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9

Most of us have no difficulty at all in thinking of the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit, as the general presence of God in his world or as the specific presence of God within the church of Jesus Christ and in the hearts of believers.  Thus we are able to appreciate the two general aspects of the Spirit of YHWH which we encounter in both the Old and New Testaments.  First of all, the Spirit is like wind and fire, a power which invades a person from without causing him to be moved in a direction of God’s choosing.  We read that the Spirit of God "drove" Jesus into the wilderness after his baptism in the river Jordan (Mark 1:12); and in Acts the coming of the promised Spirit is accompanied by wind and fire (Acts 2:1-4).  In the second place, the Spirit is like a fluid or substance with which a person is filled or into which he is immersed so that he has life, gifts, or virtues from the Spirit. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power," said Peter (Acts 10:38).  "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18) and "drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13), writes Paul.

From this perspective, it is quite natural to refer to the Spirit as "it," just as we refer to the wind or human breath with the pronoun as neuter.  In fact, the Greek word pneuma is, in terms

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of grammar, neuter gender (in contrast to ruach in Hebrew which is feminine gender and spiritus in Latin which is masculine gender).  Therefore, we find the neuter pronoun used of the Spirit (e.g.,"It had not yet fallen on any of them," Acts 8:16).  However, as we shall see below, in the teaching concerning the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete in John’s Gospel the Spirit assumes the masculine gender.  The Spirit is "he."

If we turn to what Jesus is recorded by the Synoptic Gospels as saying concerning the Holy Spirit, we find that, while the concepts he utilized can be contained within inherited Old Testament and Jewish categories, they do point to a more exact definition of the Spirit of YHWH and his relation both to the Father and to Jesus, the Son.  This becomes clear in these two examples.

(1)  When the Pharisees allege that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Beelzebul, prince of the demons, the response of Jesus includes this terrible saying: "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:28-29).  Matthew records these extra words: "And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (12:32).  The Spirit present and at work in Jesus and his ministry is the Spirit of the age to come – as the Old Testament prophets promised.  The Spirit is the "already" of the "not yet" fully arrived kingdom of God.  So to deny the presence and activity of God’s Spirit in the exorcisms of Jesus and, worse still, to attribute the Spirit’s work to Beelzebul is to have no place in the age to come.  It is "an aeonian sin," a sin relating to the age to come.

Glimpses of the distinct personhood of the Holy Spirit are contained in the verbs used – to blaspheme against and to speak against the Holy Spirit. In both instances the blaspheming and speaking is obviously against YHWH, but it is also specifically against "the Holy Spirit."

(2)  In looking forward to the time when the disciples would

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be proclaiming the Gospel and being beaten and arrested, Jesus promised: "When they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit" (Mark 13:11; cf., Matt. 10:20, where the Spirit is "the Spirit of your Father speaking through you").  Here there is a hint of a distinct identity for the Holy Spirit, who is both the Spirit of prophecy and the Spirit of the Father.

If we move on to examine what is said editorially concerning the relation of the Holy Spirit to Jesus, we find again the heightening and personalizing of the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in contrast to Jewish thought.  This is particularly clear in Luke (at which we shall specifically look), but it is not absent from Matthew.  In the latter is the baptism formula of 28:19 containing the words, "the Holy Spirit," after "the Father and the Son."  This statement is not in the form of a promise of the Spirit to the disciples, but it is of interest to us as a major hint of an emerging understanding of the Holy Spirit as a distinct identity alongside and in relation to the Father and the Son.

Luke describes the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary as being directly caused by the Holy Spirit ("the Holy Spirit will come upon you," 1:35).  Further, he describes the principal persons in the narrative of the birth of Jesus and John as being "filled with the Spirit" – Mary herself (1:35), John from his mother’s womb (1:15), Elizabeth (1:41), and Zechariah (1:67).

