Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 1

Luke’s Understanding of Holy Spirit and Its Relevance for Mission

Tesfaye Endale Chenchelo

Department of Mission and Theology

Systematic Theology I (TH504)

International Leadership University- Ethiopia

Aklilu Kuma (Mr.)

20 May 2023
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 2

Abstract

This academic essay aimed to draw out the relevance of Luke’s understanding of the Holy Spirit

for mission. The study used Luke-Acts books as well as electronics books, journals, review

articles and other related to the scholastic materials as data sources. And thus, according to Luke-

Acts, the central message is the gospel of Christ that has been shown to have important

contribution for the rapid spread of God’s salvation plan through the acts of Holy Spirit with the

pneumatology oriented universal and all-inclusive evangelical movements, pneumatological and

soteriological dimension of salvation, pneumatological cross-boundaries approach and

partnership development. On the other hand, even though various Christian traditions are

accepting the Holy Spirit, as the agent of the Triune God who works together with the Church as

a person, merely the Pentecostal community have a close understanding with Luke's missional

pneumatology, since their insight shows that the Holy Spirit led evangelical movement is a

worldwide movement vested to Churches and the communities, just like the time of the apostles.

Keywords: Luke-Acts, Holy Spirit, Mission, Pentecost, Sacrament, Theology

Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 3

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4

Luke’s Understanding of Mission....................................................................................................4

Universalism and Inclusiveness...................................................................................................4

Soteriology...................................................................................................................................5

Cross Cultural Communication....................................................................................................7

Contextualization.........................................................................................................................8

Missional Partnership...................................................................................................................9

Brief Summary on Luke’s Pneumology........................................................................................10

The Person of the Holy Spirit....................................................................................................10

The works of Holy Spirit...........................................................................................................12

The Coming and Descending of the Holy Spirit.....................................................................12

Baptizing by Holy Spirit.........................................................................................................13

Being filled with the Holy Spirit.............................................................................................13

The Personal Leadership of the Holy Spirit...........................................................................14

The Relevance of Luke’s Pneumonology for Mission..................................................................15

References......................................................................................................................................20
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 4

Introduction

The mission of Christian Gospel has a close relationship with the person and works of the Holy

Spirit. This is exclusively explained by the two scriptures written by Luke, i.e., the Gospel of

Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. However, many would agree that these books have been

neglected and got less attention since the time of the church fathers to the theology of the

contemporary world (Bock, 2011, pp. 27). Even though Luke introduced the first church as being

led by the Holy Spirit and in continuous evangelistic movement, from the time of the Patriarchs

who replaced the first apostles and were able to continue the movement of the church to the

present day, due to various reason the cooperation of the church with the Holy Spirit has

sometimes been strengthened and sometimes weakened (Bosch, 2011, pp. 181). Above all, the

missional crisis that the mission movement has faced in the modern era indicates that the

church's relationship with the Holy Spirit has been greatly deteriorated (Bosch, 2011, pp. 22-26).

Despite the church is in trouble, Luke clearly shows how to get out of the mess it is in. This

academic essay shows how the early church was able to fulfill its mission through the power of

the Holy Spirit in two series of books written by Luke.

Luke’s Understanding of Mission

How does Luke understand the mission? In response to this, a survey of Luke-Acts books has

been undertaken. Accordingly, Luke’s understanding of mission has been defined in terms of

pneumatological universalism and inclusiveness, soteriological dimension, pneumatological

cross-cultural communication, contextualization, and missional partnership. 

Universalism and Inclusiveness

One of the most important issues raised in the history of the church was to whom the Kingdom

gospel should be preached? In particular, even the apostles of Jesus had ambiguity in reaching
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 5
the Gentile nations with the gospel . According to Luke, Jesus apostle’s understanding to Gentile
1

mission has not yet cleared in the way that God’s historical redemption that have been doing

since the fall to save mankind, the missional purposes of Jesus to save the lost human race 2 and

also the fulfillment of the scriptural prophecies through the work of Jesus reveled to the world 3.

On the other hand, may be because the Jesus’s apostilles did not realize Jesus’s teaching that

said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and in Samaria to the ends of the

earth”4. Luke also explained that evangelism should include women, children, the poor, and

people excluded from society for various reasons 5. Bosch (2011, pp. 99) regarded the term poor

in Luke-Acts that is all the disadvantageous group of people including the sinners, the lepers, the

prisoners, the blind and the oppressed in his time and all in need of salvation (Luke 4:18).

