The Holy Spirit in the Creation and Redemption of the World

Pneumatology: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 3

Nature of the Issue 3

Purpose of the Study 6

Procedure of the Study 6

CHAPTER 1—THE CREATION 8

In the Beginning 9

Christ Revealed in Genesis 12

CHAPTER 2—THE REDEMPTION 16

The Incarnation 16

The Baptism 20

The Ministry 22

The Sacrifice 26

CHAPTER 3—REGENERATION AND RENEWAL 28

The Spirit and the Mission 28

The Personality of the Spirit 31

CHAPTER 4—FOLLOWING CHRIST IN THE SPIRIT 34

The Power of the Spirit 34

The Dark Night of the Soul 35

Prayer 38

CONCLUSION 40

INTRODUCTION

Nature of the Issue

If the Old Testament can be called the Age of the Father, and the Gospels the Age of the Son, the time since Pentecost can be referred to as the Age of the Holy Spirit—for it is at Pentecost that the Paraclete comes to the Apostles, confirms them in the Faith, and gives them the courage to set about on their mission of evangelizing the world. The Holy Spirit is thus important to understand because time is shaped so thoroughly by this Third Person of the Holy Trinity. As a divine person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is at work from the beginning of time even to now. Yet in man’s time, recognition that the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world through the Son, as part of the divine plan of man’s redemption and attainment of Heaven, has not always been accepted. In fact, the nature of the Trinity has been disputed throughout history—and even the nature of Jesus Christ has been disputed (was He God and Man, only Man, only God, or neither?). This dispute has led to confusion in modern times about the nature of man’s relationship to God and particularly to the Holy Spirit.

Before getting into the various disputes that have arisen, it is helpful to first understand that the Holy Spirit and the Triune God is a mystery that man is asked to accept from faith: St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:5 states clearly that the Spirit of God is something beyond the ken of man—it is not something that can be understood through direct application of reason because it is divine and above the understanding of man: “My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.” This quote from St. Paul shows that the Spirit’s power and God’s power are the same. This admonition from St. Paul is also an indication that the wisdom of God is higher than the wisdom of man. It does not mean, however, that God’s wisdom and Its expression through the Holy Spirit cannot be seen and accepted by man. On the contrary, the work of the Holy Spirit is evident from the beginning of creation to now. The problem is that man often wants to understand more than he is capable of understanding, and so that results in his attempts to explain away the mysteries of God and His Triune nature that has been revealed to man through Scripture and through the work of the Christian church.

Nonetheless, the fact that God’s wisdom is above man’s has not prevented man from attempting to understand the things of God. St. Augustine, for instance, put his own powers of reason to the subject of the Trinity. Coffey describes the effort this way:

In Trinitarian theology, St. Augustine is renowned for his doctrine of the filioque: the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from a single principle. This doctrine gave to Western Trinitarian thought and indeed to Western theology in general a distinctive stamp, which despite the upheavals of its history has remained with it ever since (193).

Indeed, St. Augustine’s words on the matter are sufficient to settle all arguments, as Scripture is quite clear on the matter of the procession of the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine writes:

Nor can we say that the Holy Spirit does not proceed also from the Son, for it is not without reason that the same Spirit is said to be Spirit of both the Father and the Son. Nor do I see what else he intended to signify when he breathed in the face of the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." For that bodily breathing, proceeding from the body with the sensation of bodily touching, was not the substance of the Holy Spirit but a manifestation through a fitting sign that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father but also from the Son. (De Trinitate 4, 20 (29) (PL 42, 908)

Here one can see clearly that the filioque argument for the procession of the Holy Spirit is squarely rooted in Scripture. But what does it say of the role of the Holy Spirit in general? What is one to think of the Holy Spirit in terms of God’s relationship to man? What part does the Holy Spirit play in the creation, redemption and regeneration of man?

One possible answer to these questions might also come from St. Augustine, for at the same time that he puts forward the filioque argument, St. Augustine also puts forward the mutual-love theory, which has received acceptance particularly among the Orthodox churches. As Coffey points out, St. Augustine identifies the Holy Spirit as “the ‘communion’ that exists between” the Father and the Son (196). This idea is made apparent in these words of St. Augustine:

The Holy Spirit ... is properly called Holy Spirit relatively, since He is referred to both the Father and the Son, because He is the Spirit of both the Father and the Son. But the relation is not itself apparent in that name, but it is apparent when He is called the gift of God, for He is the gift of the Father and of the Son, because "He proceeds from the Father," as the Lord says, and because that which the Apostle says, "He who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him," he certainly says of the Holy Spirit. When, therefore, we say the gift of the giver, and the giver of the gift, we speak in both cases relatively in reciprocal reference. Therefore the Holy Spirit is a certain unutterable communion of the Father and the Son (De trinitate 5, 11 (12) (PL 42, 919).

