The Holy Spirit in the Church

It has been a blessing to me that this past weekend, two congregations received the benefit of the learning and wisdom of James Wright, Lecturer in Greek, New Testament, and Systematic Theology at John Wycliffe Theological Seminary, Johannesburg, South Africa. He was with us as conference speaker on the subject of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and the corporate life of the church.

As I took my leave of him after our Sunday afternoon service, I couldn’t help a friendly jibe that because of him, I’d hardly slept a wink all weekend, what with the rich banquet he had fed us. (I hope he took my comment in the spirit it was intended.) Consequently, I feel compelled to explore the issue of the Holy Spirit at some length beginning with this post.



I have often felt—in my vastly limited experience—that the subject of the person and work of the Holy Spirit is largely an untapped area of great wealth and that for a variety of reasons, especially in staunch Reformed and Calvinistic denominations, the subject of the Spirit is essentially a closed book. I believe this should not be and that to willingly turn away from the presence of the Spirit operating in and through the Church is a great misfortune for all Christians.

So this post is an attempt to sort out just some preliminary thoughts and observations from a purely personal perspective. It will be preliminary only and not exhaustive. In it I hope to show briefly that the Holy Spirit is given to the Church (as well as to the individual souls that constitute her), that the Holy Spirit is the empowering of the Church; that these two propositions being the case, there must be discernable evidence of His presence both individually and corporately in the life of the Church; that a lack of such evidence is—if not proof—a strong indication that the Church has grieved or quenched the Spirit. (Since the Spirit has not been removed from the Church, absence of His effects can only mean the Church has in some way rejected the Spirit.) Finally I’ll try to determine, at the level of the local congregation, what might re-establish our relationship with the Spirit and to begin to receive the benefits He has promised the Church.

Proposition One: The Holy Spirit has been given to the Church in its universal, hidden dimension as well as to every local manifestation of the Church.
First, the Spirit has been given to the Church and this by the will of the Triune God, but specifically as part of the ministry of Jesus Christ, who is acknowledged Head of the Church, which is His Bride. It is from Christ particularly that the Spirit has been given to the Church. We see this plainly from such verses as "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Paracletos) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:7, 13-15). And Paul says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). In this verse, Paul is indicating that the Spirit is given to the Church without distinction of place or person (Matt. 11:28). When Luke describes the pouring out of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-4, he is describing the pouring out in terms of person and place, indicating that the Spirit can be equally measured without distinction of limitation both in universal terms (since this is a fulfillment of the prophesy of Joel 2:28-29) as well as in personal terms (since this is an historical event in place and time given to a specific group of people). I believe that to press this further would be to simply kick a dead horse. It has always been acknowledged by the Church that she has been the recipient of the Holy Spirit (in both Testaments, i.e. Eze. 10:4).

Proposition Two: The Holy Spirit empowers the Church in various ways.
The Holy Spirit gives specific abilities, “Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship’” (Exo. 31:1-5). And again, from the OT, “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again. But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them … and they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses and said, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, ‘Moses, my lord, restrain them.’ But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!’” (Num 11:25-29). From the NT, we have many passages to choose from to show the empowering of the Church for specific purposes. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In this passage, we see the gift of the Spirit by Christ for the specific purpose of witnessing to the Gospel. A similar passage from John reinforces the intent of the Spirit to empower witness, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27). These passages are examples of specific empowerments by the Spirit for the work of the Church. But the Spirit also enables other functions as well. For instance, the Spirit enables the Church to function as the body of Christ: “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7). “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, ‘Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?’ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days” (Acts 10:44-48). Paul, discussing the power of the Spirit to produce faith in believers says, “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” (Gal. 3:3-5). “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please…. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:16-17, 22-24). “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained’” (John 20:22-23). Finally, to summarize this proposition: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills”
(1 Cor. 12:4-7, 11).

While these verses are merely representative, they typify the variety of functions and powers given to the Church through the Holy Spirit. Many other verses could be used to catalogue the many gifts, fruit and powers bestowed on the Church for the purpose of manifesting Christ’s presence in the world and to the spreading of the Good News, but I believe these are sufficient to make my point.

