The Great Doctrines of the Bible Part 17

5. THE SPIRIT OF LIFE.

Rom. 8:2--"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." That which had been the actuating principle of life, namely, the flesh, is now deposed, and its controlling place taken by the Spirit. The Spirit is thus the dynamic of the believer's experience that leads him into a life of liberty and power.

6. THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE.

That the references in Isa. 11:2; 61:1, 2 are to be understood as referring to the Spirit that abode upon the Messiah, is clear from Luke 4:18 where "Spirit" is capitalized. Christ's wisdom and knowledge resulted, in one aspect of the case, from His being filled with the Spirit. "Wisdom and understanding" refer to intellectual and moral apprehension; "Counsel and might," the power to scheme, originate, and carry out; "Knowledge and the fear of the Lord,"

acquaintance with the true will of G.o.d, and the determination to carry it out at all costs. These graces are the result of the Spirit's operations on the heart.

7. THE SPIRIT OF PROMISE.

Eph. 1:13--"Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." The Spirit is the fulfillment of Christ's promise to send the Comforter, and so He is the promised Spirit. The Spirit also confirms and seals the believer, and thus a.s.sures him that all the promises made to him shall be completely fulfilled.

8. THE SPIRIT OF GLORY.

1 Pet. 4:14--"The spirit of glory and of G.o.d resteth upon you."

What is glory? Glory as used in the Scripture means character.

The Holy Spirit is the One who produces G.o.dlike character in the believer (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).

9. THE SPIRIT OF G.o.d, AND OF CHRIST.

1 Cor. 3:16--"The Spirit of G.o.d dwelleth in you." Rom. 8:9--"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." The fact that the Spirit is sent from the Father and the Son, that He represents them, and is their executive, seems to be the thought conveyed here.

10. THE COMFORTER (p. 109).

IV. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Work of the Spirit may be summed up under the following headings: His work in the universe; in humanity as a whole; in the believer; with reference to the Scriptures; and, finally, with reference to Jesus Christ.

1. IN RELATION TO THE WORLD.

a) With Regard to the Universe.

There is a sense in which the creation of the universe may be ascribed to G.o.d's Spirit. Indeed Psa. 33:6--"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (Spirit) of his mouth," attributes the work of creation to the Trinity, the Lord, the Word of the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord.

The creation of man is attributed to the Spirit. Job 33:4--"The Spirit of G.o.d hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." It would be proper, doubtless, to say that the Father created all things through the agency of the Word and the Spirit. In the Genesis account of creation (1:3) the Spirit is seen actively engaged in the work of creation.

Not only is it true that the Spirit's agency is seen in the act of creation, but His power is seen also in the preservation of nature.

Isa. 40:7--"The gra.s.s withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it." A staggering declaration.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Spirit comes in the fierce east wind with its keen, biting blast of death. He comes also in the summer zephyr, which brings life and beauty.

b) With Regard to Humanity as a Whole.

John 16:8-11--"And when He is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go unto my Father and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." Here are three great facts of which the Spirit bears witness to the world: the sin of unbelief in Christ; the fact that Christ was righteous and absolutely true in all that He claimed to be; the fact that the power of Satan has been broken. Of sin: the sin in which all other sins are embraced; of righteousness: the righteousness in which all other righteousness is manifested and fulfilled; of judgment: the judgment in which all other judgments are decided and grounded. Of sin, belonging to man; of righteousness, belonging to Christ; of judgment, belonging to Satan.

John 15:26--"The Spirit of truth ... shall testify of me." Acts 5:32--"And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost." It is the work of the Holy Spirit to constantly bear witness of Christ and His finished work to the world of sinful and sinning men. This He does largely, although hardly exclusively, through the testimony of believers to the saving power and work of Christ: "Ye also shall bear witness" (John 15:27).

2. THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO THE BELIEVER.

a) He Regenerates the Believer.

John 3:3-5--"Born of ... the Spirit." t.i.t. 3:5--"The... renewing of the Holy Ghost." Sons.h.i.+p, and members.h.i.+p in the kingdom of G.o.d, come only through the regenerating of the Holy Spirit. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." Just as Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost, so must every child of G.o.d who is to be an heir to the kingdom.

b) The Spirit Indwells the Believer.

1 Cor. 6:19--"Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you." Also 3:16; Rom. 8:9. Every believer, no matter how weak and imperfect he may be, or how immature his Christian experience, still has the indwelling of the Spirit. Acts 19:2 does not contradict this statement. Evidently some miraculous outpouring of the Spirit is intended there, the which followed the prayer and laying on of the hands of the apostles. "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:3).

c) The Spirit Seals the Believer with a.s.surance of Salvation.