While this explanation helps to clarify the Holy Spirit’s relation to man, it leaves open room for exploring the meaning of the Holy Spirit’s role in Trinity. For that reason, some focus needs to be given on the questions asked above. In spite of the two arguments of St. Augustine that can be used to explain the Holy Spirit, it is important to examine this issue more closely so as to maintain a fuller knowledge of God that one might more fully love Him still. As Coffey points out, St. Augustine’s argument “still only tells us about the Spirit's relation to us and not about His relation to the other two persons in the immanent Trinity” (197). It is the aim of this paper to provide a deeper explanation of the Holy Spirit so as to facilitate the development of one’s understanding.

Purpose of the Study

This paper will explain how the Holy Spirit is at work from the beginning in the act of creation; and how the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Father through the Son, who prepared the Apostles for the coming of the Paraclete that they might be filled with the Holy Spirit and enabled to set about their mission of facilitating man’s Regeneration and spreading belief in the Resurrection. To do so, it focuses also on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Redemption and in the renewal of man. This tri-fold role of the Holy Spirit in the story of man aligns well with the tri-fold nature of God and reflects the tri-fold nature of the mysteries of the rosary as fixed by Pope St. Pius V in 1563 (Duffner).

Procedure of the Study

This study proceeds by first examining the Holy Spirit within the context of the Holy Trinity. The Creation, the Redemption, and the Evangelization of the world are all examined in terms from the standpoint of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 1 focuses on the Creation. Chapter 2 focuses on the Redemption and the role of the Holy Spirit there. Chapter 3 focuses on the role of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and evangelization. Chapter 4 discusses what this can mean for people today who seek to live and follow in the footsteps of Christ.

CHAPTER 1—THE CREATION

“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.” (Mat. 12:32)

Why does God insist that speech against the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin? The reason lies in the nature of the Holy Spirit, for it is the very life and love of God—the very essence of His being. Christ received the rebukes and buffets of the world and He did so willingly, to pay for man’s sins. But He also understood that the scorn he received was because of man’s pride and fallen human nature. To err in attacking Him through unbelief or doubt (like that which Thomas showed before seeing the Resurrected Christ, or like that which Peter showed when he denied Christ three times following His arrest) is not an unpardonable sin: Christ could forgive it as a weakness of the will. But to resist the Holy Spirit is to resist the very grace necessary for reunion with God: it is to resist the invitation altogether; it is to close all one’s windows and doors to any discourse or to any possibility of discourse with God. It is to reject life itself. This life—or rather Life—is the spiritual foundation of the world, of all creation. That is why Christ views rejection of the Spirit as unpardonable: he who rejects the Spirit rejects God totally, and who rejects God also rejects any opportunity to have peace with Him in eternity. It is unpardonable because the sinner refuses the possibility of pardon. The person who rejects the Spirit becomes like Judas, hanging himself.

To truly understand the gravity of Christ’s admonition, it is helpful to understand the Spirit as the foundation of life. To that end it is helpful to understand the foundation from the beginning. One must look at the beginning, to see one’s end.

Understanding the creation of the world provides context into the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. To see how the Holy Spirit has operated from the beginning of time, this chapter will examine the creation story of Genesis, the Fall, and the aftermath.

In the Beginning

The creation of the world saw the Holy Spirit at work: but regeneration (John 3:5-8) and resurrection (Romans 8:11) also see the same Holy Spirit at work. Why? The reason is simple: after the creation, when the Holy Spirit breathed life into the world, the Fall of Man occurred, which corrupted creation and brought about a need for more divine intervention to correct the mistake that man had made in failing to fulfill the will of God in the Garden of Paradise (Gen.1:2; Psa.104:30).

Yet the Holy Spirit was always recognized by those willing to acknowledge the role of God in the shaping of all things. As Job 33:4 states, “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” The Spirit and the breath of God are spoken of in the same sentence, both having a part in the creation and life-giving process. The Spirit is identified as maker, and the breath of God as life-giver. Regardless of how one chooses to interpret these words, the fact is clear: the wise Job, who never lost faith in God, sees the work of the Spirit in his creation quite clearly. This Spirit is there from the beginning: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Gen. 1:1-2).

