HOLY SPIRIT
The third person of the Trinity.
(A) Names.
It is mainly called:
the Spirit of Jehovah,
the Spirit of the Lord,
the Spirit of the Father,
the Spirit of Jesus (Gen. 6:3; Is. 11:2; 61:1; Mt. 10:20; Acts 16:18, etc.).
He is the Spirit of truth, of life, of faith, of love, of power, of wisdom, of grace, of glory (John 14:17; Rom. 8:2; 2 Cor. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1 :7; Heb. 10:29; 1 Pet. 4:14), etc.
(B) Personality.
The Spirit is not a mere power nor a figurative expression of divine energy, as, for example, antitrinitarians claim.
Scripture attributes a distinctive personality to him, as does the Father and the Son (Mt. 3:16, 17; 28:19; Jn. 14:16, 17; 15:26). It is always used in relation to the masculine personal pronoun even though in Gr. the term “Spirit” is neutral (John 16:13, 14; Acts 13:2).
The Spirit thinks, knows language, has will (Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 2:10-13; 12:11). He can be treated like a person: he can be lied to, he can be tested, he can be resisted, he can be grieved, he can be insulted (Acts 5:3, 9; 7:51; Eph. 4:30 ; Heb. 10:29). On the other hand, he also teaches, testifies, convinces, leads, understands, speaks, announces (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:8, 13).
(C) Divinity.
The texts that speak of the personality of the Spirit also generally affirm his divinity. He possesses the divine attributes: omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternity (1 Cor. 2:10, 11; Ps. 139:7; Zech. 4:6; Heb. 9:14). He is identified with God, with the Lord (Acts 5: 3, 4). It is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that is unforgivable (Mt. 12:31, 32).
(D) The Holy Spirit in the OT.
Works in creation (Gen. 1:2).
It is He who gives breath to man and animals (Gen. 2:7; 6:3; Jb. 33:4; Ps. 104:29, 30).
He is in the midst of God’s people (Is. 63:11).
He trains certain men for a special task (Ex. 31:3; Judges 6:34; 11:29; 1 Sam. 16:13).
But he is not given to everyone and can be withdrawn (Judg. 13:25; 16:20; 1 Sam. 10:10; 16:14). This explains David’s prayer: “Do not take your holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11).
The prophets clearly announce what their work will be in the New Covenant: it will be poured out on all Israel, and on all flesh, it will be given forever, it will dwell in the heart of man, which will regenerate and sanctify (Is. 44:3; 59 :21; JI. 2:28-29; Ez. 36:26-27; Jer. 31:33).
(E) The work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ.
The Lord was assisted by the Spirit throughout his entire career here on earth. By the Spirit, he was conceived, anointed, sealed, filled, clothed with power, led, sacrificed, resurrected (Luke 1:35; 4:18; John 6:27; Luke 4:1-2, 14; Heb. 9:14; Rom. 8:11). If the Son of the living God could not spend a single day without the assistance of the Spirit, how much more will we not need it!
(F) Conviction of sin.
According to the Lord Jesus, the first work of the Spirit in man is to convince him of sin (John 16:8, 11). Without this conviction, no one can feel the need of a Savior; and the sin that the Spirit highlights is precisely that of not having yet believed in Christ. In fact, men are lost not because they are sinners, but because being sinners they do not receive the Savior (John 3:18, 36).
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the contumacy attribution of the works and testimony of the Holy Spirit to Satan, when it is undeniable and totally evident that the work of testimony is from God. It is this state in which man closes himself to all possible light, to the very full manifestation of the power of God in grace, the Word is manifested in an inexorable way (Mt. 12:31-32; Lk. 12:10 ; Jn. 12:37-40).
This sin involves a heart full of hatred towards the truth and towards the light of God, and leads to perdition, since it locks man in a totally aberrant attitude against God and the testimony of him. He thus becomes absolutely incapable and unwilling to believe. Repentance and forgiveness then become impossible (Mark 3:29; Heb. 10:26-27). It is an irreversible state, in which judicial hardening occurs (cp. the case of Pharaoh, hardened by God).
