Essay: Holy Spirit
This is my essay I have submitted on Pneumatology. 🙂
In the vibrant atmosphere of the Christian life, experience can out pace doctrine to such an extent that understanding can be gained without a fundamental knowledge being acquired, this is no where more evident than when it comes to the third person of the Trinity. Churches all over the world are attempting to get to grips with the person of the Holy Spirit, especially with the reemergence of a Pentecostal experience within the body of Christ at the turn of the twentieth century. This ‘unexplainable’ swell of popularity which has been witnessed within the ranks of the Pentecostal movement has created an added urgency and impotence in clarifying who the Holy Spirit is and what is His mission here among the children of God.
Quite possibly this ignorance expressed by many is due in part to the Catholic Church’s claims surrounding the Eucharist which they declare to be miraculously transformed into the actual body of Jesus. This caused a back lash which was expressed by the reformers who strongly opposed all things unexplainable and in doing so threw out the baby with the bath water. However, this is not just a problem we have inherited but one we have seen increase and multiply. Over the last thirty years the church has witnessed extreme claims of the Holy Spirit’s interaction and ministry in certain ministries, so much so that there has become a divergence in fundamental understanding even among Pentecostal Churches. There are those who have embraced without understanding or wisdom anything that is attributed to the work of the Spirit; many questionable activities, some wholly unbiblical and more superstition than reality. As in the past this has in turn led many more Christians to turn their back on the Holy Spirit and to quench His activities in an attempt to distance them selves from the misuse.
On one hand, we have abuses in the name of the Holy Spirit–manifestations and practices going on in churches that violate the very Scriptures that the Holy Spirit inspired; things that are not edifying, things that are not understood by the congregation, which Paul warns us about–those churches can be summarized by the word "insane asylum" On the other hand, we have "cemeteries" which acted against these abuses and have done away with any manifestations of any power, and any emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit.[1]
Both the abuse and the reaction created by it are wrong, truth is the first victim in every disagreement, and the Holy Spirit was by many relegated to the first century alone leaving the church open to the author of confusion.
Many believers see the arrival of Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost[2] as the first real manifestation of Him on earth other than a brief visit at Jesus’ baptism[3]. <
/span>It has been speculated by some that He did not exist until this point or He was limited to the heavenly realms. Many false teachings have sprung up from the fertile grounds of men’s imaginations and the more insidious manipulations of the devil; groups such as the Arians and their diverse adaptations who denied that the Holy Spirit was of the same essence as Jesus, or the Monarchians who seen the Holy Spirit as another personification of God and not distinct.[4] These heresies and others have prompted men of God to seek through the revealed word of God a clear declaration and identification of the nature, essence and work of the Holy Spirit, and has of necessity been somewhat codified. This started with the Apostles Creed[5] where the reference to the Holy Spirit is stated;
Who was [conceived] by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.
But as these heresies became more elaborate and involved there was a need for further development and explanation in the Nicene Creed[6],
And [I believe] in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of life; who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son]; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets.
This evolution of thought found its ultimate fulfillment in the Westminster Confession where the Holy Spirit is affirmed as an equal member of the God Head.
In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.[7] The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding: the Son is eternally begotten of the Father: the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.[8]<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9" href="http://www.opendiary.com/FCKeditor/editor/fckeditor.html?Instanceentrytext&T
oolbar=Default#_ftn9″ “_ftnref9”>[9]
This development only touches the surface of a fuller understanding that has been realized through a systematic approach to the scriptures creating a sound theology which reveals in glorious Technicolor the person of the Holy Spirit and His intervention in the life of the Bride of Christ. It should be stated here that all the learning about the Holy Spirit can only take someone so far, it is a personal encounter with Him that truly changes our lives. It is the marriage of a relationship with knowledge which brings the dynamic and unassuming nature of the Holy Spirit into fruition in our lives and produces fruit that remains.
The word that we translate as Spirit in the Greek is Pneuma which means spirit, wind or air, while in the Hebrew the word is Rûach[10]. Once you begin a little study into the Holy Spirit and search the Old Testament we find a wealth of references to His ministry and operation. The eternal existence of the Holy Spirit is without question, at creation we are told in Genesis 1:2 that the "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (KJV)
Through out the Old Testament He clearly empowers men of God to perform specific tasks or ministries. Joseph was identified as a man ‘in whom is the Spirit of God’[11], and thus he was enabled to interpret dreams. Bezalel who crafted the furnishings of the Tabernacle was said of God that He had ‘filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, and in intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all workmanship, to devise designs, to work in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for finishings, and in carving of wood, to work in all workmanship.’[12]
The Spirit of the Lord came upon and clothed Gideon to deliver from the Midianites[13] and David was anointed to be King over and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him to enable him to rule<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-
family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>[14]. Time and time again the Spirit was sent to equip men for service, to empower them and draw them close to God.
It is important to point out that often this was a temporary empowerment and seen as sporadic or temporal in nature. Saul is recorded as having the Spirit of God and prophesying along with the Prophets[15]; the Spirit of God comes upon him in a righteous fury and he slays a team of oxen as a sign to the nation[16], the Spirit of God departs from him because of his arrogance[17], and again the Spirit of God fell upon him and he prophesied even as he pursued David and Samuel[18]. Throughout the first testament the Holy Ghost came upon men and women for a short period of time to accomplish something divine or to speak to the people but departed, even here in simplicity we have a type and shadow which plainly demonstrates God’s desired from the beginning to indwell mankind and shows it repeatedly through His willingness to come upon his servants of old.
As we cross over and read through the New Testament it is easy to see the Holy Spirit working and operating within the early Church. The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles is a more fitting title to the fifth book of the New Testament. Jesus having started the Church on the paths of righteousness instructs the Apostles to wait at
Jerusalem
for the Promise of the Father, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost[19]. This was to be the beginning of an indwelling by the Spirit of God as promised; now God would truly be with them and never them[20]. There is almost a tangible connection between God’s answer to Moses’ prayer desiring the presence of God Himself, not just an angel<a title="" style="mso-footn