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Pneumatology: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit · Reformed Thinking

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Hello and welcome back to another session of Reformed
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Thinking. We are really glad you are here
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with us today. Yeah, thanks for tuning in.
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We have a pretty massive topic on the table today.
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We really do. It is one that, well, it often
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gets sidelined or misunderstood in the broader discussion of
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Christian theology. We are doing a deep dive into
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pneumatology. Right, which is the technical
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term for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
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It comes from the Greek word pneuma, meaning spirit, wind or
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breath. Spot on.
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And our guide for this specific deep dive is The Moody Handbook
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of Theology by Paul Ends. We're going to be walking
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through his section on the person and work of the Holy
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Spirit, and I have to say the mission here is pretty clear for
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us today. It is.
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We want to move past the vague ideas people often have and
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really get into the biblical data.
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Yeah, because, and I think you will agree with this, the Holy
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Spirit is often treated as the forgotten member of the Trinity.
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That is a very accurate assessment.
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In many circles there is a tendency to depersonalize him.
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People often refer to the Spirit, isn't it?
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Or they think of him as AI do not know, like a battery pack or
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a vague influence that emanates from God.
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Right, like an energy field. Yeah, exactly.
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Or well, precisely that you see this historically in heresies
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like Arianism or in modern groups like Jehovah's Witnesses,
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who view the spirit is essentially electricity.
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They call him God's active force, but as Ends points out,
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if you get pneumatology wrong, you get the Trinity wrong.
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And that is the hook for today. We need to understand why seeing
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the Spirit as a person and specifically as a divine person,
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changes everything about how we relate to God.
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Absolutely. So here's our road map for you
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today. We are going to establish his
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personality and His deity. We will look at how He worked in
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the Old Testament versus the New Testament because there's some
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really significant differences there.
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Very significant, yeah. We are also going to tackle the
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controversy stuff, spiritual gifts, tongues and the
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terrifying, unpardonable sin. That one causes a lot of anxiety
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for people. It really does.
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And finally, we will clarify the difference between being
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baptized by the Spirit and being filled by the Spirit.
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That is a comprehensive list. We should probably just jump
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right in. Let's start with that primary
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issue of identity, the personality of the Holy Spirit.
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Let's do it. NS argues that we have to define
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what personality actually means strictly in a theological and
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psychological sense. It is not about being bubbly or
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charismatic. Right.
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Like when we say someone has a lot of personality, that is not
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what we mean. No, not at all.
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It is about possessing 3 specific attributes, intellect,
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emotions and will. If the Spirit has these three
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things, he is a person, not a force.
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A force does not think. Gravity does not have feelings.
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So let's look at the evidence NS provides for this.
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First, the intellect. He points us to 1st Corinthians
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2.9 O 11. It says the Spirit searches all
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things, even the depths of God. That word search is so
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significant it implies examining or investigating.
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A mindless energy wave does not investigate anything.
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But the text goes further than that.
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It says that just as the spirit of a man knows the thoughts of
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that man, so the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God.
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Which is incredible when you think about.
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It it is, no human being can truly know the mind of God, but
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the Spirit does. He comprehends the infinite.
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A mere influence cannot possess knowledge or understanding.
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It cannot know anything. The fact that the spear
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possesses the mind of God proves he has an intellect.
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Then there is the emotional side, specifically sensibility.
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This one always hits home for me personally.
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Ephesians 4.30 commands us do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
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God. Ends makes a fantastic point
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here. You cannot grieve a force.
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Right. I cannot grieve the wind.
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I cannot grieve electricity. Exactly.
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Well spot on. I can only grieve a person who
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loves me. And the context of that verse in
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Ephesians is intensely practical, talks about lying,
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anger, stealing, and corrupt speech.
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When a believer engages in those sins, it causes the Holy Spirit
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actual sorrow he feels. He responds to our actions.
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That is a defining mark of personality.
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And the third attribute is will. This is about sovereign choice.
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First Corinthians 12.11 talks about spiritual gifts and says
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the Spirit distributes them to each one individually, just as
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He wills. That Greek word for wills
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implies A deliberate decision, a decision made after
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deliberation. It is not a random distribution
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of gifts. We also see this in Acts 16,
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where the Holy Spirit forbids Paul to preach in Asia.
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He actually stopped the missionary journey.
