PSALM 139:7–12
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
(Ps. 139:7).
Before we launch into a study of the new covenant, we will examine the nature and work of the Holy Spirit, who Paul says “gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). As to His nature, the Spirit is a divine person. This is a difficult concept to grasp, but it is fundamental to biblical Christianity. Charles Hodge writes, “We might as well strike from the Bible the name and doctrine of God, as the name and office of the Spirit. In the New Testament alone He is mentioned not far from three hundred times.… the absolute dependence of the believer and of the church upon Him for spiritual and eternal life … render the doctrine of the Holy Ghost absolutely fundamental to the gospel. The work of the Spirit in applying the redemption of Christ is represented to be as essential as that redemption itself.”
The Scriptures clearly teach that He is a person. Personality includes intelligence, will, individual subsistence, and power. We first receive proof of His personality by the use of personal pronouns in relation to Him: “When the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Second, He knows, wills, and acts, for He searches even the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10, 12), and He distributes “to each one individually as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:11). Third, as an individual, He can be loved, reverenced, obeyed, grieved, and sinned against. We see this individuality in the baptismal formula where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinguished.
Lastly, the Spirit, which proceeds from the Father and the Son, exercises power: “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). John Owen writes,” “Where power, divine power, is absolutely ascribed unto any one, and that declared to be put forth and exercised by the understanding and according to the will of Him to whom it is so ascribed, it doth undeniably prove Him to a divine person; for when we say the Holy Ghost is so, we intend no more but that He is one who by His own divine understanding puts forth His own divine power.” Too often we take the Holy Spirit for granted, but He is essential in sustaining our lives and giving us eternal life. Without Him, we could do nothing, much less live to please God.
CORAM DEO
Psalms 148–150
1 Corinthians 12
Can you have a relationship with an impersonal force? Why is it important for you to remember that the Holy Spirit is a person, not just a powerful force in your life? God has given His people the Spirit to strengthen them, encourage them, and instruct them (just to name a few functions). Thank God today for the gift of His Spirit.
For further study: Isa. 63:7–10 • Ezek. 36:24–28 • Luke 12:8–12 • Eph. 4:29–32
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