Holy Spirit
- The Holy
Spirit Is A Person – We need to notice and understand that the
Holy Spirit is a unique person and not simply a power, influence, or
power. He is spoken of as “He,” not as
“it.” We have to understand that the
Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, is personal. As a person, He can communicate, has
thoughts, emotions, and a will.
- 2nd
Samuel 23:2
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- Isaiah
63:10
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- Micah 2:7
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- Acts 7:51
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- Ephesians
4:30
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- 1st
Thessalonians 5:19
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- The Holy
Spirit is one, both with the Father and the Son – In
theological terms, we say that He is both co-equal and co-eternal with the
Father and Son. When we read the Upper
Room Discourse, we discover that it was both the Father and the Son who would
send the Spirit, and the Spirit came and acted, as it were, for both of
Them. So, the activity of the Spirit is
never given to us in Scripture in isolation from the person and work of Christ
or in isolation from the eternal will of the Father. Any endeavor to think of
the Spirit in terms that are entirely mystical and divorced from Scripture will
take us down all kinds of side streets and eventually to dead ends.
- John
14:16; 16:7
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- Names /
Titles of the Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit is known by many names and
titles, most of which denote some function or aspect of His ministry. Below are
some descriptions:
- 2nd
Peter 1:21 … 2nd Timothy 3:16
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- Isaiah
11:2 … John 14:16 … John 15:26 … John 16:7
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- John
16:7-11
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- 2nd
Corinthians 1:22 … 2nd Corinthians 5:5 … Ephesians 1:13-14
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- John
16:13 … 1st Corinthians 2:14
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- Romans
8:9-11 … 1st Corinthians 6:19 … Ephesians 2:21-22
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- Romans
8:26
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- John 14:17
… John 16:13 … 1st Corinthians 2:12-16
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- Matthew
3:16 … 2nd Corinthians 3:17 … 1st Peter 1:11
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- Romans
8:16 … Hebrews 2:4 … Hebrews 10:15
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- The Holy
Spirit in Creation – The Spirit makes creation live. To have
the “breath” (i.e. Spirit) of God in your nostrils is to be a living being,
which is why it’s particularly bad to have the Spirit (or breath) leave you.
- Genesis
1:1-2
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- Genesis
2:7
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- Job 26:13a
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- Job 27:3
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- Job 33:4
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- Job
34:14-15
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- Psalm
33:6-7
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- Psalm
104:29-30
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- Ecclesiastes
12:7
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- Isaiah 40:7
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- Judgment
and Justice – The Holy Spirit is active in judgment, particularly in
exposing sin and guilt. As we read the
OT we find that quite a significant proportion of references to the Holy Spirit
have some connection with this. We also
find that many of the Spirit-inspired messages spoken through men are of
judgment – both by exposing and identifying sin and by announcing the judgment
that will inevitably come unless people repent.
- Genesis
6:3
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- Nehemiah
9:30
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- Isaiah
4:4
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- Isaiah
28:6
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- Isaiah
59:19
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- Micah 2:7
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- Micah 3:8
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- Zechariah
7:12
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- Symbols
of the Holy Spirit
- Water Cloud and Light The Finger
- Anointing The Seal The Dove
- Fire The Hand
- The Holy
Spirit Equips/Empowers – In the following verses: (1) Was the
person empowered a person of true faith in God?
(2) What was the ability/skill given by the Spirit? (3) Was the equipping/empowerment a one-time
thing, constant, or repeated one-time event?
- Genesis
41:38
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- Numbers
11:17, 25-29
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- Judges
3:10
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- Judges
6:34
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- Judges
11:29
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- Judges
13:24
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- Judges
14:6
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- Judges
15:14
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- 1st
Samuel 16:13
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- Zechariah
4:6
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- The
Spirit and the Word – The Holy Spirit is the source and
communicator of messages from God, and the one who enables men to proclaim them. In the following verses, what is the role of
the Spirit in communicating the Word of God and commissioning people to speak
it?
- Numbers
24:1-3
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- Numbers
27:18-21
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- 2nd
Samuel 23:2-3
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- 1st
Chronicles 12:18
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- 2nd
Chronicles 20:14-17
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- 2nd
Chronicles 24:20
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- Isaiah
48:16
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- Ezekiel
2:2-4 (2:1-3:11 for full story)
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- Ezekiel
11:5
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- 1st
Peter 1:10-11 and 2nd Peter 1:19-21
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- The Holy
Spirit and the Messiah – The OT understands that when the promised
Messiah comes there will be a very close association between the Messiah and
the Spirit of the Lord.