After Jesus had been baptized by John and was praying, "the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon [Jesus] in bodily form, as a dove" (3:21-22).  Luke draws here upon the imagery of Genesis 1:2 ("the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters") in order to emphasize the creative activity of the Holy Spirit.  A new thing was being wrought at the baptism comparable with the creation of heaven and earth out of the primeval chaos.  The description of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, the unique Son, takes us beyond descriptions of his descent upon prophets and moves us, through the dove image, toward an indication of a unique identity for the Spirit in relation both to Jesus and the Father.

Following the baptism we read that Jesus, "full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for

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forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil" (Luke 4:1-2).  Here through the theme of the New Exodus is the role of the Spirit entering and filling Jesus, who is the new Israel and Son/Servant of YHWH; and also there is the more personal idea of the same Holy Spirit specifically leading him to where the Father wanted him to be.  By the Spirit, Jesus successfully defeats Satan.

Jesus "returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee" (4:14) and eventually arrived in Nazareth and entered the synagogue.  Here Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he [the Lord] has anointed me to preach good news to the poor" (4:18).  The descriptions of the Spirit are well within those of the Old Testament.  The New Exodus is under way and Jesus in the Spirit as the Son/Servant of YHWH is releasing Israel from Satan’s oppression.  Such release involves both exorcisms and healings, as well as removing the spiritual and moral blindness of the Jews to God as he is revealed in his Messiah, Jesus.

However, in the next reference to the Spirit we are probably entering into a dimension not found in the old covenant.  When the seventy disciples returned from their mission of proclaiming the kingdom of God, rejoicing because of their spiritual success, Jesus himself "rejoiced in the Holy Spirit" as he prayed in intimate terms to his Father in heaven (10:21-22).  This is the prayer in which Jesus (as the Son) says that "no one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son."  Is it possible there is here a revelation of the Trinity, specifically the unique communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit?  It is probable that one result of Jesus being "filled with the Spirit" was a heightening awareness of the Father, whose work he as the Son was doing.  It has been well said, as we noted in the last two chapters, that it is the interaction of Jesus’ filial consciousness and the Spirit, who fills him, that gives Jesus’ ministry its distinctive character.

The final reference to the Holy Spirit in Luke is a prediction of what will happen on the Day of Pentecost.  "Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high" (24:49).  Here the Holy Spirit is called "the promise of my Father" (pointing to Joel’s prophecy

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as cited in Acts 2:17, 33) and "power from on high" and, significantly, Jesus claims to be wholly involved in the sending, along with "my Father."

On several occasions it has been claimed in this book that the Holy Trinity is revealed in and through events – the Incarnation and the Descent of the Holy Spirit – before being known by the disciples.  It is in Acts 2 that we are given the description of the event of the Holy Spirit – that is, the arrival of the Spirit, who is sent by the Father and by the Son, to the waiting disciples.  Though we must assume that the presence of the Spirit brought a tremendous leap forward in the insight and understanding of the apostles and disciples, we have also to recognize that the full spiritual and doctrinal implications of this unique event naturally took time to form and develop in the explicit knowledge of the church.  So we look for these implications not only in the Acts but in the rest of the New Testament as well – remembering that the books were written by those who were inspired by and filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Feast of Pentecost had come in Judaism to be a commemoration of the giving of the Law at Sinai.  So it is not surprising that the theophany described by Luke in Acts 2:1-3 includes the vivid realities and images of wind and fire – for they were associated (as we saw in chaps. 4 and 5) with the theophanies on Sinai. On Mount Sinai YHWH descended to meet with Moses and the elders of Israel; in Jerusalem as the theophanies of Sinai are remembered, the Spirit of YHWH (who is sent by the Father and the exalted Lord Jesus, the Son) descends not only to rest upon the twelve apostles and the disciples but also to remain with them and to be in them.  Therefore, not only are they filled with the Holy Spirit, but they break forth into praise and rejoicing in a variety of languages.  Further, they become bold to proclaim the Gospel of God concerning Jesus, Messiah, and Lord.