Eph. 1:13, 14--"In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise; which is the earnest of our inheritance." Also 4:30--"Sealed unto the day of redemption."

This sealing stands for two things: owners.h.i.+p and likeness (2 Tim.

2:19-21). The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of adoption" which G.o.d puts into our hearts, by which we know that we are His children.

The Spirit bears witness to this great truth (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:14, 16). This sealing has to do with the heart and the conscience--satisfying both as to the settlement of the sin and sons.h.i.+p question.

d) The Holy Spirit Infills the Believer.

Acts 2:4--"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Eph.

5:18--"Be filled with the Spirit." The filling differs somewhat from the indwelling. We may speak of the baptism of the Spirit as that initial act of the Spirit by which, at the moment of our regeneration, we are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ; the Spirit then comes and takes up His dwelling within the believer. The filling with the Spirit, however, is not confined to one experience, or to any one point of time exclusively; it may be repeated times without number. There is one baptism, but many infillings with the Spirit. The experience of the apostles in the Acts bears witness to the fact that they were repeatedly filled with the Spirit. Whenever a new emergency arose they sought a fresh infilling with the Spirit (cf. Acts 2:4 with 4:31 showing that the apostles who were filled on the day of Pentecost were again filled a few days after).

There is a difference between possessing the Spirit, and being filled with the Spirit. All Christians have the first; not all have the second, although all may have. Eph. 4:30 speaks of believers as being "sealed," whereas 5:18 commands those same believers to "be filled (to be being filled again and again) with the Spirit."

Both the baptism and the infilling may take place at once. There need be no long wilderness experience in the life of the believer.

It is the will of G.o.d that we should be filled (or, if you prefer the expression, "be baptized") with the Spirit at the moment of conversion, and remain filled all the time. Whenever we are called upon for any special service, or for any new emergency, we should seek a fresh infilling of the Spirit, either for life or service, as the case may be.

The Holy Spirit seeks--so we learn from the story of the Acts--for men who are not merely possessed by but also filled with the Spirit, for service (6:3, 5; 9:17; 11:24). Possession touches a.s.surance; infilling, service.

e) The Holy Spirit Empowers the Believer for Life and Service.

Rom. 8:2--"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (also vv. 9-11). There are two natures in the believer: the flesh and the Spirit (Gal.

5:17). But while the believer is still in the flesh, he does not live after the flesh (Rom. 8:12, 13). The Holy Spirit enables the believer to get constant and continual victory over sin. A single act of sin a believer may commit; to live in a state of sin is impossible for him, for the Spirit which is within him gives him victory, so that sin does not _reign_ over him. If sinless perfection is not a Scriptural doctrine, sinful imperfection is certainly less Scriptural. The eighth chapter of Romans exhibits a victorious life for the believer; a life so different from that depicted in the seventh chapter. And the difference lies in the fact that the Holy Spirit is hardly, if at all, mentioned in the seventh chapter, while in the eighth He is mentioned over twelve times. The Spirit in the heart is the secret of victory over sin.

Then note how the Holy Spirit produces the blessed fruit of the Christian life (Gal. 5:22, 23). What a beautiful cl.u.s.ter of graces!

How different from the awful catalogue of the works of the flesh (vv. 19-21). Look at this cl.u.s.ter of fruit. There are three groups: the first, in relation to G.o.d--love, joy, peace; the second, in relation to our fellowman--longsuffering, gentleness, goodness; the third, for our individual Christian life--faith, meekness, self-control.

f) The Holy Spirit is the Guide of the Believer's Life.

He guides him as to the details of his daily life, Rom. 8:14; Gal.

5:16, 25-"Walk in the Spirit." There is no detail of the believer's life that may not be under the control and direction of the Spirit.

"The steps (and, as one has well said,'the stops') of a good man are ordered by the Lord."

The Holy Spirit guides the believer as to the field in which he should labor. How definitely this truth is taught in the Acts 8:27-29; 16:6, 7; 13:2-4. What a prominent part the Spirit played in selecting the fields of labor for the apostles! Every step in the missionary activity of the early church seemed to be under the direct guidance of the Spirit.

g) The Holy Spirit Anoints the Believer.

This anointing stands for three things:

First, for _knowledge and teaching_. 1 John 2:27--"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth . . . ye shall abide in him." Also 2:20. It is not enough to learn the truth from human teachers, we must listen to the teaching of the Spirit. 1 Cor. 2:9-14 teaches us that there are some great truths that are spiritually discerned; they cannot be understood saving by the Spirit-filled man, for they are "spiritually discerned." See also John 14:26; 16:13.