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He did. He made an executive decision to
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redirect Paul toward Europe. He has a plan and he executes
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it. So we clearly have intellect,
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emotions, and will. ANZ also lists a whole catalog
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of works that confirm his personality.
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Things only a person can do. He teaches, He brings the words
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of Christ to memory. He guides us into truth.
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He convicts the world of sin. Acting almost like a divine
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prosecutor in that sense. Yeah, and he intercedes for us
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in prayer, that one is. Huge.
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That intercession piece in Romans 8.26 is beautiful.
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It says He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for
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words. An inanimate object cannot pray
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for you. Only a person can act as an
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advocate or a helper. In fact, Jesus calls the Spirit
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the Paraclete. Which translates to what?
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It means one called alongside to help.
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Jesus said he would send another helper.
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The Greek word for another there means another of the same kind.
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Just as Jesus is a person, the Spirit is a person.
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There's also a fascinating grammatical point ends brings up
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that I want to highlight. The Greek word for spirit,
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pneuma is neuter. So grammatically you would
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expect neuter pronouns, but the biblical writers break the rules
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of grammar on purpose. They do.
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In John 15 and 16. John uses the masculine pronoun
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Akino's he to refer to the spirit.
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He intentionally overrides the grammatical gender of the noun
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to highlight the personal gender of the subject.
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It is a subtle but incredibly strong piece of evidence that
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the disciples viewed him as a he, not in it.
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So He is a person, but we need to go step further for this deep
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dive. We need to establish that He is
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God, the deity of the Holy Spirit, and says you cannot deny
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the Spirit's deity without denying the Trinity altogether.
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That is the bedrock of orthodoxy.
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We see the titles used interchangeably in scripture.
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The phrase Spirit of God and Holy Spirit are the same, and
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the logic of First Corinthians 2 applies here.
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Again, just as a man in his spirit are one entity, so God
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and his spirit are one. X5 is the classic text for this,
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right? Yes, when Ananias lies about the
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money he gave to the church, Peter confronts him and says he
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lied to the Holy Spirit. But in the very next breath,
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Peter says you have not lied to men, but to God.
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To lie to the Spirit is to lie to God.
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Ends also runs through the divine attributes, the Omni
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attributes. We already mentioned
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omniscience, that he knows the depths of God.
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Then there is omnipresence. Psalm 139 is the go to passage
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for that. David asks where can I go from
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your spirit? David realized he could not
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escape the spirit heaven. She old the remotest part of the
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seed. The Spirit is already there and
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there is omnipotence. The Spirit is involved in
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creation. Job 33.4 says The Spirit of God
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has made me. And in Genesis 1, He is hovering
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over the waters, bringing order to the chaos.
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He is also called the eternal Spirit in Hebrews 9.1.
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These these are attributes that belong exclusively to Yahweh
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and. We see divine works too, not
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just creation but regeneration, giving spiritual life to dead
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sinners. Only God can give life.
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The Virgin birth is a major divine work as well.
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Matthew 1.20 says that what was conceived in Mary was of the
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Holy Spirit. This is a crucial distinction.
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Ends makes the Spirit generated the humanity of Christ, the
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second Person of the Trinity. The Son has existed eternally,
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but his human nature, his physical body and human soul was
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brought into existence by the miraculous agency of the Holy
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Spirit. This ensured that Jesus was born
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without a sin nature. There is a theological term and
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springs up regarding the relationship between the Spirit,
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the Father and the Son procession and the filiocca
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clause. Can we unpack that for the
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listener? Because it sounds very academic.
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It does sound academic, but it has huge implications.
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Procession describes the eternal relationship of origin within
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the Trinity. The Son is begotten of the
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Father, but the Spirit proceeds from the Father.
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The filio clause is Latin for and the Son.
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It was a phrase added by the Western Church of the Council of
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Toledo in 8589. So it affirms that the Spirit
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proceeds from both the Father and the Son.
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Right, and ANZ defends this based on text like John 15.26
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where Jesus says he himself will send the Spirit from the Father.
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It is a vital concept because it's safeguards the equality of
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the Son with the Father. Because if the Spirit only came
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from the Father, it might imply the Son is somehow lesser.
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Yes, exactly. But ENS is careful to clarify
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this. Procession does not mean the
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spirit is subordinate or a quasi dependent being.
