ACTC3    Christian Belief 
 
Seminar 3 The Holy Spirit 
 

1. Old Testament Patterns & New Testament Developments

The Old Testament presents a number of ways in which God works in the world. As we reach the end of the Old Testament, we find that these agents that God has used up to this stage of history are picked up and developed into the New Testament. This development has implications on how we understand the Holy Spirit, God the Father and Jesus the Son. Some of these terms are applied to Jesus, some to the preaching of the Word, other terms dropout of use.
 
Old Testament Agents of God 
New Testament Developments
Word of God 
The 'Word of the Lord' would often come to God's people. It was an active being, and was to be declared by those to whom it had been given. 

   'The Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision,' 

Genesis 15:1  
   'The Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi' 
Malachi 1:1 
 
The Word of God Takes on two different lines 
1. A Christological Development 
Jesus is equated to the Word of God 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and lived among us. 
John 1:1, 14a
2. Kerygmatic (The preaching about the news of Christ) 
This is an extension of the Old Testament concept. The words that are spoken about Jesus are more than words. They have an active power that enables them to change lives 
But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents. 
Acts 12:24
 
Wisdom of God 
In the Old Testament, the Wisdom of God is very important, both in the Wisdom Literature (i.e. Proverbs, Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes) and wise characters in the Bible (i.e. Daniel). 

Wisdom is 'with God'. It is with God in the beginning, and is often understood as a personalised outgoing of God into the world. 
The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth-- 
. 
Proverbs 8:22-25
 

Aa a Christological concept 
What John writes about as the Word of God in John 1 carries a very similar structure to Proverbs 8. This significance was not lost on the early Christians. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. . . 

John 1:1-4
But now the Word of God takes on a new form; 

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 

John 1:14
Angel of the Lord 
Sometimes in the Old Testament, this refers to a created being. Other times it refers to the Lord Himself. There is a good deal of confusion in the text.
Created heavenly or human messenger 
References to the Angel of the Lord become clearer. They are now created beings who act as messengers from God. They are not to be worshiped.
Name of God 
The name of God achieves. It is active and powerful. 
 
See, the name of the LORD comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire; 
Isaiah 30:27
 
 
The Name of God takes on two aspects 
1. Christological  
The Name of God is primarily about Christ 
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
Philippics 2:10
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved." 
Acts 4:12
2. Trinitarian 
The Name (singular) of God also refers to the trinity 
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 
Matthew 28:19
 
Glory of God 
God significance shines through. It is literally a weighty presence 
 
The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 
Exodus 24:16-17
 
Father, Son and Spirit 
At different times, each person of the Godhead is spoken of as having Glory 
So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. 
John 17:5
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 
2 Corinthians 3:18
 
Spirit of the Lord 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Father, Son, and an 'Independent' identity 
Unlike many of these other terms that point towards Christ, the Old Testament concept of the Spirit of the Lord can be used to refer to either of the 3 persons of the trinity. 
 
"Ananias," Peter asked, "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!" . . . Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." 
Acts 5:3-4,9 
The charge here is that they have lied to the Spirit of God, and that this spirit of God is understood as being God in their midst. 
 
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. 
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
This passage draws on the experience of Moses being required to veil his face after being in the presence of the Glory of the Lord. Here Paul equates the Old Testament reference to Lord with this 'independent' entity of the Spirit. It illustrate the trouble unbelievers have in hearing the word of God. It is like their is a veil over their face, which is removed through the freedom of the Spirit.
 

2. Hebrew and Greek Terms

The Hebrew and Greek words that we translate as Spirit have very similar meanings. The Hebrew term for Spirit is Ruach, and means spirit, wind or breath. The Greek word is Pneuma, and also covers these three meanings. Both words have a degree of personal connotation to them. Sometimes in the translation of these words, we lose the depth of the meaning contained within them.
 

