For Further Reading: D'Arcy, The Meaning and Matter of History; Lee and Beck, "The Meaning of Historicism," American Historical Review, 59 (1953-54): 568-77; Maier, "Historicism," Sacramentum Mundi, 3:29-31; Harvey, A Handbook of Theological Terms, 119; Ramm, A Handbook of Contemporary Theology, 59.
Harold E. Raser
HISTORY OF RELIGION. See comparative religion.
HISTORY, PRIMAL. See primal history.
HOLINESS. When God began to reveal himself to Israel, one of His problems was language. Man's speech was as fallen as man himself. To reveal himself, God had to redeem man's words. Nowhere is that story more obvious than in the development of a biblical vocabulary for holiness.
Every culture differentiates the sacred from the secular and has terminology to make that distinction. Canaan already had such terms when Israel adopted its language. The problem was that what was holy to the Canaanite was abominable to Jehovah. In Canaan the temple prostitute was a holy woman and the homosexual priest was a holy man (cf. Gen. 38:21-23; Deut. 23:17-18). The result of this is that the adjective "holy" is not found in the English translation of the Book of Genesis. The words for the holy had to be filled with new content before they were usable. That process begins in Exod. 3:5 and continues throughout the Pentateuch. Only Jehovah and that which is associated with Him is to merit that description.
The writers of the NT had a similar problem. Five terms were available: hieros, hosios, semnos, hagios, hagnos. All, though, had associations with the pagan gods, their temples, or their services. The writers of the Septuagint, in seeking an equivalent for the OT kadosh, chose hagios. This was the least used of the five terms in Greek literature. It never occurs in Homer, Hesiod, or the Tragedians. It is not used in the Greek literature
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in reference to gods or man. It was the least familiar and the least corrupted. This term was related in the Septuagint to Jehovah and used to describe His essential nature. The writers of the NT take this term as the primary NT word for "holy." From it a family of terms developed which do not occur in classical Greek. Thus the unique character of the holiness of Jehovah found vocabulary to express itself.
The above illustrates the thrust of this article. Our understanding of God's holiness must not be determined by our language and concepts. He alone is holy in himself. All holiness finds its origin in Him. He must determine the content of the words that uniquely describe Him.
The process of defining kadosh and hagios begins with Exod. 3:5. The ground on which Moses stands is holy because Jehovah is there. Holiness is inseparably related to His presence. After this many things and persons are called holy in the OT. The land, Jerusalem, the Temple site, the Temple itself, its precincts, the vessels used in its service, the persons who minister there, and the sacrifices that are properly devoted to Jehovah are all called holy.
Such holiness comes only by association with the presence of Jehovah and is an imparted holiness. Where He is, His presence sanctifies or judges. Without His presence, all is profane. Where His presence is welcomed, His holiness is imparted. Where His presence is rejected, His holiness inexorably brings judgment. Certain phrases found especially in Leviticus as sanctions to the law are used synonymously and interchangeably and express this identification of Jehovah and sanctification. "I am Jehovah," "I am holy," "I am Jehovah who sanctifies you," "I am Jehovah your God, who sets you apart" (cf. Lev. 19:1, 4,10, 12; 20:7, 24, 26; 21:8,12,15, 23, et al.; free translation).
Holiness is not to be treated as simply another of the attributes of God. If thought of as an attribute, it must be seen as the attribute of attributes, the essence of God's character which determines the nature of His attributes. It is the outshining of the goodness of the Living God.
God's holiness speaks of His difference from His creatures in terms of His transcendence, majesty, moral and ethical perfection, and sovereign love. When confronted by God's holiness, man is smitten by a consciousness of his creatureliness and of his sin. His proper response is awe, reverence, fear, and guilt (cf. Exod. 20:18-19; Isa. 6:5-7; Luke 5:8; Rev. 1:17). For man this divine holiness is both attractive and repelling (cf. Ps. 96:9; 99:1-3, 9; et al). To the man who will not be separated from his sin, it is destruction (Exodus 32 and Num. 11:1-3).
The holiness of God is always moral and ethical. It is always related to God's love. The Decalogue is an expression of this, given to a people whom God has lovingly redeemed (Exod. 20:2). He seeks them for His own, but the same holy love that seeks and redeems demands that they be like Him. Fellowship with the Holy One must and can only be on the basis of holiness. Thus His love and His wrath are never to be separated. Both are inevitable expressions of His holiness.
