Better Understanding the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a difficult topic. We can see many places in Scripture – Old and New Testaments – that document something about the Holy Spirit. However, organizing all of those references in a meaningful and productive way can be a challenge.
Nevertheless, it seems that understanding the Holy Spirit can be shaped and defined around four aspects:
Just as Peter reminds Christians in the first century (
God’s dwelling is a major theme through the entire Bible story — from the Garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jersalem in Revelation. It’s closely connected with – really the fulfillment of – God’s desire and His promise. We know that this is what Jesus was summing up when he cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” (John 7:37-38 with John’s interpretation that he was speaking about the Holy Spirit in vs 39).
During the tabernacle (Moses) and temple (Solomon) years, the sin that separated man and God in the garden could be set aside through animal sacrifice to allow God to once again dwell among His people. Ultimately, Jesus was the permanent sacrifice for God to dwell in those that “put on Christ” (
We see each of these Holy Spirit “threads” carried through Scripture and fullfilled ultimately in the New Testement. God’s desire for His people to be holy remains today. His promise to dwell again with His people is fullfilled in the New Covenant and freely given to all baptized believers.
God’s power and His direct intervention into the affairs of mankind served two purposes:
A physical, visual demonstration of the ushering in of His promised “new covenant” and the gospel of Christ to the Jew first (Acts 2) and also to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
The need to confirm His word ended since His full and final word had been given to all mankind.
The tapestry of Scripture is a constant reminder of the “breadth and length and height and depth” of His knowledge and wisdom. The Holy Spirit is just one topic in this vast well of understanding. Hopefully these four aspects help your understanding of the Holy Spirit.
important scripture blocks
On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood up and yelled, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. He said this referring to the Holy Spirit which was to be given to all those who believed in him after his glorification.
Jesus has begun his public ministry and is beginning to stir up Jerusalem with his controversial teaching and popularity.
When they heard these words, they were pierced in the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles what they should do [to be saved]. Peter told them that they each should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins, and they would then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This “gift” was the promise made for all that the Lord calls to himself, even those far off.
Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost where he recalled several prophetic statements from Joel and David (vss 16-36). By divine inspiration, Peter interpreted these statements to apply their fulfillment to Jesus and the ushering in of the “last days.”
On believing his message (that Jesus was the Christ), they asked what they needed to do to be saved. More were continuing to be saved and they began meeting together as the Lord’s church (
In the early days of the Christian movement and God’s establishment of His “new covenant,” the apostles are carrying the message of the gospel across Jerusalem and Judea. Being confronted by the Jewish leadership (vs 27), as often they were, Peter tells them, “We must obey God rather than men” (vs 29) and witnesses to them about the things he and the others have seen with their eyes. In this case, Peter may be specifically referring back to witnessing the transfiguration of Jesus documented in Acts 1.
Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that’s within you who God gave you? You are not your own since you were bought with a price. Therefore, use your body to glorify God.
Paul is very clearly speaking here about sexual immorality and the Christian’s need to “flee” from it (vs 18). Therefore, in this context, the “body” is the individual Christian’s body (not the “body” in terms of the church, Christ’s body).
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About the Author: D Brackett
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