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The Truth about Jesus and Pneumatology
Jesus and the Holy Spirit |
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By the Late Bishop Benjamin F. Reid |
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He who is promised in the Old Testament becomes reality in the New. The Holy Spirit breathes and blazes throughout the pages of the New Testament. As the initiator and energizer of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit meets us at every turn in the New Testament.
The Spirit and Mary
It is the Holy Spirit Who impregnates the young virgin Mary so that she becomes the earthly mother of Jesus. How fitting it is that the life-giving Holy Spirit becomes God’s agent for the conception of God’s only begotten Son. The angel reassures Joseph that Mary is virtuous and untouched and encourages Joseph to go ahead and marry Mary, “For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:20).
Luke bears witness to this special event by recording the angel’s message to Mary after he informs her that she is to bring forth a son named Jesus. Mary asks the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” The answer: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (1:35).
See now the Holy Spirit come upon the prophets and caused them to prophesy, that came upon kings, judges, and generals in the
Old Testament and enabled them to do impossible feats; the same Spirit of God now comes upon an obscure Jewish girl and enables her to become the mother of the only begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is so unique that the same Holy Spirit that was crucial in creation, that was active in Jewish history, that was to be essential in the creation of the Church, is now pivotal in the birth of Jesus Christ.
Luke also records another interesting involvement of the Holy Spirit at this point of history. When Mary goes to tell her cousin Elizabeth of the strange and wondrous act of the Holy Spirit in her life, the Spirit falls upon the pregnant mother of John the Baptist, and John, who is to be the forerunner of the Messiah, is filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Thus we see, according to God’s divine plan, it is the Holy Spirit Who “throws the switch” in the New Testament and energizes and implements the entire process of salvation through Jesus Christ.
John and the Holy Spirit
John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit, bursts upon the scene announcing the imminent kingdom and pointing out the “Lamb of God.” The nation is stirred by this strange, unlettered, yet powerful preacher who propels multitudes toward repentance. Once again we are made to see how the power of the Holy Spirit can enable ordinary human beings to accomplish extraordinary results.
Without a pulpit, choir, church organization, or evangelistic association, John, in the power of the Holy Spirit, shakes the nation and readies the people for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Emboldened and empowered by the Spirit, John proclaims, “I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16). John prophecies that Jesus will not only make atonement for our sins, but will baptize us and purify us with the Holy Spirit.
The Book of Acts makes abundantly clear that John’s prophecy came true, and church history shows repeated evidence of the truth of John’s prophetic statement.
Jesus’ Baptism
Not only is Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit, but at His baptism, the Holy Spirit visibly falls or descends upon Him in the bodily form of a dove. God demonstrates here that the Holy Spirit should fall upon every baptized believer in a definite and knowable way. Were nothing else said about it in Scripture, the experience and example of Jesus are enough to convince us that God the Father intends for His children not only to follow the example of Jesus and be baptized, but to receive, in a most profound and personal experience, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Cold-water, formal, liturgical, ceremonial religion is not sufficient. The Holy Spirit must come into the life—soul, body, mind, and spirit—of the believer, and this coming must be a definite and knowable experience.
Parenthetically, the experience of Jesus’ baptism also clearly illustrates the mystical truth about the tri-unity of God. Jesus, God in the flesh, the only begotten Son of God, is standing in the water. The Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, descends upon Jesus in the visible form of a dove. God the Father speaks from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
Here then is the blessed Trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in clear relationship—distinct in person and purpose, yet one in essence and nature. Although difficult to understand, God has chosen to reveal Himself through God’s Word as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; as Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier; as God for us, God with us, and God in us—“God in three per-sons, blessed trinity.”
The Daily Walk
After His baptism in water and subsequent receiving of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is continually led by the Spirit. Luke tells us that Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” Mark is even more decisive. He says, “The Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness” [Mark 1:12].
Thus the Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit performs a definite ministry of guidance in the life of the believer. The Spirit leads us—sometimes into unpleasant circumstances. The Spirit drives us, impels us, compels us, to walk God’s chosen path for us. The Christian walk is not one of aimlessness or wandering; it is a Spirit-led, Spirit-directed life. While in the wilderness, Jesus faces extreme temptation from the devil. We see warfare on the highest level—Satan against Christ—a contest of champions. But through the use of the spoken Word of God, Jesus overcomes Satan and comes out of the wilderness “in the power of the Spirit”! He enters the wilderness, led by the Spirit, is sustained, supported, and given God’s Word by the Spirit and when the battle is over comes out of the bitter contest in the power of the Spirit.