Is it necessary to have a complete understanding of how the Spirit operates? Given the admonition of St. Paul, already noted, that God’s wisdom is beyond that of man, it is fitting to accept these mysteries as mysteries and to be content with only an outline or a kind of silhouette of the picture. God gives one sufficient understanding of this mystery—enough that man can see the picture without knowing necessarily how it all works. The Holy Spirit is involved in the creation of the world. This is plain from Scripture. This knowledge can help one to understand more clearly that the Holy Spirit is present in the work of God.

Horton laments the fact that people often see the Holy Spirit as typecast or as making “cameo appearances” as though He were but a bit player—a bit of a third wheel, brought on only to break up the monotony of events (24). The point that Horton makes is that the Holy Spirit is an active participant in the life of every man who is of God. Romans 8:9 makes clear that those who do not believe in Christ do not have the Spirit within them—but every man has been created as a Temple of the Holy Spirit, which is to say, he has been built to possess the indwelling Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This is an astonishing thing to think about—but it is evident that this was the case from the beginning. The Holy Spirit was there, involved in the creation of the world, in the beginning. And the Holy Spirit filled Adam and Eve, which allowed them to enjoy their union with God in the Garden of Eden.

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose to work with a malevolent spirit—Satan—by disobeying God’s commandment regarding the Tree of Knowledge. This defection from God to join the ranks of the fallen angel and his legion is what is known as the Fall. At this moment, Adam and Eve broke with God and the Holy Spirit departed from them. Whereas they were once clothed in innocence and love, the departure of the Spirit from their souls left them ashamed, empty, destitute, aware of their separation from God, and suddenly no longer in perfect control of themselves or of the gifts that God gave them. Their break from God was a break with His Spirit. The communion that they enjoyed was now gone. The Fall led to punishment: God barred Adam and Eve from Paradise; closed the gates of Heaven; ensured them that they would toil and labor and suffer and die for their transgression. Yet He also promised that there would come one who would crush the head of the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen. 3:15). In this promise, one sees the Holy Spirit again at work, according to St. Augustine’s mutual-love theory: the Spirit is there in that promise of a Redeemer, in that foretelling of the love between the Father and the Son that is to be expressed in the Redemption.

The children of Adam and Eve bore children of their own and the world’s population increased—but the children of man continued to displease God, Who wanted love in return for his sustaining of all life. When the sins of man mounted to such a point that God, in justice, could no longer tolerate the behavior, he sent the Flood and directed Noah to preserve two of all species, that life might continue once the waters subsided. God then made a covenant with Noah, promising never to destroy the Earth through Flood again.

By assisting in the restoration of the Earth, God showed his faithfulness to those who, like Noah, were faithful to Him. He did not withhold the Spirit from the world, but directed the world to ready itself that it might receive the Spirit properly. The time would come when the Paraclete would come directly to men to empower them to preach the Word of God to the world, that men might be made perfect in Christ, the Redeemer. Thus, to all nations and in all languages, the Word of God has been revealed, and the Holy Spirit has facilitated that process of evangelization.

Christ Revealed in Genesis

It is not possible to understand the Holy Spirit without understanding the Trinity; thus, it is necessary to understand the Father and the Son and their presence from the beginning as well. It is not difficult to see the Father at work in Genesis. He is ever-present, openly engaged in discourse with Adam. But where is the Son? Where is the Word? For that matter, where is the Holy Spirit?

God actually reveals His nature during the course of creation. At the very beginning of time, the God of the Universe revealed His unique characteristics when He said, “‘Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness’” (Gen.1:26). Why did God use the plural when talking about Himself? He used the plural—not the singular—pronouns: “Let Us” and “our”—not “me” and “my”. Is God referring to multiple gods? Not at all. To understand what God is saying here, one must have a sense of the concept of the Trinity. Although it is not until the New Testament that the Godhead’s triune nature is fully revealed, the reality of God’s nature is nonetheless reflected throughout the Old Testament. In the beginning, God was speaking not only to what the New Testament would later reveal concerning the other Persons of the Trinity but to what the entire host of heaven already could plainly see—that God had a Triune Nature: He was One God with three distinct divine Persons. How this can be is a mystery that can never be fully understood by man’s reason in his fallen state—but the evidence of this Triune nature is there to be accepted.

The doctrine of the Trinity is this: it means that God consists of three distinct Persons within one Being: God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is one God with three different expressions or Persons of His divine nature. Similarly, a man is composed of a body, a soul, and a spirit. Those are three other expressions of the same individual being. Man is created in God's image (Gen 1: 27) as a triune being. 1 Thes. 5:23 states, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Scripture fully accounts for man’s triune nature thusly.

The Holy Spirit is revealed by Isaiah as well. Moreover, Isaiah not only describes the nature of the Holy Spirit but also how the Spirit is united to the LORD:

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox. And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:1-9).

