Theology - Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. Studying the Holy Spirit is very important, but is often more incomplete and confused here than with most other doctrines. We have less explicit revelation in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit than we find about the Father and the Son.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. Studying the Holy Spirit is very important, but is often more incomplete and confused here than with most other doctrines. We have less explicit revelation in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit than we find about the Father and the Son.

Studying the Holy Spirit is very important, but is often more incomplete and confused here than with most other doctrines. We have less explicit revelation in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit than we find about the Father and the Son.

There is also a lack of concrete imagery. God the Father is understood fairly well because the figure of a father is familiar to everyone. The Son isn’t hard to conceptualize, because he actually appeared in human form and was observed and reported on. But the Spirit is intangible and difficult to visualize.

The Holy Spirit is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer.

The Father created, the Son came down to earth, died, resurrected and ascended, and the Spirit is with us. If we want to be in touch with God today, then, we must be familiar with the Holy Spirit.

It is through the Holy Spirit’s work that we feel God’s presence within and the Christian life is given a special tangibility.

The Nature of the Holy Spirit

The Deity & Personality of the Holy Spirit

Multiple references to the Holy Spirit are interchangeable with references to God . (; )

(; Corinthians 3:16)

Acts 5:1–4 NIV

1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

Acts

1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

The Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of qualities of God . ()

(Omniscience;

1 Corinthians 2:10–11 NIV

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Omniscience

The Holy Spirit is powerful. ()

The power of the Holy Spirit is also talked about quite a bit in the NT. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit has the ability to change human hearts and personalities; it is the Spirit who works conviction.

POWER

Romans 15:19 NIV

19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

The Personality of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit glorifies another member of the Trinity. ()

Jesus is similar, in that he glorifies his father. In a prayer in , he says that during his ministry here on earth he glorified the Father.

The Holy Spirit has certain personal characteristics such as intelligence , will , and emotions . (, , )

These are typically regarded as the 3 fundamental elements of personhood.

INTELLIGENCE

John 14:26 NIV

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

WILL

1 Corinthians 12:11 NIV

11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

EMOTION

Ephesians 4:30 NIV

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Importance of Understanding the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is someone with whom we can have a personal relationship, someone to whom we can and should pray

The Holy Spirit, being fully divine , which means that we should worship Him as we do the Father and the Son.

The Holy Spirit is the expression and execution of what He, the Father, and the Son have planned together. They are one .

God is not far off. In the Holy Spirit, the Triune God comes close , so close as to actually enter into each believer. He has truly become Immanuel, “God with us.”

The Work of the Holy Spirit

In the OT

The term “the Spirit of God ” is typically used instead of “Holy Spirit”

He was work at creation . ()

Genesis 1:2 NIV

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

He was at work in the giving of prophecy and Scripture . ()

Ezekiel 2:2 NIV

2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

He provided skills for tasks. ()

In appointing Bezalel to construct and furnish the tabernacle.

Exodus 31:3–5 NIV

3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.

In Jesus’ Life

At the very beginning of Jesus’ incarnate existence. ()

L

Luke 1:35 NIV

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. ()

Matthew 3:16 NIV

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

Immediately after Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit drove him into the wilderness to face major temptation. (Luke 4:1)

Why would the Holy Spirit do this?

Throughout his ministry , Jesus was able to do things by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit. ()

In a Believer’s Life

The Holy Spirit’s activity in someone’s life is

Jesus taught that the Spirit’s activity is essential in both conversion, which from our perspective is the beginning of the Christian life, and regeneration, which from God’s perspective is it’s beginning.

Conversion - when someone repents (turn away from sin) and faith (acceptance of Christ)

Regeneration - The miraculous transformation of an individual and implantation of spiritual energy

We are initiated into the Christian life through the Spirit’s activity in our conversion and regeneration.

Roles which the Holy Spirit performs continually in our lives:

Empowering

John 14:12 NIV

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 4:12 NIV

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

2. Indwelling

John 14:16–17 NIV

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

3. Teaching

John 14:26 NIV

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

4. Intercession

Romans 8:26–27 NIV

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

This is when the Holy Spirit engages in our behalf. Believers have the assurance that when we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit wisely intercedes for us that the Lord’s will be done.

5. Sanctification - Continued transformation of moral and spiritual character so that the life of the believer actually comes to mirror the standing which he or she already has in God’s sight. (Romans 8:1-17)

Romans 8:1–17 NIV

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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6. Gives Spiritual Gifts

They are for the edification of the whole body

No one person has all the gifts

All gifts are important

The Holy Spirit gives gifts to whomever he wills

Importance of the Work of the Spirit

The gifts we have are gifts from the Holy Spirit. They are not our own accomplishments, and are intended to be used in the fulfilment of his plan.

The Holy Spirit empowers believers in their Christian life and service.

We can rely on the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of the Word of God, and to guide us into his will for us.

We can direct prayer to the Holy Spirit, just as to the Father and the Son, as well as to the Triune God. We can thank him for the work that he does in us, and ask him to continue that work.

Being filled with the Spirit is not so much a matter of our getting more of the Spirit as it is a matter of his possessing more of our lives.