Introduction

Any talk of The Holy Spirit in this day and age can often invite odd looks and suspicion. Speak of God the Father, or His Son Jesus Christ and there will be knowing nods and smiles... but sometimes even in the church we would rather avoid the subject of the third person of the Trinity. Why? The answer seems to be that due to unbiblical teachings and perversions of God's truth, Christians are now almost afraid to even broach the subject for fear of being labeled "charismaniacs" or "snake handlers". Who is this person? Is He an "It"? Is He just a force? Let's take a look.

Scripture is quite clear that the Holy Spirit is not a force to be manipulated, nor is He an "active force" that God (the Father) somehow extends outside(?) Himself to move in the world. The Holy Spirit is not an it. Although He is personified in some instances as power (Acts 2:1-4), that is not what He is. Satan is evil, but evil is not Satan. God is love, but love is not God. The Holy Spirit comes in power and with force, but He is not power or force. He is God. Just as much as The Father or Jesus Christ.

He is a Person

The Holy Spirit is not an "it" - He is not "a power" - the Holy Spirit is a person. He has the attributes of personhood, performs the actions of persons, and has personal relationships:

• He has insight. (1 Cor 2:10-11)
• He knows things, this requires an intellect...a mind. (Rom 8:27)
• He has feelings. (Eph 4:30)
• He has a will. (1 Cor 12:11)
• He convicts of sin. (John 16:8)
• He performs miracles. (Acts 8:39)
• He guides. (John 16:13)
• He intercedes. (Rom 8:26)
• He is to be obeyed. (Acts 10:19-20)
• He can be lied to (Acts 5:3), resisted (Acts 7:51), grieved (Eph 4:30), blasphemed (Matt 12:31), even insulted. (Heb 10:29)
• He relates to the apostles (15:28), Jesus (John 16:14), to each member of the Trinity (Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14)
• He has His own power derived from Himself (Luke 4:14; Acts 10:38; 1 Cor 2:4)

He is God

In the Old Testament times God revealed Himself through the Prophets, then in New Testament times through His Son. Now God sends the third member of His substance to us. Christ promised to send "another", meaning "of a like kind" (John 16:7)... Christ is God, therefore The Holy Spirit is also. God has ever been revealing Himself to us, and He continues today through the ministry of The Holy Spirit...God Himself. The Holy Spirit has attributes that only God can have, performs the actions of God, and is called God:

• Omniscience  (Isa 40:13; 1 Cor 2:10-12)
• Omnipresence  (Ps 139:7)
• Omnipotence  (Job 33:4; Ps 104:30)
• Cause of the virgin birth of Christ (Luke 1:35)
• Giving of the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:21)
• Creation   (Gen 1:2; Ps 33:6; Job 27:3)
• Called Yahweh (Acts 28:25 cf. Isa 6:1-13; Heb 10:15-17 cf. Jer 31:31-34)
• Called God (Matt 12:31-32; Acts 5:3-4)
• Called "He" (John 16:7-15) (although the word for "spirit" is neuter, Christ indicates personality)
• Called by The Name: The Spirit is shown to be equal to God (Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14)

The Spirit Throughout the Bible

The Old Testament

After creation, the Holy Spirit was still at work during Old Testament times. His activities included:

• Revelation  (2 Samuel 23:2; Micah 3:8)
• Infilling (Gen 41:38; Neh 9:20) this work was primarily limited to the people of Israel, and was not permanent (Judges 13:25 cf. 16:20; 1 Sam 16:14).

The New Testament

After Pentecost, the Spirit's role was broadened and solidified. In Old Testament times we find no indwelling, no empowering as after Pentecost, no sealing, no baptizing... In New Testament times, and for the future, all of these and more are seen in The Spirit's work.

Important Terms of the Spirit's Ministry

Indwelling: all saved persons receive the Spirit as a gift, there are no other prerequisites (John 7:37; Acts 11:16-17; Rom 5:5). The Spirit indwells sinning Christians as well as the more righteous (1 Cor 6:19). If the Spirit were to leave, it would have to be due to a loss of salvation (Rom 8:9), a topic that will be covered in a later lesson. Every instance of the Spirit being "taken away" was before the New Testament church had begun.