Isaiah describes the promise of faithfulness of God to those who are faithful to Him. The Holy Spirit is characterized as bearing gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord. These gifts of the Holy Spirit have long been recognized as essential to faith by patristic authors, such as Augustine (Bright). But Isaiah does more than list the gifts of the Spirit. He also describes how the gifts of the Spirit will spread across the Earth and what their effect will be: the Holy Spirit brings peace, understanding, an end to enmity, and knowledge of God. When Christ said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,” (John 14:27) he was foreshadowing the coming of the Paraclete and the breath which Christ would breathe on the Apostles following His Resurrection: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). Isaiah links holiness with knowledge, and as knowledge is a gift of the Spirit, holiness is associated with openness to the Spirit.

Thus, there is a clear link between the creation of the world, in which the Holy Spirit had a direct part and the Redemption of the world, brought about by Christ. Christ then departed from the world and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to renew the world and give men the ability to follow Christ and to become Christians: “The spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3:6). The Spirit was there, giving life at the beginning of the world. When Adam and Eve sinned, they sinned against the commandment of the Father, giving up their innocence in the face of temptation to pursue a false knowledge of themselves and their own persons. They traded true knowledge of God for false knowledge of themselves. They listened to the serpent instead of to God the Father. By breaking His commandment, they also severed ties with the Spirit and thus cut themselves off from God.

Yet God never abandoned mankind. He still continued to love His creation, even as in justice He punished His creatures. His creatures asked for this, after all. They wanted to have knowledge of good and evil, and this they obtained. But it would be the Holy Spirit guiding them back to true knowledge that would help to prepare them for their salvation. In the end, it would be ones like the woman at the well, announcing the good news of the Messiah, who would help to prepare the way. It would be ones like John the Baptist, filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who would prepare the way.

CHAPTER 2—THE REDEMPTION

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

When one thinks of the Holy Spirit, one tends to think of Pentecost and the tongues of fire dancing on the heads of the Apostles. One tends to think of the Apostles being given the gift of tongues. One tends to think of the way in which the world nowadays views the Spirit, as associated with Pentecostalism and Revivals. However, the Holy Spirit is evident in the entire Redemption story. To understand the Holy Spirit fully, one must see how the Holy Spirit plays a major part in that story.

The Incarnation

Matthew 1:18 states that “this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit thus was directly involved in the Incarnation. The Holy Spirit made it possible for the Word of God to take human flesh and exist as a man on Earth. John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This opening of John 1:1 echoes the opening of Genesis 1:1, which also commences with an “in the beginning” opening. The connections here between the creation of the world, the creation of the God-Man, and the relation of that creation in Matthew 1:18 all work to show the interrelatedness of things. At the heart of it all is the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At the creation of the world, the cosmic event that saw life come into being, God was present as the Trinity; at the creation of the Incarnate Word, the Trinity again is present: the Father sends the Holy Spirit to conceive of the Word in the womb of Mary. It is a beautiful union of motion and action that mirrors the creation of the world in Genesis. The Holy Spirit once more proceeds from the Father, but this time it is focused on the restoration of the fallen world, with the aim being to bring into the world the Redeemer.

Yet, that Redeemer’s entrance into the world still depends upon the willing submission of the human heart—and that is given by way of Mary’s fiat, which is to say her acceptance of the will of God. She aligns her human will with the will of God in a show of love that is directly inverted in proportion to the first sin committed by Eve. If the Fall of man commenced with Eve’s sin of pride, the restoration of man commences with Mary’s humble submission to the will of God. If the fall of Adam was in his following Eve to break the law of God, the restoration of man is completed through the sacrifice of Christ in paying for the sins of man and ransoming him from Hell. In this process, the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role: the Holy Spirit flows from God the Father to Mary, who becomes the living tabernacle of the Word of God, growing in the flesh in her womb. The Holy Spirit is thus integral in this process, flowing into the Woman to produce the New Man, just as the Holy Spirit flowed from the Father in the beginning to breathe life into the universe.

In this sense, St. Augustine’s explanation of the Holy Spirit as the expression of mutual-love between the Father and the Son can be seen exceedingly well. The Father’s love for the Son is evident in the Son’s conception. The love is seen in the act of conception. Conception by its very nature is an act of creation, an act in which one is open to the idea of new life. It is an act in which the spirit of one joins with the spirit of another to create a third and new spirit—and it is a mysterious process, completely, totally and utterly unseen in its secrecy from prying eyes (Sheen). This same act of love is seen in the Incarnation when the Spirit overshadows Mary and she is filled with the Holy Ghost. There in that mysterious union of woman and spirit, the New Adam is conceived. He grows in the womb of the Virgin Mary, to be presented to the world as the New Lamb, Who will pay the ransom for mankind and make satisfaction for man’s sins by taking them on himself. God Himself in that moment of the Incarnation announces His intention to allow His own creation to crucify Him. In that moment, He becomes Man—and the Spirit is there, just the Spirit was there in the beginning.