What happened at this Day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of prophecy – that of Joel in particular.  He had prophesied in Yahweh’s name that "in the last days. .. I will pour out my

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Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams" (Acts 2:17, citing Joel 2:28-32).  The "last days" had certainly arrived for the dynamic Sign of the age to come was now gloriously present.

Peter declared to the crowd which assembled the good news concerning Jesus of Nazareth and the Spirit of God.  "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear" (Acts 2:32-33).  At the end of his proclamation he called upon his fellow Jews to "repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (2:38).  The gift is given by the crucified and exalted Jesus, whom the Father has declared to be Lord and Christ.

The church now has a mission.  It is a mission, like that of the Messiah whom it proclaims, in the power of the Spirit – as the text of Acts makes clear.  It is the mission of the Father and of the Son through the church; and the church is to be always filled with the Holy Spirit, who is the gift of the Father and the Son.

If we survey the references to the Holy Spirit in Acts 3–28 we find that they fall into two types, those which continue the traditional biblical (O.T.) way of speaking of the presence and activity of the Spirit, and those which point (dimly but surely) toward the full and distinct personhood of the Spirit within the plurality of the unity of YHWH.  It will be sufficient for our purposes to give examples of each type to indicate the fluidity of expression used of the invisible and ineffable Holy Spirit.

First of all, there are texts where the Spirit’s coming or presence is presented through the image of filling, as if the Spirit were a heavenly fluid or substance.  On a lot of occasions an apostle or disciple is said to be "filled with the Holy Spirit" (e.g., 4:8; 4:31; 6:3; 7:55; 9:17) while on other occasions a person is said to "receive the Spirit" (8:18; 10:47) in becoming a Christian.  In the second place, there are occasions when the Spirit is said to act like "a person" in terms of telling Philip what to do (8:29), carrying Philip from one place to another (8:39), explaining to Peter the meaning of his dream (10:19), prompting the church in

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Antioch to commission Barnabas and Saul (13:1-4), forbidding the apostles to preach in Asia (16:6), and witnessing to Paul that bonds and afflictions await him in Judea (20:23).

In whatever way and through whatever image we read of the Holy Spirit in the Acts, it (he) is always engaged in continuing the mission of Jesus, now exalted in heaven as the Lord and Christ.  There is an obvious but ineffable relation between the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel of John are profound statements and rich teaching concerning the Holy Spirit which are not found in the Synoptic Gospels.  It is usual in modern biblical scholarship to attribute this important doctrine not to Jesus himself but to the theological insight of the evangelist, as he reflected upon the experience of the Spirit in the apostolic age.  Another way of putting this viewpoint is to say that, having carefully noted what the Spirit was doing from the Day of Pentecost onward, John placed a creative summary of the principles of this action upon the lips of Jesus.

From a more conservative viewpoint, and allowing for the input of the evangelist in filling out the content of the original words of Jesus in the light of the Resurrection, Exaltation, and descent of the Spirit, it is possible to say that Jesus did speak of the Spirit in such a way as to inspire the fuller and developed record of which we read in the Gospel of John.  In fact, such is the richness of the content that it makes excellent sense to see the genius of Jesus behind the words.

The most prominent and important teaching on the Spirit is obviously in chapters 14–16. Yet there are important statements concerning the Spirit in earlier chapters.  In our own chapter 2 we examined the expression, "God is Spirit" which occurs in 4:23-24, where Jesus is in conversation with the woman of Samaria.  To her he spoke of the gift of the Spirit in terms of "a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (v. 14).  In John 3:1-8 there is significant teaching on the necessity of being "born from above [i.e., of God]" and "born of the Spirit," an image which points to the personhood of the Holy Spirit, the Begetter.  At the end of chapter 3 it is said of the Son: "For he whom God has

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sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit" (v. 34).  In 7:37-38 we learn that the fullness of the gift of the Spirit (which gift is again presented in terms of "rivers of living water") to the disciples must wait until Jesus is glorified (through his Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension).

