Welcome to the Young Reformed Awakening
My College Paper on the Holy Spirit
This is an argument paper I did for college. It's definitely not exhaustive, I was only allowed to write 4 pages maximum. Thus it is very surface level.
The Holy Spirit:
His Personality, Work and Office
Today there is too little understood about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Christians seem very interested in current issues, ministry, and even theology; but there is not much talk or excitement over just who the Holy Spirit is. The apathy toward this subject is not in line with church history and is dangerous to the Christian’s walk with the Lord, for the way they see the Holy Spirit affects the way they see grace, perseverance in the faith and even God Himself. Historically, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity who acts as Christ’s representative on earth and works in the believer’s life to conform him to Christ’s image through the gifts and fruit that He produces in them. As such, throughout the church’s heritage there has been a sense of dependence upon Him and a sense of imminence between Him and the believer. But in today’s world these things are not so, for it cannot have an intimate relationship with someone it does not know.
In contrast to apathy towards the Holy Spirit, there has also been a departure from orthodox teaching about the Holy Spirit to destructive and unbalanced perceptions of Him and His work. The effects of such a shift have truly been lamentable. Far from the aid and comfort from the Biblical view, the views in Pentecostal and other religious circles have led many astray. A historical and Biblical perspective on the Holy Spirit must be regained.
The most important questions we can ask about the Holy Spirit are those that deal with His essence. In other words, we need to understand what the Holy Spirit is. His essence can be expressed in two main parts: His personhood and His divinity.
The Holy Spirit is a person. He thinks, feels and speaks. He is not an energy or force. This is clear from the statements in Scripture concerning Him. The Bible says He grieves (Ephesians 4:30), is a Helper (John 14:16) and we are bade to have communion with Him by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 13:14). He is even said to be a participant in speaking things into existence (Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30). Also, the Holy Spirit is often referred to as having direct relation and communication with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:16, 15:26). Commenting on the relation of the Spirit to the Trinity, Spurgeon writes, “If the Holy Spirit were a mere influence, He would not be mentioned in conjunction with Two whom we all confess to be actual and proper persons” (Spurgeon, 75). In other words, to claim that two members of the trinity are persons but one is not is inconsistent and foreign to Biblical teaching. All of these attributes can only be rightly said about a living person.
Along with the Holy Spirit’s personhood comes the natural inference that the Holy Spirit is God. He is not less deity than the rest of the Godhead, but is perfectly equal with them. This is brought out in the passages that speak of the Holy Spirit as God Himself (Acts 5:3, 4, 1
Corinthians 3:16, 17). The Bible attributes the characteristic of omniscience to the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-11) and it is also notable that He is called the Spirit of God in that text. Wayne Grudem rightly states the same connection between the Holy Spirit and God when he observes that the work of being born again is His work and then ads, “But the work of giving new spiritual life to people when they become Christians is something only God can do (cf. 1 John 3:9, “born of God”).” (Grudem, 238). Thus we see that there is abundant evidence that the Holy Spirit is divine.
Now that we have established what the Holy Spirit is, we will move on to what he does, first in relation to the other members of the trinity, then in relation to us.
The Holy Spirit is now Christ’s representative on earth. This has several implications. Primarily, the Holy Spirit plays an integral part in the salvation of Christ’s sheep. Christ’s mission was to redeem the Father’s elected people, but if this is all that had been done, salvation would never be complete. Someone had to apply the redemption that Christ purchased to His people. This is the job of the Holy Spirit. He does so by regenerating sinners and calling them to the Father, then continuing a work of sanctification in the believer’s life. As Spurgeon put it, “all that has been done by God the Father, and all that has been done by God the Son, must be ineffectual to us unless the Spirit reveals these things to our souls.” (Spurgeon, 38). Also, He has replaced Christ as the comforter to His people (John 14:16). J. I. Packer comments, “Jesus was
their original comforter, and the newcomer’s task was to continue this side of his ministry.” (Packer, 66). He is a companion that soothes the people of God as much as an agent of growth and conformity to Christ.
This stand on the work of the Holy Spirit has a very important implication on our understanding of Him: The Holy Spirit never glorifies Himself. His purpose is to glorify Christ. Just like Christ leads the sinner to the Father, the Holy Spirit leads the sinner to Christ. This has profound meaning today as many Christian’s experiences seem to indicate that the Holy Spirit’s work is independent from Christ.
