Pneumatology: Who is God the Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son.
He is God
- At Creation (Gen 1:1)
- At the Virgin Birth (Luke 1:35)
- In His Eternality (Heb 9:14)
- In the Writing of Scripture (2 Peter 1:21)
- In "connecting the dots" (Acts 5:1-4)
John 14:16 - "another" helper - in the Greek, this means "another of the
same kind
- In our Baptism (Matt 28:19-20)
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal power from God. He is a person, the third member of the Trinity, equal in every way to God the Father and God the Son.
What does the Holy Spirit do?
In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon believers at specific (limited) times for specific tasks, but did not permanently indwell them.
- Bezalel (Ex 31:1-11)
- 70 Elders of Israel (Num 11:16-17)
- Othniel (Judges 3:10)
- Gideon (Judges 6:34)
- Jepthah (Judges 11:29)
- Samson (Judges 13:25)
In the New Testament...
- The Spirit gave birth to the church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4)
- The Spirit is involved in the salvation of every believer (John 3:5-8)
- The Spirit regenerates us (Titus 3:5-6)
- The Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ at conversion (1 Cor 12:13)
- The Spirit permanently indwells every believer (John 14:17)
- The Spirit seals us (Eph 1:13-14; 4:30)
- The Spirit fills us daily (Eph 5:18)- This is our yielding to Him, and brings a freshness to our lives. When we walk in sin, there is not a fullness of the Holy Spirit in us.
- The Spirit equips us with spiritual gifts (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11; 1 Cor 12:28) - Any gift listed in Scripture is alive and active in the church today. The gifts are used to edify the body of Christ and bring glory to the Lord.
- The Spirit manifest His presence in our lives with the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22-23) - An abiding life produces the fruit of the Spirit. He does the work, which takes the pressure off of us!
- As the Helper
- He teaches us (John 14:25-26)
- He inspired the writing of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16-17)
- He illuminates and reveals Truth (1 Cor 2:10-12)
John 15:26-27 shows us that the Holy Spirit will always bear witness to Jesus. His power and His gifts are not what we are to focus on. Those gifts should always point to and glorify Jesus.
In John 16 Jesus says, "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you." Jesus was saying that having the Holy Spirit in them would be better than having Him beside them.
The Holy Spirit "will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement". Sin is not "the" major stumbling block to salvation this side of the cross, but mankind's unbelief in the work and person of Jesus Christ (John 3:6-21).
Questions to Consider
- Do you give the Holy Spirit the proper attention He deserves? Do you see Him as co-equal to God the Father and God the Son? Why?
- How will you walk in the Spirit this week? (What does obedience look like for you this week?)
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