THE MISSING PERSON Part Five

 Having considered the activity of the Holy Spirit as recorded in the book of Acts, we now turn to the teaching concerning Him in the rest of the New Testament.  The Pauline epistles contribute the majority of data on the Holy Spirit and several themes emerge in addition to His identity as a person and God.

 Genuine spirituality is derived from the Holy Spirit.  No one can be a Christian without receiving the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:2 cf. Romans 8:9).  The Christian life is the life of the Holy Spirit expressed through the voluntary submission of each believer (Galatians 2:20 cf. 5:16, 22-23).  It is not legal observance through human effort but a higher way of life (Romans 8:1-4 cf. 7:6).

 The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9 cf. 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:14ff.) and as such no one can claim to speak by the Holy Spirit while speaking against Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3).  This identification with Christ affirms the unity of the Godhead, while distinguishing the Holy Spirit as a separate person.  He is the Spirit of God (the Father) and Christ (the Son), co-equal with them both.

 Paul's epistles address the reality of spiritual warfare both on a personal and global level, which requires the power of the Holy Spirit for believers to defeat the forces opposing them.  Believers battle against sin by putting to death the deeds of the body through the power of the Spirit (Romans 8:13).  This inner conflict between the flesh (old sinful self) and the Spirit continues throughout earthly life, but victory is assured by daily dependence on the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25).

 The cosmic scale of this battle is also covered (Ephesians 6:12 cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; 11:13-15).  This spiritual warfare is in the realm of the spirit and only spiritual weapons are effective in that realm.  It is why the Word of God is identified as “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17).  The Holy Spirit is the power source for a successful personal contribution to this campaign (Ephesians 3:16), which has an inevitable result at both levels.  The Christian and the Church will be victorious, as God has planned, despite setbacks along the way.

 Spiritual gifts is another theme in the New Testament epistles, especially Paul’s, which extends believers’ dependency on the Holy Spirit to their ministry, as well as their daily life.  As with genuine spirituality, so all genuine ministry must be Spirit-empowered (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).  This relates to the New Covenant, which Paul clearly teaches is the foundation of the Spirit's activity in the Church (2 Corinthians 3:4-18).  The reception of life was by the Spirit (Galatians 3:3) and likewise the continuation of life in both personal growth and ministry (Galatians 5:5, 16, 25).  The Holy Spirit equips believers with spiritual gifts for the building up of the church (1 Corinthians 12).

 One final emphasis, also connected to believers’ spirituality, is Spirit baptism.  The key verse is 1 Corinthians 12:13, where the agent of the baptism is not the Holy Spirit, but God.  The Holy Spirit is the medium of the baptism, analogous to the water in a water baptism. At conversion, all believers are immersed in the realm of the Spirit and become equal members of the body of Christ, the church.  This spiritual union of all believers through their new life in the Spirit grants them a corporate identity in the one body of Christ.

 All believers receive the Holy Spirit at conversion and are equipped fully to live by faith and serve God faithfully.  We should ever be thankful for this remarkable provision and constantly rely on Him as we live for God’s glory.  Next time, we will investigate the Holy Spirit’s personality and deity.

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