THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
by Dave Brown
There is probably no other subject that causes greater controversy today than exactly how the Holy Spirit influences the Christian. Much of this is caused by speculation involving things that have not been revealed. It is impossible to present all of the passages that deal with this subject, and every Christian should give this subject intensive study. Our goal here is to present some basics to put this study into perspective.
The Holy Spirit is given to all Christians. Acts 5:32 states: “And we are witnesses of these things; and {so is} the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
The Holy Spirit dwells in all Christians. Rom. 8:9: “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
To many these statements imply that the Holy Spirit is interacting directly with every Christian, imparting to them new revelation or guiding them directly. Yet, no such conclusion is inferred by these verses, nor can we see this elsewhere in the New Testament.
The essence of the gift of the Holy Spirit is not the mechanism of revelation, but the revelation itself. It is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). The Holy Spirit miraculously revealed the truth in the first century, and confirmed this truth by miraculous gifts (Mark 16:20). It was not the revelation, nor the confirmation, but obedience to the truth that led to salvation. When we read the scriptures we can get the same understanding of this truth that Paul had (Eph. 3:4).
Similarly, the context of Romans 8 gives us insight into what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is. Rom. 8:10-11: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” The indwelling of Christ is used interchangeably with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, indicating that both terms are being used metaphorically.
Going back to verse 4 we see that the result of this indwelling is that of obedience: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” When we are obedient to the truth it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, for without the revelation of the truth, this would be impossible. We absolutely could not come to the right conclusion without God’s revealed word.
It is quite clear that not all Christians in the first century had miraculous powers, even though they clearly had the indwelling of, and the gift of, the Holy Spirit. Luke makes it quite clear that many of these miraculous powers were limited to the apostles (see Acts 2:43; 4:33; 5:12). Now, some Christians did receive miraculous gifts, but these were imparted by the laying on of the hands of the apostles (Acts 8:18). This imparting was not universal (see 1 Cor. 12:27f).
There is much to be learned from the church that apparently had more miraculous spiritual gifts than any other – Corinth. A careful reading of 1st Corinthians (as opposed to say, Romans) indicates that these miraculous gifts did not give this church any advantage. It was a very troubled church with many, many problems. In fact, the gifts themselves had become a matter of jealousy.
The problem that they had is identical to what we are describing above. They valued the miracle itself over the truth that was being delivered and confirmed by it. Notice 1 Cor 13:8-10: “Love never fails; but if {there are gifts of} prophecy, they will be done away; if {there are} tongues, they will cease; if {there is} knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.”
Paul looked to a time when these spiritual gifts would no longer be necessary, i.e., the full-grown, perfect revelation would be a reality. At that time there would be no need for the “parts” and they could “put away these childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11). As are many childish things, they had a purpose for the church in its infancy, but once God had spoken and the truth was revealed and written down, there was no longer a need for ongoing miracles.