This is God’s pattern for all of us now. It is not God’s intention for us to be overwhelmed and defeated by Satan and his temptations; but if we are filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, we shall have victory in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to God’s people as our source of power and victory in our spiritual warfare.
Having resisted and overcome His adversary, the devil, Jesus returns to His hometown to announce His ministry. As was His custom, He goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and is handed a scroll, and from this scroll He announces His power, His plan, and His purpose. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me” (Luke 4:18).
He is ready to minister because He has divine presence, empowerment, and anointing. Once again, Jesus is showing to us God’s pattern—this time, for ministry. Jesus shows us that all ministry must be anointed by the Holy Spirit in order to be productive and effective. Our prototype preacher, Jesus, needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to proclaim the gospel effectively, set the prisoner free, give spiritual insight to the spiritually blind, bind up the broken in heart, and make the world aware that God’s time to work is now!
Here we are confronted by the active ministry of the Holy Spirit in the active ministry of Jesus—not coming upon the servant of God only on special occasions as happened in the Old Testament, but now the Spirit abides and continually anoints the God’s servant for service. The ministry of empowerment by the Holy Spirit is no longer spasmodic, but steady, not intermittently available to the servant of the Lord, but present at all times anointing the preacher, sensitizing the healer, empowering the liberator, and energizing the prophet.
As Jesus moves across Palestine, the Holy Spirit enables Him to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, open blinded eyes, and restore the crippled and lame to wholeness. The Holy Spirit is His source of power, and He performs miracles, resists the devil, imparts knowledge of God to the people, and opens up their understanding to God’s plan of redemption.
Jesus amazes His critics, outthinks the scribes and Pharisees who seek to discredit Him, and blesses the multitudes with His words of authority and hope. The Holy Spirit mightily anoints Him. So it was with Jesus and so it can be with us. God delights in anointing our ministries with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms our bland and ineffectual ministries by His power, and sermons begin to sizzle, words begin to impart insight and spiritual knowledge, ordinary hands become instruments of deliverance, and human beings perform miracles—all because of the wondrous anointing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had this anointing and so may we, so must we!
Jesus Teaches Us
Jesus not only demonstrated the power of the Holy Spirit in His personal life, but He also taught much truth about the Holy Spirit. He wanted us to understand the Holy Spirit as well as experience the Spirit. The church’s foundational teaching about the Holy Spirit must be based on the teaching of Jesus. Let us examine some of His teachings.
Jesus indicated that the Holy Spirit would not be temporary and intermittent in our lives—“The Holy Spirit shall abide with you forever” [John 14:16]. The unsaved cannot receive the Holy Spirit because they would not even recognize the Spirit, but God’s people will know the Spirit because “he will dwell with you and shall be in you” [John 14:17].
Jesus insisted that even though He would not be present in body to instruct, teach, and correct His disciples, we would not be without divine direction, since the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and bring to our remembrance all things that Jesus had said to us [John 14:26]. He reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and would testify and bear witness of the truth as it is in Jesus.
Jesus tells us that after His departure from the world, He would send to us the Holy Spirit, Who would be active in the world.
The Holy Spirit reproves the world of sin—the sin of rejecting Jesus as Savior. The Holy Spirit convicts this world of righteousness, since Jesus will no longer be on earth to show what true righteousness is. The Holy Spirit makes plain that Satan, the prince of this ungodly world, is already under divine judgment [John16:7-11].
All that we cannot understand about salvation and about God’s plans and purposes, Jesus declares that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us, since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit will also focus the church’s worship and adoration upon Jesus, for “he shall glorify me” [John 16:14]. The church must remember, even in this Pentecostal and Charismatic age, that the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit is Christocentric! The Holy Spirit focuses the church’s attention upon the Lord Jesus—not upon the gifts of the Spirit, the demonstration of the Spirit, or even upon the Spirit.