Besides, in supporting this, Bock (2011, pp. 358), suggested that Jesus’ involvement of and

concern for the women, the poor, the lame, and the blind show that God cares for the entire

spectrum of people since the community Jesus forms must also care about such people, even

giving special attention to them. This is one of the ways the new community’s values contrast

with those of the world.

Soteriology

What must the Jews and Gentiles do in order to be saved? This question was attracted the

greatest attention in the Ministry of the Apostles. It became prominent after Paul and Barnabas,

filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to reach the Gentiles with the gospel 6 whereas some Jews

raised an argument. Because the believing Jews were teaching that unless you are circumcised

1
Acts 10:1-48; 11:1-18
2
Luke 4:17-19; 42-43; 5: 32
3
Luke 1:54-55; 67-80; 2:25-38; 3:3-6; 3:24-38; 4:43; 7:1-10
4
Acts 1:8
5
Luke 4:17-19
6
Acts 15:1-2; Acts 13:46-50; Acts 14:1-28
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 6
according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved. Even this issue was raised debates among

the Jesus apostles due to the lack of appropriate understanding by the first apostles, and with the

help of the Holy Spirit, the apostles gathered and were able to gain a strong stance. After much

deliberation and consultation, finally the Jesus’s apostles understood that both Jews and Gentiles

are saved by God's grace through faith, and that the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit as a sign of

confirmation that the Gentiles were chosen by God 7. The witnesses of Jesus Christ boldly and

openly preach and teach the gospel of salvation to people; It is written that the Holy Spirit insist

people for repentance and that those prepared believe in Jesus added to the church8.

If it is possible to understand that salvation is freed from the law and the burden of work and,

instead only views as a grace and faith base, anyone could have appreciated not only theological

soundness, but also the good contribution to the speedy delivery of gospel in cross boundary and

cultural missions. Despite this fact, in the course of history, there have been changes in the

position of Christian theology, so there have been differences in the theology of salvation. To

show this, it is possible to look at the understanding of the theology of salvation in the East and

West. The eastern church was emphasis incarnation, that lay on the origin and pre-existence of

Jesus whereas the theology of western churches was stereological, focused on the substitute

death of Christ for the sake of sinners, which finally comes to individualization and

ecclesiaticiazation of salvation that has been taught and fundamental changes have been

observed (Bosch, 2011, pp. 192-196). History explains that it has become a ministry of the

gospel of salvation in a worse condition, and it has become completely different from the

teaching of Luke-Acts, and it has turned into the implementation of the political interests of

governments and the implementation of oppression.

7
Acts 15:6-29
8
Acts 2:14-42; 4:24-34
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 7

Cross Cultural Communication

As the gospel of the kingdom is for the whole world, the apostles had to go through different

cultures, religions, languages, etc. to communicate the word of God, that is, the gospel of the

kingdom. Luke’s experiences on boundaries cross communication are evident when Peter and

other apostles preached to people gathered from around the world with speaking different

languages9, Philip in Samaria and the Ethiopian eunuch 10, Peter in Caesarea with the Romans at

the house of a centurion named Cornelius. Also, it shown during Paul's various missionary

journeys to Roman world, i.e., in the first mission to Cyprus, Parga, Pisidia, Antioch, Etonian,

and Lystra11; In a second mission to the provinces of Asia Minor, Macedonia, Thessalonica,

Berea, Corinth and Syria12; On his third mission to Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome and Malta

near the end of his life13. In these missional movements, the apostles were able to communicate

the gospel of Christ with people of different cultures and languages, so many believed in Jesus

Christ; The church was able to spread rapidly not only in Jerusalem, but throughout the world.

The biblical basis of Luke's cross-border mission was portraying the risen Jesus insisting that the

disciples must know to read the Old Testament scriptures both messianically and missiologically.

He repeatedly explained that the Messiah is the Christ, and that the priority of Jesus' ministry is

to reach all the nations, after the Jews. According to the covenant of law at Sinai, Israel is the

sole representative of God's kingdom in the world. However, on the day of Pentecost, the

promises of scriptures fulfilled and a new epoch began with the coming of the Holy Spirit into

the world. On the other hand, the rapid spread of the gospel of the kingdom of God in different

9
Acts 2:1-12
10
Acts 8:5-25; 8:26-39
11
Acts 13:1; 14:28
12
Acts 16:1; 12:40; 17:1-9; 17:10-15; 17:13-34; 17:15 -16, 17:19, 18:1-18
13
Acts 28:11; 30
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 8
cultures and languages is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the scriptures. This clearly showed

that during Peter's witnessing of the gospel, immediately following his testimony, the Holy Spirit

would confirm it by descending on people, doing signs and miracles (Wright, 2006, pp. 670).