It is His holiness that in love necessitated the Cross. It is His holiness that likewise necessitates the ultimate separation of the holy and the unholy (Rev. 22:11, 15). A holy God must either save or judge. Man, a moral being, must in his freedom determine which it will be.
The purpose then of the Incarnation and the Atonement must be seen in these terms. Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus suffered without the city, rejected by sinful man, so that unholy men could be made holy and could live in an eternal fellowship with a holy God (12:2; 13:12). This makes the word in 12:14, which affirms the necessity of holiness for ultimate salvation, comprehensible and establishes the prayer of Paul in 1 Thess. 5:23 for entire sanctification as an appropriate prayer for all who would be saved.
A significant change occurs in the use of the term "holy" in the NT. Whereas the thrust of the OT is to establish the holiness of Jehovah, the NT speaks relatively little of this. It is assumed. Now the emphasis is upon Jesus being "the Holy One" (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; Acts 3:14; cf. John 6:69) and upon the holiness of the Spirit (the ever-present adjective "holy"). The Trinitarian implications of this are obvious. But the NT from Acts on uses the plural adjective hagioi consistently for the believers who made up the Early Church. Thus the term primarily reserved for Jehovah in the OT has now become clear enough and stable enough in meaning that it can be used of the Christian believer. As such it speaks of God's will for every believer (1 Thess. 4:3-7), God's provision for every believer (Col. 1:22), and God's requirement for every believer (Rev. 22:11). The God who is holy love has now provided through the atonement of the Holy One, Jesus, and through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the possibility of likeness unto Him who alone is holy in himself.
See SANCTIFICATION, CONSECRATE (CONSECRATION), ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, HEART PURITY, ATTRIBUTES (DIVINE), SINNING RELIGION, WESLEYAN SYNTHESIS, RELATIONAL THEOLOGY.
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For Further Reading: Cremer, Lexicon; Kittel,
1:88-115; Brunner, The Christian Doctrine of God,
157-74. Dennis F. Kinlaw
HOLINESS MOVEMENT, THE. A term currently used to identify those individuals, denominations, and other religious institutions in the Wesleyan tradition which emphasize a second, distinct experience of evangelical faith subsequent to regeneration by which the Christian believer is filled with the Holy Spirit and entirely sanctified. This modern movement evolved out of the mainstream of a revival of Christian holiness which originated in America in the late 1830s in both Calvinistic and Methodist churches. Both the early Methodist revival, under the leadership of laypersons Walter and Phoebe Palmer, and the early Oberlin revival, under the leadership of Charles Finney and Asa Mahan, represented a concern for a quality of Christian life more stable and deep than that which had commonly issued from the Second Great Awakening, which had swept through the churches in the first three decades of the century.
The spiritual force of the movement was expressed by utilizing the dynamic directness of American revivalistic methods to call the churches to the higher Christian life which John Wesley and his Methodists had contended was both biblically commanded and experientially confirmed. Such intense promotion of "second blessing holiness" produced a distinctively American pattern of Wesleyan holiness teaching. Nevertheless, the movement has consistently contended for its loyalty to Wesley against those who see in its history varying doctrinal emphases from those of the founder of Methodism himself.
By mid-century, the movement had rallied support from such diverse advocates as: Congre-gationalist T. C. Upham, professor of moral theology at Bowdoin College; Presbyterian W. E. Boardman, author of The Higher Christian Life (1859); Baptist A. B. Earle, well-known deeper-life evangelist; and British Methodist William Arthur, author of the influential work of the new age of the Spirit, The Tongue of Fire.
The establishment of the National Camp-meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness at Vineland, N.J., in 1867, marked a new phase in the movement's development. John In-skip and the other Methodist ministers of the NCAPH assumed a leadership role in the revival which they maintained for a quarter of a century. By 1875, holiness adherents had come very close to their goal of reforming Methodism under a holiness church pattern. At the same time, large national camp meetings and the numerous state and local associations extended Wesleyan doctrines into most evangelical denominations. There were converts among Quakers, Men-nonites, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Episcopalians.
Through the lay evangelism of Quakers Robert Pearsall and Hannah Whitall Smith (author of The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, 1870), the evangelical communities of Britain and the Continent were indelibly imprinted with the "higher Christian life" message. The British Keswick Convention, a Calvinistic holiness movement, largely among evangelical Anglicans; the German Heiligungsbewegung, a holiness movement mostly among Lutheran and Reformed Pietistic groups; and the more Methodist-oriented English holiness denominations, among them the Salvation Army, resulted from this European phase of the revival. Through such missionary leaders as Methodist Bishop William Taylor and Hudson Taylor, the revival touched all the major mission fields of the world.
