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The Holy Spirit · Scripture-ish

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  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit, a basic introduction by Ed Gallagher.
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  I recently wrote this brief lesson on the Holy Spirit for a
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  church Bible class book
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  SPEAKER_00: that will appear later this spring or summer.
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  That book will be the 2026 edition of the Berean series
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  published by HCU Press.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you can look for that in a few months.
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  The theme this year is the seven ones of Ephesians four,
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  four through six.
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  SPEAKER_00: And my topic was one spirit.
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  Each author wrote two chapters,
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  one on the overall concept that was assigned to that author
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  SPEAKER_00: whether faith or baptism or Lord, or in my case, spirit.
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  And the other chapter is on Paul's emphasis in the passage on
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  the singular nature
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  SPEAKER_00: of the concept.
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  SPEAKER_00: So like one faith, one baptism, one Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is my first chapter, and later I'll post the second one.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is just the main text.
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  You'll have to get the book if you want the footnotes and the
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  discussion questions.
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  SPEAKER_00: Introduction.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is mysterious.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think it's supposed to be that way.
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  SPEAKER_00: His purpose is not to tell us about himself.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus told his disciples,
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  SPEAKER_00: but the advocate,
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  SPEAKER_00: the Holy Spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: whom the Father will send in my name,
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  SPEAKER_00: will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.
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  SPEAKER_00: John 14, 26.
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  SPEAKER_00: And again,
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  SPEAKER_00: when the advocate comes whom I will send to you from the Father,
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  SPEAKER_00: the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father,
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  SPEAKER_00: he will testify on my behalf.
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  SPEAKER_00: John 15, 26.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rather than testifying about himself, the Spirit testifies about Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: He reminds the disciples of Jesus about what Jesus said.
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  SPEAKER_00: When the Spirit has done his work,
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  the disciples of Jesus might not have a great understanding of
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  the Spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: but they will have a better understanding of Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Mere Christianity, C.S.
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  Lewis suggests another reason that the Spirit might be less
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  distinct than are the
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  SPEAKER_00: Father and Son.
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  SPEAKER_00: Quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: Do not be worried or surprised if you find it,
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  SPEAKER_00: or him,
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  SPEAKER_00: rather vaguer or more shadowy in your mind than the other two.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think there is a reason why that must be so.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the Christian life, you are not usually looking at him.
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  SPEAKER_00: He is always acting through you.
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  SPEAKER_00: As Lewis says,
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  SPEAKER_00: we might think of the Father as in front of us and the Son as beside us,
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  SPEAKER_00: while the Spirit is within us or behind us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Though much of the life and work of the Holy Spirit is unclear to me,
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  SPEAKER_00: We can grasp some things from the evidence of Scripture.
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  One of those things is what we just read from Lewis,
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  the Spirit dwells within us.
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  SPEAKER_00: Paul's letters are especially insistent on this point,
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  SPEAKER_00: and especially Romans 8,
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  SPEAKER_00: the chapter in the New Testament,
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  SPEAKER_00: with the most number of occurrences of the word Spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: One example, this is Romans 8, verse 9.
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  But you are not in the flesh,
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  you are in the Spirit,
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  since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
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  SPEAKER_00: More on this later.
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  SPEAKER_00: For now, what is this Spirit that dwells within Christian believers?
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  SPEAKER_00: Going deeper.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Greek word translated spirit is pneuma,
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  SPEAKER_00: appearing 379 times in the New Testament,
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  SPEAKER_00: including every book except 2 and 3 John.
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  It mostly refers to God's spirit,
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  but can also refer to the human spirit or a demonic spirit.
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  The standard dictionary for the Greek New Testament discusses
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  this word across four
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  SPEAKER_00: and a half pages,
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  SPEAKER_00: supplying eight different major definitions,
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  SPEAKER_00: starting with air in movement.
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  SPEAKER_00: The word sometimes means breath or wind, such as at Hebrews 1 verse 7.
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  which allows for the different nuances of the word in Jesus'
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  speech to Nicodemus.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is John 3, 8.
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  SPEAKER_00: The pneuma blows where it chooses.
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  You hear the sound of it,
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  but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it is with everyone who is born of the pneuma.
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  SPEAKER_00: The relevant Hebrew word is similarly broad in meaning,
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  but references to the divine spirit are much less frequent in
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  the Old Testament.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our word is ruach,
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  SPEAKER_00: and it appears 389 times in the Hebrew Bible,
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  but a rather low percentage of these appearances are in
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  reference to God's spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: only about 75 times.
