CAMPUS CHURCH BIBLE SCHOOL

Module 7. The nature of God: (5) the Holy Spirit

7.1 INTRODUCTION

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. As with the Father and the Son, is given various titles in Scripture: the Holy Spirit; the Spirit (e.g. Galatians); the Paraclete (comforter, helper; Jn. 14-16); the Spirit of truth (Jn. 16:13); the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4); the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9); the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9); the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15).

It is important to recognise that these are different titles not different persons or entities (e.g. some Pentecostals wrongly teach that a believer receives the Spirit of Christ (a characteristic) on conversion but must receive the Holy Spirit (a Person) subsequently in “Holy Spirit baptism”).

7.2 THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON

•	Few would deny that the Spirit is divine (Paul likens the relationship of the Spirit to God to that of a man’s spirit to the man; 1 Cor. 2:11). But some argue that the Spirit is not a Person but an attribute of God and thus an influence or power. The NT distinguishes between the Holy Spirit (a Person) and the power (an influence) of the Spirit (e.g. 1 Thess. 1:5).

•	The Greek word for Spirit (pneuma) is neuter and takes a neuter pronoun (“it” not “he”). The NT Greek obeys this grammatical rule so some older English Bibles speak of the Spirit as “it”. However, John deliberately departs from this rule in Jn. 16:7-8, 13-14 and so on, using the masculine pronoun with the neuter noun, to emphasize the Spirit’s personhood. 

•	The Spirit has all the attributes of personhood. He takes Christ’s place as ‘another helper’ who is sent by the Father at the request of Christ and who will glorify Christ and lead the disciples into all truth (John 14-16).

•	He speaks (“The Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate for me Barnabas and Saul ...’” Ac. 13:2; Rev. 2:7 etc.). He can be lied to, forbid and be grieved (Ac. 5:3; 16:6-7; Eph. 4:30). He leads, bears witness, intercedes and has his own mind (Rom. 8:14,16,26-27).

•	This has important application. Because the Spirit is a Person he can be known in his own right and, specially, can be cultivated as an actual helper and friend.

7.3 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OT

•	The fact that the disciples had to wait for Pentecost before they could undertake the Great Commission, together with such verses as John 7:39 (“the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified”) have led to the idea that the OT has little to say about the Holy Spirit. This is a mistake. Certainly, at Pentecost the Spirit came in a new way to the church and all who belong to it, but the OT has much to say about the Spirit.

•	The Spirit of God ‘hovered over’ the deep before God said “let there be light” (Gen. 1:2).

•	Bezaleel and others were “filled ... with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding” for the construction of the tabernacle (Ex. 31:1-11; 35:31) while the Spirit “rested upon” Moses and the Elders of Israel (Num. 11:16-29) and Joshua was “a man in whom is the Spirit”. In Judges the Spirit of the Lord “came upon” the Judges to equip and empower them for leadership (Judges 3:9-11 etc).

•	“The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” (1 Sam. 16:13) and he could say, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me and His word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2; compare 1 Pet. 1:11).

•	The OT prophets were “moved [to write] by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21; see also Heb. 10:15 and similar verses). John the Baptist, pre-Pentecost, was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15).

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE BELIEVER

•	Every true believer has been born of the Spirit (Jn. 3:1-8).

•	Every true believer has been baptized by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

•	Every true believer has received the Spirit and is consciously indwelt by the Spirit (Rom. 8:15-17; Gal. 4:6). Since the Spirit is also the Spirit of the Father and Christ, this means that the NT believer is indwelt by the Father and the Son (Jn. 14:23; Gal. 2:20 — “Christ lives in me”). Probably this is the one difference between the indwelling of the Spirit under the old covenant and the new covenant respectively (Gal. 3:14). 

•	Every true believer is led by the Spirit into all truth (Jn. 16:13; 1 Jn. 2:20-21).

•	Every true believer is led by the Spirit in other ways (Rom. 8:13-14).

•	Every true believer has access by the Spirit (Eph. 2:18).

•	Every true believer is helped by the Spirit (Rom. 8:26-27).

•	Every true believer bears the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25).

•	Fullness of the Holy Spirit. Not every believer is full of the Spirit! There is habitual fullness (e.g. Ac. 6:3; Eph. 5:18-19) which we may all possess, and episodic fullness (Luke 1:41, 67; Ac. 4:8, 31; 13:9) which provides temporary empowerment for special utterance or tasks.