Creation and Re-Creation
The Work Of The Holy Spirit
by
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The Spirit is far from being...something belonging
to God, that it is said: God is Spirit, the Lord is Spirit,
so that it is really just the Spirit through whom God is
the person that He is.…the Spirit is the personal being
of God in Father and Son….in Him the very own per-
sonal being of the Father and the Son is begotten into
man. It is just in the Spirit that the personal life of
God is centered; so little can He Himself be anything
impersonal(Beck, J.T. qtd. in Murray, A. Spirit of
Christ 224).
CHAPTER THREE
THE PERSON OF THE SPIRIT
Breath, wind and spirit are all rather nebulous, impersonal concepts; and the Holy Spirit is thought by some to be just an impersonal, invisible power. This is taught by cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, who deny the Trinity.
We have shown in the last two chapters that the Holy Spirit is God—-equal to the Father and the Son in his deity, and co-worker with them in creation. This could not be true if he were merely an impersonal power, and not a person.
As we saw in chapter one, the baptismal formula given by Jesus to his disciples was in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Greek word for name in this formula is singular because God is one being; but because God is made up of three persons, his names are Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In Paul’s benediction to the Corinthians, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are again named together as separate but equal persons. Paul prayed, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”(2 Cor. 13:14). Believers can have fellowship with the Holy Spirit only if he is a person. It is clear from these texts that both Jesus and Paul considered the Godhead to be made up of three equal persons.
The Greek word for spirit is pneuma, which is neuter in gender. But in almost all references to the Spirit, the masculine pronoun is used, indicating that the writers perceived him to be a person. This is illustrated by Jesus’ words to his disciples recorded in John 16:13 and 14:
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he
will guide you into all truth. He will not
speak on his own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to
come. He will bring glory to me by taking
from what is mine and making it known to you.”
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About the Book
This is a study of the Biblical teaching about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the third person of Trinity. This is a subject that has been badly neglected in most Protestant churches. Each chapter begins with a quotation from a respected Bible scholar, and other quotations are included in the text. It was written for individual and group study. After the exposition of each chapter, there are suggestions for further Bible study, and questions for thought and discussion. The theological position is primarily, but not entirely, that of Reformed theology. Certainly, it is far from an exhaustive study, but it does cover the major topics regarding the Holy Spirit and his work. In every chapter, relevant passages from the Old Testament are included as well as New Testament references. The bibliography of works used and cited will lead you to many excellent sources that can be used to continue and expand your study of the Holy Spirit.
About the Author
The author graduated from