3. Key Texts

 This prophecy is at a time when God's people feel as if their bones have dried up and they have lost all hope in God. The Hebrew term1 is used in various ways throughout this passage. The Spirit comes into the nation and gives it new life. Jesus picks up this passage in John 2:24-3:10  
The Greek term is used to describe what happened on a national level, but is now happening on a personal level, where the Spirit comes into the person and gives new life. Again the Greek term in used in two ways to describe the spirit, and as part of the illustration of the wind. Jesus' questioning of Nicodemus comes from Nicodemus' failure to understand the implications of the Ezekiel passage.
 
 

4. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

a. Agent in Creation
The Holy Spirit is first spoken of as an agent in Creation. The Spirit moves over the waters in almost a fluttering manner (not unlike the dove at Jesus' baptism).  b. Empowering Leaders
The Spirit comes upon leaders in the Old Testament like a force that they cannot resist, and empowers them to do great and mighty things. c. Inspiring Prophets
The Spirit often inspires the prophets, and this is often but not always linked to ecstatic out of body type experiences. d. Experienced by Believers
The Holy Spirit is experienced in some way by believers. However, unlike the New Testament where all Christians have the Holy Spirit in them, personal sin in the life of the Old Testament believers would often drive the Holy Spirit out of the person. We see in Psalm 51 where David reflects on his own sinfulness, asks that God not cast him away from his presence. This may in part be a reflection on his predecessor King Saul, who had the Holy Spirit removed from him on account of his sinfulness. e. Prophesied as linked to the Messianic age
The prophets often spoke of a Messianic age when the Messiah would come. This time would especially be a Spirit time. For example, this passage from Isaiah talks about a time when the Spirit is on him, anointing him to tell the good news. Jesus then takes this passage and applies it to himself. He states that he is the one, and that the time of the messiah and the Spirit has come. Likewise, the prophet Joel declared that when the time came, that the Spirit would be made available to all people Again, this is picked up in the New Testament. On the day of Pentecost, Peter announced that the time had arrived' f. Later writings see the Spirit as personal, not just an agent of God
As we near the end of the Old Testament, we find that the references to the Spirit move away from simply being an 'agent of God', towards the Spirit being something personal. We have the idea that the Spirit, as a personal being, can be grieved.  

5. The Holy Spirit in the Gospels

a. Agent of Jesus' birth
The physical conception of Jesus was not normal, but came through the Holy Spirit. b. Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit
The link between the Holy Spirit and Jesus is made very clear. We are told by John the Baptist that Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit. c. Witnessed to at the Baptism of Jesus
The baptism of Jesus is a coming together of the trinity. There is the voice of God the Father, God the Son is in the water, and God the Holy Spirit descends like a dove coming down. After this, Jesus is driven out into the wilderness by the Spirit and tempted by the devil for forty days.

d. Jesus "full of the Holy Spirit"
After his baptism we are told that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. We are left to guess exactly what that experience entailed.

e. Sinning against the Holy Spirit
Sinning against the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin. The context of this passage is that people are questioning his identity. The people were claiming that he had an evil spirit. If there is salvation through Jesus, then to claim that Jesus is in fact demonic denotes a complete misunderstanding of who Jesus is. Instead of understanding that Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit, they claim that Jesus is demonic. The unforgivable sin is to discredit Jesus' ministry and person as demonic. f. The original (Jesus) sends one like himself
John's gospel talks at length about the Spirit. He draws the picture that even though Jesus was going, it was to their benefit as one would come like himself. The greek word in John 14:16 is 'paraclete',1 which means comforter or supporter. While it is a gender neutral term, Jesus goes against the grammar and speaks of it in the masculine, emphasising the personal nature of the Spirit.