As tools of growth and service, the Holy Spirit imparts and cultivates gifts and fruit into the believer. The fruit of the Spirit is the character traits that God works within His people, whereas spiritual gifts are traits that are given to different believers in different measures. Both are cultivated throughout the life of a believer. The gifts of tongues has ceased, being a sign of judgment upon Israel that was fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 14:20-22). Similarly, Prophesy has given way to the preaching of the word, being a foundation of the church along with apostleship (Ephesians 2:20).
It has been explained clearly and succinctly who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. There are differing views in and outside of Christianity. An examination of some major groups is in order.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the belief that the Holy Spirit is a person. They cite passages that speak of being filled with Him as proof that He is a force. This is simply inconsistent, first of all because it denies the full revelation about the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit teaches (John 14:26) and can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:31), along with many other human traits. Matthew Slick, a writer for an online apologetics organization, writes, “If the Holy Spirit is a force, then how is it possible that the above mentioned Characteristics are attributed to Him?” (Slick). A Jehovah’s Witness is utterly incapable of answering this question.
The group that was just discussed is a non- Christian entity. However, genuine Christianity is not immune to failing in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism, a movement that started in the early 1900’s, does a great disservice to God’s people by their imbalanced view of Him. As was stated before, the Holy Spirit’s job is to glorify Christ by working in His people. Pentecostal groups tend to view the Holy Spirit in independence from Christ by seeking new revelation, healings and emotional experiences. In short, Pentecostalism equates external experience with the Holy Spirit whereas His real work is in the heart and has more to do with conformity of the believer to Christ. This dishonors the Holy Spirit by breaking Him away from His proper office and it often leads the believer to hunger emotion and manifestations apart from God. When the Holy Spirit is truly leading a person, the person comes to Christ. Pentecostalism, however, leads the believer to search for the right feelings and experiences. This is because of their emphasis on the Holy Spirit that is so often viewed apart from Christ. God’s word says “He will glorify Me” (John 16:14), and thus He does not work outside of the other members of the trinity. Such a view would be totally inconsistent.
An orthodox view of the Holy Spirit has been presented from scripture and theologians in church history. As has been shown, when one goes by emotion in their ideas about of the Holy Spirit it causes heresies in the church and always hurts it. The church must hold to the Bible’s view of Him as the third person of the trinity who is Christ’s advocate here on earth. By having this balanced view of Him, may God’s people follow Him in a deeper way.
The Holy Spirit:
His Personality, Work and Office
Today there is too little understood about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Christians seem very interested in current issues, ministry, and even theology; but there is not much talk or excitement over just who the Holy Spirit is. The apathy toward this subject is not in line with church history and is dangerous to the Christian’s walk with the Lord, for the way they see the Holy Spirit affects the way they see grace, perseverance in the faith and even God Himself. Historically, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity who acts as Christ’s representative on earth and works in the believer’s life to conform him to Christ’s image through the gifts and fruit that He produces in them. As such, throughout the church’s heritage there has been a sense of dependence upon Him and a sense of imminence between Him and the believer. But in today’s world these things are not so, for it cannot have an intimate relationship with someone it does not know.
In contrast to apathy towards the Holy Spirit, there has also been a departure from orthodox teaching about the Holy Spirit to destructive and unbalanced perceptions of Him and His work. The effects of such a shift have truly been lamentable. Far from the aid and comfort from the Biblical view, the views in Pentecostal and other religious circles have led many astray. A historical and Biblical perspective on the Holy Spirit must be regained.
The most important questions we can ask about the Holy Spirit are those that deal with His essence. In other words, we need to understand what the Holy Spirit is. His essence can be expressed in two main parts: His personhood and His divinity.
The Holy Spirit is a person. He thinks, feels and speaks. He is not an energy or force. This is clear from the statements in Scripture concerning Him. The Bible says He grieves (Ephesians 4:30), is a Helper (John 14:16) and we are bade to have communion with Him by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 13:14). He is even said to be a participant in speaking things into existence (Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30). Also, the Holy Spirit is often referred to as having direct relation and communication with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:16, 15:26). Commenting on the relation of the Spirit to the Trinity, Spurgeon writes, “If the Holy Spirit were a mere influence, He would not be mentioned in conjunction with Two whom we all confess to be actual and proper persons” (Spurgeon, 75). In other words, to claim that two members of the trinity are persons but one is not is inconsistent and foreign to Biblical teaching. All of these attributes can only be rightly said about a living person.
