The Role Of The Holy Spirit

There are many aspects of Christianity that must appear utterly insane to the world. Groups of people, sized from 10 to 10,000 gather across the world to sing songs about blood and death. Children are gathered together to hear stories about worldwide floods and giant fish eating people. In fact, the Bible is is chock-full of mind-boggling stories of assassinations, great dragons and tent pegs through temples. From the outside looking in, one of the strangest things may be the fact that the church welcomes the “Holy Spirit” on a regular basis. Who is this Spirit? Generally the word “spirit” conjures up ideas of demons and terror. Those ideas are certainly not holy. Who is the Holy Spirit? Is Holy Spirit a “He” or an “it”? How does one get

In the Old Testament, His role was primarily seen in His “coming upon” individuals, generally for specific tasks or seasons (Grenz, 156; Sutton Class Notes, Pneumatology Handout). He did not stay with or on people for extended periods of time, certainly not for their whole lives. He simply came and went as needed for special assignments, divinely appointed tasks, etc. His role changes dramatically in the New Testament. As the New Testament opens, the main member of the Trinity that is focused on is Jesus, but without the Holy Spirit, Jesus would not have come. Luke 1:35 says, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (ESV). The Holy Spirit had a direct role in Jesus’ incarnation and throughout the Gospels. The Spirit appears to lead Jesus and Jesus mentions Him to His disciples as one who is to come (Luke 4:1, John 6:63, John 16:13,

He does not indwell believers just for the sake of it. He is fully Divine, as the Council of Constantinople ruled. He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscient (John 16:13, I Cor. 2:10-11), eternal (Hebrews 9:14), and equal with both other Persons of the Trinity (Matt. 28:19, I Cor. 12:4-6, II Cor. 13:14, I Peter 1:2). Jesus sent Him as a “Helper” (John 14:16, ESV) and the Holy Spirit fulfills this role in a myriad of ways. He fills the believer, leading, sanctifying, and inspiring them (Sutton Class Notes, Pneumatology Handout, 3). He is the “Life Giver,” a Christian’s direct access to the presence of God. (Pocket Dictionary,