Holy Spirit

Role of the Holy Spirit

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Holy Spirit (Blue, Yellow, Red)

The Holy Spirit is mysterious to many, perhaps especially to those in more intellectually inclined traditions. Most Christians probably understand that historic orthodoxy recognizes the Holy Spirit to be part of the Trinity, and therefore God, but I suspect many are somewhat less certain about what that means.  Often the Holy Spirit is referred to as a depersonalized “it” despite being the third person of the Trinity. Maybe even more questions surround what exactly the Holy Spirit does.

Some time ago I ran across a satirical confession of faith, one that ostensibly reflects the functional beliefs of a typcical American evanglical. Mimicking the pattern of the Apostle’s Creed, the clause regarding the the Holy Spirit declares:

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, who did some weird stuff at Pentecost, but doesn’t do much more anymore except speak to the hearts of individual believers.

How close to the experience or belief of most, I cannot say. But I suspect, and fear, that it is discomfortingly close to the functional belief of too many.

Recently I have enjoyed a four-part series of posts by Jon Payne from Sovereign Grace Ministries blog, titled: The Role of Holy Spirit. I commend them for a thoughtful introduction and overview:

  • Part 1 – Introduction
  • Part 2 – The Trouble With Nicodemus
  • Part 3 – Who is the Holy Spirit? and What Does He Do?
  • Part 4 – Transaction at the Fountain

I believe this series provides a good Introduction and/or refresher about this one who is often referred to as “The Shy Member of the Trinity”.  Hopefully it will whet your appetite to look further, and to study more deeply.

For those who are interested in digging into this subject, into this Person of the Holy Spirit, I would suggest two things:

First, stay away from some of the more bizarre claims by the likes of Benny Hinn, Perry Stone, Lester Summerall, and others from the Name-It-Claim-It camp, who refer to themselves as “Full Gospel” Christians.  More often than not, there is little gospel reflected in the writings of these folks – at least not the gospel of the Bible.  (See Galatians 1.6-9)  These, at best, offer fascinations that lead away from the Cross.

Second, delve into a copy of one or more of the following books.  This list is hardly exhaustive, but I think all of these provide substantive and sound insights about the Holy Spirit:

Recommended Reading: Holy Spirit

/ Dennis Griffith / 5 Comments

The Holy Spirit has garnered a few nicknames through the ages. Among the more appropriate and familiar:

  • The Shy member of the Trinity
  • The Forgotten member of the Trinity

When considering the person of the Holy Spirit, there are few things that are vital to remember:

  • The Holy Spirit is a person, a “He” not an “It”.
  • As the Third Person if the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is fully God, and equal with God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) in glory, honor, and power; and equally worthy to receive worship.

The Holy Spirit functions in specific ways:

  • Regeneration – giving life to those who are spiritually dead.
  • Salvation (Justification) – the Holy Spirit grants both faith and repentance as gifts of grace. Through these, and these alone, is man justified.
  • Sanctification – “For those whom God justifies he also sanctifies. ” In other words, there is no one who is “saved” who is not also “sanctified”.  Sanctification is both definite and an ongoing process.  In work of sanctification Believers are expected to “cooperate” with the Holy Spirit, employing the means of grace. These actions we engage in are not magical, nor automatic, as if anyone who does them will automatically grow in grace. But they are effective.  The Holy Spirit works grace in us through these means.  We normally see a corresponding maturity in those who regularly and rightly make use of the means of grace, while we see little to no change in those who are lax.  But the one constant dynamic is that the Holy Spirit grants both faith and repentance to the believer for sanctification just as he does for justification.  In other words, the Christian life consists of continual repentance and renewed belief in the gospel.
  • The Holy Spirit cultivates the Fruit of the Spirit in believers.
  • The Holy Spirit bestows Spiritual Gifts upon all who believe, for the use in participating and the building up of the local body – The Church – which together advances the Kingdom of God.

Here are some suggested readings to grow in our understanding of the Person & Work of the Holy Spirit: