Great Doctrine of the Bible, volume 2: God the Holy Spirit (Review)

Ch. 1 Doctrine: The Person of the Holy Spirit

Ch. 2 Doctrine: The Deity of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit as a Person

Many different names

Different Titles relating to the HS

Spirit of Christ

Spirit of His Son

Spirit of Jesus Christ

The Spirit of the Lord

Direct/Personal Titles

Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost

The spirit of Holiness

Why is He called the Holy Spirit?

Why regard the Holy Spirit as a Person?

7 reasons:

Personal pronouns are He/Him - John 16:7–8 “Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment:” ,John 16:13–15 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.”

Identified with the Father and the Son - Matthew 28:19 “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,”

Pesonhood is shown through His identity with us - Acts 15:28 “For it was the Holy Spirit’s decision—and ours—not to place further burdens on you beyond these requirements:”

Specific qualitities - knowledge and a sovereign will - 1 Corinthians 2:11 “For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 1Cor.12.11

Actions ascribed to Him can only be done byu an individual - 1 Corinthians 2:10 “Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”, Romans 8:26 “In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.” Revelation 2:7 ““Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Ch. 3 Doctrine: Creation and Common Grace

The work of the Holy Spirit in general:

The Holy Spirit was actively involved in creation

Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

The Holy Spirit maintains creation

Isaiah 40:7 “The grass withers, the flowers fade when the breath of the Lord blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.”

Psalm 104 “My soul, bless the Lord! Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with majesty and splendor. He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe, spreading out the sky like a canopy, laying the beams of his palace on the waters above, making the clouds his chariot, walking on the wings of the wind, and making the winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. He established the earth on its foundations; it will never be shaken. You covered it with the deep as if it were a garment; the water stood above the mountains. At your rebuke the water fled; at the sound of your thunder they hurried away— mountains rose and valleys sank— to the place you established for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; they will never cover the earth again. He causes the springs to gush into the valleys; they flow between the mountains. They supply water for every wild beast; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the sky live beside the springs; they make their voices heard among the foliage. He waters the mountains from his palace; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor. He causes grass to grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, producing food from the earth, wine that makes human hearts glad— making his face shine with oil— and bread that sustains human hearts. The trees of the Lord flourish, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests; storks make their homes in the pine trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes. He made the moon to mark the festivals; the sun knows when to set. You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals stir. The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises; they go back and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening. How countless are your works, Lord! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small. There the ships move about, and Leviathan, which you formed to play there. All of them wait for you to give them their food at the right time. When you give it to them, they gather it; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your breath, they are created, and you renew the surface of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works. He looks at the earth, and it trembles; he touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him; I will rejoice in the Lord. May sinners vanish from the earth and wicked people be no more. My soul, bless the Lord! Hallelujah!”

Common Grace

Ch. 4 Doctrine: The Significance of Pentecost

Ch. 5 Doctrine: The Work of the Holy Spirit in General

Ch. 6 Doctrine: The Work of the Holy Spirit in Redemption

Ch. 7 Doctrine: Effectual Calling

Ch. 8 Doctrine: Regeneration - a New Disposition

Ch. 9 Doctrine: The New Birth

A new birth is absolutely essential

Romans 8:5 “For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.”

John 3:3 “Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

You cannot mix the charactor of God and the character of man.

John 3:6 “Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

New birth takes place through the Word, and it is a work of the Father

James 1:18 “By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

1 Peter 1:23 “because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.”

John 6:65 “He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.””

It is something that can never be lost

Romans 8:38–39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Ch. 10 Doctrine: a Child of God and in Christ

Proof of regeneration and how we can know we are regenerate.

The 4 main “tests” in 1 John:

Believing that Jesus is the Christ - 1 John 4:1–2 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,”

Keeping the commandments - 1 John 2:3 “This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.”

He has given us the Holy Spirit - 1 John 4:13 “This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.”, Galatians 4:6 “And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!””

We love the brethren - 1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.”

Additional tests/proofs:

The awareness of the struggle within - Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.”

Desire to know God, not just be blessed by God - Psalm 42:1–2 “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God?”

Know what it is to hate sin - Romans 7:24 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” , Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”