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They are equal in essence, glory and majesty.
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Procession just describes how they relate to one another
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eternally. Let's shift gears to how the
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Bible pictures the Spirit. ENS lists several
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representations or symbols. I think we need to caution the
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listener here. These are not literal
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descriptions. The spirit is not actually a
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bird, but these emblems tell us about his character.
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Right. They are visual aids for an
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invisible reality. Take the clothing imagery and
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Luke 24.49. Jesus tells the disciples to
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wait until they are clothed with might from on high.
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It implies God puts this capability on the believer.
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It is not something we generate ourselves.
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Then there is the dove at Jesus's baptism.
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The dove symbolizes purity and peace.
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It also visually represented the Father's anointing of the Son at
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the start of his public ministry.
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And fire in Acts 2 Cloven tongues of fire.
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Fire represents God's presence and his approval.
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In the Old Testament, fire coming down on the altar meant
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God accepted the sacrifice. It also symbolizes judgement and
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purifying holiness. The one I find incredibly
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comforting is the pledge or seal ends.
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Points to 2nd Corinthians 1.22 for this.
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The Greek word Paul uses there is Aruban.
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It means a down payment or a deposit.
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In legal and commercial transactions of the 1st century,
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an air bond was a portion of the purchase price given in advance.
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It acted as a guarantee that the full amount would eventually be
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paid. So the Holy Spirit is God's down
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payment in our hearts. Yes, he guarantees our future
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inheritance and full redemption. It speaks of absolute security.
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The seal concept is similar. A seal was a mark of ownership.
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We are branded as God's property and that seal cannot be broken
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by any outside force. That is wonderful.
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He is also represented as oil in the Old Testament.
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Priests and kings were anointed with oil for their duties.
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It also speaks to light and illumination.
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We need His illumination to understand the Word.
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Then there is water. In John 7, Jesus talks about
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rivers of living water flowing from the believer.
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Water cleanses us and satisfies our spiritual thirst, giving
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eternal life. And finally, wind.
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Jesus uses this in just three with Nicodemus.
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The wind blows where it wishes. It represents his sovereign,
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inexplicable movement in regeneration.
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We cannot control the wind and we cannot control the Spirit.
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That invisible work of the Spirit connects directly to our
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next topic, revelation and inspiration.
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The Spirit is the agent who gives us the Scripture ends
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makes a sharp distinction between revelation and
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inspiration. Let's define those for the
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listener. Revelation is the material
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itself, the content. It is God disclosing what man
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cannot possibly know on his own. Inspiration is the method.
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It is God superintending the human authors to record that
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revelation without error. And the key verse for the method
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is Second Peter 1.21. Men moved by the Holy Spirit
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spoke from God. The literal imagery of that
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Greek word is being carried along like a ship driven by the
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wind and its sails. The human authors, men like
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David, Ezekiel, Micah, Paul, him, they were not just passive
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typewriters taking dictation. They use their own
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personalities, their own vocabularies, their own
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historical contexts. But the spirit was at the helm.
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Right, the Spirit control the writers to ensure the final
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message was entirely God's message.
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We see this in the New Testament to Jesus promised in John 14
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that the Spirit would bring to their remembrance all that He
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said and guide them into all truth.
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Paul even recognized his own writings as divine.
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In First Corinthians 14.37. He says the things he writes are
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the Lord's commandment. He knew the Spirit was
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superintending his pen. Now this next section is where
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things get a bit tricky for some people.
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The work of the Spirit in the Old Testament versus the New
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Testament. I think a lot of people assume
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it is identical across the whole Bible, but Ends argues there are
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distinct differences. There is continuity, but also
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major discontinuity. The biggest theological debate
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here is this where Old Testament believers regenerated, Did they
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experience the new birth? Ends takes a firm stance on
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this. He argues yes they absolutely
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were regenerated. He points to Jesus conversation
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with Nicodemus. Jesus rebuked this teacher of
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Israel for not understanding the new birth.
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Jesus essentially said you are a teacher of the Old Testament and
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you do not understand this. He was referencing passages like
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Ezekiel 36, which promises a new heart and a new spirit, and
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Ezekiel 18, which commands Israel to get a new heart.
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Ends concludes that no human being has ever been saved or
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made right with God without the regenerating work of the Spirit.
