DOGMATICS: DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Lecture # 1)

Introduction
August 11, 2023

Preliminary
[ John Owen, The Holy Spirit: His Gifts and Power: 20, 21 ] – “The doctrine of the Spirit of God is the second great article of
those gospel truths, in which the glory of God and the good of souls, are most eminently concerned; without the
knowledge of which in its truth, and the application of it in its power, the first will be altogether useless. For when God
designed the great and glorious work of recovering fallen man, and of saving sinners to the praise and glory of his grace,
he appointed in his infinite wisdom two great means thereof: The one was the giving of his Son for them; and the other
was the giving of his Spirit to them. And hereby a way was opened for the manifestation of the glory of the whole
blessed Trinity – which is the utmost end of all the works of God.”

The Son  for saving sinners

The Holy Spirit  to saved sinners

Place of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit for the Teacher

Polemical Concern:
1. Major errors today revolve on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit
 Depersonalization of the Holy Spirit by cults… e.g. belief that the Spirit is just a force/power, not Person
 Signs-and-wonders claim of the Charismatic movement… e.g. Spirit-power understood as miracle-gift
 Subjectivism among mainstream Evangelicals… e.g. ‘led by the Spirit’ as an inner prompting

2. Spirituality is a popular concept today – claimed even by those who make no religious profession
[ Newsweek, April 13, 1998 “The Holy Spirit: How It’s Reshaping Today’s Christianity” ] – “In its populist form,
American religion has always prized experience over doctrine. When Pentecostal Christians read the Bible, they
find the Holy Spirit in action everywhere – something modern theologians often miss… In that tradition, the way the
Holy Spirit continues to manifest His power is by repeating for others what He did for Jesus’ own apostles after
Christ rose from the dead and ascended to the Father.” (p. 42)
“(T)he Holy Spirit does not work through Christians alone… but when Christians reduce His secret work to personal
and ecstatic experiences, they ignore the vast and comprehensive scope of God’s action everywhere. The same
Spirit who inspired the apostles at Pentecost also enables Christians to discern God’s power at work in the good that
people of all religions (and none) may do.”
[ John Naisbitt & Patricia Aburdene, Megatrends 2000: 295 ] – “Spirituality, Yes. Organized Religion, No. But are
Americans ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’? If they are ‘religious,’ it is without belonging to a particular religion or church.
The evidence from a number of polls suggests the more correct term is ‘spiritual.’”
[ David Wells, Above All Earthly Pow’rs: 109f ] – “Beginning in the 1960’s, and blossoming in the 1970’s and 1980’s,
‘spirituality,’ for a significant number of people, came into its own and became preferable to ‘religion.’ The
distinction that quickly took root was that religion stood for organized belief in its public form. It stood for
participation in worship, support of the church or synagogue, and acceptance of its doctrines. Spirituality, by
contrast, has come to stand for what is private and internal. What this typically means is that those who are spiritual
accept no truth which is not experientially grounded.”

Teaching Goals:
1. Christ-glorifying dealings of the Spirit with believers
Key Text: John 16:13, 14 = when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth… He will glorify Me,
for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
Teaching: The Spirit’s work is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ through the apostolic testimony to the truth
Beware: There are rampant claims of direct experiences of the Spirit isolated from Christ and apostolic truth
[ J. Owen, 110 ] – “It is the Holy Spirit who supplies the bodily absence of Christ…. In and by him, (Christ) is
present with his disciples in their ministry and their assemblies. He so represents the Person and supplies the
bodily absence of Christ, that on his presence the being of the Church, the success of the ministry, and the
edification of the whole absolutely depend.”
Point: In the Church, the evidence that the Spirit is actively operative is that Jesus Christ is glorified…
Pastoral Implication: The church must be oriented to the glory of Jesus Christ through the proclamation of the Scriptures:
(neither tradition – ‘that is the way it has always been done’, nor popularity – ‘that is what people like’)
[ Michael Horton, In The Face of God: 158 ] – “One of the things we need in our day is a recovery of the biblical
doctrine of the Holy Spirit. This will amount to a revolutionary reacquaintance, but it is a necessary one. He
will disturb us all: contradicting those whose notions of human freedom place restrictions on the Spirit’s
sovereignty and freedom; unsettling the rest of us in our practical rejection of his freedom. The Holy Spirit is
active in the twentieth century – in fact, more active than we are used to thinking. He is at work through his
 preached Word and sacraments, and the more faithfully we dispense them, the greater the possibility for
genuine spiritual awakening.”
Doctrinal Premise: The Trinitarian orientation of the work of the Holy Spirit – always with the Father and the Son

