Foundations - Holy Spirit

We believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. He is sent by the Father and the Son, is present in all true believers, convicts of sin, regenerates the sinner, assures the believer of salvation, brings true understanding of the scriptures, and acts as advocate and guide. We believe in the subsequent act of baptism in the Holy Spirit, and that He gives gifts to God’s people (1 Corinthians 12) to empower and edify the body of Christ.

deity of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity

Creation

He is Creator.

Genesis 1.2 – ‘Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit (‘ruach’) of God was hovering over the waters.’

Psalm 33.6 – ‘By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath (‘ruach’) of his mouth.’

Psalm 104.30 – ‘ When you send your Spirit they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.’

Job 33.4 – ‘The Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’

He is Omnipresent.

Psalm 139.7-10 – ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.’

He is Transformer.

Even though it is the NT that fully develops this role of the Holy Spirit, there are pre-cursors to this in the OT.

Genesis 6.3 – ‘Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal, their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Psalm 51.11 – ‘Do not cast from me your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.’

Ezekiel 36.26-27 – ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’Baptism

only two places see Trinity together

present in the OT but only for specific reasons, helping specific people

sent by the Father and the Son

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

present in all true believers

convicts of sin, regenerates the sinner

assures the believer of salvation

brings true understanding of the scriptures

acts as advocate and guide

We believe in the subsequent act of baptism in the Holy Spirit

He gives gifts to God’s people (1 Corinthians 12) to empower and edify the body of Christ

James Dunn says that the Holy Spirit is the ‘living heart of religion.’ According to his claim we cannot experience the Father or the Son, God himself unless the Spirit has connected with us first. He is the one who convicts us of our sin, the regenerator, the one who calls us back to our fundamental character as creations made by and for God. It is the Spirit who stirs our hearts, gives rest to our restlessness, fills that emptiness that nothing else can fill and without him religion/faith can be nothing more than ritual, a system, a practice or words. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the difference between ‘knowing’ and ‘being’ in the life of a Christian.

Poured out at Pentecost, in fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel 2, the Holy Spirit is multi-faceted and so fundamental to all aspects of faith that by the time the NT writers are making their records, we see different presentations of who the Holy Spirit is, different pneumatology according to the development of the writer’s understanding. As the Early Church get to grips with the presence of the Spirit and their understanding of him develops and matures, we can clearly see how they evolve their understanding of his role, in direct correlation with the role of Jesus and in particular his expected (but apparently delayed) return.

There are three major contributors to NT Pneumatology, Pauline, Lukan and Johannine and these present a fascinating insight into the maturing identity of the Holy Spirit and his role in the First Century Church. Time does not allow a detailed look at all three so we will concentrate on an introduction to Pauline and Johannine pneumatology.

Pauline Pneumatology

Paul develops his pneumatology throughout his letters. His first letter, 1 Thessalonians (in chronological order, not biblical) contains undeveloped teaching on the Holy Spirit but quite detailed teaching on the return of the Lord. It would seem at this time that the Parousia was still expected imminently (1 Thess 4.13-5.11)

Paul’s letter to the Galatians when he says Christ lives in us (Galatians 2.20) he means the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. He tells us that we receive the Holy Spirit by faith (Gal 3.2-3, 5) and it is this presence that gives us hope of righteousness (Gal 5.5).

Paul says that we need to walk ‘by the Spirit’ (Gal 5.16-17) so we don’t give in to the desires of the flesh/sinful nature. He teaches that there is a constant battle between the Spirit and the sinful nature. There are works of the flesh (Gal 5:16) (Gal 5.22) and fruit of the Spirit and we will only overcome the works of the flesh by walking in the Spirit. If we sow into our sinful nature we will reap destruction but if we sow into the Spirit we will reap eternal life.

Paul’s development of the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Believer continues in Romans, Paul says that those that are ‘in Christ’ are the ones that walk ‘by the Spirit’ and he tells us how the love of God is poured into our hearts ‘by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ (Romans 5.5) In chapter 8 he tells us the Law of the Spirit of life has set us free (Rom 8.2). Believers do not walk according to the ‘flesh’ (sinful nature) but according to the Spirit (Rom 8.4-6). Believers are ‘in the Spirit’ because the Spirit of God lives in us. If the Spirit of Christ does not live in us then we do not belong to him (Rom 8.9). If Christ is in us, then although our body is dead because of sin, our Spirit is alive because the Spirit of Christ is in us and one day we will be truly alive, because we will be raised just as Christ was raised (8:10-11). The Spirit living in us makes us sons of God, we are not slaves, we are not afraid, we are sons because of the Spirit in us. He enables us to put to death the desires of the sinful nature and cry out to God, even using the words that Jesus used, ‘Abba Father.’ The Spirit helps us with prayer, helps us in our weaknesses, he even intercedes on our behalf when we do not know what to pray (8.13-27).