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But the indwelling, the spirit living inside the believer, that
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was different in the Old Testament.
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That is the crucial point of difference in the New Testament
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church age. Starting at Pentecost, every
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single believer is permanently indwelt by the Spirit.
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In the Old Testament, the indwelling was selective and
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temporary. Selective meaning not every
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believer had it. Yes, the Spirit came upon
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specific people for specific tasks.
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We see him come upon Othneil, Gideon, Samson, and Saul.
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The purpose was to equip them for leadership or warfare or
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building the Tabernacle like with Bazela.
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And it was not necessarily related to their moral
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condition, was it? No.
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Samson is a prime example of that.
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He was highly flawed, yet the Spirit came upon him with
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massive physical strength. Balaam is another example and it
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was temporary. The Spirit could and did depart.
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He left King Saul David after his sin with Bathsheba praise in
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Psalm 51. Do not take your Holy Spirit
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from me. That verse terrifies a lot of
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Christians today. It does, but Ends points out
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that is a valid Old Testament prayer, not a New Testament. 1A
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New Testament believer does not need to pray that Jesus promised
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in John 14 that the Spirit would be with us forever.
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That is a huge comfort. We have a security that King
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David did not possess. In the same way, we also see the
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Spirit doing a restraining work in the Old Testament.
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Genesis 6.3 says the Spirit strive is with man.
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NS connects that striving to Hugh Thessalonians 2.
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Paul talks about the restrainer who holds back the full flood of
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lawlessness in the world. NS identifies that restrainer as
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the Holy Spirit holding back evil until he is taken out of
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the way during the Tribulation. Let's look at the Spirit's role
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in the life of Christ. We touched on the virgin birth
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bypassing the sin nature, but the spirits involvement did not
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stop at Bethlehem. Jesus performed his entire
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earthly ministry in complete reliance on the Spirit.
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This is a beautiful demonstration of Trinitarian
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unity. Jesus did not cease to be God,
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but he voluntarily limited the independent use of his own
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divine attributes. He chose to live in total
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dependence on the Holy Spirit to show us how a perfect human life
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is lived. At his baptism, the Spirit
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descended to anoint him. Right, which designated him as
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the Messiah. The word Messiah literally means
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the anointed one. This anointing equipped him for
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his public ministry. Immediately after that, the text
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says, he was led or impelled by the Spirit into the wilderness
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to be tempted. So when Jesus healed the sick or
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cast out demons, He was doing it through the Spirit's capability.
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Yes, in Matthew 12.28 Jesus explicitly says if I cast out
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demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come
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upon you even in his death. Hebrews 9.12 says he offered
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himself without blemish to God, to the eternal Spirit, and
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Romans 8 implies the Spirit was active in raising Jesus from the
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dead. From conception to resurrection,
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the Spirit was intimately involved.
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Now, Speaking of Matthew 12, that brings us to a topic that
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causes a lot of pastoral issues, the unpardonable sin, blasphemy
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against the Holy Spirit. Ends is very specific about the
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historical context here, and we need to be too.
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We really do. So many tender hearted believers
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worry they have committed this sin.
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The context in Matthew 12 is that the Pharisees were
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witnessing Jesus's miracles first hand.
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They saw him cast out a demon and heal a blind and mute man
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physically right in front of their eyes.
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They could not deny the miracle happened.
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No, the evidence was undeniable. But instead of bowing the knee,
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they attributed this obvious glorious work of the Holy Spirit
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to Beelzebel to Satan. They looked at the Spirit of God
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and called him the devil. Exactly.
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They rejected the testimony of the Father, they rejected the
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Son, and finally they rejected the Spirit's final undeniable
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witness. Anne's argues that this specific
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sin cannot be committed today in the same sense.
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Why is that? Because it required the physical
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earthly presence of Christ performing undeniable miracles
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and the immediate, hardened attribution of those specific
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works to Satan. So it is not just struggling
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with doubt or having a bad thought pop into your head.
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No, not at all. It is not the same as simple
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unbelief. Simple unbelief can be repented
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of. Anyone can repent of unbelief
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and be saved. This was a specific, final,
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unyielding rejection of the Spirit's testimony regarding the
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present Messiah. If you are listening to this and
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you are worried, you have committed it.