So the Jesus who is presented as meeting his disciples in the Upper Room before the feast of the Passover (John 13–17) is the person who both knows all about the Spirit and who has been filled and endowed with the Spirit from the beginning – as John the Baptist perceived (1:32-34).  A reader will judge that such must be the case for in chapters 14–16 Jesus speaks in such a way about the Holy Spirit, whom he calls the Parakltos (the Paraclete), as to suggest a holy "familiarity" with him.  This said, it needs also to be added that what is taught in these chapters of the work of the Holy Spirit is fully in line with the Jewish understanding of the Spirit as "the Spirit of prophecy" and of the Spirit who inspired and brings the wisdom of YHWH.  It is in line with such concepts, but it also extends and deepens that teaching.

In Greek parakltos is formally a passive verbal adjective meaning "one called alongside" (e.g., to assist in a court).  So it has often been translated as "Advocate" or "Counselor."  The translation of "Comforter" (KJV) is partly generated by the content of John 14–16 (the comfort brought by the Spirit) and by deriving the word from the verb parakalein, to encourage.

The future sending of the Paraclete from heaven is the means whereby the Lord Jesus himself returns to the disciples, and in doing so brings glory to the Father.  Receiving the Spirit and his ministry, the disciples in turn will know Christ’s presence with them on earth.  Yet, for all the affinity of the Spirit to Christ, the Spirit is distinct and personal; the emphatic personal pronoun following the neuter noun (to pneuma – ekeinos) from 15:26 onward vividly makes this clear.  It is the Lord Jesus who will send the Spirit from the Father, and it is also the Father who will send the Spirit in answer to the prayer of the Lord Jesus.  In these holy relations between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we are given an indication of the identity of the Holy Trinity.

In summary, the teaching of Jesus on the pneuma and the parakltos in John 14–16 is as follows:

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(1) The Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, will indwell the disciples forever (14:15-17).

(2) The Paraclete, whom the Father will send in the name of the Lord Jesus, will teach the disciples all things and bring to their remembrance what he has taught them (14:25-26).

(3) The Paraclete, as the Spirit of Truth from the Father, will bear witness to the Lord Jesus in his ministry to the disciples (15:26-27).

(4) The Paraclete on coming into the world will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment as he turns people to believe in the Lord Jesus (16:7-11).

(5) The Paraclete as the Spirit of truth will take what belongs to the Lord Jesus and declare it into the disciples; further, he will speak of things that are to come (i.e., the Crucifixion and Resurrection).  In all that he says and does he will glorify the Lord Jesus (16:12-15).

To convey adequately what is said of the pneuma as parakltos we need probably to use two English words, both of them nouns that apply to persons – Advocate and Comforter.  As the Advocate, the Holy Spirit continues the work of Jesus himself to persuade people that Jesus is truly the Son of the Father, whom to know is life eternal.  The removal of Jesus from earth will leave the disciples as orphans and defenseless.  The Spirit comes to be the defense of the disciples as they go forth into the world; the Paraclete takes over Jesus’ advocacy of the Father’s cause.  So the Spirit prosecutes the case against the world. He works through the disciples and their ministry in and upon the minds of people to persuade and to convince them of the truth of the Gospel.  "He will convince the world of sin . . . because they do not believe in me [Jesus]; of righteousness because I go to the Father. . . of judgment because the ruler of this world [Satan] is judged" (16:8-11).  Thus this great work of the Holy Spirit who comes into the world from the Father, in the name of the Lord

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Jesus, is to stir the world’s conscience and to confute its errors in order to bring men to conversion (John 12:31-32).

As the Comforter, the Holy Spirit brings to the disciples a new and vital communion with the Father and the Son.  In this communion there is genuine peace and true joy as there is also comfort in tribulation and trial – "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (15:11); "I have said this to you that in me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (16:33).

