Category: Holy Spirit

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Eight)

dscn05071 Corinthians 12:3

Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (HCSB).

To understand the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation, we need to comprehend the spiritual condition of fallen people. What has happened to fallen mankind? Through Adam’s sin, all humanity is born dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). It is not pleasant to be among the dead. The sights that can be seen can make even the strongest stomachs feel squeamish. This is the natural condition of humans since Adam’s sin (Ephesians 2:3; cf. Romans 5:12). It also is an active condition. Spiritual death manifests itself in the practice of rebellious, anti-God ways of living. We must understand that a person in this condition loses none of his or her humanness (Ephesians 2:3; cf. Ephesians 4:17-19).

Here are five characteristics of spiritual deadness:

  • The spiritually dead person lives in the realm of separation from God (Ephesians 2:12). This means that they are in the realm of God’s wrath (Romans 1:18; Ephesians 5:6).
  • The spiritually dead person lives in the realm of sensuality and not spirituality (Jude 1:19). The material part of reality dominates their lives.
  • The spiritually dead person lives in the realm of non-receptivity (1 Corinthians 2:12). They do not listen to God’s words, supposing them nonsense or incredible.
  • The spiritually dead person lives in the realm of hostility toward God (Romans 8:7). Though they may talk about God, their belief is in a remade God, who only does what people like. They do not want to hear about the true God’s sovereignty and justice.
  • The spiritually dead person lives in the realm of spiritual bondage (2 Timothy 2:25-26). They are slaves to sin, while supposing they are free.

As we tell others the gospel, we must realize their condition. What hope do you have about seeing you friend turn to Christ? There is hope, but it’s found in the Holy Spirit and not in you. Those who don’t know the Lord view themselves as whole, while they are terribly broken. This part of the message is very unpopular to those who are self-reliant.

What is the extent of sin’s corruption of human hearts? There are eight actions that fallen humans cannot do. Years ago, Steele and Thomas made a list of these actions. We have already mentioned two of them (call Jesus “Lord”, 1 Corinthians 12:3, and understand the things that come from the Spirit of God, 1 Corinthians 2:14). Now let’s look at the other six.

  • He or she cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)
  • He or she cannot come to Christ (John 6:44, 65)
  • He or she cannot hear (John 8:43)
  • He or she cannot receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:17)
  • He or she cannot be subject to God’s law (Romans 8:7-8)
  • He or she cannot please God (Romans 8:8)

So then, what can you do? You can do nothing to save yourself, but the Lord Jesus Christ is a very able Savior. If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, I urge you to call on Him and be saved. You say that you can’t, and I agree. But neither could dead Lazarus come out of the grave, yet he did when Christ called him to come out. The Spirit of God uses the word of God to create life in spiritually dead people. He calls the dead to live through the Scriptures. Listen to the word, and may God give you grace to respond (Romans 10:13).

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Seven)

dscn00411 Corinthians 12:3

To evangelize is one of the great purposes of the church. The Lord Jesus has sent us out on his mission. What is this mission? 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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 HCSB). Since we are to make disciples or learners of Christ, our mission is to turn people from the pursuit of sinful desires to become fully committed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to share the good news of Jesus Christ with our friends and families; in fact, this should be our great joy and desire. However, this message is unwanted and disliked by those who need to hear it. Rebellion against God and his ways, refusal to love God, and rejection of God as God, what the Bible means by sin, is deeply rooted in the ideas, attitudes, and desires of people who do not follow Christ.

It should be very clear to us, not only from the Bible but also from our evangelism experiences, that the work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for anyone to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). Since we are considering the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, it is very appropriate to consider his work in salvation at this point. A correct understanding of the work of the Spirit of God is essential for evangelism and growth of the people of God. It is also important for us to grasp where the Spirit has brought us from, in order that we may understand what we now are in Jesus Christ.

The answers to three questions will help us see the need for the Spirit’s work in salvation. In this article, we will think about the first question. Let us begin with, “What is the difference between religious ritual and spiritual reality?”

Consider the context of verse three. From 7:1 through 16:4, the apostle Paul is answering a number of questions that the Corinthian church had asked him, questions about marriage, Christian liberty, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, the resurrection of the body, and collections for God’s people in need. The Corinthians were very excited about the subject of spiritual gifts, but they were also very confused, which is clear from the length of this section (chapters 12-14)! From my experience, it is hard to tell what subject will get professing Christians revved up the most. Is it prophecy, predestination or spiritual gifts, especially speaking in tongues?

