THE HOLY SPIRIT
By
Shelby G. Floyd
A study of the Holy Spirit will reveal that,
“There are five
distinct conceptions of the Holy Spirit in the holy scriptures: the first is
his nature, all divine; the second, his person, distinct from that of the Father
and the Son; the third, his office of illuminator and sanctifier; the fourth,
his influence; the fifth, his work, peculiarly developed in creation, providence
and redemption.” (Alexander Campbell, Acts of Apostles,
pg. 6.)
We shall
now examine the subject of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures according to
the above analysis and division.
The Divine
Nature of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit possesses the same nature as does the Father and the Son. In. the New Testament scriptures, the word Godhead is found three times. (cf. Acts 17; 29; Romans 1: 20; Colossians 2: 9.) In each of these verses the term “Godhead” denotes the divine nature without specifying how many persons share that divine nature. It is obvious from the very first chapter of the Bible that more than one person shares the divine nature. (cf. Gen. 1: 1, 26.) The Holy Spirit is mentioned in such a connection with the Father and the Son which definitely implies that he shares the same nature as they do. (cf. Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14.)
All three
persons of the Godhead are called God. For instance, the Father is spoken of as
God. (John
The
Personality of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit as a personality is mentioned in the Bible 352 times, of which, 264 appear in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is denominated by the following words or phrases: the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, Comforter, Advocate, Helper, etc. All of these names and phrases are applied to the Holy Spirit to define his nature, work and character.
Nowhere is the personality of the Holy Spirit any better revealed than in the fourteenth chapter of John. Jesus had just indicated to the apostles, that he must die, leave them and go back to the Father. He emphatically stated that he would leave them in order to go and prepare a place in his father’s house; and that he would come again and receive them unto himself. (cf. John 14: 1-3.) They were very sad and. despondent over the prospects of Christ leaving them; therefore, in order to console and encourage them, Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in. you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14: 15-18.) In these verses there are three persons mentioned, each of which share the divine nature.
Christ said, “I will pray the Father.” The pronoun “I” is first person singular; therefore, Christ was one person and he said “I will pray the Father.” “The Father” is third person singular, the object of the prayer of Christ. Christ said he, the Father, shall give you, the apostles, “another Comforter” that he may abide with you for ever. Christ was their Comforter at the time that he made the above statement: but when he left them, he would pray the Father, and the Father would send the apostles another Comforter. The word “another” means another of the same kind; therefore, the Holy Spirit would be a Comforter like Christ. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the deity mentioned in John 14:15-18.
In a few hours wicked men would seize Christ and crucify him to the cross. Christ taught that the world could never seize the Spirit of truth because it could not see him, neither did it know him. The Holy Spirit in contradistinction to Christ would be an invisible personality in his influence and power upon the apostles. He would dwell with them and in them through his influence and power; therefore, they would not be orphans since he would be their guide and Comforter.
The personality of the Holy Spirit is also emphatically stated in John 16. Jesus said to the apostles, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and. shall shew it unto you.” (John 16:13-14.) In these two verses alone, the Holy Spirit is identified by the masculine personal pronoun “he” eight times. Obviously, the Holy Spirit is a person for he is identified by a personal pronoun.
From this
brief study let us learn to show greater respect toward the Holy Spirit who is
a divine person by giving heed to the inspired, word of God which the Spirit
has revealed to us. As one of the divine persons of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit
has an office or position of authority as illuminator and. sanctifier.
The Office of
the Spirit
Jesus
specifically designated the office of the Holy Spirit or the particular
function which the Holy Spirit would carry out before he left the earth. He
said to the apostles, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all
things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14: 26.)
In this
same connection, Jesus further said, “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; And ye also
shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” (John
15:26-27.) Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would reveal things
unto them concerning the future. (John 16: 13.)
The
Influence of the Holy Spirit
In carrying out his divine office of illuminator and sanctifier, the Holy Spirit exerted his influence upon men in different ways. When Jesus Christ was upon the earth, he had the influence of the Holy Spirit without measure. (John 3:34.) This simply means he was influenced by the Holy Spirit to the fullest degree possible. However, the Holy Spirit influenced men after Christ left the earth in varying degrees. For instance, Jesus promised the apostles that they would be clothed, with power from on high; that is, the power of the Holy Spirit. (cf. Luke 24:46-49.) In fact, just ten days before the church was established, Jesus promised the apostles that they would be influenced by the Holy Spirit in a degree or measure which could be described as a baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The Baptismal Measure
Since the
word baptism means to be immersed in some element; the apostles were to be
overwhelmed by the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. Their minds were to
be baptized in the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, enabling them to be
inspired in their utterances of the word of God. (cf. Acts 1:4-8.) On the day of
Pentecost, in the city of
The Miraculous Measure
Secondly,
the Holy Spirit influenced many members of the New Testament church to the
extent that they could work various miracles. Only those persons on whom the
apostles had laid their hands, and had thereby imparted these miraculous gifts
to them, were influenced to this extent. The apostles, Peter and John,
imparted miraculous gifts to members of the church in
The Ordinary Measure
In the
third place the Holy Spirit today influences men only through the instrument of
the word of truth. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he spoke of the Christian
as being clothed with the whole armour of God. In that beautiful figure of
speech, he exhorted every one to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God, to fight the battle for truth. The Holy Spirit influences then
through his sword, which is the word of God, (Ephesians
The Work
of the Holy Spirit
In the
creation of the material universe, the Holy Spirit had a work to perform: “And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2.) Job,
the great patriarch of old, said, “By his spirit he hath garnished the
heavens.” (Job 26:13.) Concerning his own creation, Job said, “The
spirit of God hath made me.” (Job 33:4.) But the Holy Spirit performed his
work in the creation by the word of the Lord. For David, the royal bard of
We also learn from the New Testament writers that the world was created by the word of God. (cf. Hebrews 1:3; 11:3; 2 Peter 3:5.) Also in the area of the providence of God or in his superintendence over the universe, the Holy Spirit has a work to perform. In this connection David said, “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” (Psalms 104:30.) It is in the realm of redemption from sin or the spiritual creation which interests us most concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. In the redemption of man from sin, the Holy Spirit’s work involved delivering the revelation of God’s will to man upon the earth.
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