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The very fact that you are worried is excellent evidence
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that you have not. A person who has committed such
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a heart and sin would not care. That is incredibly reassuring.
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Let's move on and clarify some terms that get used
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interchangeably in the church today, but really should not be.
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Baptism, indwelling, sealing and filling.
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Let's start with the baptism of the Spirit.
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This is a major point of confusion.
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Ends defines the baptism of the Spirit very precisely.
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It is the work whereby the Spirit places the believer into
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union with Christ and into the body of believers.
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And the central text for this is First Corinthians 12.13.
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For by 1 Spirit we were all baptized into one body.
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The keyword there being all Paul was writing to the Corinthians.
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If you know anything about the Corinthian church, you know they
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were a very carnal, messy, divided group of people.
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Yet Paul says they were all baptized by the Spirit.
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So it is not a reward for super spiritual behavior.
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No, it tells us 2 vital things. First, it happens at the moment
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of salvation. It is not a second work of grace
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you seek years later. Second, it is a positional fact,
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not an experiential feeling. You might not feel it happened,
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but it is the objective fact of being placed into Christ's
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family and it is unique to the Church age post Pentecost.
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Ends uses this to correct the second blessing theology, the
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idea that you get saved and then later you need to seek the
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baptism of the Spirit to get tongues or extra strength.
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Ends rejects that view completely.
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He does, based on Ephesians 4.5 which says there's only one
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baptism. Now, distinct from baptism is
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indwelling, as we discussed earlier.
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This is the permanent presence of the Spirit in every single
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believer. Romans 8.9 is definitive on
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this. If anyone does not have the
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Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
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Possession of the Spirit is the very mark of a Christian.
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And sealing, as we mentioned with the air bond, is the
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security aspect. The Spirit himself is the seal
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branding us as God's property. So baptism, indwelling and
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sealing all happened once at salvation, and they are
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permanent, but the filling of the Spirit is different.
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Very different. Ephesians 5.18 says do not get
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drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with
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the Spirit. The grammar here is essential.
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It is a command. We are never commanded in
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Scripture to be baptized by the Spirit or indwelt by the Spirit.
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Those are gifts God simply gives.
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But we are commanded to be filled.
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And it is in the present tense, right?
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Meaning it is an ongoing thing, yes.
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Be continually filled. Ends uses the alcohol comparison
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from the verse to explain what it means.
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It is fundamentally about control.
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If a man is drunk, he is controlled by the alcohol.
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It dictates how he walks, how he talks and how he thinks.
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Right. So to be filled with the Spirit
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means to be controlled by the Spirit.
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He is the dominant influence in your life.
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While indwelling is permanent and cannot be lost, the filling
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the control can be lost. We lose that control when we
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grieve him through sin or quench him by ignoring his leading.
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Yes, the filling is conditional. It depends entirely on our
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obedience, our confession of sin, and our submission to the
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Word of God. And the result of being filled
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is not necessarily ecstatic experiences.
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It is the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians. 5 Lovejoy,
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peace, patience, kindness. It also results in boldness for
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evangelism and submissive hearts toward one another.
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That brings us to our final major section from Enz's
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handbook, Spiritual Gifts. Enz defines a spiritual gift
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using the Greek word charisma, which means a grace gift.
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He contrasts this with Numaticos, which just means
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spiritual things. A spiritual gift is a divine
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endowment for ministry. And he draws a sharp line
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between a spiritual gift and a natural talent.
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You might be a naturally gifted public speaker, but the
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spiritual gift of teaching is something supernaturally
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empowered by God for the specific edification of the
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church. They might overlap, but they're
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not the same thing. Ends takes a cessationist
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position regarding some of these gifts.
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He divides the gifts into two categories, foundational gifts
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and permanent gifts. Let's look at the gifts meant
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for the foundation of the church first.
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This is a classic reformed theological position.
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He argues that the gifts of apostle and prophet were
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building block gifts. Ephesians 2.20 says the church
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is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
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Ends makes the logical point that you do not lay a foundation
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over and over again. Once the apostles gave us the
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doctrine in the New Testament, Canon was completed, the office
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and the miraculous gift of apostles ceased.
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To be an apostle, you had to have seen the risen Lord and
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been personally commissioned by him, right?
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So no one today can meet that criteria.
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Exactly the same goes for the New Testament prophet who
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received direct, infallible revelation from God.