Proposition Three: The first and second propositions being true, it follows that there must be discernable evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence and activities in the Church.
This is where the rubber comes into contact with the road. If what we have said is true, it seems we must be able to see it. If what we have said is not true, then surely we have built our house upon the sand and the worldly ones and the ungodly are wiser than we.
Where do we find evidence of the Spirit’s presence in the Church? This is actually a somewhat difficult question to answer. There have always been spurious signs or evidences of the Spirit’s presence in the Church, as far back as apostolic times. Genuine marks or signs are difficult to separate from the counterfeit. In many cases we have neither the insight nor breadth of vision necessary to make judgments. We really only have the record that God has given us by which we may measure the truth of the matter. All else is unreliable, even the actions, behaviours and attitudes of other brothers and sisters in the Church. Too often, we cannot see that a particular course of action by someone is instigated by the Spirit, and we take it upon ourselves to rebuke the brother or sister in our own error. Conversly, we may take the apparent dedication, hard work and self-sacrifice of a brother or sister as evidence that he or she is labouring under the yoke of the Spirit for the Church’s good and edification. Yet this may be far from true. For instance, many of those in the days of the American revival meetings of Charles Finney thought that the Spirit was moving mightily across the land. But what the Church was really seeing was a divorce of the work of the Spirit from the promises (and their means) of the Spirit as given by Scripture. The divide has not healed to this day and the Church is poorer as a result of what she has let slip through her fingers. The situation is summed up well in an article by Clive Taylor, on the Highway website. To quote Taylor:
“A man of tremendous personality, force, and perhaps genius, Finney represents in belief and practice a bridge between the old religious world and the new. The great changes working themselves out in nineteenth century history became embodied in his life and experiences. He was a symptom of the changing times.

"Theologically the old world of Reformed historical Christianity was behind him: the world where the Bible was the word from the mouth of the living God, infallible and inerrant in which was to be found the sole authority for the beliefs and practices of Christians. Before him lay the new world with its modem approach to Scripture, an approach in which man is the judge of the Bible’s trustworthiness and value: a world of criticism and rationalism where the plain teaching of Scripture can be rejected if it cuts across enlightened reason! …This severance with the old doctrine led inevitably to a change in practice. The practice before Finney was of Biblical evangelism, where the Church’s methods were controlled by and subjected to the dictates of Scripture.… Quantity becomes the great mark of success. We are told, for example, that whereas certain skilful evangelists can expect in America to lead a soul to Christ in 35 minutes, it takes two or three hours in Britain! The old methods of evangelism so blessed by God appear to have suffered the same fate as craftsmanship, being driven out by mass production. Nowadays the old ways are hardly recognised to be evangelism at all, and those who speak out for love of truth against pragmatic and psychological evangelism are likely to be pilloried as opponents of God and salvation. This is exactly how Finney reacted to those who criticised his new measures in the nineteenth century. He claimed they were hyper-Calvinists, spiritually dead and unconcerned for men’s souls whereas the ministries and testimonies of these men bore eloquent proof to the contrary.”

These words refer specifically to witnessing and the spread of the Gospel by evangelicals but their wider application comes as a warning to us not to be smug in our ability to understand the workings of the Spirit, as we could very well be wrong! It comes down, in my mind, as it always does, to the truth of the Scriptures. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments described the person and work of the Spirit. If we then deviate from Scripture, we should not be surprised when we get lost. But this is just a warning against spiritual pride in ourselves; it is not to deny that there can be—must be—measurable evidence of the Spirit at work in His Church. I say these things by way of precaution and to allow for the Spirit Himself to be the final arbiter of His own truth.

So what discernable signs could one point to as evidence of the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in the Church? (Here I limit myself to the local congregation, mainly because it is easier to measure effects in a particular place in the activities of particular people and then use these results to prudently generalize the same in the larger context of the Church as a whole).

Proposition Four: The presence and activities of the Spirit can be discerned in the living out of the faith we have been given.
Where are we to find documentation of the Spirit and His activities if not in the very Scriptures inspired and given by Him? So if we are ever to find evidence of the Spirit, it is to the sacred Scriptures we must turn. Then by comparing that to what we can see and hear and experience in our own congregations, we can make some deductions about whether or not, or to what degree, the Spirit is at work among us. But we must proceed with caution. Our view, like our wisdom, is limited and so potentially dangerous.

