by Garrett Glende

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the most confused in modern day Christianity and it is also the focus of this week’s chapter in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. Perhaps for lack of clear instruction, the Holy Spirit is often misunderstood by many Christians today. There are a variety of ideas floating around, some holding much more merit than others, but we must seek to be true students of Scripture so that we might worship God for who He truly is, especially when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Much of this ignorance may come from the fact that He is simply overlooked much of the time. We like to spend so much time focusing on the work of the Father and the Son (and rightly so) that we miss out on the equally important role of the Spirit. This disproportionate attention has caused Francis Chan to write a book titled The Forgotten God, and many others are beginning to see the tremendous importance of the implications of the Spirit’s work. This week, we’ll focus on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as seen through His work of empowerment, purification, and revelation (it is important to note that the Spirit’s work of bestowing gifts to the church, although a vital aspect of His ministry, will not be discussed here, as it is addressed in later chapters).

Possibly the most crucial work of the Spirit in the life of the Christian is His work of regeneration. Prior to conversion, the sinner is left utterly helpless in his sin and has no ability to exercise faith and turn to God due to the absence of spiritual life. Man is physically alive, but spiritually dead until the Spirit intervenes (for more on this, see the article on sin). When the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the sinner and breathes new life into him, we call this the miracle of regeneration. Jesus explains clearly to Nicodemus in John 3 that one cannot see the kingdom of God unless one is born again. Nicodemus is confused by the Jesus’ words and he asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb?” Jesus goes on to explain to him that it is the Spirit who works in people to bring them new life and that this work will not be seen, but its evidence will be clear: “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

This is the first act of empowerment by the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. Following regeneration, the Spirit constantly empowers people for ministry, as we see throughout the Old Testament. The prophets were one group of people who were carried along by the Spirit as they declared God’s word to the masses. Micah writes, “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin” (Micah 3:8). The prophet Jeremiah had to have been empowered by the Spirit to endure all the hardship that came during his ministry. He suffered under persecution, but he was compelled by the Spirit to continue preaching faithfully. Additionally, David was anointed by the Spirit for the work that God had set before him (1 Sam 16:13). We see that the Holy Spirit was at work in this way throughout the Old Testament, empowering certain people to fulfill the tasks that they were called to.

The Holy Spirit is also particularly at work in the church, purifying its members so that they might build up the body. In addition to providing us with new life, the Spirit works in us so that we might continue to live lives that are pleasing to God. This process of sanctification mentioned by Paul when he writes to the Corinthians, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 6:11). The Christian does not only depend on God for salvation, but the day by day growth that comes with it is brought about by the Spirit. The evidence of this work is seen when we exhibit “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness [and] self-control,” the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Interesting side note: the passage reads “fruit of the Spirit,” not “fruits of the Spirit.” There’s only one fruit – think about it. This fruit will be manifested when we no longer live according to the flesh, but rather by the Spirit (Rom. 8:12-13). It is by His power that we are able to defeat sin and overcome the temptations that so often befall us.

Lastly, the Spirit is the one who reveals God’s truth. Peter writes that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). It is clear that the Holy Spirit is the person who worked within the authors of the Bible so that what they wrote would not be just man’s opinion, but the very word of God. The Holy Spirit revealed God’s word through David: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, his word is on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2). As we saw earlier, the prophets were used by the Spirit to bring forth God’s word (Neh. 9:30, Zech. 7:12). All of these different instruments were compelled by God so that the truth about Him might be made known. For us, the Spirit reveals God’s word as we read our Bibles. Surely we are able to understand the Scripture to a certain extent, but without the illuminating work of the Spirit in our devotional lives there will be no real spiritual transformation, only head knowledge.

Knowing that the Spirit is the person who empowers us to live God-honoring lives, what then shall we do? Does this not change the way we approach our times reading the Scriptures, praying, and going to church? We are often so unaware of the mighty power of the Spirit that we go about our daily lives with no dependence on Him at all. We think that we’re able to illuminate the Scriptures, kill sin, and bless the body all by ourselves, but this is not the case. We need to be completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to do His work in us so that our lives might be more pleasing to God. It’s a shame that the evidence of grace is all around us, yet we barely ever notice it. This is one thing that I, myself am trying to work on. An increased sensitivity to the activity of the Spirit in the world should be a prayer request for us all. Jesus tells us that the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work is just as obvious as the gusts of the wind. Do we see it? Do we listen?