6. The Holy Spirit in Acts

a. Pentecost - a theophanic event
After the resurrection Peter is preaching and the Spirit comes down. Some people are confused about what is going on, so Peter quotes the Joel passage to explain these events. The Spirit empowers the apostles and the wider church community for the mission of the church. Within a day they go from 120 to several thousand adherents, and this growth and zeal continues throughout the book of Acts. b. A consciousness of God in the life of the Church
There is a deep consciousness of the presence of God within the life of the Church. As such, there is great emphasis on personal holiness. The lies told by Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5 are of the utmost seriousness, as by lying to the apostles, they have directly lied to the Holy Spirit.

c. Like the good old days
There is a parallel between the Old Testament prophets such as Ezekiel who was taken away by the Spirit to go and give a message;

and Philip who gives the message of the Lord to the eunuch before the Spirit of the Lord took him away d. The Spirit coming on various groups
Peter's vision in chapter 10, where he is commanded to eat that which is regarded as ritually unclean is a symbol of the inclusion of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God. Peter is then required to live this out with the gentile Cornelius. This is such an important event that it is repeated later in Acts at the council of Jerusalem; the Holy Spirit comes even on the Gentiles who were not under the Jewish laws and customs. The Spirit comes on various ethnic groups, and they do not have to become Jews. As major events spiritual events happen throughout Acts, there is a great outpouring of the Spirit. As salvation comes to be recognised as coming from outside of the Jewish law, the Spirit freely flows through God's people, often as a sign that God is doing a new thing.

 

7. The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer - Salvation

There is a process where the Spirit links us in with the benefit of Christ through the Spirit. All valid Christian experience is the action of the Spirit of God upon and through us. This is only possible through His work on the cross.

Each of these pictures has a before and after. You should be able to see the before now. All things being equal, when you move your mouse over them, you will see the after. Try and resist the temptation to click on the image.



Redemption
Redemption
This involves going from Slavery to freedom. This is drawn on two Old Testament images.
1. God's people as slaves in Egypt were given freedom so that they could worship God. Their freedom was for a purpose. Freedom is worship; worship is freedom.
2. In these times, if you paid a certain amount, a slave could be set free. You could redeem them. This concept is picked up and applied to Jesus as the one who redeems his people i.e. Luke 24:21. Another word for this is Ransom, where Jesus is described as the ransom for many (Mark 10:45)
 
The bible tells us that we are redeemed from such things as; the futile ways of our fathers, a life of sin and captivity of the devil.


Regeneration

Regeneration
This is a picture of death to life. The baby image reminds us that we are reborn as Christian babies. We have new life when we are born from above. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that regeneration by the Spirit is the only means of entry to the Kingdom of God Regeneration marks the moment and the means of our coming into union with Christ; a change from spiritual death to spiritual life, a spiritual resurrection.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation

This reconciliation is necessary as we are estranged on two fronts.
1. Our relationship with God.
We were enemies with God, but God brought about reconciliation through His son.

2. Our relationship with others.
The fall of man meant that there was disharmony among people. Now we have been made friends with God, our calling is to call others to be friends of God. We are part of this process, and in being part of this, we are reconciled to one another The Spirit does this work and applies the benefits in our life through the death and resurrection of Jesus.


Justification

Justification
Justification or 'getting the verdict' is the work of God's grace where sinners through their faith in Christ are accounted righteous before God on the grounds of Christ's obedience and death. This concept uses the analogy of the courtroom. We are on trial. God passes judgement on us. We are acquitted on account of Jesus' righteousness, and are given the rights of a person considered just before the law. Jesus takes away our guilt and we take on his righteousness. We become saints. This displays God's justice in condemning and punishing sin, his mercy in pardoning and accepting sinners, and his wisdom in exercising both attributes together through Jesus.

Glorification
Glorification
Glorification is where we share the glory of Christ. We go from being people unworthy and full of shame from our sinful state (i.e. Genesis 2:7), to becoming heirs and sharing the glory with Christ. As we grow in maturity

8. The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer

Refer to Evangelism course, seminar 4.

Suggested Reading
B. Milne Know the Truth (2nd Edition), I.V.P.,  pp. 221-258. (Part 5 Ther Person and Work of the Holy Spirit)



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