of the Spirit is that he engages in the ongoing work of sanctification in the believer. Although forgiven, the believer is not perfect and has to deal with his remaining sin on a daily basis. The Spirit brings conviction to believers about their sins and leads them to confess them to God, while expecting divine forgiveness and cleansing. He enables believers to work to reduce the influence of their sins on themselves. This lifelong process is often called mortification and means, as the word implies, putting sin to death, with the slaying of sin taking place throughout the rest of that believer’s life through using the various means of grace such as prayer, Bible reading, church attendance and fellowship. Sin will never be completely removed in this life from believers, but they do experience the Spirit’s help as they deal with it, whether it comes from themselves, or through the temptations of the devil, or the allurements of the world.

 

Sanctification also has positive features because it includes the reality of conformity to the character of the sinless Saviour. One way in which Paul described the positive side of sanctification is seen in his well-known verses describing the fruit of the Spirit: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law’ (Gal. 5:22-23). The Spirit leads believers in the ways of holiness and transforms them inwardly and outwardly.

 

Paul reminded the Ephesians that that when they believed they were marked by the Father with a seal that indicated they belonged to him (Eph. 1:13-14). The seal is the Holy Spirit, but obviously he is a living seal, which means that his presence has effects. Those effects are described as the earnest (samples of) or guarantee (authentic evidence of) that they will receive the future inheritance when the new heavens and new earth come.

 

The Holy Spirit and the Church

One of the images that Paul uses of the church and its unity with Jesus is to refer to the local church as a body of which Jesus is the head. When describing what happens when a person becomes a Christian, Paul says that new believers are baptised into the body of Christ, by which he means that they are united to Jesus and to one another. What does the Spirit do in the church?

 

The Holy Spirit arranges for each member of the body to have at least one spiritual gift. Several lists of such gifts are provided in the New Testament. Some gifts are more public and have greater influence; nevertheless, each member has to use his or her gifting for the common good.

 

There are three ways in which the gifts bring benefits, and each is connected to growth. One is evangelism, which involves spreading the faith to those outside the church; the second is encouraging and edifying one another; and the third is unity. When those are present the church will grow.

 

The Holy Spirit and the world

The Holy Spirit blesses people with various gifts and talents, and they help society to function through what is called God’s common grace. He also blesses the world whenever the gospel bears fruit in a community because usually growth in a church affects the surroundings in reducing expressions of sinfulness. Sometimes, the Spirit removes his restraining grace, as he did before the flood, and when that happens sin develops in all kinds of ways. When that takes place, that society may be about to collapse.

 

Jesus informed his apostles that the Spirit when he came after the ascension of Jesus would ‘convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged’ (John 16:8-11). The presence of the Spirit in this way would enable the church to grow as people are converted as a consequence of the convicting work of the Spirit.

 

The Spirit in the World to Come

We have already mentioned how Paul described the presence of the Spirit with his people as a foretaste of the world of glory. In the eternal future, he will enable his people to worship God with greater understanding, perfect affections, and capability to obey continually and fully. Whatever occurs through them and to them will be the outflow of him coming to them constantly from the eternal throne as stated in Revelation 22:1-2. The Holy Spirit will then be ‘the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.’

 

How should we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit?’ Surely, we should say it gratefully and gladly, along with prayer that we would be kept from grieving him, while also groaning that we are not yet able to appreciate all that he is doing for us and in us. We are grateful for his loving faithfulness, we are glad that he shows us the treasures of Jesus, and we long for him to show us the wonders of God’s grace expressed in the heavenly Father’s plan for his children.