Sealing: Totally without mention in the Old Testament, this work also belongs only to believers since New Testament times. Sealing is God's way of promising His ownership of us, that He will keep us (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30).

Baptizing: (Acts 1:5) This is an act of the Spirit, not man's. It also is not the water baptism with which it is sometimes confused. Fundamentalist believers view it not as some sort of  "secondary blessing" (Eph 4:5), though Pentecostal teaching does, seeing it more akin to "filling". Rather, the Spirit's baptism is one of joining (as all baptisms are) to Christ's body. It also involves separation (as all baptisms do), in this case a separation from the power of sin (Rom 6:1-10). This baptism occurs at salvation (1 Cor 12:13). All believers have had this work in their lives, for nowhere in Scripture are we told to be baptized with the Spirit... it is concurrent with salvation.

Filling: As Christians we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19)... the person, not a substance to get "more of", when His empowering comes it is called filling. (Luke 1:15; Acts 4:8; 13:9). There is also a fullness that comes from the Spirit's influence in our lives (Eph 5:18). It is not necessarily experienced by all believers, we are commanded to do this (continually), therefore there are some who are not doing it, or allowing it to be done to them. A Christ-like character (Gal 5:22-23), evangelism, praise, worship, etc. are all parts of the Spirit's influence on our character. Yieldedness, a willingness to follow the Spirit (and doing so) produces this filling - not necessarily prayer (there are none in post-Pentecostal times recorded in the Bible).

Illumination: The Spirit's work in applying the truth of the Scriptures to believers (see Is the Holy Spirit Our Teacher? below).

Spiritual Gifts

God's gifts to us range from salvation itself to special gifts of service for the ministry. A spiritual gift is a gift of ability for service. These gifts are not positions in the church (there is no spiritual gift of teen ministry!), nor are they natural talents which could be used for anything. Every believer is given at least one spiritual gift, and no one is given them all (1 Peter 4:10; 1 Cor 12:12-27). We are all gifted to assist each other in different ways for the glory of God, no one is able to fully experience all of God's ministry through His people without association with His people. Also remember that whether or not we are given a particular gift does not excuse us from obeying God's commands in that area. We all must give, show mercy, teach, have faith etc. even though we may not have gifts in those particular areas. Below is a list of the spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12-14; Eph 4; Rom 12; 1 Peter 4).

• Evangelization: Although all believers are commanded to proclaim the Gospel, God empowers some to do so with great clarity.
• Pastoring: To shepherd or care for and protect God's people.
• Service: Helping and serving in many capacities.
• Teaching: The ability to explain God's truth to people.
• Faith: Although we all should be walking by faith, some have the gift of believing God for the supply of needs.
• Exhortation: The ability to encourage and comfort as well as exhort and admonish. To spur on people to good deeds and a closer walk with God.
• Mercy: Showing mercy to the afflicted, the ability to separate the sin from the sinner and show God's compassion.
• Giving: One possessing this gift gives of themselves without thought of selfish gain or increased return.
• Administration: A leadership ability in the church.
• Wisdom and Knowledge: Practical insight and applied knowledge of spiritual truth, fathoming mysteries and understanding the Word of God.

• Apostleship:  in technical terms this is a gift that God no longer gives. It was a special gift used for those who were "sent out" to establish the foundation of the church (Eph 2:20). A modern day mode of this gift is missionary work.
• Prophet:  In general a prophet may be one who proclaims God's message, more technically a prophet was a direct revelator of God's word. Since the foundation of the church this gift is also no longer necessary. Today this office is filled more by a teacher who "forthtells" rather than "foretells".
• Miracles: These would include healings, most were used to authenticate the message of the healer or miracle worker. (Acts 19:11-12 cf. 2 Cor 12:8-9).
• Discerning of  Spirits: The ability to differentiate between true and false spirits. Today we are commanded to test spirits against God's Word (1 John 4:1).
• Tongues: There are varied interpretations of what tongues are exactly . It is fair to say that they can be only earthly languages, as they most certainly were at their first introduction (Acts 2), and not some nonsensical babbling. They may be a private prayer language (1 Cor 14:14-15). The purpose of tongues is to communicate and authenticate truth from God (1 Cor 14). That is why there is always to be an interpretation given, without interpretation tongues are unfruitful. There are rules given for the use of tongues, and as with any gift of the Spirit it is our responsibility to control it (Gal 5:22-23). Christ-likeness does not require speaking in tongues, nor is it definitive evidence of salvation as some may wrongly teach (for instance all the Corinthians were saved, yet not all spoke in tongues: 1 Cor 12:13 cf. 14:5). The gift of tongues is also not the most desirable of gifts (1 Cor 12:28-31), certainly if it were the evidence of salvation it would be the most desirable of all! We must always be careful when we make doctrine out of history... simply because something happened one way once, it does not become the norm for all proceeding events that will occur (such as the Pentecost event).