Contextualization

Luke introduces us not only the concept of cross-cultural communication, but also to the way

God's word is communicated in different cultures, languages and changing situation. The

apostles, including the Jewish people, presented the word of God in all the places they went

outside of Jerusalem in a way that was factual to the hosted culture and language. As entry point,

Peter mentioned about the Messiah who would come from the line of David, about the covenant

of the fathers of Israel, about the fulfillment of the prophecies of Moses and other prophets of

Israel14 to the Jewish people and for the changed gentile the facts known by the Roman centurion

Cornelius and his family, that is, after John's baptism that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God for

the salvation of the whole world15; Similarly, Stephen told the Jews about the promise given to

Abraham and his descendants, the covenant of circumcision, Israel's prophets and Israel's

disobedience, etc. Besides, 16most of Paul's ministry was to the Gentiles, and most of the Old

Testament was preached and taught in synagogues and various Gentile cities in order to save

them17, as well as the understanding of the Jewish people, circumcising Timothy 18, the teaching

he gave about the word of God in Athens as the God you do not know, performing the

purification ceremony in Jerusalem19, preaching the gospel to women by the riverside20,

preaching the word of God repeatedly for years, teaching, debating, explaining, defending,

14
Acts 2:22-39; 3:12-16; 21-26
15
Acts 10:34-48; 11:1-18
16
Acts 6:8-15; 7:1-60
17
Acts 13:15-41
18
Acts 16:1-5
19
Acts 21:15-40
20
Acts 16:6-8
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 9
arguing, preventing false understanding, etc., that perhaps considered as the Pauline way of

impressing the message of the gospel of Christ on the heart of receivers. It is written that the

message was imprinted on the minds of the listeners 21. In his book of pneumatology, Karkkainen

(2002, pp. 114), asserts that mission should be culturally sensitive and context specific in

response to various needs and challenges as the Holy Spirit has poured out on all flesh. However,

although context pneumatology is pertinent in itself, liberation theology, which is a Western

legacy, that opposes the authority of the Bible from the beginning and views the Holy Spirit from

the questions of freedom and survival, should be viewed carefully (Tesfaye, 2023; pp. 9-10;

Davie et al., 2016, pp. 515-516).

Missional Partnership

Luke explains that the first Christians identified themselves as witnesses of God’s Kingdom and

missional community22. The church continues to grow rapidly. In the process, the apostles

understood that the evangelical movement that started in Jerusalem should rapidly reach the

whole world. Thus, they paid attention to missional partnership and finance to strengthen the

gospel movement. Regarding partnership and financial support, which was recognized by the

leadership of the apostles, Luke wrote to us that there is partnership that can be manifested in

persisted prayer, unity of heart, apostolic doctrines, breaking of bread and radical generosity 23.

Luke introduced two exemplary families for the success and at the same time for the fall of

partnership, Ananias’s family hypocrisy and Barnabas’s family faithfulness and commitment 24.

Although it is difficult to say that the death penalty was directly Peter's decision, it can be

understood that the punishment was for sacrilegious, tempting, and deceiving the Holy Spirit.

21
Acts 17:1-4; 18:11; 17:22-34; 18:4; 19:8-10
22
Acts 1:16; 2:1-4
23
Acts 2:42-46; 4:32-34
24
Acts 4:36-37 5:1-11
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 10
Further, Luke wrote that there was a growing sign of division in the church and later how Peter
25

solved the problem. Such unity and division existed in the history of the church. It is also evident

in our time. Bosch (2011, pp. 388-391), in his book transforming mission, after giving a clue on

the concept of missional partnership in Protestantism, he explained the success achieved by

Protestants and Catholics in creating their respective partnerships in international mission

service. The partnership in protestant thought, as Bosch presented, referred to the ecumenical

ideas that was a direct result of the various awakenings and subsequent involvement of churches

from the west in the worldwide ministry enterprises. However, by focusing on the ecclesiastical

understanding of Catholics and Protestants, that is, the Catholic Church is a body of one Christ,

and focusing on the universal nature of oneness; On the other hand, Protestants have worked

hard bay explaining the basic teachings of Christianity in the context of different cultures and

languages, but also by expanding the local churches within cultures and languages. This same

difference continues to be prominent in our time within the Protestant denomination itself. 