Luke describes the activity of the Spirit in the lives of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon (Shelton). As Shelton notes, the Holy Spirit has an abiding state in Simeon. He is influenced and guided and informed by the Spirit. Simeon is the one who prophecies that a sword will pierce Mary’s soul. He is the one who has been promised that he will see the coming of the Messiah. When Mary presents the Infant Jesus to the Temple as part of the ritual of purification, that promise to Simeon is fulfilled. The scene in turn is described by Luke in this manner:

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul. (Luke 2:25-35)

Here one can see the Holy Spirit acting in the lives of others, to illuminate them, to bring them understanding, and to give them knowledge of God and of things to come. This knowledge comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon, and had given him secret knowledge concerning his death: he would not die until he had seen the Christ.

Simeon prays now for death to come: he has seen the day of salvation—with no outward signs made visible—so how does he know? Again, he is guided by the Holy Spirit. He has made himself open to the Love of God, the mutual love that flows between the Father and the Son. And now, presented with the Son, that same mutual love tells him that this is the One that he has been told he would see. Simeon announces it: “He is the light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” As Amit explains, the glory of Israel cannot change or deceive. God is Truth. God is Love. Love is Truth. Simeon understands this because he has been illuminated by the Spirit and has accepted the gifts of the Spirit.

What is most astonishing about this scene, however, is that the parents of Jesus are astonished. They are not anticipating that Simeon will understand Who He is they are presenting in the Temple. Elizabeth knew: she hailed Mary when her younger cousin came to visit. John leapt in the woman of Elizabeth; he too was touched by the Spirit. From the Babe in the womb of the pregnant Virgin to the babe in the womb of the pregnant Elizabeth, the Spirit flowed—from the Father through the Son (Saward).

The Baptism

Christ is at the forefront of the Redemption of man, but the Holy Spirit also plays an important role in the Redemption story. The Holy Spirit is there at the baptism of Christ (Mat 3:16). But also important to note is the fact that the Father is also there and is heard speaking. In this moment, the Holy Trinity is present and is seen and heard. The Father is heard from above, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Mat 3:17). The Holy Spirit descends, as a dove, symbolizing peace, beauty, the spirit of love as well as echoing back to the dove that was released by Noah after the flood to see if the waters had yet receded. That dove returned with an olive branch to show that the waters had receded. Here, at the baptism of Christ the dove is appearing to show the Holy Spirit’s union with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit references that earlier moment in history at this important moment in history in which Christ shows the need for men to be baptized. In that baptism, the Holy Spirit comes down from Heaven to take away the stain of sin. The dove is pure and makes the soul pure. The Holy Spirit, coming from the Father, is thus at work in renewing the world through the Son.

Coffey describes the Holy Spirit as the “mutual love of the Father and the Son” (193). Coffey states: “Augustine sees no great difference between communion and mutual love. One passes naturally from the former to the latter, and no argument is needed” (198). Yet even St. Augustine resists boxing the Holy Spirit into something that man can understood. The Spirit must remain at root a mystery. One can grasp that the Spirit is real, that the Spirit lives, that the Spirit must be heard and accepted in order for one to have life in God—but one cannot explain it in mere words. Augustine says as much: “Therefore the Holy Spirit, whatever it is, is something common to the Father and the Son. But this communion itself is consubstantial and coeternal; and if it may fitly be called friendship, let it be so called; but it is more aptly called love” (De Trinitate 6, 5 (7) (PL 42, 928). The idea of the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father through the Son is interchangeable with the mutual-love theory as they both express this divine love. Augustine insists that the Holy Spirit is Love: “And if the love by which the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father ineffably demonstrates the communion of both, what is more suitable than that He should properly be called love who is the Spirit common to both?” (De Trinitate 15, 19 (37) (PL 42, 1086). The demonstration of Love between the Father and the Son is a demonstration of the Holy Spirit at the baptism of Christ.

Importantly, Christ’s public ministry begins at that moment. Till then, the Baptist had been preaching the way of God—but now Christ has finally appeared and His public life is now set to begin. The Love between Himself and the Father has been manifested: the Love—the Holy Spirit—has shown itself. The Love is now going to pour out through Christ, as He sets about healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. The works of God that will win so much renown for Christ from this moment to the moment of His arrest are possible because Christ is joined in union with the Father in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Love and that Love is what people will see in Christ as He heals them and forgives them their sins on His road to Calvary (Grudem).