In 1 Corinthians Paul furthers his separation of those who have the Spirit and those who do not by now distinguishing between ‘spiritual’ people and ‘natural’ people. A natural person does not have the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2.10-16) and therefore cannot receive the things of God’s Spirit; he cannot understand them, he cannot understand the things of God and he cannot understand the spiritual people either. And this, says Paul, is the problem that he has with these people in the church at Corinth that he is writing to! (1 Corinthians 3.1) He has to speak to them as if they are natural people (people of the ‘flesh’) because they are so immature in their faith and they do not seem to be understanding the things of God.

Paul underlines his theology of the Spirit in the believer with his comparison of the believer as the Temple (3.16) and not just the Temple but the Holy of Holies, the place where God lives by his Spirit. So precious is this temple that if anyone destroys it, God will destroy them! The insinuation is clear, we must worship God even with our body because it houses the Holy Spirit. So we shouldn’t be abusing it with lust, promiscuity etc. We should honour God with our bodies because we do not belong to ourselves, we belong to God; our bodies belong to God, the Holy Spirit lives within our bodies. We are the ‘ναος’ (naos) and Jesus has paid the price for that.

The rest of 1 Corinthians details the gifts that the Spirit brings to the believer and leaves us in no doubt that we should ‘eagerly desire’ these gifts and ‘pursue love’ (14.1) – particularly so we can prophesy. Yes we should speak in tongues, but we need to realise that when we do that we are not speaking to people (because they don’t understand us) but we are speaking to God (because he does understand what we are saying.) But when we prophesy we are speaking to people and so we can build them up and encourage them and console them. That is why it is better to prophesy than speak in tongues (even though he wants us ALL to speak in tongues) and when he says that one who prophesies is better than one who speaks in tongues, he means the public use of tongues, if an interpretation is not given.

Johannine Pneumatology

Just like the rest of the Fourth Gospel, the pneumatology is completely unique and very distinctive. In the Fourth Gospel Jesus is pre-existent. John is not interested in birth narratives or genealogies, or even chronological records; his agenda is spiritual not historical and he has one message to convey – Jesus IS God. He is explicit about it right from the beginning of his Gospel (Prologue) and he implicitly weaves this message through the rest of his Gospel – Jesus IS, WAS and ALWAYS HAS BEEN – God! He was around at Creation, nothing that has been made was made without him, he is greater than Moses, Peter and John The Baptist, he replaces everything that might have previously been thought to lead to salvation, including the Temple and EVERY Jewish salvific icon, and in addition he claims, by using the self-divine revelation of ‘I am’ to be Yahweh himself.

John’s ‘miracles’ are actually signs that point to the fact that Jesus is God. Each sign has a specific discourse attached to it that reveals Jesus having the attributes of God – omnipotence, omniscience and (after the Resurrection – omnipresence.)

John leaves out narratives that are not relevant to his unique and distinctive genre, particularly if they may detract from his Christology, he even changes the timing of the Temple Cleansing so he can use it to make a unique Christological point.

John develops his pneumatology throughout the Gospel, rewriting the Parousia, realising eschatological hopes and yet all the way through maintaining the most developed Christology of all the Gospels. John is the only New Testament writer to give the Holy Spirit his own identity. The designation of the Spirit develops from ‘το πνεῦμα’ (the Spirit) (1.32,33; 3.5,6,8,34; 4.23,24; 6.63; 7.39; 20.22,) also used in 1 John (3.24; 4.2, 13; 5,6, 8) to ‘πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας’ (spirit of truth) (14.17; 15.26; 16.13; 1 John 4:6); and ‘ὁ παράκλητος’ (the Paraclete) (14.16,26; 15.26; 16.7.) John’s inimitable development of the Holy Spirit begins in earnest as he embraces eschatology and pneumatology to expound his Christology. He almost glances over material from wider Christian tradition, making only brief reference to events like the baptism of Jesus, appearing to only mention it because it has an effect on his Christology. The Spirit remains (‘μένω’ - meno), (1:32), on Jesus and this begins to establish Jesus’ deity and institute him as the personified God. John allows no one but Jesus to have recognition for his public ministry. There is no independent or tandem ministering of the Spirit; that would detract from Jesus’ deity. Instead, John continually points forward to the eschatological age to come, when the Spirit will minister. This age will be inaugurated by the glorification and departure of Jesus.

