The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit: Introduction
As heresy and false teaching were pushing against the boundaries of truth in the early years of the church, a group of bishops, forever known as the Council of Nicea, met in 325 AD and hammered out a confession of orthodox Christian faith. This confession is known as the Nicene Creed and establishes the parameters of the truth set forth in holy Scripture and which the true church believes and confesses. This creedal statement was further developed at the Council of Constantinople (AD 381) and accepted in its present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. We quote a portion of this creed:
“We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
He came down from heaven;
He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.”
Historic Christianity confesses that the Holy Spirit is “the Lord.” We mean that He is Deity, co-equal with the Father and the Son and therefore, when the Apostle Paul pronounced a benediction over the Corinthian Church, he said, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14).
When Jesus commissioned the church, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19,20).
Because the Holy Spirit is Deity, He is a co-equal member of the Trinity which is the way God has revealed Himself to us — one God existing eternally as three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though they exist in perfect unity as one God, they are nevertheless perfectly distinct as three persons. (As we see, for instance, in the baptism of Jesus in which Jesus is baptized, the Holy Spirit descends on Him and the Father speaks, Matt. 3:16,17).
Because the Holy Spirit is God, He exists in perfect unity with God the Father, as we read in I Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
Because the Holy Spirit is God, He exists in perfect unity with God the Son, as we read in Romans 8:9, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
Historic Christianity confesses that the Holy Spirit is, “The Lord, the giver of life.” We mean that He shares in the work of creating life with the Father and the Son, as we read in the creation story in Genesis chapter one.
Historic Christianity confesses that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son.” This does not mean that the Spirit was created by the other members of the Trinity. Rather, it is the Father and the Son who share Him with the church, who send Him. He therefore proceeds from the Father and the Son, as Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). Jesus also said, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,” (John 15:26).
Historic Christianity confesses that the Holy Spirit is “worshiped and glorified” along with the Father and the Son. We usually think of the Holy Spirit as our worship leader whose desire is to glorify the Father and the Son and that’s true but the Holy Spirit is also truly God, is of the same essence as the Father and the Son, shares all attributes with the Father and the Son and therefore is worthy of our worship and praise. Our hymns reflect this. In the exalted hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” the writer praises “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!”
In the traditional hymn, “Come, Thou Almighty King,” the first verse is devoted to the praise of God the Father, the second to God the Son and the third verse to God the Holy Spirit. In the closing verse we sing, “To thee, great One in Three, eternal praises be; hence ever-more, thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see and to eternity love and adore.” In many churches the “Doxology” is sung which concludes with, “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”
Historic Christianity confesses that the Holy Spirit has spoken “through the prophets”. He is, with the Father and the Son, our source of revelation as to the Person and work of God. He inspires Scripture and makes that word come alive to the church, “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21). So it is that when the writer to the Hebrews quotes from Psalm 95, he says, “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice,’” (Hebr. 3:7 see also Hebr. 10:15).
So it is that when Jesus shares messages with the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three, He says to each church, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22).
Because the Holy Spirit is God, He therefore shares all the attributes of Deity with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is therefore uncreated, Self-existent Being — perfect in all expressions and manifestations of Himself. If the Father and the Son are eternal, then the Holy Spirit must also be eternal and so we read that Jesus offered Himself as a holy sacrifice “through the eternal Spirit” (Hebr. 9:14).
If the Father and the Son are merciful, then the Holy Spirit must be merciful. Therefore we read in the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61 (and quoted in Luke 4:18), “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners” (Isa. 61:1). The Holy Spirit anointed the Messiah for His ministry of mercy and therefore shared in the work of mercy.
In preaching to the Roman officer and his friends, the Apostle Peter said, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). Jesus went “doing good and healing” through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit shared in this ministry of mercy.
If the Father and the Son are omniscient, then the Holy Spirit must be omniscient and so we read, “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God” (I Cor. 2:11,12).
“It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (I John 5:6b).
In Isaiah 40:12-14 we read, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge? And informed Him of the way of understanding?”
If the Father and the Son are omnipresent, then the Holy Spirit must be omnipresent and so we read, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7).
If the Father and the Son are omnipotent, then the Holy Spirit must be omnipotent and so we read, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech 4:6).
If the Father and the Son create life and give life then this must also be true of the Holy Spirit and so Job said, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).
The Holy Spirit shared in the work of creation with the Father and the Son, “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” (Gen. 1:2).
The Holy Spirit shared in the incarnation of the Son of God in human form, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit … But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:18,20).
“The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35).
The Holy Spirit anointed Jesus for ministry, as we read in the account of His baptism, “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him” (Matt. 3:16). Isaiah had prophesied this, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isa. 11:2).
