Bible Question: There is much discussion in theologians today about God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. One renowned theologian stated the three are separate and distinct. Can you please clarify the Holy Spirit? |
Bible Answer: What is the Holy Spirit? For the record, the Holy Spirit is a "He" not an "it." He is a "who" not a "what." So the question might better be phrased, "Who is the Holy Spirit?" . . . The Holy Spirit "is the author of Scripture, the one who empowers Christ and believers, sovereignly bestows gifts, and can be insulted through apostasy . He sanctifies, inspires prophets, vindicates Christ, and brings blessing to believers . He provides assurance of salvation, testifies to who Jesus is, and produces orthodox Christology. He is the characteristic mark of Christians who pray in him. The Spirit creates the states in which John receives his visions, is the source for the messages to the seven churches, and one of the heavenly speakers John overhears. . . . A biblical theology of the Spirit is difficult to epitomize. He sovereignly Acts as he chooses! Most Christian traditions stress the data of certain portions of Scripture (most notably Acts or Paul) at the expense of others. . . . But an essential summary ought to include at least that *the Spirit is the transcendent, omnipresent spiritual and localizable presence of God's personality and power, living in and divinely empowering all of God's true people in diverse and incomplete ways that foreshadow their complete, future renewal at the end of the age.* . . . Craig L. Blomberg" (pp. 347-348, Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, Baker Books, 1996. Available in print and also online at http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/BakersEvangelicalDictionary/ --Look up: "Holy Spirit" in Baker's.) |