For the purposes of this article, there is actually too much biblical material illustrating or giving testimonial evidence of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. It is an abundance of riches. That being said, at least some of the clearly discernable passages and verses from Scripture must be quoted as evidentiary testimony. I will endeavor to keep to the more comprehensive passages (where they can still be separated from the less perspicuous) and only include one representative text for the sake of brevity.

(The short descriptions preceding the testimony are taken from the NIV Thematic Reference Bible, Alistair McGrath, General Editor, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1999.)

The Spirit and Assurance
The Holy Spirit assures believers of their standing in Christ and their eternal salvation.
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him….For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom. 8:9, 14-15).

The Spirit and Grace
The Holy Spirit is both an expression of God’s grace and the means by which it is experienced.
“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Tit 3:4-6).

The Spirit and Love
Heartfelt concern and steadfast practical care is part of the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the lives of believers.
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:16-19, emphasis added).

The Spirit and Mission
The Holy Spirit directs and empowers believers in their missionary tasks, bearing witness to Jesus Christ and preparing the hearts of men and women to respond to Him in faith.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Spirit and Peace
The Holy Spirit brings a sense of well-being, contentment and wholeness to believers, whatever their outward circumstances.
“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20-21).

The Spirit and Praise
The Holy Spirit inspires believers to extol, worship and thank God. His aim is to glorify the Father and the Son.
“For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).

The Spirit and Prayer
The Holy Spirit intercedes for God’s people and also prompts their petitions, supplications and thanksgivings.
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27).

The Spirit and Preaching
True Christian preaching is grounded in the Word of God and applied by the Holy Spirit to its audience.
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified” (Isa. 61:1-3).

The Spirit and Sanctification
The work of the Holy Spirit in enabling believers to lead holy lives dedicated to the service of God and conformed to His likeness.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

The Spiritual Baptism
Baptism with the Spirit is a divine act, promised by John the Baptist and by Jesus Christ, whereby the Holy Spirit initiates Christians into realized union and communion with the glorified Jesus Christ, thus equipping and enabling them for sanctity and service.
“Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself’” (Acts 2:38-39).

The Filling with the Spirit
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be energized and controlled by the third person of the Godhead in such a way that under the acknowledged lordship of Jesus Christ the full presence and power of God are experienced. Spirit filling leads to renewal, obedience, boldness in testimony and an arresting quality in believers’ lives.
“So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Eph. 5:17-20).

Fruit of the Spirit
The living presence of the Holy Spirit in believers leads to Christlike virtues within them, just as a living tree will bear good fruit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:22-24).

The Spirit as Counselor
The Holy Spirit is the one who comforts, advises, and strengthens Christians, drawing them closer to Christ.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:14-16).

The Spirit as Teacher
Having instructed God’s people in the OT, and Jesus Christ’s disciples in the NT, the Spirit of truth continues to reveal the truth of God to believers.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13).

Proposition Five: Based on these broad categories, we are able to make comparisons in order to discern the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in any given congregation.
It is instructive to remember that in this area our vision and our wisdom are sorely deprived, lacking the ability to see into the hearts of men as does God. This should give us great concern for being judgmental or harsh in our appraisal of others. In this regards, the advice of Rupertus Meldenius is worth serious consideration: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things; charity.

If in your own experience, you cannot find the essential marks of the presence and activities of the Holy Spirit to be in evidence, you must first look to yourself and ask the obvious question: “Do I find the essential marks of the presence and activities of the Holy Spirit in evidence in my own life as a Christian?” If the answer is no (as it will always be to one degree or another) then you are forced into a situation of discomfort at your own shortcomings. And really, have you any right to criticize another for the same burden under which you labour? Of course not. This is Sunday School Christianity. So we must always be examining ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 6:4; 1 Thess. 5:21) to ensure that we are not being carried away by the evil deceiver of men. Regardless of whether we can find evidence of the Spirit in our congregation, we must search first for Him in our own hearts and there to speak with Him and to be obedient to Him. This is a practice that, like prayer, should be continuous, rigourous and purposeful.