Highlighting the Corinthian problem:

  • They had a problem regarding a proper focus on Christ. This contributed to their fascination with things like spiritual gifts rather than Christ.
  • They had a problem with realizing and appreciating their unity in Christ. They pursued the individual rather than the community.
  • The Corinthians had a problem about spiritual discernment. They had trouble with testing every teaching or statement by the Scriptures, assuming that if someone manifested some kind of spiritual experience that it must have come form the Spirit of God. That is the reason for Paul’s statement in 12:3.

The Corinthian believers needed to learn that error is to be rejected, regardless of how spiritual it might seem. This is the issue of show versus substance. Also, truth only comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in a human heart. When the Spirit is at work, he glorifies Christ and produces the confession that Jesus is Lord (cf. Romans 10:9-10). Christ is both God and Ruler of the person who truly makes this confession. This is where spiritual reality is, not in loudness about personal experiences of spiritual gifts. The Spirit produces passion to follow Christ, not to glory in spiritual gifts that one claims to possess.

The Corinthians sound a lot like contemporary Christians, but that is not how we should be! A proper grasp of the Holy Spirit’s role in salvation will help us toward spiritual maturity.

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Six)

20120605_1038432 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (NIV).

The Spirit acted in a way that made sure that the content was God’s word: “as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The process of the Spirit breathing out the word is full of mystery. This brief phrase is as close as the Spirit comes to explaining his communication of God’s message through human writers. He carried them along, is a forceful expression. Compare the use of the Greek word phero in Mark 2:3; 4:8; 12:15-16; Acts 27:15, 17. But how did he carry them along? “We take the historic fact; but we decline every attempt to explain the inscrutable mode… no finite mind can venture, without presumption, to say how the human faculties concurred and acted with the Spirit’s activity in the expression of a divine oracle” (Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, p. 166).

As God the Holy Spirit carried along the apostles and prophets, he “did not destroy the author’s individuality and talents, making the whole Bible stereotyped, with one style from Genesis to Revelation—the style of the Holy Spirit—with all the human differences of the writers overridden and ignored” (Palmer, The Holy Spirit, p. 50). Instead, the Holy Spirit acted differently. He used “the experiences of the authors to govern their writing, their different emotions to color their thinking, their individual tastes to be expressed in the Bible” (Ibid.)

Let’s think of some examples. What would the Bible be like without the strong faith of Abraham in Genesis 22, or the repentant prayer of David in Psalm 51, or Paul’s holy passion to know Christ in Philippians 3 or John’s tender exhortation to his dear friends to love one another in 1 John 4? In the Scriptures you see our holy Maker getting down in the muck of human lives to draw forth gems for his glory and our good. You ought to worship a God like that!

The process of the Spirit breathing out the word is full of God’s sovereignty. This is seen in the various ways that he gave the Scriptures (Hebrews 1:1): “dreams, visions, individual illumination and research, as well as ordinary and extraordinary divine providences, are involved in the process” (Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, p. 27).

The Spirit carried along the men who spoke in many ways:

  • By directing their heredity, family upbringing, education and personal history
  • By his continual work in the history of redemption; all stood at a point of history for his selected purpose
  • By his influence on their hearts through previous revelation
  • By applying Christ’s redemptive work to their hearts
  • By in some way revealing God’s mind to them so that they had to speak it, consider Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-10; 15:16; 20:9)
  • By leading them to produce a unified message: the story of God’s glory in Jesus Christ

The Scriptures themselves are one of the brightest witnesses to the sovereign grace of God. The Lord the Spirit reached down among people in conformity with the Father’s choice, molded a life, drew that person to salvation, and worked through them in such a way, so that when they wrote the Scriptures, it was the Spirit of God speaking (2 Samuel 23:2; Matthew 22:43; Acts 4:25; 28:25). Now is the time to worship the Sovereign God, who can so powerfully work in human hearts! And here is hope. The same God still speaks through his word today! He can change your life and the lives of people you love!

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Five)

IMG_26382 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (NIV).

The content of the Scriptures does not originate with mankind— “for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man”. The apostle clearly teaches that the prophets did not concoct the Scriptures out of their own choices. They did not have some kind of superior insight from their human nature into the human predicament. They did not invent cleverly devised tales. In many passages you can easily observe the artless words of an eyewitness to an event or those stating what they had been told by God. There is no effort to “clean up the text”. And the heroic acts of the people of God are present right alongside of their miserable failures. Think of David, Samson, Asa, and Peter, too! In addition, often the prophets wrote things that were beyond their knowledge, like Isaiah’s prediction of Cyrus. At other times they wrote what they did not even like: Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:10; 20:7-18), Jonah (Jonah 1:3; 4:1), and Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:2-4).