Yet John the Baptist announces that Christ is the One Who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Mat 3:11). Jesus presents Himself for baptism by John as an example to His followers—but He Himself is also baptized in the Holy Spirit because it is at that moment of showing His followers what they must do to become pure before God that the Holy Spirit appears to initiate and enliven Christ’s ministry. The Holy Spirit is the Agent by Whom Christ judges, forgives, heals, makes whole, cleans and empowers those who come to Him. It is thus never in Himself that He does anything but always He in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Thus, before His ascension into Heaven, He announces: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20).

The Ministry

Luke 4:14, 18; 5:17; 10:21 all speak of how the Holy Spirit empowers Christ throughout His ministry. Luke 4:14-15 shows that after His baptism, Jesus went about His ministry—His Father’s business—full of the mutual-love between the Son and the Father: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” What does Jesus did in the Spirit: He teaches—He illuminates—He brings knowledge, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He heals the sick through the power of the Spirit (Luke 5:17). He is filled with joy: “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do” (Luke 10:21). He is engaged with the world, renewing the life that was made old and corrupt by sin.

Some claim there are many ways to find and know God, but Jesus Christ said there is only one way: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Then, in Acts 4:12, one can see this declaration: “Nor their Salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Christ is asserting Himself as the Savior. It is through His action, His life, death and Resurrection that man’s sin is paid for. Yet He is not alone. He is with the Spirit, Who John describes as the Counselor—the Advocate—throughout the Ministry of Jesus: The Advocate is promised by Christ to also be with His disciples, tasked with spreading the good news of Christ’s salvation offered to those who will believe: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—“ (John 14:16). But what does one see here? A constant interaction between Christ and the Father, and the Holy Spirit emanating through their mutual love into the world: the Spirit is the advocate who will help in the spreading of the Gospel.

Christ continuously prepares His disciples to receive the Spirit: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me” (John 15:26). The Spirit will come to bring truth to the hearts and minds of those disposed to hear it. Those who turn their hearts and minds away will miss it. But it is clear that the Spirit flows from that union of Christ with the Father. The Spirit is what will make the testimony of Christ possible in the world. The Spirit will come to bear witness to the history of Christ and to the truth of His life and death and resurrection.

The Book of Act s finds the historical record of the first conversions to faith in Christ as people recognize and received the truth that there is no salvation outside of Jesus. Here in detail is the message of the apostle and the response of the people. Here also, it is found the promise of the Holy Spirit’s gift to all who believe. Today’s message should be the same: there is Salvation in no name other than the name of Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit and the life He produces are available to all who will believe. To receive the Salvation that comes through Jesus, as well as the life empowered and energized by the Holy Spirit, one must repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 41). As one receives forgiveness for one’s sins, one enjoys the refreshing that comes from God’s presence (Acts 3:19-20). Thus, there is this condition placed upon receiving the Holy Spirit: one must humble oneself. A soul entrenched in pride is a soul that will not receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The condition of humility is consistent with the example of Christ’s own life and work in His ministry. He is born in a stall and laid in a manger. The manger itself symbolizes that Christ will become spiritual food for His followers. But the conditions of His birth are important to note also: He is not born as a prince in a castle. He is born in a stall. He is of humble origins. He is a carpenter’s son. He fasts in the desert and shows that man must also humble himself and subject himself to fasting because otherwise he will not be able to resist the devil. Man must be humble or else pride will ruin him. It was the pride of Adam and Eve that ruined them: they thought they could be like God by gaining illicit knowledge or by pursuing a false promise of knowledge. They were wrong, misled by their own pride and by Satan’s lies. Christ shows in His works that the only way to God is through humility, and when one is humble, the Spirit will be there to guide one.

In addition to being saved through the name of Jesus Christ and receiving the life of the indwelling Holy Spirit, one needs to be water baptized, as a public declaration of one’s decision to follow Jesus, to leave behind the old life, and to move into the new. At the same time one must have humility, one must also have courage and fortitude—more gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ Himself demonstrates this in His ministry. The Christian is called to bear with his government whenever possible. Jesus did not call for revolution against Rome, even though the empire was an oppressive conqueror of Israel (Matt. 22:21, Rom. 13:7). But at the same time, the apostles refused to obey an order not to preach and teach in Jesus’s name (Acts 5:27-29). To submit to the government on this matter would have been cowardly and untrue: they had the truth within them; they had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Christ Himself did not hide Himself when the authorities brought Him forward. To Pilate He asserted Himself when asked if He was a King. “Thou hast said it,” He responded. Whenever the civil government forbids the practice of things that God has commanded one to do or tells one to do something God has commanded one not to do, then one is on solid ground in disobeying the government. Blind obedience to government is never right, for the government is not God. Christ submits to the government but He does not disavow Himself. Peter disavowed Christ and was wrong and repented, and then later paid for his faith with his life, showing all the way unto death that he was with the Spirit.