On the other hand, the case of the person who longs to go to Jesus, but is tormented by the idea that he has committed the unforgivable sin, is totally different. His anguish and desire to go to Jesus to receive forgiveness from him constitute clear evidence that they have not committed it. People locked in the castle of anguish have at their disposal the key to the promise in Jn. 6:37. The text receives its full force from the original in the 1977 Reina-Valera revised version: “He who comes to me, I will in no way cast out.”
(G) Regeneration and baptism of the Holy Spirit. (See also REGENERATION AND BAPTISM).
Regeneration or new birth is the spiritual resurrection that the Spirit operates in the heart of the sinner at the moment of conversion (John 3:5-8).
It is the Spirit that gives life (Jn. 6:63) and brings us to a new life (Gal. 5:25).
The baptism of the Spirit, promised by John the Baptist and Jesus (Mt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:4-5), is the act by which God makes us, from then on, members of the body of Christ.
The Spirit takes the repentant sinner, and immerses him in Christ; he unites, from then on, the head with the other members of the body (1 Cor. 12:13). This baptism is received by all believers; Paul affirms that it is already a fact accomplished for the believer (“by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body”). This is true even of those in Corinth who were still carnal (1 Cor. 3:1-3; cp. 1 Cor. 6:19).
In Acts, the expression “baptize with the Holy Spirit” occurs only twice: on the occasion of Pentecost, when the 120 disciples were made members of the body of Christ, which the Spirit formed thereafter (Acts 1:5; 2:1-4), and regarding the experience of the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, who were also united to the body of Christ at the time of their conversion (Acts 11:15-16).
Other passages present baptism as being the operation by which God immerses us in the death of Christ to resurrect us with Him, being “put on Christ” (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2: 12; Tit. 3:5). The baptism in question is evidently the baptism of the Holy Spirit, of which water baptism is the symbol and testimony.
(H) Gift and reception of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is promised to all believers (Acts 2:38), to those who ask for it (Lk. 11:13), and who obey God (Acts 5:32).
It is a “gift” (Acts 2:38; 5:32; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17; 15:8), which is received by faith (John 7:39; Eph. 1: 13; 3:16-17; Gal. 3:2, 5, 13-14; 4:4-7).
Before Pentecost, the disciples had to wait for the descent of the Spirit (Acts 1:4), which is no longer necessary (Acts 2:17-18).
The Samaritans, who were half-pagans, needed the special intervention of the apostles to receive the Spirit (Acts 8:12, 15-17); However, Cornelius and his friends (who were in the same situation as us as coming from the Gentiles) received the Holy Spirit by faith alone, upon hearing what Peter said, without the prior laying on of hands or prior baptism with water (Acts 10:43-48).
The twelve disciples of Ephesus were only disciples of John, not of Jesus; Once they accepted the Savior, they received the Spirit (Acts 19:2-6). “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9). Anyone who is clear about this vital point will not lack the inner testimony of the Spirit (Rom. 8:15-16).
(I) Fullness of the Spirit.
The Spirit dwells in the heart of the believer (John 14:16-17, 23; 1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:9, 11; 2 Tim. 1:14; 1 John 4:4, 13; James 4:5). His desire is to communicate to us the life and power of the Lord (Acts 1:8; Luke 4:14, etc.). We can grieve the Holy Spirit by resisting Him, by giving ourselves over to sin (Eph. 4:30; cp. 1 Thes. 5:19; Acts 7:51).
The Spirit, who dwells in us eternally, does not abandon us (John 14:16); but it fails to manifest its power, and communicates its sadness to us and convinces us of sin. What is to be done in such a situation?
(I) Following 1 Jn. 1:7-9, confess our sin, believing that the blood of Christ cleanses us.
(II) Return to seek the fullness of the Spirit ordered by Eph. 5:18.
This should be the normal experience of all believers, as it was for the first Christians: church mainstays, deacons, new converts (Acts 2:4; 4:4, 31; 6:3; 7:55; 9 :17; 13:9, 52). This fullness is obtained through faith, by “drinking” the living water of the Spirit (John 7:37-39). This is not the experience of a moment, but it has to be renewed every day, in the face of every need, until the time comes for our complete transformation into the image of God in his presence (Eph. 3: 16-21).