Brief Summary on Luke’s Pneumology

A brief survey in the books of Luke-Acts to know the understanding of Luke about the identity

and work of the Holy Spirit has been made. And, some of the understandings on the person and

the work of the Holy Spirit of Jesus’s apostles have summarized as follows.

The Person of the Holy Spirit

In Luke-Acts scriptures, he revealed that there is one God who exists in three persons; with

direct and indirect references, and one of the three divine persons is the Holy Spirit. One of the

direct references26 shows when Jesus was baptized by John; the Holy Spirit descending in the

form of a dove; and God said you are my beloved Son, I am well pleased with you. Moreover,

25
Acts 6:1-5
26
Luke 3:21-22
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 11
God made an oath that Christ would be the Messiah and raised Christ from the dead; Jesus was

the Messiah, that the Jews were crucified, died and raised up, exalted at the right hand of the

Father, God made him Lord and Christ, and; the Holy Spirit was the hope of the Father, that

Christ received from the Father and poured out on his apostles and believers, can directly explain

the doctrine of the Trinity27. On the other hand, among the verses that Luke recorded indirectly

about the Holy Spirit that can be explain in connection with the doctrine of the Trinity, including

the incarnation28, God's work of redeeming the world29, as a witness for God and Christ30, the

confirming the agreement between the Father and the Son31, the giving grace such as speaking in

tongues, prophesying, performing miracles, etc. to be a witness for Christ 32, who proclaims the

gospel of Christ in apostles 33, who invited Paul and Barnabas to be witnesses to the gospel of

Christ (Acts 13:2), the Holy Spirit as the guardian of God's church Christ redeemed with his

blood34. Luke also records the personification of Holy Spirit in various places. Among them are

those Holy Spirit who blaspheme, God's witness, who speak through the mouths of prophets and

apostles, Ananias and Sipra who were deceive and tempt him, those who resist 35. Further, Holy

Spirit that people receive36, who gives the grace37, who take away38, those who reveal their will39,

who separates and calls apostles40, together with the apostles decides and allows 41, who forbids

27
Acts 2:29-36
28
Luke 1:530
29
Luke 1:67-80፤ 3፡22-26፤ 4:17-19
30
Acts 5:32
31
Acts 11:12; 15:8
32
Acts 2:4; 19 :6
33
Acts 4:8፤ 6:10
34
Acts 20:28
35
Acts 12:10; 5:32; 1:6; 2:4; 2:11; 28:25; 5:3; 7:51
36
Acts 8:15
37
Acts 1:16
38
Acts 8:39
39
Acts 10:19
40
Acts 13:2
41
Acts 15:28-29
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 12
and allows , appoints bishops and who sends apostles . In his book of the doctrine of God,
42 43 44

Manunsell (1995), explained that the person of the Trinity shows that just as there is an, “I, You,

and Him” relationship between people, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in this kind of

relationship, show that there are three persons in one God's existence. Luke records such

interactions in several places.

The works of Holy Spirit

The Coming and Descending of the Holy Spirit

Luke records the coming and the descent of the Holy Spirit with related the feast of Pentecost, a

promise given by the God to all who believe in the name of Jesus, and Jesus as the bearer to

receive the Holy Spirit. The day of Pentecost, Jewish celebrates the first week after the Passover,

the harvest feast and the day when the Jews received the law of Sinai; Similarly, Christians

celebrates the day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit one week later the

resurrection45. According to Luke, the coming of the Holy Spirit is a promise from God based on

what Jesus and his apostles told the fathers of Israel at different times and that it was already

known by the law and the prophets46. The hope of the Father is not only for the Jews, but for all

the people of the world who enter and believe in the name of Jesus Christ, he wrote in different

places in connection with the ministry of the apostles47.

Baptizing by Holy Spirit

Luke wrote about that the Holy Spirit not only came and descended, but also the apostles and

disciples who believed in Christ Jesus baptized with Holy Spirit fire as promises of the Father 48.