In his mission within the church and within the world, the Holy Spirit will depend upon and listen to the exalted Lord Jesus, who is the Son, just as the Lord Jesus depended (and still depends) and listened (and still listens) to the Father.  As the Lord Jesus glorified his Father by declaring the things of the Father as an obedient Son, the Holy Spirit will glorify the Son by declaring the things of the Son to the disciples.  In fact, it may be said that the unity of the Son and the Spirit is as permanent and comprehensive as is the unity of the Father and the Son (10:30).

Not only is the personhood of the Holy Spirit as Paraclete indicated by the emphatic personal pronoun ekeinos (14:26; 15:26; 16:8, 14) and autos (16:7), it is also suggested by means of the parallelism between Jesus and the Spirit.  The Paraclete is to Christ as Christ is to the Father.  This may be set out as follows:

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(5) Both Jesus and the Spirit seek to convince and convict the world (1:12; 16:8-12).

Jesus was the Paraclete until his glorification.  The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete from the glorification of Jesus.

Here as well as in chapters 3 and 6 we have noted the possibility that God was conceived as a Binity not a Trinity by the early Christians, Paul in particular.  Not surprisingly, the suggestion has been made that because of the way the Paraclete and Jesus are identified in John’s Gospel God is here also conceived as a Binity.  For example, J.E. Davey has written: "In John, Son and Spirit seem to be aspects of the one Incarnate Divine Life."¹  In contrast, Gary Burge, in his outstanding study of the Spirit in John’s Gospel entitled The Anointed Community, has written:

The going/coming texts of John 14 stress that Jesus himself is experienced in the Spirit.  Therefore in his eschatology John moves very close to a binitarian theology.  To have the Spirit is to have Jesus (and the Father) dwelling within (14:23; cf., 1 John 4:12ff.).  But this binitarian danger is only apparent.  John understands the Persons of the Godhead as closely unified.  The unity and distinction of Jesus and the Spirit is paralleled by the same close relationship between Jesus and the Father.  There is oneness (10:30; 14:18, 23) and at the same time there is separation (14:28; 16:7).²

Later patristic theology (as we noted in chapter 2) will make use of the concept of perichoresis or circuminsessio to speak of "merging" (mutual immanence) of the three Persons within the one Godhead.

Finally, let us note that the Gospel of John also provides an account of the occasion when what Jesus had promised in 7:39 at the Feast and in 14–16 to his disciples in the Upper Room actually came to fulfillment.  Jesus, the crucified and now resurrected and ascended Lord – and thus according to this Gospel the glorified Lord – went through closed doors to his fearful disciples on the evening of the day of his resurrection.  They were obviously glad to see him but were not prepared for what he had

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to say: "Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."  Then Jesus breathed upon them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (20:21-22).  Even as Yahweh-Elohim breathed the breath of life into man (Gen. 2:7), so the Lord Jesus breathes his Spirit, his personal life force, into the disciples.  Thus a new order, a new epoch, a new creation has come into being with the glorification of Jesus and with the gift of the Spirit.  In this new creation the Spirit gives power over sin ("if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven," 20:23), since it was sin that brought disorder into the old creation.

It would seem that John intends this account of the giving of the Holy Spirit as a parallel way of stating what Luke does more graphically in Acts 2.  What is described certainly appears to be intended to be more than symbolic; but, exactly how Acts 2 and John 20:22 are to be reconciled is very difficult to determine.³  Certainly both accounts make it very clear that the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son and that he is only given, breathed out, and poured out when the saving work of Jesus on earth is wholly completed.