This phrase puts at least two necessary limits and clarifications on our thoughts about the Scriptures. “The Biblical writers do not conceive of the Scriptures as a human product breathed into by the Divine Spirit, and thus heightened in its qualities or endowed with new qualities; but as a Divine product produced through the instrumentality of men.” [Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, p. 153] So though we might call it a joint product, both parties are not contributing to the written product in the same way. Also, the apostles and prophets were not responding to cultural situations out of their own wills. Yet many argue contrary to this text in cases when the Word of God comes into direct conflict with one of the darling ideas of a godless and wicked culture, such as many kinds of sexual immorality.

It is easy to list many objections that unbelieving people have against ideas and values that the Bible presents. They suppose the Biblical writers were anti-human because they prohibited sinful practices that are spiritually and often physically destructive, yet which unbelievers are fond of, such as drunkenness.  The inspired writers did not speak from their own desires, but communicated God’s desires, which seek the peace, joy and unity of his people.

In the face of this statement, we must all submit to God’s authority and bow before it. See 2 Timothy 3:16. This is not a popular position to take in these lawless days, but it is God’s path. Let God be true, and every man a liar (Romans 3:4). The Spirit of truth (John 15:26) acted in the giving of the Bible to provide an accurate presentation of the human condition. Like medical doctors who give their patients correct though unwelcome diagnoses, the Spirit tells us the truth about ourselves. Unlike medical doctors in many situations, the Holy Spirit knows the exact remedy for us. In the Scriptures, he proclaims the only way for people to be right with God. Sadly, the truth is unwelcome, much more unwelcome than the medical doctor that tells you to lose twenty pounds. But better than medical doctors, the Spirit of God can cause us to love the message of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, cause many to love the truth and to be saved!

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Four)

dscn00222 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (NIV).

Next, we want to think about the activity of the Holy Spirit of God in giving us the written message, the Holy Scriptures. As we begin, it is wise to state that we will encounter mystery here. The Spirit does not answer all our questions in the Bible. In it he gives us true truth, though not exhaustive truth. But though we cannot know fully, we have all we need to know. Consider one illustration. The games of the great chess grandmasters have been preserved for people to enjoy and study. If you have some understanding of chess, you can replay them and grasp to some degree how they achieved victory. But sometimes it is beyond the comprehension of most of us how they could discern the possibilities in a position and bring out its potential through a sequence of many moves. Watch the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, if you want to see an example of this. In a similar way, when we come to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, we can learn what he has done, but he has not made known the full process of how the Scriptures were written. We should stop where the Scriptures stop. Be content that the Spirit knows, even though you do not!

The Scriptures are a joint product of the Holy Spirit and people. We see this divine-human interaction in many areas of Biblical teaching:

  • Christ has two natures (one divine and one human) in his one person. Both are clearly attested in the Scriptures, though the exact nature of the interaction is beyond our understanding.
  • God’s sovereignty interacts with human responsibility in salvation. God clearly chooses people to salvation, yet everyone who is saved repents and believes.
  • The work of evangelism is another divine-human interaction. Our job is to tell others the good news, but unless the Holy Spirit regenerates, all our evangelistic efforts fail.
  • In the Christian life, the whole process of growth in grace involves divine-human interaction.

Each of these divine-human interactions varies in different ways. But the product of the Scriptures is closer in kind to the relationship between Christ’s two natures than the others, all of which involve human sin.

The apostolic teaching is that “men spoke from God” or “holy men of God spoke”, as the NKJV reads following the textual variant. In either case, we are clearly taught the following:

  • In some way, the Scriptures came through human instrumentality – “men spoke”. We see this same assertion made in other places: David (Luke 20:42; Acts 2:34), Isaiah (John 12:39), Joel (Acts 2:16), and “the word of the prophets” with Amos in mind (Acts 15:15). Compare also Matthew 13:14; 15:7; 22:43; Mark 12:36.
  • Yet as these men spoke, God was speaking through them (Matthew 2:17; 3:3; 13:35; 21:4; Acts 4:25).
  • We can also see this in the differences of style among the various human writers. Ezekiel does not sound the same as Moses, nor does Paul sound like John. Yet in all we read the same consistent teaching, sense the same heart of the master author, and are presented with the same zeal for God’s glory in the face of Christ. And all this in about forty human writers over the space of 1600 years!

The observable facts of Scripture attest to this divine-human interaction. This should lead us to worship the Lord. Who are you, Almighty God, that you can work in human hearts in such a magnificent way?” And the Spirit uses the Scriptures to change us!