By the end of the 19th century the success of the movement, both within the established churches and among unchurched people, led to growing pressures for the organization of distinctively holiness churches. In spite of efforts among leaders to discourage such separatist tendencies, many of the adherents left or were forced out of the established churches. A large number of Methodists and lesser numbers from many other evangelical churches joined non-churched holiness converts to form what now are known as "the holiness churches." New denominations such as the Church of the Nazarene, the Pilgrim Holiness church, and the Church of God (Anderson, Ind.), took their place as American churches alongside of the Wesleyan Methodist and Free Methodist churches, two older holiness groups who had separated from Methodism in 1843 and 1860 respectively. From its earliest introduction into America, the Salvation Army also closely identified with the movement. Many Christian and Missionary Alliance churches were born out of the same milieu. Other than the Church of God (Anderson) and the Christian and Missionary Alliance, all the above churches (some through subsequent mergers) became members of the Christian Holiness Association (successor to the National Holiness Association).
Numerous holiness adherents, particularly in Methodism, did not leave the larger churches but maintained continuing loyalties to the movement through independent agencies such as NHA
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camp meetings. These people have provided the traditional supporting constituency for such institutions as Asbury College, Asbury Theological Seminary, Taylor University, Vennard College, Western Evangelical Seminary, and such missionary societies as the OMS International and the World Gospel Mission. Worldwide membership in holiness bodies approximates 1.75 million, with over 1 million of these in the United States and Canada. More than 50 educational institutions are maintained. More than 1,000 camp meetings are still held annually. By their denial of the sign of glossolalia, these bodies distinguish themselves from Pentecostal churches, many of whom also were born out of the 19th-century holiness revival and may even maintain Wesleyan perfectionism.
Since the end of World War II, there have been a series of small defections from each of the major holiness churches. In the main these represented expressions of discontent in conservative sectors of the holiness denominations as increased growth and a more favorable response to contemporary culture brought changes in traditional holiness life-styles. Many of these new holiness bodies gather together under the aegis of the International Holiness Convention, a more conservative counterpart of the Christian Holiness Association.
See WESLEYANISM, PENTECOSTALISM, KESWICK (KES-WICKIANISM), HOLINESS.
For Further Reading: Dayton, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage; Dieter, The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century; Jones, A Guide to the Study of the Holiness Movement; Perfectionist Persuasion; Rose, A Theology of Christian Experience; Smith, Revivalism and Social Reform; denominational histories, e.g., Smith, Called unto Holiness (Church of the Nazarene).
Melvin Easterday Dieter
HOLY COMMUNION. This term is used interchangeably with the Lord's Supper and the Eucharist. Communion is from the Greek word koinonia, which means "sharing," "fellowship," "communion," "partnership," "participation," the latter being the nearest equivalent in English. The other term eucharist means "giving of thanks," and stresses the note of "celebration" so favored in contemporary Christian circles. Both terms are rooted in Pauline usage and in that of the Gospels. As reported in the Synoptic Gospels, it was at the last Passover meal with His disciples that Jesus invested the bread and wine with emblematic meaning respecting His body and His blood. The Fourth Gospel does not say that this occurred at the time He washed the feet of His disciples, but in the discussion at Capernaum (John 6:25-65) Jesus asked His audience to recognize that His body and blood typified divine life that He alone could impart.
What in NT times served as a "memorial" of His death (1 Cor. 11:26), and a foretaste of "the marriage supper of the Lamb" (cf. Matt. 26:29; Luke 22:18; Rev. 19:9), came, in the course of Christian history, to be construed as the "Mass," the partaking of which resulted in the "infusion" of divine grace. In Roman Catholicism the Mass is perceived as a sacrifice each time it is enacted, rather than as an expression of gratitude for the one sacrifice once offered for sin by our High Priest himself (Heb. 9:26).
The words "This is my body" and "This is my blood" have led Roman Catholics to believe that modern bread and wine, duly consecrated, miraculously become, in their substance, the actual body and blood of Jesus. This is called transub-stantiation. Luther, concerned to be literal but less dogmatic, insisted on the actual presence of Christ in, with, and under the elements. This is called consubstantiation. Calvinists and Arminians think of the Supper as a memorial and emphasize Christ's spiritual presence, ask communicants to come forward to receive Holy Communion from the celebrant. Evangelicals in that tradition (Methodists and those influenced by them) came to link renewal at Holy Communion with an "altar service" at which penitents publicly confess spiritual needs and seek direct divine intervention.
