I Want to Know the Holy Spirit

Posted by John Reuther on August 31, 2009

Dove Holy Spirit Sky That’s a good desire, and one that should electrify us all. A Biblical Christian is a Trinitarian Christian, who believes in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christians that I meet usually agree that we do not know as much about the Holy Spirit as we do the Father and the Son. Even though many books have been written about the Holy Spirit, there is a real need for us to know the Spirit biblically and better. The promise of the Holy Spirit came right at the very beginning of Gospel preaching through John the Baptist. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8.).

Where do we begin when we want to know more of the Holy Spirit? It seems that most of the popular literature that we see deals mostly with the gifts of tongues and prophecy, and the debates about these subjects seem to have the market share. This is unfortunate. And there is a more accurate way to go about knowing the Holy Spirit.

Let’s step back a bit and look at the bigger picture. Christianity is monotheistic, in stark contrast to the polytheism of idolatry and false religion. Judaism is monotheistic. Yet monotheism is the historical revelation of the one God who exists in three persons. We’ll not deal with the Trinity here, and so I simply want to say that each of the three persons of the Godhead has a history of revelation. Here’s what I mean.

The Father was revealed at the creation of the world: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). He further revealed Himself in history through the covenants. We generally think of OT history as the revelation of the Father, and the NT as the revelation of the Son. This is a solid generalization, though we need to be more specific (because Christ came to reveal the Father and did so even through His apostles).

The Son began to be revealed even in the OT period. He said that Moses wrote of Him (John 5:46). Christ is found in the OT in the following ways: in promises, pictures, prophecies, and in people. Gen. 3:15 is the first evangelical promise (and prophecy) of Christ. Pictures of Christ abound in the established worship of the Israelites. Specific prophecies are found in strategic places. Men like Moses, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, and others are types of Christ, pictures of Him who was promised to come. Then, Christ was fully revealed in the incarnation. His birth, life, death, resurrection, post-resurrection appearances, ascension, and exaltation complete the fullness of the revealing of the Son of God in history. The apostles, through the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, continue to reveal and disclose Christ to us today, even to the end of the age.

Now what do we say about the revelation of the Holy Spirit in history? Historical events and happenings in the revelation of the plan of salvation are clearly evident in the revelation of the Father and the Son. Can we say the same thing about the Spirit? And is there anything else that we need to know in order to know the Holy Spirit biblically and better?

The Holy Spirit has been progressively revealed in history, just as the Father and the Son have been revealed. To begin with, the Holy Spirit was revealed at the same time (and event) in which the Father was first revealed, at the creation. Genesis 1:2 says that “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” The question, or course, is whether the Spirit as revealed in Gen. 1:2 is a distinct hypostasis of the Godhead, or an extension of God Himself (a modalistic conception). He is a distinct person of the Trinity, though the Hebrews may not have drawn that conclusion as firmly as we can draw it now. Genesis 1:2 is the beginning of a rich revealing of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. The person of the Holy Spirit is found at work in OT history in multitudinous ways.

The Holy Spirit of God is seen at work in the work of providence over the creation. He is seen working in the creation of man and woman at their creation, and sustaining man’s life throughout history. Nothing happens except by God’s Spirit. The Spirit strives with sinners, leads God’s people, fills them, empowers them, guides them, reveals truth to them, and prepares them for His future work through the revelations of the prophets. But the single-most-important historical event at which the Spirit was revealed was Pentecost. That was an epochal day, and no one can know the Spirit biblically and better without understanding the cosmic proportions of what happened on it.

To summarize then, the person of the Father is revealed and known primarily in creation and covenants. The person of the Son is revealed and known primarily through promises, prophecies, pictures, people, the Incarnation, exaltation, and Second Coming of Christ (future event). The person of the Spirit is revealed and known primarily through creation, Israel, the Incarnation, Pentecost, and the church, which is the new temple which He fills.

I approach the study of the Holy Spirit in an integrated biblical (historical) and systematic (theological) study of the teaching on the Spirit in the Bible. We need to learn about the Person, the Promises, the Presentation, and the Possession of the Holy Spirit. These convenient ‘p’s” demonstrate the biblical-systematic nature of the Spirit’s revelation and our relationship to Him, and give us a helpful framework in which to grow in our understanding of Him.

The Person of the Spirit

We have already talked much about His person in this article. We also learn about His person and work in the Old Testament by seeing His work in the virgin birth of Jesus and His incarnation. In a sense, His crowning old covenant work was the creation of the Mediator of the new covenant: the new man, the true man, the perfect man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

The Promises of the Spirit

We should move from the person of the Spirit to the promises made concerning the Spirit’s coming. The major prophets spoke of a distinct coming of the Spirit at a future time, in addition to His already existing revelation and work among the people. There is obviously a tension there. (that tension is felt further in John 7:37-39). They spoke of a day and a time and a pouring out of the Spirit on all mankind. John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of the coming of the Spirit as part of the powerful proclamation of the Gospel message and kingdom fulfillment. But the most important and far-reaching promises of the Spirit came to us in the upper room. John 14-16 is the most important block of teaching on the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Having the clearest understanding of its contents is essential to one’s relationship to the Holy Spirit. I hope to write about this in the future.

The Presentation of the Spirit

Having a clear understanding of what was promised, the study of the Holy Spirit then moves excitedly to the great day of renown called Pentecost. This day was the official coming of the Spirit, one of the central events in the historia salutis (history of salvation). Like the incarnation, Pentecost is a once-for-all event that cannot be repeated. But how can this be, since the Spirit had been active in every work of God in history before it? How are we to understand Pentecost as the official coming of the Spirit? The answer is that it is the coming of the Spirit of the exalted Christ, and the fullness of the revelation of the triune God. It is the coming of the Spirit in the true baptism; not the sign of baptism, but the substance of Christian baptism, which is the promised baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is not only about a more powerful work of the Spirit, it is about the worldwide spread of the Gospel of God and the inauguration of the new covenant age and administration of the kingdom.

The Possession of the Spirit

So far, everything that we learn about the Spirit is a revelation of the progressive unfolding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In this fourth area of study, our understanding of the Holy Spirit begins to move into the realm of the systematic doctrines pertaining to the Spirit which can be organized and placed into the ordo salutis (the application and experience of our salvation). The possession of the Spirit also reveals the framework in which we live out our discipleship to Christ and service to God.

As I see it, Romans 8 is the epistolary counterpart to John 14-16. This chapter presents us with an overarching systematization of the Spirit’s work in the application of salvation. Another important passage is Galatians 5:25 where Paul reveals an important distinction in the Spirit’s working: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Here we learn that there are aspects to the Spirit’s work whereby we possess life (spiritual life through regeneration), and aspects of the Spirit’s work wherein we walk or live (practical Christian living). We learn therefore that the Holy Spirit works in us through the Gospel so that we possess the gift of eternal life and the new life in Christ. I see three elements in this life-giving work of the Spirit: regeneration, Spirit-baptism, and sealing. With this Spirit-imparted life, we are enabled to walk in the Spirit just as Paul says in Gal. 5:25 and Rom. 8:4. Here is where we are to include the other eight activities of the Spirit revealed in the Bible (primarily, but not exclusively, in the NT). In the next article, I will talk about the eight ministries of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and the church, which inform our doctrinal understanding and practical experience of His grace in our lives in the ongoing experience of Christian living.

So, through careful and systematic study of the Scriptures, through a prayerful desire and humble request for the illumination and filling of the Spirit, let us all press on to know the Holy Spirit better!

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