Faith
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Not a vague force, but God Himself, close by. Who He is, what He does, and how He works through the whole Bible.
Christians confess one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Most people can picture something when they think of the Father or of Jesus. The Spirit stays blurry for many: a mood, an energy, something you either feel or don't. The Bible speaks of Him differently. Here you can read who He is, what He does, and where Christians see Him differently.
The Holy Spirit is God being very close to you. You can't see Him, just as you can't see the wind. But He comforts you, helps you pray and makes your heart soft and kind.
Someone, not something
The Hebrew word ruach and the Greek pneuma also mean breath and wind. That is why some think of an impersonal force. But the Bible has the Spirit do things only someone does. Jesus calls Him 'another Counselor' (John 14:16): a helper like Himself.
He speaks
In Antioch the Spirit tells the church to set Barnabas and Saul apart for Him. That is not how an energy speaks, but how someone does.
He teaches and reminds
Jesus promises that the Spirit will teach His disciples everything and remind them of what He said.
He can be grieved
Paul asks believers not to grieve the Spirit. Only someone can be grieved.
He prays for us
When we do not know what to pray, the Spirit Himself pleads for us, with groanings too deep for words.
He decides
The Spirit hands out the gifts 'as he desires'. The meeting in Jerusalem writes: it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us.
He is God
Whoever lies to the Spirit lies to God, Peter tells Ananias. And Paul calls the church a temple of God because the Spirit lives in it.
How the Spirit, the Father and the Son are together one God, you can read under One God, three persons.
What the Spirit does
Seven things the Bible says about the work of the Spirit, each with a verse from your Bible.
He stands by you
The Greek word parakletos literally means someone called to your side. A comforter, an advocate, a helper who comes to stand next to you. That is why translations choose different words. Jesus promises that He stays for ever.
I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,—
John 14:16 He leads into the truth
The Spirit brings no new, secret teaching. He puts Jesus in the light: 'He will glorify me,' Jesus says. What the Spirit says fits with what Jesus said.
However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
John 16:13 He convicts
The Spirit shows what sin is, what is truly right, and that evil has been judged. That is not an accusation to make someone small, but a light that shows the way back.
When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;
John 16:8 He makes new
Jesus tells Nicodemus that a person must be born again 'of water and Spirit'. Christians see in it the start of a new life that God gives, not one you make yourself. How this relates to baptism, the churches see differently.
Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God!
John 3:5 He makes you a child of God
Through the Spirit a person may call God 'Abba, Father', a word of trust. And whoever has no words left does not have to pray alone: the Spirit prays along.
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
Romans 8:16 He gives courage to bear witness
Just before His ascension Jesus promises power from the Spirit, to tell about Him in Jerusalem and further, to the ends of the earth. The same Spirit still gives ordinary people words to speak about their faith.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 He gives gifts
Every Christian receives something from the Spirit to serve others with: teaching, helping, encouraging, leading, giving, healing, prophesying and more. The New Testament names them in several lists, and no list is complete.
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.
1 Corinthians 12:7
How that power to bear witness carried the gospel around the world, you can read under How the gospel spread around the world.
The fruit of the Spirit
How you recognise the work of the Spirit: not by spectacle, but by character.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Paul sets two lists side by side: what comes from people themselves (Galatians 5:19–21) and what the Spirit makes grow. Notice the singular: one fruit with nine sides, not a menu to choose from. You don't make fruit, it grows. That is how the Spirit works: slowly, from the inside, and often others see it before you do.
An apple tree doesn't have to push hard to get apples: when the tree is healthy, they grow by themselves. In the same way the Holy Spirit makes love, joy and kindness grow in you.
Red thread
The Spirit through the whole Bible
From creation through the prophets and Pentecost to the church of today: nine places where the Spirit is at work.
Genesis 1:2
Over the water
Where the Spirit is, life and order come into the chaos. At the baptism of Jesus the Spirit comes down over the water once more.
Numbers 11:29
If only they were all prophets
In the Old Testament the Spirit comes on a few: judges, kings, prophets, often only for a while. Moses' wish waits to be fulfilled.
Ezekiel 37:14
Dry bones live
God promises to put His own Spirit in His people: not only new life, but a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
Joel 2:28
On all flesh
What Moses wished, Joel promises for everyone. At Pentecost Peter quotes exactly these words (Acts 2:16–18).
Luke 3:22
Like a dove
Father, Son and Spirit are present at once. Jesus begins His work 'full of the Holy Spirit' (Luke 4:1) and reads in Nazareth: 'The Spirit of the Lord is on me' (4:18).
John 14:16
Another Counselor
The Spirit makes Jesus near, even when He can no longer be seen: 'I will not leave you orphans' (14:18).
Acts 2:4
Wind, fire and languages
At Babel the languages were confused (Genesis 11). Here everyone hears the gospel in their own language. Joel's promise has begun.
Romans 8:16
Children of God
What was once for a few prophets is now for everyone who belongs to Christ. That is how the Spirit works in the church today: from the inside.
Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say: Come!
The Spirit who hovered over the water at creation offers the water of life at the end, freely, to whoever wants it.
The gifts: where Christians differ
Churches think differently about the gifts of the Spirit. First what they share, then the views side by side.
What all churches share
- All the great churches confess with the creed of Nicaea and Constantinople (381) that the Holy Spirit is Lord, gives life, and is worshipped together with the Father and the Son.
- Whoever belongs to Christ has the Spirit. And every gift is there to serve others, not to stand out.
- Love comes before every gift: that is why 1 Corinthians 13 stands right between the two chapters about the gifts.
- God hears prayer and can heal. On that the churches agree; they differ on whether there is a separate gift of healing, prophecy or tongues today.
The views side by side
Pentecostal and charismatic churches
The Pentecostal movement (since 1906) and the charismatic renewal in many churches
All the gifts of 1 Corinthians 12, including prophecy, healing and speaking in tongues, are still here, and Christians may long for them. Classical Pentecostal churches speak of a 'baptism in the Spirit' as an experience of its own after conversion, with tongues as its first sign. Many charismatic Christians in other churches see it more broadly.
Catholic and Orthodox churches
The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches
The Spirit is given in baptism and confirmed in confirmation; in the Orthodox Church that is the anointing with chrism, right after baptism. The Catholic Church also speaks of seven gifts, after Isaiah 11:2–3. Extraordinary gifts are recognised, but the church tests them. Within the Catholic Church there has also been a charismatic renewal since 1967.
Part of the Reformed and evangelical churches
Mainly in the Reformed tradition
The striking sign gifts, such as new prophecy, tongues and gifts of healing, belonged to the time of the apostles, when the foundation of the church was laid. Now that Scripture is complete, God speaks through the Bible. He still heals in answer to prayer, but no longer through people with a gift of healing.
Many Protestant churches in between
Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist and other congregations
They rule out no gift, but put the weight on the ordinary gifts that keep a congregation going week after week: serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading. Special experiences are tested against the Bible and against the fruit they bear.
Thread takes no side here. What all churches agree on: the Spirit always points to Jesus, and where He works, love grows.
Sources
Sources
- New Advent, “The First Council of Constantinople (381): the creed”
- Holy See, “Catechism of the Catholic Church, §683–747: I believe in the Holy Spirit”
- Holy See, “Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1830–1832: the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit”
- Assemblies of God, “Statement of Fundamental Truths (7 and 8)”
- The Ark and the Dove, “How it started (the retreat of February 1967)”
- CCEL, “Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 1”
- Internet Archive, “B. B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (1918)”