Central in all observances is the blood of Christ representing His life surrendered in death. The "blood" of Communion signifies that "Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrified" for us (1 Cor. 5:7, rsv).
This sacrament, with few exceptions, is celebrated by Christians of all nations and languages, under all sorts of conditions. It is an act by which we affirm our faith in Christ.
See CONSUBSTANTIATION, TRANSUBSTANTIATION, SACRAMENTS, HOLY WEEK, EUCHARIST.
For Further Reading: Higgins, The Lord's Supper in the NT; Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus; Lietzmann, Mass and Lord's Supper, Barclay, The Lord's Supper.
George Allen Turner
HOLY OF HOLIES. When the Hebrew Tabernacle's floor plan and specifications were given to Moses (Exodus 25—27; 30—31; 35—40), it was stipulated that at the center of the layout was to be the sanctuary of Yahweh. This holy of holies was to be known as the dwelling place of God where He would meet with His people and commune with them (Exod. 25:22).
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This innermost sanctuary was separated from the holy place by a curtain which also served as its only access. The dimensions of the holy of holies made it cubed shaped (10 cubits or 15 feet in the Tabernacle and 20 cubits or 30 feet in the Temple).
In the Tabernacle and in the first Temple the principal furnishing was the ark of the covenant (Exod. 25:16) over which was positioned the mercy seat (v. 21). Two cherubim replicas watched over the ark, one being stationed at either end (v. 20). The ark was commonly called "the ark of the testimony" (w. 21-22), since it contained the Decalogue (Deut. 10:5), Aaron's rod (Heb. 9:4), and a portion of manna (Exod. 16:32-34). These significant objects gave testimony to Yahweh's steadfast love for His people.
Aaron, the first of the high priests, entered the holy of holies only once a year on the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). Completely clothed in white linen, he passed beyond the curtain into this most sacred of sanctuaries. In his hands he carried an offering bowl containing the blood of the atonement which he was to sprinkle with his finger upon the mercy seat. Surrounding him was a cloud of incense that arose from the censer. At this point in history this was Yahweh's designated procedure in providing an atonement for the sins of His people.
Before the first Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C., it had been ransacked on several occasions. Sometime during this tumultuous period the ark passed from the scene of history. The holy of holies in the second Temple (commonly called Ze-rubbabel's Temple) was evidently devoid of furnishings. This was also true of Herod's Temple (Zerubbabel's Temple rebuilt). Could it be that this Temple which stood in the days of Jesus Christ had an unoccupied holy of holies in order that Jesus, himself, might possess it?
The holy of holies is not mentioned in the NT until the time of Christ's death. Then the Synoptics report the rending of the curtain when Christ died, signifying that the way into the holiest of all was now open (cf. Heb. 10:19 ff). It is Jesus Christ who fulfills all the Tabernacle symbolism. He is our Sanctuary, our High Priest, our Altar, and our everlasting Sacrifice.
See temple, sacrifice, mosaic law, atonement, type (typology), high priesthood of christ.
For Further Reading: Kiene, The Tabernacle of God in
the Wilderness of Sinai, 133-53; Strong, The Tabernacle of
Israel in the Desert. ROBERT A. MATTKE
HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, is the Executor of the Godhead through whom all that God does in the world is done. He is God in action, especially, although not exclusively, in carrying to fulfillment His redemptive purpose. The name is not descriptive, inasmuch as the Holy Spirit is not spirit in some sense other than the Father and Son are spirit. Thus, He has been termed God the Servant or the Helper, a concept in keeping with Jesus' teaching concerning Him as the Paraclete.
The Holy Spirit mediates to men the glorified Christ, continues Christ's work in the world, creates and vitalizes the Church, administers salvation, intercedes for men, and inspires, preserves (within the canon), and illuminates the Scriptures. He is God-close-at-hand, God universally present (Ps. 139:7). By the Spirit as well as the Son we have access to God (Eph. 2:18), and He is the essence of all God's good gifts to us (Luke 11:13).