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  One of the standard dictionaries of ancient Hebrew uses 13
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  pages to define this
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  SPEAKER_00: word,
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  SPEAKER_00: but there are only three major definitions,
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  SPEAKER_00: wind,
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  SPEAKER_00: breath,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the divine spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: While the Old Testament supplies crucial information about God's spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: especially its work of empowering people,
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  such as Bezalel in his artistry,
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  that's Exodus 31,
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  or Samson in his feats of strength.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can look at Judges 14, verse 6.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is the New Testament that depicts the Spirit with greater clarity.
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  According to the New Testament,
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  the Spirit belongs in company with the Father and the Son.
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  SPEAKER_00: For example,
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus commanded his apostles to baptize people,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  SPEAKER_00: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's Matthew 28, verse 19.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peter addresses his first letter to believers,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote,
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  who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and
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  sanctified by the Spirit
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  SPEAKER_00: and
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  SPEAKER_00: to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's 1 Peter 1, verse 2.
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  SPEAKER_00: Paul ended his second letter to the Corinthians with this blessing.
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  SPEAKER_00: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
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  SPEAKER_00: the love of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Again, that's the last verse of 2 Corinthians chapter 13.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's sometimes numbered verse 13 and sometimes it's numbered verse 14.
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  SPEAKER_00: And of course,
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  SPEAKER_00: among the seven ones mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 4 are one God,
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  SPEAKER_00: one Lord,
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  SPEAKER_00: and one Spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: These passages show that when one speaks of the Christian God,
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  SPEAKER_00: one should speak of not only Father and Son,
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  SPEAKER_00: but also Spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: Traditional Christian theology has pressed further,
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  SPEAKER_00: describing the Christian God as one essence in three persons.
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  While the Apostles' Creed and the original Nicene Creed from
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  325 AD included belief
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  SPEAKER_00: in the Holy Spirit as a fundamental doctrine,
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  SPEAKER_00: the expanded Nicene Creed from 381 AD,
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  elaborated somewhat on the Spirit's being and activities and
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  the responsibility of
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  believers to worship and glorify Him together with the Father
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  and the Son.
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  The New Testament does not provide examples of Christians
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  worshiping the Holy
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  SPEAKER_00: Spirit,
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  but it does provide evidence beyond the threefold descriptions
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  of God already
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  SPEAKER_00: reviewed,
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  SPEAKER_00: that the apostles conceived of the Holy Spirit as God.
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  SPEAKER_00: A classic example is the twin statements from Peter in Acts chapter 5,
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  SPEAKER_00: who first accuses Ananias of lying to the Holy Spirit in verse 3,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then of lying to God in verse 4.
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  The divinity of the Spirit would also explain why Jesus
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  regarded blasphemy of the
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  SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit as such a serious offense.
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  SPEAKER_00: Take a look at Mark 3, verse 29.
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  SPEAKER_00: Christians in the early centuries considered it appropriate,
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  SPEAKER_00: necessary,
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  SPEAKER_00: to offer worship to the Spirit since He is God,
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  SPEAKER_00: I myself have sung few songs directly addressed to the Spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: but one such song I have sung many times in my life.
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  Spirit,
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  we love you,
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  we worship and adore you,
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  glorify thy name in all the earth.
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  SPEAKER_00: There are also indications in Scripture that the Spirit is personal,
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  SPEAKER_00: that he has thoughts and desires and agency.
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  Paul and Barnabas undertook the first missionary journey in the
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  book of Acts
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  because the Holy Spirit called them to that work and spoke
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  about his choice.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's Acts 13, verse 2.
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  The scholar Larry Hurtado points especially to the farewell
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  discourse in John's
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  SPEAKER_00: gospel as offering such testimony about the Spirit's personal nature.
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  SPEAKER_00: In this passage, the Spirit is depicted as an advocate or counselor.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Greek word is parakletos.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's John 14, 26, or 15, 26, or 16, verse 7.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so the Spirit is a personal representative of Jesus,
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  SPEAKER_00: chapter 14,
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  SPEAKER_00: verses 16 through 20,
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  SPEAKER_00: who will remind the disciples of Jesus' teaching,
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  SPEAKER_00: Chapter 14, verses 25, 26, 15, 26, 16, 12 through 13.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the Spirit will bring glory to Jesus.
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  SPEAKER_00: Chapter 16, verse 14.