Many believers, by abandoning their first love (Rev. 2:4), have lost precisely this fullness that made their hearts overflow at the moment of their conversion. To find it again, you must repent of your deviation, receive the forgiveness that God offers and drink again from the inexhaustible fountain of grace (John 4:13-14; 10:10), by walking not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit for the glory of God (Gal. 5:16-25). (See SANCTIFICATION).
(J) Anointing and gifts of the Spirit.
Having become kings and priests with Christ, believers have all received the anointing of the Spirit (Rev. 1:6; 2 Cor. 1:21; 1 John 2:20, 27).
A gift of the Spirit (or spiritual gift) is the supernatural qualification accorded to each believer, with a view to the service that each one has to carry out within the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27; cp. 12:11 ).
Paul lists a number of these gifts:
wisdom,
knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8),
faith,
healing (1 Cor. 12:9),
miracles,
prophecy,
discernment of spirits,
languages,
interpretation (1 Cor. 12:10),
gift of being an apostle,
to teach,
of aid,
of governments (1 Cor. 12:28);
of evangelist,
as a shepherd (Eph. 4:11);
to exercise liberality (Rom. 12:8).
This list is not said to be exhaustive. Whatever the task, God will provide the necessary capacity. Who chooses the gift that we must receive? God Himself, as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11, 18). He gives each one (1 Cor. 12:6-7, 11, 27) a different gift (1 Cor. 12:8-10, 29-30; Rom. 12:4-6). Thus, it is a mistake to say that everyone should speak in tongues as a sign of their baptism of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12:10, 13, 30). (See TONGUES [GIFT OF]).
It should be noted that each of the gifts listed is supernatural, and not just the three gifts of miracles, healings, and tongues. God is also sovereign regarding the time in which he bestows certain gifts. He granted them in profusion at the time when the Gospel and the New Covenant had to be accredited (Heb. 2: 4), with external signs never renewed (Acts 2: 1-3; 4:31).
Naturally, at present God can manifest his power according to his will; In fact, most of the gifts (wisdom, knowledge, faith, evangelists, pastors, doctors, governments, aid, liberality) have never stopped being given. On the other hand, although God currently heals certain sick people through his servants, or directly, he does not give anyone known the power to heal “everyone”, which was the characteristic of the gift of Christ and his apostles (Mt. 10:8; Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40; 6:19; 9:11; Acts 9:16). (See ILLNESS, HEALTH).
The church at Corinth had received all the gifts, and 1 Corinthians is the only epistle in which these charisms are mentioned (1 Cor. 1:7; 12:14); All this did not prevent the Corinthians from being carnal and tending toward strife and division. Thus, the essential thing is to be totally submitted to the Lord and to the totality of his Word, to discern the gift given to each one, and to allow oneself to be used for the good of the entire church.
(K) Other ministries of the Spirit.
Various activities of the Spirit are evoked through the symbols that represent him:
the breath or wind (Spirit means “wind”) (Jb. 32:8; Jn. 3:8):
the dove (Luke 3:22),
the oil (Heb. 1:9: Lk. 4:18; 1 Jn. 2:20),
the fire (Acts 2:3-4),
the living water (John 4:14; 7:38, 39),
the seal, the pledge, and the earnest money (Eph. 1:13, 14; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22),
The Spirit is called the Comforter (Paraclete Jn. 14:16),
It teaches and leads the believer in the truth and the church bears witness to Jesus Christ (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13, 14; Acts 8:29; 13:2).
He inspired the sacred authors (1 Pet. 1:11; 2 Pet. 1:21; 1 Tim. 3:16),
gives rise to effective prayer (Rom. 8:26, 27; Eph. 6:18) and
worship that pleases God (John 4:23-24).
He will, in the end times, be poured out in a particular way on Israel (Ez. 37:9-14; Zec. 12:10).
It is through Him that our mortal bodies will be resurrected (Rom. 8:11). Having received, here on earth, the earnest of the Spirit; In heaven believers will be filled by Him with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-21; 2 Cor. 3:17, 18). Thus God will truly be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28).