Pneumatology 1

Pneumatology 1

Identity of the Holy Spirit

Exactly who, or what, is the Holy Spirit?

Evangelicals often use two questions to get at an answer for this:

1. Is the Spirit fully divine or a reality less than God the Father?

2. Is the Spirit fully person or merely an impersonal force?

The Spirit in Salvation History

Just like the the Father and the Son, the Spirit is fully personal and fully divine.

HS in the OT

The Hebrew word for spirit is ru’ach. It is the idea of “wind” (, ) and “breath” ().

The ancients were well aware of the close connection between breath and life. Breathing indicated the presence of life, whereas its cessation bean that life had come to an end. Consequently, from its basic meaning grew the use of ru’ach to refer to the life principle in living creatures (, For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. , They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. , Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.) Because the Hebrews believed that all creaturely life found its source in God, ru’ach also denoted the divine power which creates and sustains life.

The concept of the divine life-giving power led the Old Testament writers to speak of the Spirit of God whom God sends to accomplish his goals. In this sense, the Spirit is the divine power at work in the world.

Although the presence of God’s Spirit in nature suggested the idea of God’s immanence, the concept of God sending his Spirit reminded them of the parallel idea of the divine transcendence. They sensed that as Spirit, the transcendent God entered the natural world unpredictably. Similarly, God could revoke the gracious gift of the Spirit. Consequently, the Hebrews were conscious of an unbridgeable gulf separating humans from the eternal God.

Because of the connection between Spirit and God, the OT writers linked God’s Spirit closely to God. Isaiah asked, “Who has understood the mind [literally, Spirit] of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor?”(). The Spirit is God as the incomprehensible one (beyond human understanding).

Likewise, in praise to God the psalmist asked the rhetorical question, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (). Here, God’s Spirit denotes God in his omnipresence; the divine Spirit mediates the universal presence of God to his creatures.

Elsewhere, the psalmist declares that the Spirit of God was the one against whom Israel rebelled in the wilderness ( for they made his spirit bitter, [or they rebelled against the Spirit of God] and he spoke rashly with his lips.)

The idea of sinning against God introduces the common designation for the third person of the Trinity, the HOLY Spirit. This phrase occurs rarely in the OT, however when it does, it is always connected with human sin

( Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right[b] spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people.[a] Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,

In these texts, the term “holy” is likely an adjective, rather than the first part of a two-word noun. Holy Spirit connotes God’s Spirit in his moral holiness in contrast to human sinfulness.

After committing adultery with Bathsheba, david cried out in . Aware of Saul’s earlier loss of the Spirit (), David was concerned that his transgression not result in a similar fate. He feared that because God’s spirit is holy (morally upright), his sin would result in the withdrawal of God’s presence as mediated by the Spirit.

Functions of HS in the OT

Ancient Hebrews were aware of God’s Spirit, although they were not fully aware of the triune divine reality. They understood that the Spirit fulfilled certain important functions both in creation and within the life of the people of God.

1. Creator

Above all else, the Hebrews knew God’s Spirit as the Creator Spirit. First Creation narrative gives evidence to the link between the Spirit and creation. Before God spoke his creative words, the Spirit of God “was hovering [or ‘brooded’] over the waters’ (gen 1:2). Alluding to the connection between “breath” and “Spirit” the psalmist described the breath of God’s nostrils as carrying a creative effect ().

According to the second creation narrative, God’s act of breathing gave life to the first human ().

2. Sustainer

On several occasions, the OT writers speak of the Spirit as the sustainer of life. They were aware of his upholding activity in nature. When God removes the Spirit, creature dies, but when he sends his Spirit, the earth is renewed (, ). Above all,, they knew that the Spirit’s presence sustains human life (, ; ). All living creatures, therefore, owe their existence to the work of God’s Spirit.

3. Special ways

He also acts in special ways in the lives of certain persons. His coming on specific persons for certain tasks might simply enhance the potential of that person, or mediate creativity in the use of personal skills, such as the practice of crafts and the making of artistic designs (; ). Or his coming might facilitate the exercise of leadership abilitites (; ).

Supernatural endowment

Samson (; ; )

Speak on God’s behalf

(; )

Whatever form it took, the Spirit’s presence provided the recipient with the resources necessary to complete a divinely ordained task.

Throughout the OT, the Spirit’s coming and empowerment always remained transient. No one could presume to possess the Spirit permanently. Even the rite of anointing provided no guarantee that the divine endowment would continue indefinitely. As was the tragic case of Saul, because of his disobedience, the Spirit departed from the monarch ().

