The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity includes the concept of God the Holy Spirit. This is alongside God, the Father, and God the Son. In the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, he is believed to perform specific divine roles in the life of the Christian of the church. A great area of confusion and disunity today is in the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Many believers refer to him as “It.” This is wrong as the Holy Spirit being part of the triune God, should be referred to as “Him” instead “It.” By referring to the Holy Spirit as “It,” Christians objectify him, which is wrong even before God’s eyes. In our today’s bible study session, we will justify the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit as a “Him” and not “It.”
To begin with, many passages in the Bible speak of the Holy Spirit in a way that specifies he has the same divine status as God the Father and God the Son. In the book of Mathew 28:19, which says, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Considering a person’s “name” in the bible texts and passages represents a person, the verse implies that the Holy Spirit has the same character and attributes of the Father and Son. If at all, we refer to God the Father and God the Son as persons, why should the Holy Spirit be referred to as ‘It’? The Bible clearly through Mathew teaches us Christians to acknowledge the Holy Spirit as a person and not an object. Furthermore, other passages in the New Testament carry a similar connection. Passages from books such as 1 Cor. 12: 4-6; Jude 20-21 and 1 Peter 1:2, amongst others. When Peter confronted Ananias with facts he had told a lie to the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts 5:3-4, he tells him, “you have not lied to men but lied to God.” Other passages show the divine attributes of God as omniscient and omnipresent. This teaches us Christians that the Holy spirit if Fully God as he shares the same attributes as God the Father and God the son.
The Holy Spirit should not be thought of as merely the presence of God or the power of God, but rather the same as God the Father and God the Son within the Holy Trinity. It is seen quite clearly during the baptism of Jesus Christ, where God speaks from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus from heaven in the form of a dove and rest upon him. This clearly shows that members of the Holy Trinity are doing something different, but significant at the same time. Furthermore, the Bible describes many personal activities of the Holy Spirit by referring to him as ‘He.’ The books of John14:26, “He teaches’, Rom 8:26 “ He prays to the Father on our behalf,” amongst others. Did the Bible refer to the Holy Spirit as ‘It …’? The Bible even further says that the Holy Spirit makes personal decisions on which spiritual gifts to distribute to different people in the book of 1 Cor. 12:11. Clearly, all these are activities of person and woe to anyone that objectifies the Holy Spirit by referring to him as “It.”
The works done by the Holy Spirit are incredibly beyond compare as he made a significant impact on Christianity today. One of the works of the Holy spirit that greatly impacted Christianity today is, inspiring the word of God. The Holy Spirit guided all the authors of the Bible so that what they wrote was not only their word but specifically God’s word. This message is evident in the New Testament passages. Was it not for this incredible work of the Holy Spirit, would we have Bibles today? The Holy Spirit also empowered the Gospel message. In the book of Acts 1:8, which says, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began speaking in tongues, speaking the word of God in boldness. In addition to that, through this act, Paul’s teaching resulted in the conversion of many Thessalonians.
Even to date, the Holy Spirit continues to work amongst us and our lives in various ways. Some of the ways the Holy Spirit works in our lives today include: sanctifying the believers to enable them to grow spiritually and be obedient to God, as Paul says in Rom. 8:13. The Bible tells us that if by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your body, you will live. In this case, the deeds of the body refer to our sinful ways and actions that are not righteous in the eyes of God. The Holy Spirit also guides us to the path of righteousness, as Paul says in the book of Rom.8:14, “all who are led by the spirit of god are sons of God.” This speaks of Christian believers as sons of God as the Holy Spirit guides us to the path of righteousness. The Holy Spirit also empowers gifts for churches and ministry. Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit before beginning his earthly ministry, and so it is today in our ordinary church life. It is the Holy Spirit who impacts the fruits and gifts in any believer. The most crucial role of the Holy Spirit in our lives today, which marks the most significant milestone is regenerating the sinners. No human has the power to impart a new spiritual life to other people, thus through baptism and being a born again Christian, the Holy Spirit imparts sinners spiritually sanctifies and washes away our sins. The Bible says those who are not born of water and Spirit cannot enter God’s kingdom. You must be born again. This, amongst others, are the incredible works the Holy Spirit keeps doing in our lives today. We should pray for his Guidance and that His Spirit descends upon us and leads us to the ways of righteousness.
We should ask ourselves,
- What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our life today?
- Reflect amongst yourselves,
- Do I need the Holy Spirit in my life?
- Is Death of Jesus enough? Or you need the interception of the Holy Spirit?
In conclusion, let us close with a word of prayer:
“God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives today, we pray the He may fill our hearts with flames of your love and send forth your Spirit upon us so that he may lead us to the path of righteousness, and it is trust and believing we pray. Amen”
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