However complex or costly it may be, one must reserve the right to say no to things that are consider oppressive or immoral in God’s eyes. The money changers in the Temple learned this lesson at the other end of the lash—when Christ whipped them for polluting the sacred place of the Temple. They were not there to pray. They were there to exploit others. Christ used the lash to drive them out in a moment of just anger. The moment is so important that it has been re-represented not just in Scripture but also in art like that of Rembrandt’s painting (Golahny).

The Sacrifice

As Piper points out, “Our very salvation hangs on the involvement of the Holy Spirit in the moment of the crucifixion.” What does this mean? Christ was never without the Holy Spirit. It emanated through Him and touched the lives of others. It is unthinkable that He would be without the Spirit at the moment of His accomplishment of man’s redemption. As the essence of the mutual-love between Father and Son, the Holy Spirit conveyed the satisfaction of sin from the Son to the Father in the moment of Crucifixion (Piper).

It is true that Christ appears to be abandoned at His final hour. He calls out to the Father. He thirsts. He is tortured. Yet can it be true that He was without the Father or the Holy Spirit? He took upon Himself the sins of the world to hang on a cross. He did this with the full support of the Holy Spirit. It could not have been otherwise. In the moment where He appears abandoned, He is actually most supported by the Spirit. He gives the directive to His followers to come to His Mother and for His Mother to come to the aid of His disciples (John 19:26-27). He is still teaching from the Cross, and since He is still teaching He is still with the Holy Spirit, Who gives the gift of knowledge.

He is also still forgiving. He forgives the sins of the penitent thief and promises Him that for his faith and humility he too will be saved and will be with God that very day in Paradise. Such forgiveness could not have been accomplished but with the Spirit. Thus these acts show that even in the Redemption, the Spirit is there.

CHAPTER 3—REGENERATION AND RENEWAL

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

The regeneration and renewal of the world comes by way of the Holy Spirit. Christ rises from the dead and stays with His disciples for forty days before ascending into Heaven. But before going, He promises them that he will send to them each the Holy Spirit Who has been with them. Christ makes good on this promise. After His ascension, the Holy Spirit does indeed come and does indeed renew the Apostles, making them into courageous fighters for the faith, full of zeal and full of a sense of their mission as evangelists. This chapter looks at how the Holy Spirit operates in the renewal of man from that time to now.

The Spirit and the Mission

Christ is direct with His disciples. He knows how weak they are. As human beings they are still affected by Original Sin, even though they have followed Him and their faith has been bolstered by the Resurrection. Yet they are still in need of support. They are still in need of the Spirit.

Christ has also already told them of their need for the Spirit: “‘If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you’” (John 14:15-18). How will Christ come to them? He will come to them through the Spirit. But Christ first tells them that the Spirit dwells in them and will be in them. This addresses two matters: first, it shows that they have already been touched by the Spirit because they have been open to Christ and His Truth. The Spirit has moved them thus far. But there is another type of indwelling that Christ also speaks of: He is speaking of confirmation in the spirit—another step in their spiritual life that will come to them as yet another mystery in their development. The Spirit will fill them and animate them and make them true soldiers of Christ. Indeed, they will be asked to lay down their lives for Christ. Every one of them will do so. All will be martyrs for Christ (save John). All will die as Christ died, and as the Spirit was with Him so too will it be with them. That is the Lord’s promise to them.

John 20:22 states, “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” This passage shows once more that the Spirit proceeds through the Son. The Spirit is sent from Jesus to them so that they will be strong in the faith. Jesus was always doing some small act to show the act of grace acting on the soul—whether it was spitting into dirt to make clay that would be put on the eyes of the blind man to heal him, or using the loaves and fishes to feed a thousand. He never denied the human and natural aspects of His creation. Thus, when He breathes on the apostles, He is sending His breath to them—and in that act the Spirit is brought to them. The “spirit” is the same word as “breath” or “wind.” The Spirit is alive and moves the world. The Spirit refreshes and brings new air where the air might otherwise be stale and old. The Spirit is associated with movement, force, and life.