Without the Spirit the Christian faith would be mere historicism without credentials, and Christian worship would be no better than ceremonialism or magic. The Spirit makes Christianity morally pungent, personally real, and gives it life-changing power. Even so, His work is not limited to salvation or the Church. Wherever in creation God is at work in providential control or care, in conscience or moral concerns, wherever there are works of mercy, the discovery or exploration of truth and beauty, there the Spirit is in action (Acts 17:28; Rom. 2:15; 9:1; 13:4).
The distinctive and full revelation of the Holy Spirit as a person is found in the NT where the term is used 93 times. In comparison, "Holy Spirit" occurs only 3 times in the OT (Ps. 51:11; Isa. 63:10-11), although other names for Him occur.
The OT emphasis is practical, expressing activity without definition of being. The biblical words for Spirit (Heb. ruach, Gr. pneuma) can be translated "breath," "wind," "storm," as well as "life" or "vitality." Ruach signifies not quiet breath but strong, even violent motion. The Spirit of the Lord is the mysterious, irresistible power of God, the mode of His activity, God's dynamic presence in creation, and also the animating principle in man. Even so, man is not represented as His mere instrument, but as a voluntary servant or co-worker with the Spirit.
Although a moral significance is not absent in the ministry of the Spirit in the OT, it is, in the main, the enduement of chosen persons here and there with special spiritual, intellectual, and physical gifts, usually for leadership. This was signified by the anointing of kings with oil. Joseph is given wisdom (Gen. 41:38), and Bezalel
artistry and craftsmanship (Exod. 31:3). The Spirit "came upon" or "clothed," sometimes "rushed upon," certain leaders, gifting them for various exploits (Judg. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6; 1 Sam. 11:6; 16:13, nasb marg.). From Saul the Spirit also "departed" (v. 14) because of disobedience.
The primary OT revelation of the Spirit presents Him as the Inspirer of the prophets, through whom God spoke. Micah is "filled" with the Spirit of the Lord to make known God's will (3:8, cf. Ezek. 11:5 and Zech. 7:12). The ideal fulfillment of this ministry is to come in the future in the Messiah (Isa. 11:1-2, 42, the first of the "Servant Songs"; and chap. 61).
With Isaiah, the peculiar work of the Spirit, which is to sanctify, comes more distinctly into view. The outpoured Spirit will work righteousness, justice, and confidence (32:15-17). The Spirit represents God's personal, redemptive presence (63:10-14).
In the prophets a future "age of the Spirit" is forseen when not to the few, but to all the people, the Spirit will be given (Isa. 32:15; 44:3; 59:21; Ezek. 36:27; Joel 2:28-29; Zech. 12:10). Such a grand design had been envisioned by Moses (Num. 11:29). In the fullness of time John the Baptist announced that the age of the Spirit was at hand, to be inaugurated by Jesus Christ (Matt. 3:11; John 1:32-34).
In the NT the Holy Spirit is revealed first in a twofold relationship with Jesus Christ. On the one hand, especially in the Synoptics, the Spirit is the energizing and controlling principle of Jesus' life and ministry. Jesus is the Bearer of the Spirit. On the other hand Jesus is the Giver or Sender of the Holy Spirit to the Church (Luke 24:49; John 15:26; 16:7).
In the first relationship Jesus is conceived by the Spirit, anointed with the Spirit at His baptism, and throughout His ministry inspired, empowered, and given authority by the Spirit (Mark 1:12; Matt. 12:28; Luke 10:21). The Spirit enabled His vicarious death (Heb. 9:14) and was the ground of His resurrection (Rom. 8:11). The completeness and permanence of Jesus' relationship with the Spirit is stressed by John (cf. John 1:33; 3:34). Jesus himself announced that in Him the promise of the Spirit was fulfilled (Luke 4:17-21; cf. Matt. 12:18). Thus, in Jesus' humanity, by His union with the Father through the Spirit, there is revealed that perfect fellowship between God and man which is at the heart of redemption.
In the second aspect of His relationship with the Spirit, Jesus, now glorified and exalted to the right hand of the Father, pours out on His disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a gift which awaited the completion of His redemptive work (John 7:39). Jesus is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 11:15-17). In Jesus Christ, the "last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45), is demonstrated the goal and purpose of the Spirit's work upon mankind. Thus, from, and because of, the One in whom the promise is realized, the Spirit's blessings are graciously extended to the many whom He represents (John 16:7; Acts 2:33; cf. Rom. 5:5, 15-19). The gift is now the privilege of all "in Christ." In believers, the special work of the Spirit is their renewal in the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:17-18). An intimate relationship with God through the Spirit has been opened wide. This event (Pentecost) is the vitalization of the Church as an organic union of believers, and as the Body of Christ with Christ as the Head.