The Apostle Paul had a lot to say about the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit.  This Spirit is truly the one and only Spirit of the one and only God.  The time for the full expression of his presence and work is in the age to come; however, because of the exalted Jesus Christ the Spirit is present and active on earth in this age as the Spirit of the Father and of the Son to speed along the revelatory, reconciling, and redeeming work of the Son.  In the present evil and dark age, true wisdom from God through the Cross of Jesus is desperately needed, but it can only be grasped by the Spirit’s illumination and work in human hearts.  In fact, because of the sinfulness and weakness of human nature, the making of obedient and holy disciples can only be achieved through the power of the Spirit, who must also guide the Christian mission into and through the evil world.  The presence of the Spirit in the lives of believers is also necessary for them to be able to pray and worship aright, to enjoy the reality of Christian fellowship, and to overcome temptations and live vic-

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toriously for the sake of Christ and to the glory of God.

It is not part of Paul’s task in his letters to argue for and present the personhood of the Holy Spirit.  Where he presents suggestions in this connection, they are to be seen as arising from what we called in chapter 6 a general trinitarian consciousness and also from the fact that in his experience of God and meditations upon God’s grace in Jesus Christ he actually knew the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit – even if he had no theory concerning their precise relations.  So, being very selective from Paul’s many references to the Spirit, we shall notice the places where (1) he establishes the closeness of (or the near identity of) Christ and the Spirit and yet he also carefully distinguishes them; (2) he writes of the Spirit in personal terms; and (3) he makes statements which have a trinitarian character.

(1) When Paul writes that Christ as the last Adam "became a life-giving spirit" a question arises as to whether or not he is here (as in other places) identifying the risen, exalted Christ with the Holy Spirit.  Then also Paul writes on the one hand of Christians being both "in the Spirit" (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 5:25) and the Spirit being in them (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19) and, on the other hand, of their being "in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17) or having Christ in them (Gal. 2:20).  Then in Romans 8:9-11 we read:

But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you.  Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.

Apparently "the Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Christ," "Christ," and "the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus" all refer to the same reality, the Holy Spirit.  He is from the Father, and he acts in the name of Jesus Christ. However, it is clear from the rest of Paul’s writing that Christ is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not Christ.  There is, of course, a perfect unity of divine purpose between them (and in terms of later, patristic

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Trinitarian theology they share one and the same divinity even though they differ in personhood).

The relation of Christ and the Spirit in these Pauline texts has been well explained by Eduard Schweizer.

Paul shares with Judaism and the early Christian Church the conception of the Spirit as the gift and power of the last age.  His concern is not to replace the concept of "power" by the concept of "person," but to show that this power is not an obscure "something" but is the way and manner in which the Lord of the Church is present.  For that reason the Spirit can be placed on a level with the Lord, or subordinated to him, quite indifferently.  For that reason also, Paul can occasionally use God, Lord and Spirit interchangeably, simply because their encounter with the believer always takes the same form.⁴

The impact of the risen Christ and the impact of the Holy Spirit upon Christians is the impact of God.

More recently J.D.G. Dunn has surveyed the same Pauline material and written:

However, despite the "merging" it is appropriate and possible for us to make conceptual distinctions.

We can distinguish between having personal communion with Jesus Christ and experiencing the presence, witness, and filling of the Holy Spirit in the heart.  In terms of both Christ and the Spirit dwelling in the heart or soul, we can say that Christ is the indwelling content while the Spirit is the quickening cause of Christ’s indwelling.  Finally, Paul’s own preference (though not universal usage) seems to be to speak of Christians being "in Christ" and of the Holy Spirit being in Christians: thus to be a

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Christian is to be incorporated in Christ and to have the Spirit of Christ within oneself.

If there is one place in Paul's writings where one needs especially to be aware of the "merging" in terms of Jesus and the Spirit it is 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.  "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding [or reflecting] the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."  In context Paul is saying that when people turn to the Lord Jesus, as Moses turned to Yahweh at Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:34), a veil of spiritual blindness is lifted from their eyes.  The removal of this blindness is the spiritual work of the Lord.  But which Lord?  Perhaps Paul intended the Lord Jesus, who is "a lifegiving spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). So, if we read the word "Spirit" as "spirit" and see it as referring, not to the actual Holy Spirit, but to the spiritual action of the Lord Jesus, the source of life and light in removing blindness, then the text makes perfect sense in terms of grammar and meaning.  In other words, there is no specific reference to the Holy Spirit and no equation of the Lord and the Spirit in the first part of the quotation.  However, there is certainly a reference to the authority of the Lord Jesus giving light and life in the spiritual realm (where, no doubt, we can say that he is active in and by the Holy Spirit, even though that is not stated in these verses).