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Three)

img_4493Acts 1:8-9

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight (ESV).

The Holy Spirit came to empower the church. This empowerment is for a specific purpose: to carry out Christ’s program of worldwide ministry. During the old covenant age the people of God, with few exceptions, were confined to Israel. Even at its end, when Jesus the Messiah lived under the law, he usually limited his ministry to the people of Israel. But with his ascension, a great change occurs. The Spirit would come upon his followers and go with them into all the world. One of the themes of the book of Acts shows how the message about Jesus Christ knocked down cultural barriers to spread from the Jewish people group to all the peoples of the world. It is good to desire the salvation of one’s own people group (cf. Romans 9:1-3; 10:1). At the same time, we should recognize the cross-cultural intent of the Lord for the good news to spread to the end of the earth. Most of us have easy contact with other people groups. What efforts are we making to reach them?

The Holy Spirit produces a “Christ-focus”. Pay careful attention to Christ’s words. He said that those who would be Spirit-empowered would be “my witnesses”. The job of a Christian is simply to testify to the glory (worth, value, significance) of the crucified, risen and ascended Christ. People who know the glory of Christ will talk about Him! This agrees with Christ’s teaching in John 16:12-16, when he told the apostles how the Spirit of truth would guide them into all the truth that comes from Jesus the Messiah and that speaks of him. Like Packer wrote years ago, the focus on Christ is as a spotlight that directs our attention to someone. The Spirit directs our attention to Jesus Christ. For example, our task is not merely to tell people to know God, but to tell them how to know God through Christ. Our concern is not merely that people be saved, but we tell them that the way of salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. Our message must always be Christ-focused.

The Spirit of God promotes evangelistic activity. He directs Christ’s followers to reach out to whatever people we encounter. We must see that the Lord Jesus has commissioned us to be his representatives on his mission. Yes, you are a “kingdom rep”! We are Christ’s ambassadors (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:20) to speak for him and his Father in heaven to whoever the Spirit brings into our acquaintance. If the Lord the Spirit gives us an opportunity to get acquainted with a person, we ought to consider that we are to tell the good news to that person. If he or she becomes a friend, we definitely must seek to bring them to the Savior. The Holy Spirit gives boldness to do the job. This is called the filling of the Spirit.

Christ “would have them look neither for assistance in their work, nor success unto it, but from the promised Spirit alone; and lets them know, also, that by his aid they should be enabled to carry their testimony of him to the uttermost parts of the earth. And herein lay, and herein doth lie, the foundation of the ministry of the church, as also its continuance and efficacy. The kingdom of Christ is spiritual, and, in the animating principles of it, invisible. If we fix our minds only on outward order, we lose the rise and power of the whole. It is not an outward visible ordination by men… but Christ’s communication of that Spirit, the everlasting promise whereof he received of the Father, that gives being, life, usefulness, and success, to the ministry” (Owen, Works, Vol. 3, p. 191).

In the weeks to come, we want to explore with you the majesty of the Holy Spirit and the greatness of receiving him. But in all this, you must maintain a proper Christ-focus, or you will surely go astray. All proper knowledge of the Spirit will lead you closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is how you can check your own heart. “Am I growing closer to Jesus my Lord?”

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Two)

img_5033Acts 1:3-5

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (ESV).

The Holy Spirit is the gift that God the Father promised his people (1:4-5). With Christ’s victory, a new ministry of the Holy Spirit was about to begin, only ten days after Jesus spoke these words. Clearly, the Spirit of God had come upon some of the people of God before Pentecost (Bezalel, Exodus 31:1-3; Othniel, Judges 3:10; Gideon, Judges 6:34; Jephthah, Judges 11:29; Samson, Judges 14:6; Azariah the prophet, 2 Chronicles 15:1; Ezekiel; Ezekiel 2:2; etc.). But this giving of the Holy Spirit would be of a different order. It would be his “coming”. Compare 1:8: “when the Spirit comes…” and John 7:37-39; 15:26; 16:13. Something of incredible significance was about to happen!

This new ministry is spoken of in another way: as a baptism. As they had been baptized (immersed or submerged) in water, so they would be immersed with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus built on the teaching of his forerunner, John the Baptist (Luke 3:15-17). Christ would do the baptism by the Spirit. When John and Jesus talked about the Spirit, they obviously were not speaking about someone the people of God had not heard about. No one asked, “Who or what is the Spirit of God?” Why not? The Old Testament Scriptures have many references to the Holy Spirit.

