Obviously I am not trying to produce a complete study of the Holy Spirit within the space of this article, because He is part of the Trinity and therefore infinite. I just intend to present a few basic concepts that will hopefully prompt some discussion and cause you to search for the truth. I, myself, am a charismatic in that I attend churches that promote the use of Spiritual gifts. However, I realise that no church has got a perfect balance in their services, and I invite you to share your views.

Two words are used most prevalently in the Bible when referring to the Holy Spirit; ruach and pneuma, both meaning ‘breath’, or ‘wind’, in Hebrew and Greek respectively. This means that when translating passages this has to be borne in mind. The Holy Spirit would literally be translated “the breath of God”. He is more than just breath though, as I will explain. By now you’ll have noticed that I refer to the Holy Spirit as “He”. This is keeping with the Bible,which also uses the masculine pronoun in most contexts (notably John’s Gospel) — although ruach is a feminine noun and pneuma a neuter one.

Several Bible passages reveal that the Holy Spirit has a personality and so has to be more than just breath or wind. He has a mind: “He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit” (Romans 8:27). He has emotions such as vexation and grief (Ephesians 4:30, Isaiah 63:10). The Spirit is also seen to send, speak and strive, comfort and counsel — these are all qualities of a person or being. In addition, the Spirit is in fact divine. The different names of the Spirit all seem to attribute deity; God refers to him as “My Spirit”, He is also called “Breath of the Almighty” and “Spirit of Christ”, for example. He exhibits God’s divine qualities of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. Jesus, when he said he’d send another comforter, used the Greek word allos, which means, “another of the same kind as I am”. If Jesus is divine, then the Spirit is also divine.

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is seen in the lives of many men and women. In particular, all God’s prophets were anointed by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was present at creation, hovering over the waters and bringing life to Adam. In fact it is the Spirit who is the life of everything. It is also the Spirit that signified God’s presence as He dwelt in the temple. So far, so good. It is in the New Testament that the Spirit’s role begins to change, and it is here that Christians begin to differ in their opinions.

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Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, thus He was ‘born of the Spirit’. Jesus, talking to Nicodemus, says “No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). So Jesus was always in the Kingdom of God, but for us to enter we must be born again. This is our salvation experience. Now after Jesus’ birth we can only assume that He lived a relatively ordinary life training as a carpenter, that is until He reached 30ish. At this point Jesus was baptised in water by John the Baptist. After His baptism, as he was praying “the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove” (Luke 3:21-22). So although Jesus was already born of the Spirit, the Spirit came on Him a second time. This time, He was endowed with power and His earthly ministry began with teaching and miraculous signs.

So if Jesus is the example that we are to follow, what does this mean? As I have already said, one must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. Put simply, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your hearth that God raised him from the dead you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Charismatics believe that for those who want more, there is another experience known as ‘baptism in the Spirit’ as referred to in Acts 1:5. “For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.” This experience is available to all of us; just as Jesus was empowered we too can be empowered. In fact we will do greater things than Jesus did. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

The disciples offer another example. They were not born of the Spirit until Jesus’ resurrection, because they had to believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead. And at that moment of belief Jesus breathed on them saying “receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). It wasn‘t until Pentecost, however, that they received the apparent second experience of ‘baptism in the Spirit’. Jesus had said of this baptism, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8).

It seems as though almost every account of a filling with the Spirit is accompanied by a receiving of power. Since Pentecost the most common display of power is a spontaneous speaking in other languages, known as ‘tongues’. In fact, many people believe speaking in tongues is the definitive proof of baptism in the Spirit. Not all Christians believe that baptism in the Spirit is a second, or separate, experience. They would say that this occurs gradually and continually. However, as far as I can see, when you are baptised in the Spirit you know about it. No Old Testament prophet or New Testament believer would have said, “yeah, I think I’ve received the Spirit.”

What happened at Pentecost is that all the disciples were together in one place when “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4). Peter explained this event as the fulfilling of Joel’s prophecy: “In the last days, God say, I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Joel 2:28). So we are living in the last days, and the Greek word for “pour” implies a continuing action, meaning that God will continue to pour out His Spirit in these last days.

Well, that was a rapid explanation of baptism in the Spirit; do with it as you will, but I personally would like to know more. It is important to bear in mind that Spiritual gifts are exactly that — gifts — and as such, cannot be attained by works. But this should not stop us from desiring them and seeking to know God’s Spirit more.

Chris Coles