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With the Bible complete, that direct revelation has ceased.
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What about the gifts of miracles and healing?
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This is where people get really passionate.
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NS argues their primary purpose in the 1st century was
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authentication. When Peter or Paul rolled into a
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town preaching a brand new message about a crucified and
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risen Messiah, the miracles prove they were truly sent from
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God. Now that we have the completed
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Bible, we authenticate A preacher's message by comparing
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it to Scripture, not by looking for signs and wonders.
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We should clarify something here.
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Ends is not saying God does not heal people today.
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Not at all. God absolutely can and does heal
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today and answer to prayer. He performs miracles today.
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But the specific resident gift of a healer, a person who can
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walk into a hospital ward and heal everyone on command like
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Peter or Paul did, that specific gift has ceased.
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And then there is tongues. That is always the center of the
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debate. Ends points directly to the
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biblical data in Acts 2. The tongues spoken at Pentecost
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were known. Understandable human language is
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given to share the gospel with Jews from all over the world.
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They were not ecstatic. Babel.
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He also knows First Corinthians 13.8 which says tongues will
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cease. There is an interesting
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grammatical argument he makes there with the middle voice.
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Yes, Paul says prophecy and knowledge will be abolished
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using a passive voice, meaning something outside will stop
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them. But he says tongues will cease
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using the middle voice, which means they will stop on their
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own or fade away naturally. ENS argues they were a temporary
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sign gift to unbelieving Israel, as Paul explicitly states in
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First Corinthians 14.2122. Once the church was established,
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the Jewish nation was judged in 8070 and the cannon was closed,
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the need for this sign simply passed away.
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But NS lists plenty of gifts that do continue today.
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The permanent gifts. Absolutely, and we should focus
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heavily on these evangelism, which is the special capability
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to proclaim the good news effectively.
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The pastor teacher gift Anne's notes.
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This is actually one gift with two functions, shepherding the
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flock and instructing them in the Word.
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There's also the gift of service or helps, the practical behind
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the scenes assistance that keeps a church running.
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The gift of faith. Not saving faith, which all
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believers have, but an unusual, extraordinary trust in God for
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impossible things. Think of someone like George
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Miller, who housed and fed thousands of orphans simply by
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praying for provision without ever asking for money.
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Ends also lists exportation, which is coming alongside
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someone to encourage and comfort them and giving.
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I like his breakdown of giving. It is not just for wealthy
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people. It is the God-given ability to
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share material goods liberally and cheerfully without caring
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about personal gain. Administration is another one,
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the ability to steer the ship, to organize and lead the church
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effectively, and mercy, showing deep compassion to the suffering
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and doing it with a cheerful spirit, not out of weary
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obligation. All these parts are absolutely
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necessary for a healthy local church.
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The Holy Spirit distributes them just as He will, so that the
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body functions perfectly. If we look at the big picture of
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everything we have covered today, pneumatology is clearly
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not just abstract theory, it is the engine of the Christian
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life. That is a great way to put it.
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Think about it. Without the Holy Spirit we have
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no inspired Bible to read. We have no regeneration, so we
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are still dead in our sins, we have no assurance of salvation,
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and we have no daily strength to live the Christian life.
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We would be total orphans. But because of Him, we are
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sealed, we are indwelled, we are baptized into Christ, and we are
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equipped for ministry. We have a divine person living
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inside of us. And that leads us to a final
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thought for you, the listener, to Mull over.
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This week we talked about the difference between natural
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talent and spiritual gifts. It is really worth asking
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yourself a hard question. Are you ministering in your
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church, relying on your own strength?
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Are you just using your natural charisma or your business
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organizational skills? Or are you operating by the
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grace gift provided by God? That is a challenging thought.
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I would also encourage you to reflect on that concept of the
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seal we talked about. If you are a believer, you've
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been permanently branded by God. You are His property.
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That implies amazing security, yes, but it also implies total
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ownership. Does your daily life reflect the
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holy character of the One who owns you?
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That is a question worth sitting with for a long time.
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Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into the person
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and work of the Holy Spirit. We really hope this clears up
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the confusion and gives you a much greater appreciation for
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the third Person of the Trinity. It is always a privilege to
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unpack these truths. We will see you next time on
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Reform Thinking goodbye.