As his pneumatology develops, John ascertains the work of the Spirit. He will enable new birth for the believer (3.5-8); he will be given ‘without limit’ (3.34); he will enable worship (4.23); he will give life (6.63); he is the ‘living water’ that will flow from believers (7.38). Johannine pneumatology and its realising effect on John’s eschatology is most radically evidenced in the Johannine theology of Temple replacement. First the author places Jesus’ clearing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in order to demonstrate that with the coming of Jesus there is no longer any need for a Temple. He then goes on to systematically replace the Temple and all its precious representations, with the post-resurrection believer. It is the believer that will be the new Temple. The believer will be the ‘most Holy place’ where God lives by his Spirit (John 14.23). This is substantiated most innovatively at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7.37ff). Jesus stands in the Temple on the day when traditionally lights are lit and water is poured out to commemorate the provision of Yahweh in the wilderness. The Light of the World stands in this place and claims that anyone who believes in him will have streams of ‘living water’ flowing from him. These words are a realising of the Jewish eschatological hope that one day a river will flow from the Temple in Jerusalem.[1]Jesus’ words realise the futurist anticipation, his actions replace and fulfil the festival celebrations; he is God’s provision, he is the light of the world and he will provide the ‘living water’ that will flow from the new Temple, the believer. These things will happen in the new eschatological age yet to be, when the Spirit is given, when Jesus is glorified (7.39). The age that will be inaugurated as Jesus allows this Temple (his body) to be destroyed and he raises it to life again in three days (John 2.19).

The predominant expansion of Johannine pneumatology takes place within the Private Discourse narrative (chapters 13-16) as the Spirit takes on his own personality and character as the Paraclete (‘ὁ παράκλητος’). Jesus promises the Father will send the Paraclete (14.16). He will teach them and remind them of what Jesus had taught them (14.26); he will give them peace (14.27); he will convict the world (16.8); he will judge the prince of this world (16.11); he will guide them into all truth (16.13); he will bring glory to Jesus (16.14) and these things will happen ‘in a little while’ once Jesus has departed (16.7; 16.16). In fact he will do and be all the things that Jesus says and does. So who is ‘the Paraclete?’

The text refers to ‘ἂλλον παράκλητον’ (another Paraclete) and there is much debate surrounding this term. It has been suggested that the classical use of ‘ἂλλος’ (allos) and ‘ἓτερος’ (heteros) had become insignificant by the time of the New Testament writers. However, Paul’s use of these terms in Galatians seems to disprove that theory. He laments the Galatians turning to another gospel (‘ἕτερον’) of a different kind, which really isn’t another (ἄλλο) gospel, of the same kind, at all. Paul’s use in 1 Corinthians is slightly more complicated and not so easy to make a case from. Nevertheless, many scholars insist that the use of language is valid. We should add to this Brown’s extensive work on the similarities between Jesus and the Paraclete. He notices that everything John says about Jesus is also said about ‘ὁ παράκλητος’[2] concluding that the Paraclete will be the presence of the absent Jesus. Therefore, ‘another Paraclete’ becomes ‘another Jesus’, especially when it is understood that the first Paraclete was Jesus (1 John 2.1). No wonder he will leave and then return (14.3); no wonder they will not be left as orphans (14.18). It is not surprising that ‘in a little while’ they will not see him and then ‘in a little while’ they will see him again (16.16).

For John, the Paraclete is the Spirit of Jesus in the post-resurrection believer and we are faced with what appears to be a thoroughly realised eschatology. The age where the Spirit will minister is ushered in, Jesus is glorified and the Spirit is given (20.22). But if the Spirit is Jesus and Jesus is the Spirit this can only be John’s reinterpretation of the Parousia. He rewrites the Parousia to be realised in the Paraclete and so comforts his audience, allaying their fears. He uses pneumatology and Christology to realise his eschatology and console his community. The Parousia is not delayed; Jesus has returned in the Paraclete.

[1]This hope is reflected in texts such as Ezekiel 47. [2]R. E. Brown, “The Paraclete in the Fourth Gospel”, (NTS 13 (1966)), published as appendix in R. E. Brown, The Gospel According to John XIII – XXI, (London: Doubleday, 1970.), p.1141.