Another way of reading the text is to put the first occurrence of the word "Lord" in quotation marks and say that "the Lord" is the Spirit.  That is, the Spirit active in the new covenant conforming men to the image of God so that they reflect his glory is truly the dynamic equivalent of "the Lord" (YHWH) in the Moses story; but the difference is one of sovereign power, the transformation of the lives of Christians.  Paul is ascribing to the Spirit a work and sovereignty which is wholly divine.

Obviously if it is believed that Jesus Christ is truly alive forevermore, but alive not on earth but in heaven at the Father’s right hand as the exalted Lord, then the question of how believers are united to him for salvation and enjoy communion with him is of great importance.  Paul’s answer to the question is that the union and communion is in and by the Holy Spirit, who is so

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close to and so identified with Christ in his work within the body of Christ, that it seems at times that they are one and the same "Person."

This "merging" is often referred to when it is being claimed that God is revealed as a Binity not a Trinity in the New Testament.  However, to identify closely the presence and work of the Son and the Spirit within the souls of men is not necessarily to identify the personhood of the Son and the Spirit, who are distinct yet acting as one.

(2) Since for Paul the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, it is not surprising that he is described in personal terms, having "a mind" (Rom. 8:27).  Believers are led by the Spirit to produce the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:18), and "all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).  Further, the Spirit reveals the mystery of Christ to believers as they are taught the truth by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10-16).  Then, also the Spirit is active as the One who witnesses with the spirit of believers and who helps them to pray by interceding from within their souls (Rom. 8:15, 26-27).  In fact, so sensitive is the Holy Spirit that he may be grieved by careless Christians (Eph. 4:30).

What we may claim is that the personhood of the Spirit is suggested, not proved, by such forms of speech.  However, as we discussed above, when it is recognized that in Paul the Spirit as the active and transforming presence of God is intimately associated with the crucified and exalted Jesus, through whom alone he comes to, and by whom alone, he is defined for Christians, then the personhood of the Spirit becomes more apparent.  And this is so even though – in fact, because of the fact that – the Spirit is invisible and anonymous in his presence and work in the church of God.  Only the invisible and anonymous Spirit as Person could cause individual Christians as persons to cry out, "Abba, Father!" to the Person of the Father.  This is because he is truly "the Spirit of Christ," "the Spirit of God’s Son," and "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19; cf., Acts 16:7).

(3) We have already cited various Pauline statements which point to the Holy Trinity and thus to the personhood of the Holy Spirit (see chap. 6).  To these can be added the following quotations from Paul:

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For the kingdom of God [the Father] does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; he who thus serves Christ [the Son] is acceptable to God [the Father] and approved by men (Rom. 14:17-18).

To be a minister of Christ Jesus [the Son] to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God [the Father], so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16).

But it is God [the Father] who establishes us with you in Christ [the Son], and has commissioned us; he [the Father] has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Cor. 1:21-22).

You show that you are a letter from Christ [the Son] delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God [the Father], not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor. 3:3).

Now it is evident that no man is justified before God [the Father] by the law. . . that in Christ Jesus [the Son] the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:11-14).

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ [the Son] may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph. 3:14-17).

The cumulative force of these threefold formulae is great.  In them the Holy Spirit is given a place higher than that afforded to the Spirit in the Old Testament.  And the reason for this is his specific relation to the Son.  In a real sense the personhood of the Spirit follows from the personhood of the Son.