Furthermore, the NT interrelates the work of the Spirit with that of the glorified Christ. To be "in Christ" has the same import as to be "in the Spirit." John represents the receiving of the Spirit as being the impartation of the very life of Christ (20:22). In Revelation 2 and 3 the words of the glorified Christ are "what the Spirit is saying to the churches" (tlb). The Spirit is "the Spirit of Christ" (Rom. 8:9-11; cf. Eph. 3:16). The ministry of the Spirit is Christocentric (1 John 3:24). As the Son makes known the Father, so it is the Spirit's work to reveal the Son (John 16:13-14).
The Spirit at work in believers is seen also by Paul as the "pledge," a "firstfruits," or kind of first instalment of the completion of redemption at the resurrection of the body (Rom. 8:23; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14).
The Spirit is the mode in which Christ exercises His Headship over the Church. More than resident, the Spirit is President (Acts 15:28). The Church derives its missionary impetus, equipment, authority, and ability for mission from the empowering Spirit (Acts 1:4-8; Gal. 3:5; Phil. 1:19). The Spirit administers necessary gifts (the charismata) for service to each member of the Church, in proper proportion, and according to His choice (1 Cor. 12:4-31). The Body of Christ is strengthened, guided, and filled with joy by the Spirit (Acts 9:31; 13:2-4, 52). The Spirit preserves the Church's unity (Eph. 4:3), creates and hallows its fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14), and makes real its worship (Phil. 3:3). The Church's ministry, sacraments, preaching, teaching, and evangelism are made effective by the Spirit (Acts 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:12; Rev. 22:17). The Church is God's house-
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hold, building, and dwelling place through the Spirit (Eph. 2:18-22).
The ministry of the Spirit of Truth within the Church of Jesus Christ as the Conservator and Guarantor of orthodoxy deserves a special word. The Spirit witnesses inwardly to the truth. The Protestant doctrine is technically known as the testimonium Spiritus Sancti. The Spirit's subjective, dynamic, and unhindered work in believers (vital Christian experience) is the only final safeguard against the encroachment of false authorities such as tradition (churchly authority) or biblicism (a merely intellectual and legal use of Scripture). The testimonium Spiritus Sancti reconciles reason and revelation, and points to Christ the Eternal Word, who is Lord of both Scripture and inward experience (1 Cor. 2:10-12,14; 2 Cor. 3:6, 14-17; cf. Luke 24:27, 32).
Protestants generally have placed more stress on the Spirit's individual rather than corporate ministry. The revelation of God to the soul is the Spirit's work (1 Cor. 12:13; 1 John 4:2). The Spirit convicts sinners, leads to repentance, points to Christ as the Object of faith, is the Source of the believer's new life through regeneration (John 3:5; Titus 3:5), and adopts the believer into God's family (Rom. 8:14-16). The particular work of the Spirit in the believer is sanctification (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Thess. 4:3-8; 1 Pet. 1:2). He delivers from sin (Rom. 8:2) and gives liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). The NT norm (not special privilege) for believers is to be "filled with the Spirit," and this becomes the hallmark and secret of their ministries (Acts 4:8, 31).
The Spirit brings inward certainty and assurance of right relationship with God (Rom. 8:16). He seals, that is, signifies God's ownership and protection of those who belong to Him (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). The Spirit works for inward righteousness (Rom. 14:17) and produces spiritual fruit as the normal result of His unhindered ministry in believers: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). He helps in our infirmities and in prayer (Rom. 8:26; Jude 20), supplies courage (Acts 4:31) and strength in testing (Eph. 3:16), and makes spiritual discipline effective (Rom. 8:13).
Christians are to "walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16), a carefully maintained relationship. The Spirit's work is noncoercive, moral, and personal. He never suppresses or overwhelms true selfhood, but rather liberates and enriches the human self. Believers are not to grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30) or dampen His work (1 Thess. 5:19). Each is a temple to be "indwelt" by the Spirit (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19), that is, the Spirit wishes to take up permanent residence.
See TRINITY (THE HOLY), ECONOMIC TRINITY, PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT, BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, SINS AGAINST THE SPIRIT, DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT, GUIDE (GUIDANCE), EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, NEW BIRTH, PROCESSION OF THE SPIRIT, FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
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