Christ could not baptize with the Holy Spirit until something happened. He had to be glorified (John 7:37). What does that mean? Notice in Acts 1:3-5 quoted above, spoken before his ascension, the baptism with the Spirit was still a future event, though Christ had been raised from the dead. What needed to happen was Christ’s ascension, when he was exalted to the right hand of God. Then he could pour out the Spirit, because God had made him Lord (Acts 2:33-36). By the way, do not speak of “making Jesus Lord”. A Christian should never say such a thing! Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Romans 14:9; Philippians 2:9-11).

The baptism of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was an event in history, as much as the coming, crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It was looked for and then it happened to the whole church that existed at that moment in history. All believers were together in one place, and all received the Spirit’s baptism (Acts 2:1-4). All those saved since that non-repeatable event of history also receive the Spirit when they repent (Acts 2:38-39).

All of this should cause God’s people to respond to God with great gratitude. God the Father planned for us to have a Divine Helper living in us during this new age. God the Son accomplished the work of redemption, in order that we might have the Spirit. God the Holy Spirit has come to be with us forever (Jn 14:16). Suppose I handed you the keys to one of the new luxury home, and said, “It’s yours; it’s totally paid for. Enjoy it.” How would you respond? Since Christ died, rose again, and ascended to the Father, he has given you many great gifts. How ought you respond to this gift, a greater gift than a luxury home—the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part One)

dscn0538Acts 1:1-2

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen (ESV).

Why should we study the Bible’s teaching about the Holy Spirit? Though we could list many reasons, I will focus on three.

  • Since the Holy Spirit is God, it is part of our worship of the true and living God to understand and experience God’s glory in the full majesty of all that God is. Knowing more about the Spirit of God will enhance our worship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • The subject is a crucial part of understanding God’s plan of redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • A correct knowledge of the Holy Spirit and his ministry is essential to a proper Christian way of life.

First, we must avoid a wrong idea. Since I have been a pastor and teacher for over forty years, I know something of how people can misinterpret what a pastor or teacher says because they are viewing things through the wrong grid. I relate the following story not to embarrass the people involved; in fact, they reminded me about it two weeks ago, and they expressed their thanks for the teaching they received. When I was in upstate NY, I was preaching about the doctrine of adoption or adult sonship. A new family began to attend our local gathering at that time, and after a few weeks of attending they came to me with a concern. They asked, “Pastor Frampton, are you a Charismatic?” I replied, “No, I am not, but why do you ask?” They responded, “We thought you were because you talk much about the Holy Spirit.” Obviously, there were some deficiencies in their doctrinal knowledge, though they had been Christians for many years. Perhaps some reader of this blog might have a similar gap in his or her understanding about the Holy Spirit. If so, please read each article about the Spirit of God carefully, before you form an opinion.

In addition, we must also avoid a wrong attitude. Our goal is not to fill your mind with facts. It is to lead you closer to the living God, to refresh the inner person of your heart, and to prepare you to better do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12). If we are to serve the Lord, we must have correct ideas about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Our opening text (Acts 1:1-9) presents us with essential perspectives on the Holy Spirit. It provides us with “Biblical links” back to the teaching of the Old Testament Scriptures and forward to the final unfolding of the doctrine through the apostles and prophets of the New Testament Scriptures. This text speaks of an important event in history. It contains the final words of our Lord to his apostles before his ascension into heaven.

We first learn that the Holy Spirit worked in the world before Pentecost (Acts 1:2). This might seem extremely basic, but I have heard Christians talk like they didn’t know that. (If it happened, it’s possible!)

Jesus gave instructions to the apostles through the Spirit. The New Testament Scriptures teach that the Lord Jesus did his work through the Spirit (Luke 4:14, 18). The apostles had heard Jesus teach this truth. “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28). The Holy Spirit has an essential ministry in revelation; that is, in God making himself known to mankind. As we shall see, God the Father works through the Son by the Spirit. The two parts of revelation are general and special.

This statement is a link to teaching about the personality of the Holy Spirit. The backward link is to the Old Testament Scriptures teaching about the personality of the Spirit. Read 2 Samuel 23:2 and compare Mark 12:36. The forward link is to the Spirit’s personal ministry in this age, as taught in the Acts (13:2).

When we think of the Holy Spirit, we must keep a proper reverence for his divine Person. Do not regard him as a force or a power that you can use. The Spirit of God freely chooses to use people, how and when and where and for as long as he wants to. He speaks through the Scriptures and we are wise to listen. He grabs hold of people with irresistible power and changes them forever. Respect him from the depths of your being.

Grace and peace, David