The Holy Spirit Ministers To Believers
“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” – John 16:13-14.
Before Jesus’ passion, He promised that the Father and He would send his disciples “another Counselor” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). The Counselor or Paraclete, from the Greek word parakletos (meaning one who gives support), is a helper, adviser, strengthener, encourager, ally, and advocate. Another points to the fact that Jesus was the first Paraclete and is promising a replacement who, after He is gone, will carry on the teaching and testimony that He started (John 16:6–7).
Paraclete ministry, by its very nature, is personal, relational ministry, implying the full personhood of the one who fulfills it. Though the Old Testament said much about the Spirit’s activity in Creation (for example, Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6), revelation (for example, Isaiah 61:1–6; Micah 3:8), enabling for service (for example, Exodus 31:2–6; Judges 6:34; 15:14–15; Isaiah 11:2), and inward renewal (for example, Psalm 51:10–12; Ezekiel 36:25–27), it did not make clear that the Spirit is a distinct divine Person. In the New Testament, however, it becomes clear that the Spirit is as truly a Person distinct from the Father as the Son is. This is apparent not only from Jesus’ promise of “another Counselor,” but also from the fact that the Spirit, among other things, speaks (Acts 1:16; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12; 13:2; 28:25), teaches (John 14:26), witnesses (John 15:26), searches, determines (1 Corinthians 12:11), intercedes (Romans 8:26–27), is lied to (Acts 5:3), and can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). Only of a personal being can things such as these be said.
The divinity of the Spirit appears from the declaration that lying to the Spirit is lying to God (Acts 5:3–4), and from the linking of the Spirit with the Father and the Son in benedictions (2 Corinthians 13:14; Revelation 1:4–6) and in the formula of baptism (Matthew 28:19). The Spirit is called “the seven spirits” in Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6 partly, it seems, because seven is a number signifying divine perfection and partly because the Spirit ministers in His fullness.
The Spirit, then, is “He,” not “it,” and He must be obeyed, loved, and adored along with the Father and the Son.
Witnessing to Jesus Christ, glorifying Him by showing His disciples who and what He is (John 16:7–15), and making them aware of what they are in Him (Romans 8:15–17; Galatians 4:6) is the Paraclete’s central ministry. The Spirit enlightens us (Ephesians 1:17–18), regenerates us (John 3:5–8), leads us into holiness (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:16–18), transforms us (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22–23), gives us assurance (Romans 8:16), and gifts us for ministry (1 Corinthians 12:4–11). All God’s work in us, touching our hearts, our characters, and our conduct, is done by the Spirit, though aspects of it are sometimes ascribed to the Father and the Son, whose executive the Spirit is.
The Spirit’s full Paraclete ministry began on Pentecost morning, following Jesus’ ascension (Acts 2:1–4). John the Baptist had foretold that Jesus would baptize in the Spirit (Mark 1:8; John 1:33), according to the Old Testament promise of an outpouring of God’s Spirit in the last days (Joel 2:28–32; compare Jeremiah 31:31–34), and Jesus had repeated the promise (Acts 1:4–5). The significance of Pentecost morning was twofold: it marked the opening of the final era of world history before Christ Jesus’ return, and, as compared with the Old Testament era, it marked a tremendous enhancing of the Spirit’s ministry and of the experience of being alive to God.
Jesus’ disciples evidently were Spirit-born believers prior to Pentecost (John 20:22), so their Spirit-baptism, which brought power to their life and ministry (Acts 1:8), was not the start of their spiritual experience. For all who have come to faith since Pentecost morning, however, beginning with the Pentecost converts themselves, the receiving of the Spirit in full new-covenant blessing has been one aspect of their conversion and new birth (Acts 2:37; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13). All capacities for service that subsequently appear in a believer’s life should be seen as flowing from this initial Spirit-indwelling, which vitally unites the sinner to the risen Christ.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
You must be logged in to post a comment.