The Work of the Holy Spirit
The work of the Holy Spirit is the means by which all that Christ completed comes to profit the elect. The Holy Spirit does (not less than) seven issues in and for our salvation.
1. The Holy Spirit convicts.
The phrase usually translated “convict” (elegcho) is utilized in John 3:20 with the sense of bringing sins to mild: “For everybody who does depraved issues hates the sunshine and doesn’t come to the sunshine, lest his works needs to be uncovered [elegchthe].” The Holy Spirit acts like a large searchlight, exposing the world’s wickedness, calling folks to repentance, and convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8–11).
2. The Holy Spirit converts.
As Jesus famously instructed Nicodemus, “until one is born of water and the Spirit, he can not enter the dominion of God” (John 3:5). Titus 3:5 calls this work “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” There is no such thing as a Christian life with out the changing work of the Spirit. He allows us to grasp and spiritually discern the issues of God (1 Cor. 2:12–14). He grants us repentance that results in life (Acts 11:18). He pours God’s love into our hearts so we might be assured that in Christ God is for us and never towards us (Rom. 5:5). The Holy Spirit allows us to consider within the guarantees of God (John 1:12–13; 3:36; 6:63–65).
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3. The Holy Spirit applies.
Calvin begins e-book 3 of the Institutes with a query: “How can we obtain these advantages which the Father bestowed on his onlybegotten Son—not for Christ’s personal non-public use, however that he may enrich poor and needy males?” The reply: “The Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ effectually unites us to himself.”1 That is the logic of Romans 8:9–11. When we’ve the Spirit, we’ve Christ. And when we’ve Christ, we’ve the Spirit. The Holy Spirit applies to the believer the advantages gained by Christ, as a result of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.
4. The Holy Spirit glorifies.
“He’ll glorify me,” Jesus instructed the disciples, “he’ll take what’s mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). This fact will help us keep away from the frequent mistake of pitting the Spirit towards Christ, as if we dishonor the Spirit by placing a relentless focus upon Christ. The Holy Spirit is a serving Spirit. He speaks solely what he hears (John 16:13). He declares what he’s given (John 16:14b). His mission is to glorify one other (John 16:14a). All three individuals of the Trinity are totally God, but within the divine financial system the Son makes identified the Father and the Spirit glorifies the Son. Sure, it’s a mistake if we all know nothing concerning the Spirit. However once we give attention to Christ we give proof of the Spirit’s work. We can not worship Christ with out the work of the Spirit. And the Spirit doesn’t need to be magnified besides insofar as he factors to Christ. This is the reason the notion of nameless Christians is so mistaken. The work of the Holy Spirit is to carry glory to Christ by taking what’s his—his educating, the reality about his loss of life and resurrection—and making it identified. The Spirit doesn’t work indiscriminately with out the revelation of Christ in view.
The Holy Spirit allows us to consider within the guarantees of God.
5. The Holy Spirit sanctifies.
The Spirit provides the believer a brand new place in Christ—set aside in Christ and sprinkled along with his blood—and a brand new energy in Christ (Eph. 3:16). The Spirit works in us “for obedience to Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). Peter elsewhere says that by way of God’s valuable and really nice guarantees we could “turn into partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). That is the doctrine of theosis, or deification, usually emphasised within the Jap Orthodox Church. As long as we don’t consider Christians as turning into gods or being swallowed up in God in an ontological sense, the doctrine needs to be affirmed as an vital side of our salvation. Peter isn’t enthusiastic about “nature” because the divine essence a lot as the character of God’s character. That’s why the following phrase speaks of “having escaped the corruption that’s on the earth due to sinful need.” The purpose is that we are able to share within the qualities which can be attribute of God himself.
6. The Holy Spirit equips.
By the work of the Spirit, believers are given presents for ministry. Typically known as “service” or “actions,” the aim of those presents is to construct up the church. The manifestation of the Spirit is for the frequent good (1 Cor. 12:7) and the edification of the church (1 Cor. 14:12, 26).
7. The Holy Spirit guarantees.
Ephesians 1:13–14 states that in Christ we “had been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who’s the assure of our inheritance till we purchase possession of it.” A seal within the historical world did three issues: it authenticated, it secured, and it marked possession. All three parts are most likely in view right here. The seal of the Spirit authenticates us as true believers, secures our everlasting security, and marks us out as belonging to God.
This sealing just isn’t a second blessing subsequent to salvation; it occurs the second once we turn into a Christian. The sealing on the finish of Ephesians 1:13 is related to listening to the phrase of fact and believing the gospel earlier within the verse. That’s when the sealing takes place. Being sealed with the Spirit implies that God has clamped down his embosser on us and guarantees to guard us and protect us as he would his most prized possession. The Spirit is our assure (2 Cor. 5:5), like an engagement ring previous to the marriage, or like a down fee on a home earlier than the ultimate move-in date (Eph. 4:30).
The sealing is, initially, a declarative truth, true of each Christian. However this doesn’t imply there can not even be an experiential dimension. Subjectively, being sealed with the Spirit means we expertise an interior authentication that we’re certainly forgiven and cherished by God. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we’re kids of God” (Rom. 8:16). Or as Paul places it earlier in Romans, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts by way of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5:5). The Spirit assures us that we belong to God. Ideally, this assurance shall be believed and felt.
Notes:
- Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Faith. 2 vols. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Edited by John T. McNeil. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960., 3.1.1.
This text is tailored from Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology by Kevin DeYoung.
