The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit [1]

The Person of the Holy Spirit

This month’s edition of the Newsletter will focus on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.  It will complete our study on the person of God, and next month we will look at the nature of man.  Following that letter, we will begin looking at different aspects of life and how to think Christianly about them. I hope this is an encouraging read that will uplift your spirits as you learn more about the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers.

  1. The Holy Spirit is a person and proceeds from the Father (John 14:16, 15:26).
  2. He is identified as masculine (He is not an It!) (John 16:8, 16:13,14).
  3. He is part of the Trinity as we have already seen (Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14).
  4. He has personal characteristics (1 Cor. 2:10-11, 12:11, Eph. 4:30, Heb. 10:29).
  5. He speaks (Rev. 2:7, Rom. 8:26, Acts 13:2, John 16:3-8).
  6. He is Deity (Acts 5:3-4, Heb. 3:7, Ex. 16:7-8, 17:7, I Cor. 3:16, 2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21-23).
  7. He is omnipotent (all-powerful) (1 Cor. 12:11, Ps. 139:7-10).
  8. He is omniscient (all-knowing) (1 Cor. 2:10-11, Is. 40:13-14).

The attributes of God make Him Holy, the attributes of Deity make Him Deity.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

  1. He is present and works in creation (Gen. 1:1-2, Gen. 6:3, Ps. 104:30).
  2. He works in regeneration; this is the process by which we are saved (John 3:3-8, Rom. 8:11, Titus 3:5).
  3. He restrains sin (Gen. 6:3, 2 Thess. 2:6-10).
  4. He reproves and convicts of sin and righteousness (John 16:8-11, 8:21-24).
  5. He inspires scripture (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21).
  6. He prepared Christ for His work of atonement  (Luke 1:35, Heb. 10:5-7, Matt. 4:1).
  7. He gives us our spiritual resurrection (Eph. 2:5).
  8. He makes us new creations (2 Cor. 5:17).

We are baptized with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19, 3:16, Eph. 2:14-22).  All Christians have received the Spirit ( Rom. 8:9, 1 Cor. 12:13, Jude 19, 1 Cor. 1:5-9).  There are four elements present in any baptism: 1) the baptizer, 2) the baptized, 3) the element of baptism, and 4) the result of the baptism (Matt. 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 1:5, 111:6, 1 Cor. 12:13).

There are three other issues to discuss in regards to the Spirit: 1) He is the earnest of our inheritance (Eph. 1:14, 2 Cor. 1:22—pledge). 2) He is the source of all spiritual power and gifts (Acts 1:8, 1 Cor. 12:11). 3) He is the seal of God’s ownership and eternal care (Eph. 1:13-14, 2 Cor. 1:22, Eph. 4:30).  Once the Spirit is in you He is in you for good (Rom. 8:29), nothing is powerful enough to drag the Holy Spirit from you.  He is a pledge to you.  This means His indwelling is a down-payment that ensures you that He will complete the work of redemption in the eternal state that He has started in you now.  Namely, He will give you a new body that is eternal and incorruptible.

As far as spiritual gifts go, He gives them as He wills, and not everyone has every gift.  There is a debate today on the nature of gifts as to whether or not they are all in effect or if some are no longer available.  Well meaning, good-hearted people differ on their views of this topic, but I believe that apostleship and prophecy ceased with the death of the Apostle John and the closing of the canon.  Tongues function in the same way as prophecy and therefore, if one is gone, so must the other be as well.  We may examine this more at a later date.  If you have questions about it, let me know.

Application

Why would we need to worry about how the Holy Spirit is portrayed in art?  First of all, He is invisible, so He is probably not visually depicted very often.  Second of all, if God the Father or Jesus Christ are being portrayed correctly, then wouldn’t the Holy Spirit also be portrayed in full accuracy?  Well, maybe not.  In fact, the Holy Spirit may actually be the least accurately portrayed.  He is often misrepresented in music, whether it be Def Leppard claiming that they can “scare the pants off the holiest ghost” in “Back in Your Face,” or whether it is Melissa Etheridge saying that her lover was “just a Ghost, the holiest mistake,” in “The Prison” off her album Skin.  These phrases should not be taken lightly.  Furthermore, Christians often forget about the Holy Spirit in their daily lives, as well as in the songs they sing.  If you took all of the praise songs from the last ten years and divided them by which character of the Trinity was most emphasized, I believe you might find that while songs have been written about the Spirit, the list would be meager compared to the songs about Christ and the Father.  If the Holy Spirit is just as much a part of the Trinity as we have stated above, His emphasis should be just as great as the emphasis given to Christ and the Father.  All three are the God of Christianity.

As you read Scripture, listen to music, and worship with other believers this next month, pay special attention to the person of the Holy Spirit as He is mentioned, and be responsive as He convicts you of sin and righteousness—especially when the integrity of His name and character are at stake.