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  SPEAKER_00: And rebuke the world for sin.
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  SPEAKER_00: Chapter 16, verses 7 through 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: According to Hurtado, this frequent use of verbs of agency...
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  has the effect of giving the spirit a considerably more
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  personal character than we
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  find in the Old Testament and the Jewish tradition of the time
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  in which the spirit
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  is often referred to in ways that can connote more simply a
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  divine power or force.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Hurtado gives the example of 1 Samuel 10 9-13.
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  SPEAKER_00: What about the spirit's pronouns?
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  If the spirit is personal,
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  does that mean we should refer to the spirit as he and not as
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  it?
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  SPEAKER_00: Many Christians insist on using the masculine pronoun for this reason.
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  SPEAKER_00: Others use the feminine pronoun,
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  SPEAKER_00: she,
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  which does in fact correspond to the grammatical gender of the
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  word spirit in
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  SPEAKER_00: Hebrew.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ruach is usually feminine.
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  SPEAKER_00: Look,
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  gender is such a controversial topic in the 21st century that
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  we run the risk of
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  inserting modern categories and concepts into ancient and
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  timeless texts by
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  SPEAKER_00: bringing up the issue.
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  SPEAKER_00: Without advocating for a particular approach, I will note a few facts.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Greek word for spirit pneuma is neuter,
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  and neuter pronouns are sometimes used in the Greek New
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  Testament in reference to
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  SPEAKER_00: the spirit.
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  SPEAKER_00: John 14, verse 17, Romans 8, verse 16.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those are good examples where the pronoun is it in the Greek.
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  Some modern believers think that masculine or feminine pronouns
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  are too human for
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  SPEAKER_00: the deity,
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  SPEAKER_00: who is beyond gender,
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  SPEAKER_00: and some believers do not use pronouns at all in reference to God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead, repeating the word God,
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  SPEAKER_00: where others would use a pronoun.
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  So there are some people who would tend to say,
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  like,
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  God reveals God's self.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're not going to say God reveals himself.
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  SPEAKER_00: I myself tend to speak about the spirit as he, sometimes it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Application.
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  SPEAKER_00: Application.
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  SPEAKER_00: According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19,
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  SPEAKER_00: your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
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  SPEAKER_00: which you have from God.
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  Other New Testament passages describe the believing community
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  as God's temple.
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  So 1 Corinthians 3 verses 16 and 17,
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  Ephesians 2 verses 21 and 22,
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  1 Peter 2 verse 5,
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  SPEAKER_00: That's the believing community as God's temple.
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  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of 1 Corinthians 6,
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  SPEAKER_00: Paul applied the image to the bodies of individual Christians.
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  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps Paul stole the idea from Jesus,
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  SPEAKER_00: who once referred to his own body as God's temple,
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  SPEAKER_00: John 2.21.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just as God's presence filled the tabernacle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Exodus 40,
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  SPEAKER_00: and Solomon's temple,
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  SPEAKER_00: 1 Kings 8,
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  SPEAKER_00: the same is true for the body of Jesus,
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  SPEAKER_00: Colossians 2,
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  SPEAKER_00: 9,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Christian believer.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit, the presence of God, dwells within our bodies.
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  SPEAKER_00: God has marked us with his seal today.
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  2 Corinthians 1.22,
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  Ephesians 1.13,
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  Ephesians 4.30,
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  designating us as his territory.
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  SPEAKER_00: We might say he has planted his flag in us.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is exactly the point Paul was making in 1 Corinthians 6.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
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  SPEAKER_00: I do not belong to myself,
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  SPEAKER_00: but I have been bought for a price.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as God's temple, I should be bringing glory to God in my body.
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  Since no one will see the Lord without sanctification,
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  Hebrews 12 verse 14 says,
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  SPEAKER_00: I should allow God's Holy Spirit within me to guide me toward holiness.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is what it means for God to be at work within me, Philippians 2.13.
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  SPEAKER_00: Conclusion.
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  We might not know as much about the Holy Spirit as we would
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  like or as much as we
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  SPEAKER_00: know about the Father and the Son.
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  SPEAKER_00: But this we can know,
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  both from the New Testament and from early interpretations of
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  the New Testament.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Moreover,
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  SPEAKER_00: the Holy Spirit dwells within us so that we are temples for God,
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  SPEAKER_00: individually and collectively.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is both an incredible privilege and an incredible responsibility.
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  SPEAKER_00: God has claimed us as his territory, we should act like it.