Are the gifts still given today?

There are three answers to this question within the Christian community: Either all gifts stopped, some stopped, or they did not stop at all! There are a number of arguments both pro and con for each. Suffice to say that most Protestant churches consider the "sign gifts" (those meant to authenticate a given person's testimony) as no longer necessary and certainly not as prominent as they were in New Testament times (if they still exist at all). We are not commanded to exercise them, and history has shown that if any of the miraculous gifts are still present they are not being exercised as obviously as they could be. In fact, it may be that tongues (and other sign gifts of the Holy Spirit) were given only to the apostles and to those on whom the apostles laid hands.

1. Only the disciples were promised to receive the gift (Acts 1:5)
2. "Acts" is actually "The Acts of the Apostles"
3. Acts chapters 1-2, when read as a unit (chapter divisions were not introduced until centuries later) show that the word "they" always refers back to the apostles. So the "they" who received the gift were the apostles... not just everyone in the room. (Acts 1:26, 2:3, 2:6... etc.)
4. Those who received the gift were only men (Acts 1:11).
5. They were all Galileans, as opposed to the 15 different people groups present.
6. The "they" who responded when they were accused of being drunk was Peter and the eleven other apostles
(Acts 2:13-14).
7. Tongues are specifically said to be a sign of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12) and all who received the gift received it from an apostle.
8. These sign gifts were for the purpose of establishing their claim to truth so that their words (ultimately God's of course) would be received. Once they were set down and the Church was established, these sign gifts became unnecessary.

Special Concerns

What is "being slain in the Spirit"?

In some churches there is a practice where the Spirit will "come upon" someone, usually through an "anointed" leader, and cause the person to pass out and fall down. Is this Biblical? No, it isn't. Not only is the term completely absent from the Bible, so is the experience as described today. Of course there are many instances of someone falling on their knees (as we all will someday), or face in the presence of God... but being knocked cold by some sort of magical touch is not a legitimate "interpretation" of these events. It is also interesting to note that while God's people fell forward, His enemies were the ones knocked back (Rev 1:17; John 18:6)... and it was not to an unconscious state.

What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

By accusing Jesus of being on Satan's side (exorcists often invoked higher spirits to get rid of lower ones) the Pharisees made themselves in league with Satan (Matt 12:31-32). They so wanted to deny Christ's messiahship, in light of the Spirit's signs as to His identity, that they resorted to accusations of sorcery. This was not a slip of the tongue, nor was it a mere misunderstanding (that could be forgiven), this was not only an outright denial of the Spirit's power, it was a sin of the heart manifested in words. In Old Testament Judaism, a deliberate sin against God could not be atoned for in this life under the Law. Blasphemy was a capital offense. Thus, blasphemy (deliberately insulting and/or permanently denying the identity of) the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. When the Spirit comes to us we might ignore Him, but if we were to purposely accuse Him of being Satan we would not be in a state that was forgivable, it would indicate a hardness of heart that was not reversible, a hardness that would never ask for forgiveness. It cannot be done accidentally. No one worried about committing this sin need worry, for they have already exceeded the necessary requirements! The mere fact that one still cares at all indicates a heart yet able to turn.

Is the Holy Spirit Our Teacher?