2. The fruit of the Spirit in our personal character

Key Text: Galatians 5:22f = the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law
 The main contrast is between those who profess the law but governed by flesh, and those who are not under the law
but bear fruit of the Spirit – the law cannot be against the latter…
 This is one of the comprehensive presentations of the Christian’s character… The graces themselves are balanced
“Fruit” in the singular καρπὸς (karpos ) – [ A.W. Pink, The Holy Spirit: 173 ] – “emphasis is placed upon the unity
of His operations: producing one harmonious whole – in contrast from the products of the flesh which ever tend
to discord and chaos… These graces which the Spirit imparts to a renewed soul are distinguishable but they are
inseparable. In some believers one grace predominates more than another, yet all are present and to some extent
active.”
Beware: There is prevailing confusion on the concept of Christian growth
 The current emphasis today on the Spirit’s work is toward personal experience…
 The NT emphasis is not experience (never uniform), but character (same standard of Christ-likeness)
1 Cor 12:31 = But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
1 Cor 12 = gifts are diverse, and not meant for all; 1Cor 13 = love is a way that all must exercise
Point: On the personal level, the Spirit is operative where Spiritual character is formed
[ John Calvin, Institutes ] – “We have not a particle of vigor in us, but what we have received from the Holy Spirit,
who has chosen his residence in Christ, that those heavenly riches, which we so greatly need, may from him be
copiously distributed to us.” (II.xx.5)…
“Everyone’s advancement in piety is the secret work of the Spirit.” (III.xxiv.13)
Pastoral Implication: By example and preaching-teaching, our occupation is with the formation of godly character…
 In ourselves – Never belittle the persuasion of a godly character in the minister…
 In believers – Major on issues that address spiritual character in your pulpit discourses…
Doctrinal Premise: The definitive and progressive phases of sanctification by the Spirit

Preaching Pointer: Application to Christians must regularly touch on the distinct forms of the fruit of the Spirit

3. The powerful presence of the Spirit in our ministry

1 Cor 2:4, 5 =And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God
1 Thes 1:5, 6 = For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much
assurance… And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy
of the Holy Spirit [ in power and in the Holy Spirit define each other, not separate phenomena ]
Beware: The gospel, even when truth in substance, can be proclaimed in the power of flesh resulting in fleshly products

The Spirit’s power is rightly expected to be operative in the proclamation of the Gospel/Word

Pastoral Implication: Be a man of the Word and also a man of much prayer
[ James M. Boice, “A Better Way: The Power of the Word and Spirit” from Michael Horton (ed.), Power Religion:
134 ] – “The world does not understand this divine working, but it is nevertheless true that the most important
thing happening in the world at any given time is the preaching of the gospel. For there the Spirit of God is at
work. Those who do not have faith in the Word of God do not preach it. They find other sources of power,
even very noble substitutes. But those who do have that proper faith in the Word of God teach it, and it is by
that means that men and women are truly delivered from the bondage of sin and the power of Satan and are set
free spiritually.”

Doctrinal Premise: The powerful presence of God is identified with the Holy Spirit
[ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: 634 ] – “We may define the work of the Holy Spirit as follows: The work of
the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church. This
definition indicates that the Holy Spirit is the member of the Trinity whom the Scripture most often represents
as being present to do God’s work in the world… After Jesus ascended into heaven and continuing through the
entire church age, the Holy Spirit is now the primary manifestation of the presence of the Trinity among us. He
is the one who is most prominently present with us now.”