42
Acts 16:6-9; 8:29
43
Acts 20:28
44
Acts 13:4
45
Acts 2:1-3
46
Acts 2:14-36; 4:25-30; 3:11-26; 13:16-41; 17:3-5
47
Acts 1:8; 2:39; 7:1-60; 8:5-25; 10; 9-48). 11:1-18; 13:46-48; 15:7-21; 22-29.
48
Acts 2:1-4
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 13
This happened because the Father's promise was fulfilled in Christ Jesus . Although the Holy
49

Spirit came into the world, those who received the hope were those who repented in the name of

Christ Jesus so that their sins would be forgiven 50, those who believed in Christ Jesus and

received water baptism in his name51. Luke repeatedly explains that believers, Christ's apostles

and disciples are primarily called to be witnesses for Christ and for this they must be baptized in

the Holy Spirit52. Although there is variation in some places, Luke shows the same pattern that

before the baptism of the Holy Spirit, repenting, believing in Christ Jesus, and performing water

baptism are done repeatedly by the apostles.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit

filling with the Holy Spirit is Just as a balloon filled with air and is driven by the wind, when the

Holy Spirit filled the life of the disciples, they were completely controlled and driven by the

Holy Spirit. Subsequently, they were not guided by their own thoughts, but by the Holy Spirit.

According to Luke records, Peter, John and other apostles who were filled with the Holy Spirit 53,

Stephen, Philip, and Paul, who was the apostle of Jesus 54, etc., and they were completely

transformed after being filled with the Holy Spirit. This explains that being filled with the Holy

Spirit is especially different from the life of Christ's apostles to be a witness to the gospel of

Christ. However, Luke relates it from various angles. Firstly, Luke relates the filling in Holy

spirit with receiving power and authority for witnessing the gospel of Christ. Before the Holy

Spirit filled, the apostles and disciples of Christ had problems with their understanding, courage

and ability to preach the word of God and to be witnesses to the gospel of Christ 55. However,
49
Acts 3:12-16; 2:14-36; 13:16-41
50
Acts 2:37-38; 3:19; 19:13-20; 20:21
51
(Acts 2:37-41; 3:18-26; 17-26 4:8-13; 8:12-13; 9:17-19; 10:47-48; 11:15-18; 20-24; 17 10-12;
18:7-8; 19:2-6)
52
Acts 1:4-8; 8:14-17; 9:17-18; 10:24-48; 11:1-18 19:1-6
53
Acts 2:1-4; 4:8-13; 31
54
Acts 9:10-19; 6:8-10; 8:5-8
55
Acts 11-26; 4:1-20; 6:8-15; 7:1-60; 8:5-25
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 14
while the filled with Holy Spirit started to proclaim the kingdom gospel boldly with signs and

miracles. Paul, who was given a high place in Luke's account, after being filled with the Holy

Spirit, served until his death, especially witnessing the word of God and the gospel of Christ to

the Gentiles. The second was seen as giving the gift of Holy Spirt to serve. The wisdom and

grace of witnessing, speaking, preaching, teaching, etc. the word of God openly and boldly 56, the

grace of being a prophet57, speaking in tongues and prophesying58, performing miracles and

signs59, the grace of knowledge60, deliverance from the bondage of demons, the grace of

discerning demons and false prophets 61

. Thirdly being filled with Holy Spirit mentioned in

relation to preparing the apostles and the church for suffering, persecution and sacrifice for the

sake of Christ. After the apostles and disciples were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit,

when they knew that they were witnesses of the gospel of Christ, what they immediately

followed was to accept prosecution and sacrifices for the gospel of Christ for those who were

called to be witnesses to suffering, persecution62.

The Personal Leadership of the Holy Spirit

The leadership of the Holy Spirit is different from what we have seen above in the head of being

filled with the Holy Spirit since Holy Spirit Himself led them as by giving personal guidance and

direction. This happened in some places when the Holy Spirit himself was considered as part of

the apostles and agreed with them63; When he disagreed and, in some cases, insists to change the

decisions of the apostles in different matters64, being a witness to the gospel of Christ together

56
Acts 4:13; 2:29; 4:29; 31; 28:31; 8:4; 25; 11:20; 26
57
Acts 11:27; 13:1; 15:32
58
Acts 2:1-5; 19:2-6
59
Acts 5:12; 15-16; 2:43; 4:16; 22; 7:36; 8:6; 14:3; 15:12
60
Acts 5:1-11
61
Acts 13:6- 12; 16:16-18; 17:16
62
Acts 5:41-42
63
Acts 8:26-40; 15:8; 28-29; 13:13-52; 15:28; 12:16-17; 23:11)
64
Acts 16:6-7; 20:22-23; 21:10-14
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 15
with the apostles , teaching, advising, informing, giving direction, consulting, etc. roles . After
65 66

the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter cast lots to choose apostles instead of Judas, but after the

coming of the Holy Spirit, they changed this practice and chose deacons under the guidance of

the Holy Spirit, for example in Chapter 6 67. It is clear that the apostles learned from the Holy

Spirit the art of division of labor by choosing other disciples to work diligently in prayer and

table service. In addition, the Holy Spirit is seen as an individual when he voluntarily calls,

separates, appoints and sends his apostles and disciples for service68.