The Spirit is Christ’s agent, Whose primary task is to keep the church in blessed communion and union with the physically withdrawn and ascended Christ. The Holy Spirit is to reveal and make real the lordship of Christ and the life-transforming power of His salvation. This teaching of Jesus is often forgotten in our excitement about the unusual events that often accompany the phenomenal presence and activity of the Holy Spirit. But we must remember that the Holy Spirit works diligently, so that everyone will be brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit does not seek the spotlight but rather turns the spotlight on Jesus (John 14-18).
Jesus further taught that the Holy Spirit would be the source of life and refreshment to the believer. “He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living waters.’ . . . Now this He said about the Spirit” (John 7:38, 39). The spiritual dryness and barrenness of many believers in Christ is mute, but eloquent, witness of our need for the Spirit’s presence, refreshment, and renewal.
Power through the indwelling Spirit was also taught by Jesus. He forbade the disciples to go out on their mission of world-wide witnessing until they received the power of the Spirit. He told them to stay put in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit clothed them with power. No sermons were to be preached, no congregations started, no home or foreign missions begun, no colleges or seminaries started, no church programs initiated or ministries launched until they received power from on high.
“You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you” was His promise [Acts 1:8]. Then and only then was the task of witnessing for Jesus at home and abroad to begin. Jesus taught, and we must believe, that the church, with all its programs, proposals, and personnel, is weak, helpless, and spiritually ineffective without the Holy Spirit.
Without the Holy Spirit the church is form without fervor, liturgy without life, and mechanics without dynamics. Jesus taught, and the Book of Acts confirms, that the church in the power of the Holy Spirit is an irresistible force in a wicked world. After His resurrection and ascension, He gathered His disciples together, breathed on them (actually gave them His blessing), and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” [John 20:22]. That promise and procedure is needed today. Holy Spirit Baptism
Although many solid evangelical Christians deny the necessity for a baptism of the Holy Spirit after conversion, this seems to be God’s pattern in the New Testament church. In Samaria [Acts 8], at Cornelius’s household (Acts 10) and in Ephesus (Acts 19), the mighty filling with the Holy Spirit seems to take place subsequent to, after, and in addition to their conversion. The New Testament seems to teach that after a person receives Jesus Christ as Savior, that person needs to receive the Holy Spirit as sanctifier and empowerer.
What did all this mean in the New Testament church? The Holy Spirit totally fulfilled the promise of Jesus in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power with the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” We must conclude, therefore, that if the Christian church in this age of abounding wickedness is to bear witness effectively of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ we must experience on every level of ministry the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. Glory to the Spirit!
John R. Rice on Baptism with the Holy Spirit
If Jesus had meant that the Holy Spirit would, at Pentecost, baptize them into the body of Christ, He could have said so. But He did not say so. In fact, these disciples were already saved, and were already in the body of Christ . . . members of that “general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven” (Heb. 12:23). To confuse Acts 1:5 with 1 Corinthians 12:13 as if they were talking about the same thing shows lack of careful scholarship and investigation. Jesus did not mean that these disciples would be put into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, baptized into that body, buried or submerged into that body and made a part of it. . . . At Pentecost they were to be buried or submerged or covered in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit from God.
What does the term, “baptized with the Holy Ghost,” mean? What does baptism mean? It means an immersion, a burial, the submerging of an object . . . . baptism simply means that an object is submerged or covered or buried or overwhelmed in some element. Jesus was overwhelmed with sufferings, and He referred to it as a baptism (Luke 12:50). So . . . Jesus made it into a figure of what would happen when the Holy Spirit should come upon the disciples at Pentecost. He said that they would be overwhelmed, buried, covered, submerged in the Holy Spirit, or “baptized with the Holy Ghost.” From The Power of Pentecost, pp 148-153
Spirit Holy By Charles W. Naylor
Spirit Holy in me dwelling, Ever work as Thou shalt choose; All my ransomed pow’rs and talents For Thy purpose Thou shalt use.
O how sweet is Thy abiding! O how tender is the love Thou dost shed abroad within me from the Father-heart above!
Thou hast cleansed be for Thy temple, Garnished with Thy graces rare; All my soul Thou art enriching By Thy fullness dwelling there.
In me now reveal Thy glory, Let Thy might be ever shone; Keep me from the world’s defilement, sacred for Thyself alone.
Spirit Holy, Spirit Holy, All my being now possess; Lead me, rule me, work within me, Through my life Thy will express.
--Hymn No. 89, Reformation Glory (Gospel Trumpet Co., 1923)
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