It is understandable that a few obvious things might have become clearer – but I doubt very seriously that these well meaning Christians could stand up against a little probing into their understanding. Have they solved such quandaries as the identification of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6? Do they know the identity of “the restrainer” in 2 Thessalonians 2?  Can they map out the series of resurrections and judgments of Revelation? Is it clear to them what Paul meant by “baptism for the dead” in 1 Corinthians 15? Probably what became so clear was their pastor’s understanding and nothing more. The problem is that if the Holy Spirit truly communicates divine meaning to believers then we have a lot of contradictory data to account for from both ancient and contemporary disagreements. Perhaps, though, there is another way to take the verses that give rise to this thinking that can better explain what we actually observe in reality. So what are these verses that cause this idea and is there a better way to understand them?

The most famous is probably John 14:26 – “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Some take this verse to mean that we can expect the Holy Spirit to teach us and even help out our memory then we run into problems but this does not seem to be the case. First, this promise is being made by Jesus to His disciples – not us. John chapters 14-16 are Jesus’ last words to His disciples and trying to read “us” into them rarely works out well. Second, what is to be remembered is what Jesus spoke to His disciples, not what they reported to us. Third we have the ever present problem of this simply not occurring. True, some give God the credit for a useful verse popping into their heads at times – but can they remember everything? What we know from this verse is that the disciples were promised that once Jesus was raised He would send the Holy Spirit to be their guide. There is no reason to apply this verse to us today. What the disciples remembered and understood through the Holy Spirit was written down and explained by them in Scripture for us. Now that these things are recorded the job is done.

Another verse in the same vein is John 16:13 - “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” Reading the whole chapter instead of just one verse delivers the same kinds of results as the previous one. Placing “we” into the “you” sections of this chapter make it quite clear that we are not in view. Are we being put out of synagogues (vs.1 – see also Luke 12:11, a parallel verse)? Were we with Jesus from the beginning (vs. 4)? Further, who among us has been guided into all truth? Again, it seems clear from the context that these promises were for the disciples who were in charge of recording and explaining Jesus through the New Testament after He was raised.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 Paul writes that “just as it is written, ‘Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.’ God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” This is, oddly, one of the most misapplied verses in the New Testament. I do not think I have ever heard it cited correctly in a sermon. Usually “what no eye has seen, or ear heard” is taken to be referring to Heaven, but it clearly is not. The previous verse says, “None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  What is “it” that the world did not know? What awaits Christians in Heaven? No, this makes no sense here at all. It seems more likely from the context that Paul was referring to God’s previously unknown plan to overcome death via Jesus’ death and resurrection (see 2:2-8). In other words, the mystery of God’s plan could not have been discerned through human wisdom – people needed the Spirit of God to explain to them what had happened. Then they wrote down what they now understood in the New Testament.

Getting back to John’s writings we have 1 John 2:20 & 27 which state, respectively, that “you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. . . . Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.” At least in this verse it is not the disciples that are in mind – the recipients of John’s letter were the church or its leadership. This does not necessarily mean that this is a promise to us though. Often it is proclaimed from the pulpit that if something was written to believers then we can all read it as though it was written to us. This is simply false. These letters were not written to us, although they were written for us. This means that we can gain wisdom and knowledge through proper application – but this involves much more than simply reading ourselves into every line. The verses between 20 and 27 provide more context to these promises that seems to limit them in scope: “I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.”  This language is very localized and the knowledge that the recipients no longer needs to be taught seems to concern confession of the Son and the Father – not Bible knowledge in general.

At the end of the day, if any of these passages meant that believers do not need to be taught by anyone besides the Holy Spirit then why are the authors of these verses teaching believers through their writing? Why do they instruct teachers or expound on the gift of teaching in the New Testament Church? In fact, why is there a Bible at all? These problems should call into question any understanding of the text that seems to remove the need for teachers on earth today. Better questions to ask would be those that get around the problems that this sort of interpretation brings. For example, could not the Holy Spirit be teaching through humans or the Bible? Or, could He be teaching the application of the texts and not their meaning? Either view is possible, both better fit the context, and both avoid the problems mentioned above. It seems best, then, to say that the Spirit’s role in illuminating Scripture is not to teach meaning (even non-believers know what “the grass withers” means!). Rather, His role is to open people’s eyes to the truth of the meanings – to make them see that God’s word is true and good and applies to them in a real way. This is the difference between saving and non-saving knowledge (e.g. Mark 1:24; James 2:19).