The Relevance of Luke’s Pneumonology for Mission

As aware, this academic paper is aimed to clarify Luke's understanding of the Holy Spirit and its

well-intentioned contributions to the mission. To find out this, it was important to know about

how Luke was understood both the Christian mission and the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, we have

looked at the reason how Christ's apostles brought the gospel to the whole world in a short period

of time, especially the universal and inclusive nature of their mission, soteriological orientation,

high cross cultural communication dynamics, respectable contextualization and missionary

partnership are very crucial in doing so. From this anyone can appreciate Luke's missional

understanding for doctrine and practical consideration of New Testament missiology. Besides,

some writers argue that Luke's Understanding Mission has a missional advantage unlike any

other book of the New Testament. According to Bosch (2011, pp. 88-118), in his book of

transforming mission, asserts three important features of Luke's mission; i.e., 1) that mission is

the central point in his view, 2) he wrote the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles that yet the

gospel is the universal in Jesus’s ministry it is incomplete of its practicality. Realizing in the

book of Acts how Christ's ministry was fulfilled in an informative way of the universalism and
65
Acts 5 :32
66
Acts 5:1-11; 9:10-19; 19-20; 11:12-18; 27-30; 16:25-34; 18: 9-11
67
Acts 2:12-26; 6:1-6
68
Acts 13:2-3
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 16
inclusiveness of Jesus ministry for the contemporary Christians, and further 3) Luke's book was

not written for the Jewish people only, as Matthew did, but it was written for different

communities.

Luke's understanding of the Holy Spirit, like the other writers of the New Testament asserts that

the Holy Spirit is God and is one of the three members of the Trinity. In his book Systematic

Theology, Williams (1953, pp. 10-16) presented the scriptural proof of about the person of the

Holy Spirit and in association of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. In relation to this,

McGrath (2011, pp. 400-443), in his broad explanation of the biblical foundations and historical

developments of Trinity, asserted that the Holy Spirit is God himself who working in the world,

especially in the church of Christ. Besides, the understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit as

the third member of the Trinity is identical in both Pentecostal and normative Protestant theology

(Spellman, 2014, pp. 8). However, the main inquiry intended to reveal is to realize the relevance

of Luke's considerate of the Holy Spirit for mission. Regarding this, Hur (1998, pp. 109-112),

described that like other biblical narratives, the role of Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts is character

centered through which exabits as plot functionaries, and as autonomous or independent being

apart from the plot. With this explanation, he pointed out that since Holy Spirit is an autonomous

or independent being, is controls the total narratives of the plan of God work as the matrix of the

plot of Luke-Acts. The major narrative function of the Holy Spirit is to empower and guide

individual characters as God's human agents and Jesus' witnesses to seek and save God's people

in accordance with the plan of God, while the Spirit also functions as verifying group characters

as incorporated into God's people and is employed in relation to the life situations of believers in

settled communities by granting them charismatic gifts or comforting and encouraging them or

initiating forms of patriarchal leadership.

Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 17
According to Grudem (1994, pp. 648), the work of the Holy Spirit described in terms of the

manifestation of the active presence of God in the world, especially after the Jesus ascended into

heaven and continuing through the entire church age, the Holy Spirit is now the primary presence

of the Trinity in church of Christ. Therefore, it can be understood that the work of Holy Spirit, on

the one hand, is to bring God's entire work of redeeming the world to an end through

commissioning and empowering the churches of Christ and qualifying them for God's kingdom

work. On the other hand, the history of the church explains that there are different positions in

Christian theology about the Holy Spirit working in the church. Catholic and Orthodox have a

sacramental theology orientation, whereas reformed Protestant theologians tend toward non-

sacramental or more specifically Pentecostal theology (Spellman, 2014, pp. 11). Let's take a

general look at these two important views of pneumatology.