- Isaiah
11:1-2
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- Isaiah
42:1
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- Isaiah
61:1
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- The
Promise of the Spirit – The OT looked forward to an era of the
Spirit in which the Spirit of God would come and dwell in those who believe in
Him. What is anticipated or promised in
these verses? What is the anticipated
impact of the Spirit of God?
- Isaiah
32:15
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- Isaiah
44:3
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- Ezekiel
11:19
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- Ezekiel
36:26-27
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- Ezekiel
37:14
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- Joel
2:28-29
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- The New Testament also refers to this anticipation of the Spirit in the following:
- Luke
11:13
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- John
7:39
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- John
14 – 16
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- John
20:22 (possibly)
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- Acts
1:4-5
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- Acts
1:7
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- The
Spirit in the New Testament (Pre-Pentecost) – We find the Holy Spirit active in
the following ways in the pre-Pentecost New Testament era:
- Luke …
Zachariah (1:67) / Elizabeth (1:41) / John the Baptist (1:15) / Simeon
(2:25-32)
- The disciples – were instructed by Jesus not to worry about what to say if they were arrested and questioned because the Holy Spirit would speak through them [Matthew 10:20 & Mark 13:11] orteach them what to say [Luke 12:12]. While Mark and Luke clearly include both pre- and post-Pentecost believers, the context of the Matthew reference seems to divide exactly at this point – the verses before it [10:5-16] giving instructions specific to the first disciples on their first mission, and the verses after if [10:21-42] having more general application to all who would follow Christ.
- Regeneration – the Holy Spirit’s essential work of regeneration is identified and taught prior to the Pentecost events – for example, John 3:3-8; 6:63. This life-giving work of the Spirit obviously does not wait till Pentecost. Already, even as Jesus was teaching, there were those who had received eternal life through the Word of Christ and the operation of the Spirit.
- The Day
of Pentecost (Acts 2) – The Old Testament anticipations of the Spirit, and this
promise of Christ to send the Spirit, were fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in
Acts 2, when Christ poured out his Spirit from heaven upon the church – that small
group of true believers who were at his command waiting in Jerusalem for him to
do what he had promised.
- Acts 1:4: … he gave them this command:
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you
have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
- The Spirit dwells within the believer
and the Church – The
NT is consistent in its teaching that the Spirit lives within individual
believers and within groups of believers.
How do these verses refer to the fact that the Spirit dwells within
individuals and the Church?
- Ezekiel 36:27
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- John
14:17
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- Romans
8:9
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- Romans
8:11
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- 1st
Corinthians 3:16
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- 1st
Corinthians 6:19
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- Ephesians
2:21-22
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Denominational Beliefs on The Holy Spirit
- Wesleyan – We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the
Father and the Son, and is of the same essential nature, majesty, and glory, as
the Father and the Son, truly and eternally God. He is the Administrator of
grace to all, and is particularly the effective Agent in conviction for sin, in
regeneration, in sanctification, and in glorification. He is ever present,
assuring, preserving, guiding, and enabling the believer.
- United
Methodist – The
Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance,
majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
- Nazarene – We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the
Trinity, that He is ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church
of Christ, convincing the world of sin, regenerating those who repent and believe,
sanctifying believers, and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.
- Free Will
Baptists – All attributes of God are ascribed to
the Holy Spirit by the Scriptures. It is He who convicts and convinces men of
their sin. He also convinces man of that which is right, and that a final day
of judgment will come. He, it is, who comes to live in us at conversion, to
open our understanding to the Scripture, and to lead us into the truth.
- Southern
Baptists – The Holy Spirit is the
Spirit of God, fully divine. … He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of
righteousness and of judgment. … He enlightens and empowers the believer and
the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
- Anglican (39 Articles) – The
Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance,
majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
- Catholic – No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit. Now God’s Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself. The Spirit who “has spoken through the prophets” makes us hear the Father’s Word, but we do not hear the Spirit himself. We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith. The Spirit of truth who “unveils” Christ to us “will not speak of his own.” Such properly divine self-effacement explains why “the world cannot receive [him], because it neither sees him nor knows him,” while those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them. The Church is the place where we know the Holy Spirit: (1) in the scriptures he inspired; (2) in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses; (3) in the Church’s Magisterium, which he assists; (4) in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ; (5) in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us; (6) in the ministries by which the Church is built up; (7) in the signs of apostolic and missionary life; and (8) in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.