Having said that, we are nevertheless part of a community when we belong to a congregation and knowing that the collective attitudes, actions and behaviours of our brothers and sisters will often act as a kind of magnifying glass, making the abundance or lack of a thing more discernable, we are better able to see the lack and begin to take corrective measures, in keeping with Scriptural warrant. On that basis, and always keeping our own falleness and inability before us in a spirit of patience and compassion, we may proceed to discern our own congregational weaknesses.

If our congregation is manifestly unloving, that is to say, if it is void of sincere outward expressions of concern and love through tangible means such as giving emotional comfort, food or clothing, labour, or prayer to others in the congregation who may be in want, this would seem to indicate a lack of the presence of the Spirit.

If we are luke-warm in our testimony to unbelievers, this is evidence of the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.

If we are rigid and dogmatic in our appraisal of the holiness of others in the congregation, this is evidence of the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.

If there are backsliders among the brethren (as there usually are) and we do nothing to bring them back to a strong faith, this indicates the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.

If there is division or rancour in the congregation, this indicates the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.

If there open sin or a flaunting of holiness among the people, this would indicate the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.

If there is no fervency in prayer or worship when we come together as an assembly, this is an indicator of the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.

If we are not regularly manifesting the Fruit of the Spirit in our life together and in our walk with unbelievers, this is tangible evidence of the lack of the Spirit’s presence among us.


Proposition Six: Because the Holy Spirit Himself has never been withdrawn, nor will ever leave the Church (since Christ’s Church will not be overthrown,
Matt. 16:18) the lack of the Spirit’s presence among His people must be due to the resisting by them of the Holy Spirit.
Since the Holy Spirit is the power of the Church: “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7) and since He will always be a part of the Church, whether in her universal or her local manifestation, it follows that where there is evidence of a lack of His presence and power, it must be due, not to Him, but rather to ourselves. We read often in Scripture that the Holy Spirit can, in fact, be resisted (often with disastrous results): “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them” (Isa. 63:10). “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30).
In what ways then is the Holy Spirit resisted?

The Spirit can be resisted through sin: For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” [as a Christian, that is, in the Spirit] (Gal. 5:17).

The Spirit can be resisted through rebellion: “They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account; Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips” (Psalm 106:32-33).

The Spirit can be resisted through hardness of heart: “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts” (Zec. 7:12).

The Spirit can be resisted through spiritual blindness: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14).

The Spirit can also be resisted in other ways, most notably through our own fear. This is a subject I'd like to explore at greater length in an upcoming post.

The Spirit is grieved when we fight against Him and His purposes for our lives and the Church (Isa. 63:10) or when we attempt to hold back the truth from Him who is the very Spirit of Truth (Acts 5:3) in both cases often leading God to cause us grief in return. We resist the Spirit when we struggle against Him in our own self-will, stubbornness and self-righteousness (Acts 6:9-10; 7:51). We quench the Spirit when we cease from rejoicing in God’s unmerited loving-kindness to His people and when we lapse in our prayers and supplications, not only because this is contrary to God’s will but also because it is a denial of our utter reliance on Him for all things (Php. 4:6).

What therefore is it needful to say in summary?

The Church has been given the Spirit of God and of Christ and the Spirit has not been withdrawn from her. The Spirit empowers the Church and all the living stones who are gathered together as a temple of the Spirit. But we may resist, grieve and quench the Spirit causing His just and righteous anger. When this happens, He may withdraw for a time or cause us to be chastised. We notice our grievance of the Spirit mainly by His absence; His presence is no longer a reassurance and a comfort. Instead, we are made confused and comfortless because we can no longer see His presence with our Spiritual eyes. What is the solution for such a problem?

We must, by diligent study of God’s Word and by prayer and supplication seek always to come into sweet accord with the presence of the Holy Spirit, knowing that He has been given to us by a benevolent and loving God for our grafting into Christ and our growth in godliness and Christlikeness; for we know that the Spirit we seek is none other than the sweet Spirit of our very own Lord and saviour Christ Jesus. To be like Him is to let the ministrations of the Spirit carry us along in the assurance we are not being deceived but transformed with every breath of God in us. “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?” (Job 26:14).

Soli Deo Gloria.