Lehman Strauss, in his book The Greatest Unused Power in the World…Knowing the Holy Spirit, lamented a half-century ago the widespread lack of knowledge, amongst Christians, of the person and work of the Holy Spirit: “Wherever I go in my travels, I meet people who ask questions about the Holy Spirit. To me this is an encouraging sign, because the correct understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is basic to right Christian living,” the Bible teacher wrote. Other pastors and teachers have been equally concerned about the lack of sermons preached on the subject of the Holy Spirit, and the lack of books written about Him. Yet, His presence and person permeate the pages of Scripture from Gen.1:1 to Rev. 22.
He is introduced in the second verse of the Bible as the One who moved upon the face of the waters. John Owens, in his classic work A Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit, states: “Without Him all was a dead sea; a rude unformed chaos; a confused heap covered with darkness; but by the moving of the Spirit of God upon it, He communicated a quickening, prolific virtue.”
From early post-apostolic days, elements of Christianity have wrought confusion concerning the blessed person of the Holy Spirit. I hope, in this post and maybe a follow-up, to set forth some basic reminders that create an awareness on our part to be daily dependent upon the “third person” of the Godhead who indwells every blood-bought believer.
First, some words of caution.
Always remember that we are studying about a person—not a “thing” or “influence” or unseen force. He is, in every way, a personality, and it is wrong to think of Him impersonally and to refer to Him as “it.”
Second, just as there is God’s Holy Spirit, there is Satan’s unholy spirit, active in this world today. The Devil always attempts to confuse and confound the thinking of men and women, especially with reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. It has been a demonic effort of deceit throughout all ages, and it will continue until the False Prophet and the Beast are thrown into the Lake of Fire at the 2nd Coming, followed by Satan himself joining them in the Lake of Fire at the end of the Millennium. (Rev. 19:20; 20:10)
Third, remember that anything that causes one to exalt the Holy Spirit above the Son of God is unscriptural. Men must be pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, who taught His disciples that when the Comforter would come “he shall testify of me.” (John 15:26).
God’s Spirit, then, was at work in creation, in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and in the work of God in the Old Testament times. And He is at work now in convicting mankind of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, and in the indwelling of church-age believers, encouraging and teaching, guiding and convicting them, and interceding for them before God’s throne of mercy, daily.
The Apostolic fathers universally believed in the deity of all three persons of the Godhead. II Cor. 13:14 was commonly confessed in the early church writings and gatherings: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.”
Julius Africanus, about 70 years after the last of the Apostles died, wrote: “We render thanks to Him who gave us our Lord Jesus Christ to be a Savior, to whom, with the Holy Ghost, be glory and majesty forever.” The early fathers had no reason to defend or define the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
But then along came the heresies, counteracted by creeds of councils that were convened to clarify the position of the church regarding the Holy Spirit.
First the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord who was born of the Holy Ghost and the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried. The third day He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the Father; thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost, the holy church, the remission of sins, the restoration of the flesh.”
In about 325 A.D. the Nicene Creed was formulated to combat the heresy of Sabellius, who taught that the Holy Spirit was not a distinct person of the Godhead but was merely a way of manifesting God; and the influence of Arius, who taught that the Son was created by the Father, and the Holy Spirit was created by the Son; therefore, the Holy Spirit was a creation of a creature.
The Nicene Creed: “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten that is, of the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, by whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth; who for us men, and our salvation, came down and was made flesh, and lived as man among men, suffered and rose the third day, ascended into Heaven, is coming to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost.”
If that were not enough, the Council of Constantinople, in about 381, added to the Nicene Creed the following: “We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceeded from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together, is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.”
These concise statements were formulated to combat false teachings about the Holy Spirit. Confusion is sometimes still seen today—for example, in the way well-intentioned people speak of this person of the Godhead, almost equating Him to an influence: “Holy Ghost preaching,” or “Holy Ghost revival,” or “Holy Ghost praying.” The 21st-century use of the word “ghost” differs considerably from the use that early translators of the Bible were familiar with. In John 14:26 the word for spirit, pneuma, is translated “Ghost,” and in John 15:26 the same word in the Greek text is translated “Spirit.” In 1611, when the King James Version was translated, the word Ghost—an Old English word that came from the word “gist” (spirit)—was used interchangeably with the word pneuma, spirit. Through the ages, “ghost” in the English language took on the meaning of an apparition, something we most likely do not want to get too familiar with. Thus, the false view that God’s Spirit is an invisible “power” or “influence,” not a real person.
(More on the Holy Spirit in a follow-up post)
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.” (John 15:26)
YOU and GOD 