In fact, it appears that Jesus was entirely dependent on the Holy Spirit for the accomplishing of His ministry. In Luke 5:17 we read, “The power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.” That power was mediated through the Holy Spirit, as Peter said, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38).
The Holy Spirit shared in the work of redemption with the Father and the Son, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebr 9:14).
The Holy Spirit shared in the work of resurrection, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).
The Holy Spirit shares in the work of regeneration, bringing sinners to new life through faith in Christ, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit’” (John 3:5-8).
The Holy Spirit sanctifies believers, sets us apart for holy service to the Lord, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Thes. 2:13).
Peter reminds us that we “are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (I Peter 1:1,2)
The Holy Spirit empowers believers, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit cultivates the life of Jesus in believers, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22,23).
The Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ, that is, into union with Christ and His church, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).
The Holy Spirit provides gifts which empower miraculous signs of God’s work among us. “God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Hebr. 2:4).
In a more detailed discussion of this, the Apostle Paul wrote, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills” (I Cor. 12:7-11).
The Holy Spirit not only performs miracles through believers. He also performs miracles according to His sovereign will without our participation, as when He supernaturally transported Phillip after his encounter with the Ethiopian man, removing him to a completely different location, “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39).
The Holy Spirit directs the decisions of the church, “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2,4).
The Holy Spirit directed Peter to an important meeting with a Gentile seeker, “While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, three men are looking for you. But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself’” (Acts 10:19).
The Holy Spirit revealed to Paul the sacrificial ministry that awaited him, “The Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me” (Acts 20:23).
While Paul was in Caesarea, he encountered a prophet named Agabus, “And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles’” (Acts 21:11).
The Holy Spirit indwells believers, as Paul said to Timothy, “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (I Cor. 6:19)
The Holy Spirit anoints believers, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know” (I Jn. 2:20). The word anointing is literally the word for ointment or oil and is the presence of the Holy Spirit in us.
The Holy Spirit communicates with us, teaches us, “But just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (I Cor. 2:9-13).
The Holy Spirit not only teaches us but opens the future to us, warns us, prepares us, “Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons” (I Tim. 4:1).
And again, as Jesus said, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit enables us, energizes us, along with the Father and the Son, to live the Christian life, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:14-17a).
The Holy Spirit helps us to pray, prays with us and prays through us, “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom 8:26).
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20).
The Holy Spirit inspires the preaching of the Gospel, “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven— things into which angels long to look” (I Peter 1:10-12).
The Holy Spirit empowers believers to speak the word with boldness and confirms that word with power, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake” (I Thes. 1:5).
The Holy Spirit establishes the love of God in our hearts, “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5).
The Holy Spirit communicates peace, joy, hope and power, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17).
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).
“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (I Thes. 1:6).
The Holy Spirit not only sanctifies us, setting us apart for holy service unto the Lord and not only gifts us for ministry but also sanctifies the gift, the offering, the ministry which He gave us which we then offer to the Lord, “But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16).
According to the historic confession of the Christians church, the Holy Spirit is as much a Person as God the Father and God the Son. If the Holy Spirit is a Person, then He must have a personality. 1
We see His intellectual capacity, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).
He must have emotions and so we read, “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit” (Isa. 63:10); and, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
He experiences and communicates peace, love, joy and all other Godly attributes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22,23a).
He has desires. A primary desire is to lead us into truth, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13).
A primary desire of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:14).
The Holy Spirit has a will. We see this as the Jerusalem church met to consider the potentially divisive issue of whether believers needed to obey the Mosaic Law. Afterwards they said, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials” (Acts 15:28).
We see the will of the Holy Spirit expressed in the remarkable account of the Holy Spirit blocking the Apostle Paul from preaching in certain regions because another area was opening up — a revelation of the will of the Holy Spirit, “They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” (Acts 16:6,7). Why? Because He was opening a door for Paul into Macedonia. The Holy Spirit was not acting independently of the will of the Father and the Son, rather, expressing the will of the Trinity which always works in unity.
Because the Holy Spirit is God and shares in all attributes of Deity, He is therefore infinite and can pour Himself into a million vessels performing a million ministries and not be diminished.
Yet for all His presence and activity, we tend to have only a vague concept of God the Holy Spirit. Our objective in this course is to examine the person and ministry of the Third Person of the Trinity so that we may know Him better and fellowship with Him more truly.
Study Questions
1. The Holy Spirit shares in the attributes of the God the father and God the Son. What are some of those attributes?
2. The Holy Spirit shares in the work of the Father and the Son. What are some of those works?
Endnotes:
1. Charles Caldwell Ryrie, The Holy Spirit (Chicago: Moody Press, 1965), p 11.