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As the early Christians engaged in worship, proclaimed the Gospel, and reflected upon their Faith, they came to see that the Holy Spirit is truly a persona or hypostasis.  Yet the personhood of the Holy Spirit is not identical with the personhood of the Son and of the Father.  In fact, each of the Three is a "Person" in a unique way; but yet all are Persons.  There is a certain "self-effacingness" and other directedness to the Holy Spirit’s activity.  He is the light who is seen by what (who) he illuminates.  His personhood is to point to the person of the incarnate Son and in and though him to the person of the Father.

The early church rejected both Unitarianism and Binitarianism and adopted Trinitarianism.  In the words of the ecumenical Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, they confessed: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Life-giver, who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son is together worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the Prophets."  The phrase, "and the Son" (filioque), was added later in the West (not in the East!) to this Creed – as we noted in chapter 2.  Though this creed does not affirm that the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and with the Son, it was certainly understood in this way in both East and West.

The early fathers spent much time meditating upon the possible reason why Jesus had confirmed the name of the divine Third One as "the Holy Spirit/Breath."  Augustine gave much thought to the question and wrote:

The Holy Spirit is a certain unutterable communion of the Father and the Son; and on that account, perhaps, the Holy Spirit bears this name precisely because the Father and the Son can accommodate themselves to it.  For in effect we give to him by special title the name we give to them by common title, since the Father is Spirit and the Son is Spirit, the Father is holy and the Son is holy.  For thus in order to represent their mutual communion, there is need of a name that is applicable to both of them.⁶

Thus the name of the Holy Spirit points both to the communion of the Father and the Son and to his "procession" from the

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Father [and from the Son] – as the Nicene Creed declares.

Writing of the Holy Spirit in Western ecclesiology as influenced by St. Augustine, Bertrand de Margene said:

The eternal Spirit of the Father and of the Son, their Communion and their reciprocal Gift, becomes then the Spirit of the Church in time, the temporal Gift which the Father and the Son make to her.  The Breath of divine Love becomes the Soul of the universal Church, the Body of Christ.  The principle of communion among Christians is at once consubstantial Communion between the Father and the Son and also between the Father and the sons in the Only Son.⁷

The communion of the faithful in the church flows from the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of Holy Love.

In the last three chapters, we have studied and contemplated "The Name [YHWH] of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  It is now most appropriate to begin to think not of each of the Persons in isolation, but of the Three in One and the One in Three.  Therefore, we shall proceed to notice how the Holy Trinity is revealed (1) in the saving deeds of God as they are presented in the New Testament, and (2) in the human (yet divine) work of worship.

Augustine. On the Holy Trinity. Vol. 3 of A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956.

Barrett, C.K. The Holy Spirit and the Gospel Tradition. London: SPCK, 1947.

Brown, R.E. The Gospel According to John. 2 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1966 and 1970.

Burge, Gary M. The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Davey, J. E. The Jesus of St John: Historical and Christological Studies in the Fourth Gospel. London: Lutterworth, 1958.

De Margene, Bertrand. The Christian Trinity in History. Still River, Mass.: St. Bede’s, 1982.

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Dunn, J.D.G. Jesus and the Spirit. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975.

----- Christology in the Making. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1980.

Heron, Alisdair. The Holy Spirit. London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1983.

Hoskyns, Edwyn Sir. The Fourth Gospel. Edited by F.N. Davey. London: Faber and Faber, 1947.

Montague, George T. The Holy Spirit: Growth of a Biblical Tradition. New York: Paulist, 1976.

Ramsey, Michael. Holy Spirit: A Biblical Study. London: SPCK, 1977.

Schweizer, Eduard. Spirit of God: Bible Key Words. London: A & C Black, 1960.

Swete, H.B. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament. London: MacMillan, 1909.

Toon, Peter. Yesterday, Today and Forever: Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity in the Teaching of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. Swedesboro, N.J.: Preservation, 1995.

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