Chapter 3: Theology of the Holy Spirit
What is Theology?
Theology is the field of study of religious faith, practice, and experience especially; the study of God and of God's relation to the world. By that definition, we are in essence doing theology as we speak. We have been meeting for a couple weeks now to study the Word of God and to understand the Scriptures as to what it entails in our personal lives.
“Without action and fruit, all the theology in the world has little meaning. But theology is still important—what you believe absolutely determines how you act. So while GOOD theology at its best can lead us to live godly lives, BAD theology will always point us in the wrong direction—to ineffective lives or, worse yet, lives spent striving after what the Spirit of God opposes.”
Establishing a good foundation of the knowledge of God is one of the utmost important tasks we need to do as Christians. Without the good theology, it is difficult to be exactly what God would’ve wanted us to be as to our purpose in relation to His will. We will also be easily strayed away by the patterns of living of this world or by any deception and temptations led by the Devil. This reminds me of the verse in Matthew 7:24-27,
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
In this Chapter, we will delve into biblical theologies regarding the Holy Spirit by looking at some Bible verses about who He is and what He does. It will not be an all-inclusive study, but we will try to focus on relevant verses that shape our faith, attitudes, and behavior towards God, ourselves, and others. Nevertheless, we know that God being infinite and eternal, we cannot fully know Him for everything that He is. In Isaiah 55:8-9, the Lord says:
“The point is not to completely understand God but to worship Him. Let the very fact that you cannot know Him fully lead you to praise Him for His infiniteness and grandeur.”
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The Holy Spirit is a Person
“The Holy Spirit is a Person who has personal relationships with not only believers, but also with the Father and the Son.”
The Holy Spirit is not a simple “force”, “power”, “voice within” or any other form that we try to personalize Him. In John 14:18, Jesus says that. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” Jesus had promised us His presence by coming to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. And He invites us to a relationship with Him by having communion and allowing the Spirit to reside with us and within us (verse 17).
The Holy Spirit is God
“He is not lesser or different kind of Being than God the Father and God the Son. The Spirit is God.”
In Acts 5:1-5, the word “God” and “Holy Spirit” are used interchangeably, attesting to the Spirit’s divine nature. How do you think this ought to change the way we relate to Him?
The Holy Spirit is eternal and holy
“Don’t forget that God gave the Holy Spirit to us. It sometimes feels so difficult to be a Christian. How do we live lives that are radically different from the world around us? The answer is: through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Derived from His name, the Holy Spirit is holy. Holiness does not only associate moral uprightness, but to be holy is to be set apart from what is common to the world. We need to live a godly life, so much different to the rest of the world, that they will see that there is something different about us. And that’s with the hope that they will see God in us. According to Roman 12:1-2, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
The Holy Spirit has His own mind, and He prays for us
According to Romans 8:26-28, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Isn’t it comforting to know that the Holy Spirit is our advocate who steps in for us when we need Him the most? And by Him having His own mind, we can rest solely with peace in our hearts knowing that the Spirit, who knows us and God better than anyone else, can communicate even the thoughts and desires that we cannot put into words. How should the thought that the Holy Spirit has His own mind and will affect the way you think and plan?
The Holy Spirit has emotions
Just like any other relationships, we hurt the other person whenever we do things that they clearly would not want or expect us to do. Likewise within the church, fights are inevitable, divorce still exist, splits still happen as results of people being not united and being prideful. But the Bible also tells us that the Holy Spirit has emotions—How much more do we think these situations would hurt God?
“Maybe it’s not due to a lack of belief but rather a lack of concern. I pray for the day when believers care more about the Spirit’s grief than their own.”
According to Francis Chan, we grieve the Holy Spirit when there is a “breach in relationship, whether it be relationship with God or relationship with other people.” This happens when we lack conviction and when we are stubborn, callous, unforgiving, and not willing to cooperate with the Spirit to change our attitudes and behaviors. When was the last time you were saddened because your sin pained/grieved the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient
Omnipotent: All-powerful (Zecharia 4:6)
Omnipresent: Present everywhere (Psalms 139:7-8)
Omniscient: All-knowing (1 Corinthians 2:10)
PRAYER
“MY HOPE IS THAT READING THESE TRUTHS ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL LEAD YOU INTO A DEEPER RELATION WITH AND A GREATER REVERENCE FOR THE SPIRIT—THAT GOOD THEOLOGY WOULD LEAD YOU TO RIGHT ACTION, GENUINE LOVE, AND TRUE WORSHIP.”