The word sacrament is not in the Bible. But according to Catholic and Orthodox Christian

tradition, its reading closely related to the word mystery in the New Testament (Davie et al.,

2016, pp. 826). According to McGrath (2011, pp. 826), Tertullian began to use sacrament with

the Bible's equivalent of the word mystery, and he also used the word sacrament in a plural

interpretation, in contradiction in which the New Testament presents as a singular sense with the

meaning of revealing God's saving plan of the fallen man through Jesus Christ. He also described

that, a sacrament theology is further developed by Augustine, who explains sacraments as sacred

signs that bridge the gap between God and the believer and are physical gates to spiritual

realities. Further, according to Mhango (2019, pp. 3), in contemporary theology of sacrament

Christ is held as the sacrament of God and the Church as a sacrament of Christ and baptism,

spiritual gifts and fruits are pneumatological foundations for sacraments of believers.

Furthermore, Emery (2011, pp. 21-22) described that, the Church proclaims God's secret word,

glorifies God, and becomes one with God. And, Through the Eucharist, believers have the access
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 18
to meet with the Bishop and God in Christ Jesus; with the most Holy Trinity being shares of the

divine nature.

Non-sacramental theological viewpoints have their own different viewpoints, but Pentecostal

hermeneutics are known for their focus on the activity of the Holy Spirit (Spellman, 2014, pp. 5).

In his journal of the role of the Holy Spirit in the theological interpretation of Scripture, the

Nebiyu (2020, pp. 1) states that Pentecostals understand that the Holy Spirit has a direct

involvement of the interpretation process through guiding, empowering and the community

forms roles. Thus, the spirit forms and shapes the interpretation community which amplifies the

Pentecostal conception of the community as the primary locus of interpretation. Based on the

narratives in the book of Acts (Wright 2006, pp. 670), Luke explains that the books of the Old

Testament were intended messianically and missionally. It is believed that Pentecostal

hermeneutics based on this is missionally oriented and reading from within Spirit-filled

experience (Keener (2016, pp. 67-68).

However, Christianity in the modern world may have different views on racial, cultural, and

linguistic differences (Niebuhr, 1951, pp. 45-218). Some Christian perceived culture against

Christianity and others trying to accommodate Christianity into culture. Besides, although most

of the Christian community values Christianity above culture, they differ in their stances

regarding the role that Christianity can have in different cultures and languages. Some say that

culture and Christianity are a synthesis of culture. Some have a paradoxical relationship to

cultural, and other worldly differences. Others think that Christianity redeems these differences

to the glory of God. Whereas Luke's book explains that one of the highlights of the work of the

Holy Spirit is God's amazing work of salvation in the diversity of human culture and language.

Sharing this idea (Spellman, 2014, pp. 3) explains, that the work of the Holy Spirit is to restore

the glory of God by redeeming the human race with different identities. Further, O’Loughlin
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 19
(2015, pp. 2) states, that in the unity of the Holy Spirit, the whole is more than the sum of the

pasts, but each element's distinctiveness and individuality as a creature is preserved.

Even though culture is twisted by human rebellion, it can thus be redeemed and transformed as

vehicles for the gospel (Bruggen, M. E., 2017, pp. 16-22). However, it will not be easy to

communicate the message of the Kingdom of God to developed cultures and groups and to make

them understand the message that the scriptures writers wanted to convey directly. According to

Luke, when it happens, the help of the Holy Spirit is critical. In the work of the apostles, after

speaking the founding words of Christ, the Holy Spirit confirmed the words by performing

miracles and signs. Pentecostal theologian also contemplate that the Holy Spirit works in a

special way in every age, as it did in the apostles, when the word of Christ is spoken (Kawalski,

2011, pp. 25). In his book the power of God and miracles (Gasser, 2014, pp. 264) provide an

explanation how the Holy Spirit calls those who hear the word to salvation when the good news

is preached. He described that every creature has a natural ability to respond to God's call to

salvation in different situations, so when signs and miracles are done by the power of the Holy

Spirit, this natural ability will be activated and become enough to respond to God's call to

salvation.

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Bosch, D. J. (2011). Transforming mission: Paradigm shifts in theology of mission. New York:
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Bruggen, M. E. (2017). Christ and Culture. A Paper Presented to Dr. Erie Lehneri: Verginia
Beach Theological Seminary. Verginia Beach, VA.
Luke’s Pneumatological Mission 20
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