Eschatological direction of OT Pneumatology

In the end, the OT people of God knew only an unsatisfying experience of the Spirit. His presence was transient, not permanent. It was selective –enjoyed by only a few – not universal. And it was largely corporate, possessed by the people as a whole, rather than individuals.

This unsatisfactory experience kindled within them a hope for a better day in the future. The prophets looked to a coming era which would be characterized by the fullness of the Spirit. The prophetic hope included the expectation that the unique bearer of the Spirit would come. They anticipated the Anointed One, on whom the fullness of the Spirit would rest (). This future endowment would not be solely the possession of the Coming One, but rather the Messiah would pour out the Spirit on all of God’s people. Each person would now have immediate access to God’s Spirit.

Therefore, during the OT era, the Spirit functioned in an eschatological manner. The partial, unsatisfying experience of his presence led God’s people to direct their attention to the future. They eagerly hoped for a

new day when the present would give way to the full reality – God dwelling permanently among them through his Spirit.

NT Pneumatology

The Holy Spirit and the Christ

Jesus – the Bearer of the Spirit

The OT people anticipated the coming of a singular Anointed One and the subsequent outpouring of the Spirit. According to the NT, Jesus of Nazareth embodied both of these expectations.

Jesus was energized by a unique anointing of the Spirit. The NT Writers tell of the role the Spirit played at certain crucial points in Jesus’ earthly life.

1. Matthew and Luke connect the Spirit with the birth of Jesus.

2. All four gospels tell of the presence of the Spirit at Jesus’ baptism.

3. Paul focuses on the role of the Spirit in Jesus’ resurrection. He testified that through the power of the HS God raised Jesus from the dead ().

4. the HS provided Jesus with guidance (wilderness)

5. the HS provided Jesus with power, Jesus claimed to drive out demons by the Spirit of God ()

The early church believed that Jesus was uniquely endowed by the Spirit, and as such, he was the one through whom the outpouring of the Spirit would come. According to the gospels, Jesus’ earthly ministry marked the nearness of the fulfillment of the OT hope for the Spirit’s outpouring. Luke records that Jesus promises that the Spirit was among the good gifts that the Father would give to those who ask ().

The Gospel writers further assert that because Jesus was the mediator of the Spirit, the Spirit’s outpouring was dependent on him.

He was the one who would give the water which would become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life (john 4:14). But before this could occur, Jesus had to finish his own mission. He must first “go away” – that is, be glorified – so that the “Counselor” could come ().

Jesus’ Promise of the coming Spirit

The early church was convinced that Jesus was the fulfillment of the OT pneumatological hope. He was both uniquely endowed by the Spirit and the one through whom the Spirit would come.

The Gospel of John locates the occasion of Jesus’ delivering this promise within his farewell address in the upper room before his betrayal (john 14:16). Here, Jesus identifies the promised figure as “another counselor” or “helper.”

“Helper” refers to one who is called alongside to assist. To this, John adds “another” which implies a similarity between the Coming One and the Lord himself. Jesus’ promise then, was that the Father would send another one, similar to the Lord, who would stand with the disciples to assist them in their mission.

Jesus’ description indicates that the Coming One would fulfill certain tasks:

1. Mediate the ongoing presence of the Lord with his people ()

2. disciples teacher, reminding them of the Lord’s instructions (Matt 28:25-27) and guiding them into truth ().

3. Testify concerning Jesus and formt he foundation for the disciple’s own testimony ()

Pentecost – the Fulfillment of Jesus’s Promise

Two Possibilities

– John puts the coming of the HS during Jesus’ post resurrection ministry.

While the disciples are hiding “for fear of the Jews” () Jesus appears. After commissioning those present, “he breathed on them and said, “receive the Holy Spirit” (v 22). Then he entrusted his followers with power of binding and loosing.

John is connecting “breath” and “Spirit.” This invokes the Genesis creation account in which God breathed into the newly formed human being. The point being conveyed is that Jesus is now creating the new humanity among his disciples. For John, the coming of the Spirit marked the Climax of Jesus’ mission.

- Luke places the coming of the Spirit after Jesus’ ascension.

Luke’s narrative incorporates both objective and subjective elements. The coming of the Spirit is marked by an objective, historical event in history. The narrator reports that “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven” (v 2). This brings to mind the OT connection between “wind” and “spirit.” This image symbolizes the supernatural in-breeaking of God’s Spirit into the world. This is an objective event for Luke, the Spirit has come.

It is also subjective. Each person present was “filled with the Spirit” (v 4). This resulted in the inauguration of a new corporate reality – a sense of community resulting from the inward experience of the Spirit formed the basis for the subsequent sharing of goods with the Jerusalem Church.