Along with the Holy Spirit’s personhood comes the natural inference that the Holy Spirit is God. He is not less deity than the rest of the Godhead, but is perfectly equal with them. This is brought out in the passages that speak of the Holy Spirit as God Himself (Acts 5:3, 4, 1
Corinthians 3:16, 17). The Bible attributes the characteristic of omniscience to the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-11) and it is also notable that He is called the Spirit of God in that text. Wayne Grudem rightly states the same connection between the Holy Spirit and God when he observes that the work of being born again is His work and then ads, “But the work of giving new spiritual life to people when they become Christians is something only God can do (cf. 1 John 3:9, “born of God”).” (Grudem, 238). Thus we see that there is abundant evidence that the Holy Spirit is divine.
Now that we have established what the Holy Spirit is, we will move on to what he does, first in relation to the other members of the trinity, then in relation to us.
The Holy Spirit is now Christ’s representative on earth. This has several implications. Primarily, the Holy Spirit plays an integral part in the salvation of Christ’s sheep. Christ’s mission was to redeem the Father’s elected people, but if this is all that had been done, salvation would never be complete. Someone had to apply the redemption that Christ purchased to His people. This is the job of the Holy Spirit. He does so by regenerating sinners and calling them to the Father, then continuing a work of sanctification in the believer’s life. As Spurgeon put it, “all that has been done by God the Father, and all that has been done by God the Son, must be ineffectual to us unless the Spirit reveals these things to our souls.” (Spurgeon, 38). Also, He has replaced Christ as the comforter to His people (John 14:16). J. I. Packer comments, “Jesus was
their original comforter, and the newcomer’s task was to continue this side of his ministry.” (Packer, 66). He is a companion that soothes the people of God as much as an agent of growth and conformity to Christ.
This stand on the work of the Holy Spirit has a very important implication on our understanding of Him: The Holy Spirit never glorifies Himself. His purpose is to glorify Christ. Just like Christ leads the sinner to the Father, the Holy Spirit leads the sinner to Christ. This has profound meaning today as many Christian’s experiences seem to indicate that the Holy Spirit’s work is independent from Christ.
As tools of growth and service, the Holy Spirit imparts and cultivates gifts and fruit into the believer. The fruit of the Spirit is the character traits that God works within His people, whereas spiritual gifts are traits that are given to different believers in different measures. Both are cultivated throughout the life of a believer. The gifts of tongues has ceased, being a sign of judgment upon Israel that was fulfilled in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 14:20-22). Similarly, Prophesy has given way to the preaching of the word, being a foundation of the church along with apostleship (Ephesians 2:20).
It has been explained clearly and succinctly who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. There are differing views in and outside of Christianity. An examination of some major groups is in order.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the belief that the Holy Spirit is a person. They cite passages that speak of being filled with Him as proof that He is a force. This is simply inconsistent, first of all because it denies the full revelation about the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit teaches (John 14:26) and can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:31), along with many other human traits. Matthew Slick, a writer for an online apologetics organization, writes, “If the Holy Spirit is a force, then how is it possible that the above mentioned Characteristics are attributed to Him?” (Slick). A Jehovah’s Witness is utterly incapable of answering this question.
The group that was just discussed is a non- Christian entity. However, genuine Christianity is not immune to failing in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism, a movement that started in the early 1900’s, does a great disservice to God’s people by their imbalanced view of Him. As was stated before, the Holy Spirit’s job is to glorify Christ by working in His people. Pentecostal groups tend to view the Holy Spirit in independence from Christ by seeking new revelation, healings and emotional experiences. In short, Pentecostalism equates external experience with the Holy Spirit whereas His real work is in the heart and has more to do with conformity of the believer to Christ. This dishonors the Holy Spirit by breaking Him away from His proper office and it often leads the believer to hunger emotion and manifestations apart from God. When the Holy Spirit is truly leading a person, the person comes to Christ. Pentecostalism, however, leads the believer to search for the right feelings and experiences. This is because of their emphasis on the Holy Spirit that is so often viewed apart from Christ. God’s word says “He will glorify Me” (John 16:14), and thus He does not work outside of the other members of the trinity. Such a view would be totally inconsistent.
An orthodox view of the Holy Spirit has been presented from scripture and theologians in church history. As has been shown, when one goes by emotion in their ideas about of the Holy Spirit it causes heresies in the church and always hurts it. The church must hold to the Bible’s view of Him as the third person of the trinity who is Christ’s advocate here on earth. By having this balanced view of Him, may God’s people follow Him in a deeper way.
Comment
About
Badge
© 2009 Created by Fusion! on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of New Reformation to add comments!
Join this Ning Network