The Holy Spirit is a Person and works as a Helper for the church. He has all the characteristics of a personality and should never be viewed as impersonal. He has the divine features of God's head: He is eternal, always present everywhere, all-powerful, and all- knowing. God the Father sent the promised Helper, the Holy Spirit, to assist in the Redemption of the human race, breathed into life by God with aid of the Holy Spifit. If one has accepted Jesus Christ into one’s life, one has the Spirit of truth living inside. One has a supernatural Helper in life who can give one the power to be victorious. The world does not have the Spirit of truth, because the world is in submission to Satan, who is the father of lies. If all truth leads to the Holy Spirit, all lies lead to Hell and Satan. Those who live in submission to Satan and to the world have no spiritual discernment; but those who possess a supernatural compass within are able to maintain the course. To bear any spiritual fruit in life, one must remain united to the vine, which is Jesus, to bear fruit. As one bears spiritual fruit, God, who is the Vinedresser, will do the pruning. He will discipline all who come to Him because He wants everyone to be perfect. He wants those who follow Him to be ever more productive. He does not want mediocrity or lukewarmness. He wants a vibrant church. He wants the Spirit to ring out through the world like a chorus of chimes in the wind. God wants mankind to work with the Spirit which loves so much to work with man. That is the way God has arranged it. That is the doctrine that Christ preached. That is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine is one of mutual love—of love between the Father and the Son. God wants that same love to be seen between Himself and man.

The Personality of the Spirit

The Spirit has personality that defines His character and His actions. The Holy Spirit intercedes for believers (Rom. 8:26), has a mind (Rom. 8:27), can grieve (Eph. 4:30), can speak (Rev.2:714:13), and be resisted (Act. 7:51). All of these characteristics tell something about the Spirit and His care for people. The Spirit is constantly seeking believers, leading them to the Christ, drawing them with the truth. The Spirit loves with a love and passion that cannot be comprehended. The Spirit speaks to the heart, to the mind, and to the soul. And yet the Spirit accepts the free will of every individual to respond or to resist. The Spirit is there to assist—but the Spirit will not force Himself on those who do not want Him. The Holy Spirit is known in various ways as well:

1. Helper (John 14:16)

2. The Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13)

3. The Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7)

4. The Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9)

5. The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17)

6. The Spirit of glory (1 Pet. 4:14)

The Holy Spirit is referenced in the Gospels and the Epistles to make it clear to the Church that He is Real. How is His presence known? His presence is known as a helper, as the spirit of God, as the spirit of truth, and as the spirit of glory. All truth can be said to come from the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit is the spirit of truth. All help can be said to come from the Spirit, because the Spirit is the helper. All glory given to God can be said to be conveyed by the Spirit from the one giving glory to God Who receives it. The Spirit is thus alive and at work and all who seek to be involved in God’s work here on earth are ipso facto involved with the work of the Spirit.

It is also true that numerous places in Scripture explicitly identify the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity (Matt. 3:16-17; 1; Cor. 12:4-6; Eph. 4:4-5; Heb. 9:14; Pet. 1:4:14; Gen. 1:2,26. Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 3:14). The Spirit is thus alive in Scripture. He is not neglected by the authors. He is referenced for a purpose—to show the nature of the mutual-love between the Son and the Father and the essence of that Love and how it works in the world.

Bonhoeffer notes that “Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ” (59). What can it mean to lack discipleship? How can one evangelize without disciples? How can a church exist without them? Simply put, it cannot. Yet that is what people try to do when they engage in a form of Christianity without engaging the Spirit. The Spirit is the gateway to Christ. The Spirit is what allows one to come to Christ, to find Him, to be nourished by Him. Christianity requires disciples, and that requires the Spirit, because the Spirit is what hooks the disciple and brings him in to God.

Likewise, the Spirit plays a major role in creating new disciples who are baptized in the faith. Baptism is what serves as a sign of renewal and regeneration. It makes the person new. It is achieved only by way of the Trinity—the Spirit proceeding from the Father through the Son (New Interpreter’s Bible). When Christ says to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), He is identifying the way in which one must come to God: through baptism, through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the gateway to God.

The Holy Spirit is referenced in the Epistle to the Romans when St. Paul addresses them: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). The Spirit is front and center of the Apostle’s mind, from the beginning. Paul does not want anyone to think of Christ without also thinking of the Spirit. To think of Christ without the Spirit is to think in terms only of the law, which kills. The Spirit is what gives life (2 Cor 3:6). The Spirit gives life and yet remains a mystery. It is the great mystery of faith, the great mystery of creation, the great mystery of Redemption, and the great mystery of renewal—yet it is reality.