The Holy Spirit is deity, equal with God in nature but separate in persons. Dr. Elmer Towns says that the Holy Spirit is spoken of as God, that He possesses the absolute and comparative attributes of God, that He does the works of God, and that He receives honor as God. Dr. Towns also says that the Holy Spirit has numerous titles of deity, that the early Church recognized Him as deity, and that the words of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of John shows the Holy Spirit to be a Person. It also discusses His eternal procession from the Father and the Son, His titles as deity, and His works. According to the Apostle John, the Holy Spirit teaches, testifies, enlightens, and comforts. John also taught that the Holy Spirit works in the life of unbelievers by reproving and restraining, and He works in the life of the believer through salvation, indwelling, and illuminating.
In his book Theology For Today, Dr. Elmer Towns identifies the Holy Spirit as deity, equal with God in nature but separate from Him in persons. To support this claim, Dr. Towns says that the Holy Spirit is spoken of as God, that He possesses the absolute and comparative attributes of God, that He does the works of God, and that He receives honor as God. Dr. Towns continues by saying that the Holy Spirit also has numerous titles of deity, that the early Church recognized Him as deity, and that the words of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit [1]. Dr. Charles C. Ryrie, in his book A Survey of Bible Doctrine, added to these remarks by indicating that the Holy Spirit is completely God. According to him, the Holy Spirit has the characteristics possessed only by God, He did and does the things that only God can do, and He is always associated on an equal plane with the other Persons of the Trinity [2].
On the first Pentecost following Jesus' death, the Holy Spirit was sent to earth by the Father and the Son to minister to Christians and the world. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, in his book Major Bible Themes, says that the Holy Spirit came into the world so that He might make His abode in the world. By changing His abode from heaven to earth, the third Person of the Trinity marked the beginning of His new ministry on earth and also signaled the beginning of the Age of grace [3]. Dr. Chafer comments about the abodes of the other two Persons of the Trinity by writing that the Father's abode is in heaven and the Son's abode is at the right hand of God. Despite the respective abodes of each of the Three, however, as Dr. Chafer also points out, Their omnipresence is not affected. They still always possess the same comparative attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. The idea of the Holy Spirit having been sent to earth to conduct His ministry is called procession.
The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, and He possesses the traits of a Person. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, He has the some of the titles of deity, and He does the works of God. In the sections below, these topics, as they are discussed in the Gospel of John, will be examined.
Dr. Ryrie writes that "the least understood Person of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit . . . If we could show that the Holy Spirit has similar characteristics as persons do, then we would conclude that He too is really a person" [4]. Dr. Towns says that the Holy Spirit has numerous personality traits. According to him, the Holy Spirit teaches, testifies, guides, speaks, enlightens, strives, commands, intercedes, sends workers, calls, and comforts [5]. Dr. Chafer adds that the Holy Spirit is also affected as a person by other beings and that all Bible terms related to the Holy Spirit imply His personality [6]. Of the list provided by Dr. Towns, the Apostle John wrote specifically in his Gospel that the Holy Spirit teaches, testifies, enlightens, and comforts, thus showing that He is a Person.
A. The Holy Spirit Teaches. In John 14:26, when speaking to His disciples in His Upper Room Discourse, Jesus described the Holy Spirit as their Comforter and Teacher. The Lord had already been their personal Master and Teacher for a little over three years. Now, He was telling them that the Father would send the Spirit and that the Spirit would teach them all things and cause them to remember all things that Jesus had spoken. Dr. Oliver Greene, in his book The Gospel According To John, writes, "Here is divine proof that the third Person of the Trinity is not an abstract 'influence.' He is a Person, capable of teaching, leading, counseling" [7]. According to Dr. Greene, the Holy Spirit came into the world so that He could take over the interests of Jesus on earth. While here, His principle role has been to indwell Christians and teach those who follow Christ about their Lord.
At the time that Jesus spoke the above words to His disciples, the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent. He would not actually come until Pentecost, and at that time, He would teach the disciples all the things which they would need to know to continue God's work on earth. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to specifically indwell, comfort and teach them. However, the Holy Spirit also indwells each believer and becomes his or her own personal Teacher of spiritual truth. Dr. Henry C. Thiessen, in his book Lectures in Systematic Theology, writes that "each believer has the Spirit and, therefore, he does not need some additional special revelation or mystical insight" [8]. I John 2:27 says, "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."
B. The Holy Spirit Testifies. In his commentary on John 15:26, Dr. Greene wrote that the disciples were concerned about their being able to continue the Lord's ministry after He was gone [9]. Jesus had told them that He would soon be leaving, and at the time that He spoke those words, they did not have the written Word of God to help them through. According to Dr. Greene, the Lord, being omniscient, knew about his disciples' anxieties and, in this passage, was trying to assure them that they would not be alone.
During His ministry, Jesus had frequently testified to others about His oneness with God. On numerous occasions, He had even put Himself at risk with the crowd because of His persistence about His own deity. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, or Comforter and Spirit of truth as He is called in John 15:26, would be with them to also testify to them about Him and His deity. One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to call people to their own peculiar ministry, and Dr. Chafer writes that the Holy Spirit gave Himself the specific job of testifying to others about Jesus [10].
Dr. Towns, in his book, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, indicates that the Holy Spirit helps each of us "testify of the indwelling Christ," too [11]. It is when we commit ourselves completely to the Spirit and His leading that we will be best able to serve our Lord. Dr. Greene writes, "All true ministers speak in the Spirit and testify of Jesus - not of themselves" [12]. Thus, it is when we seek to exalt Christ instead of ourselves that we are doing the will of our heavenly Father. II Corinthians 4:5-6 says, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
C. The Holy Spirit Enlightens. In John 16:13-14, John reiterated some of what Jesus had earlier said in John 14:26 and 15:26. On this occasion as before, Jesus was telling His disciples that the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, would guide them and all believers into all truth about Him. This type of instruction is called "spiritual illumination", and Dr. Towns states that the Holy Spirit's guidance in revealing New Testament truth to the apostles was complete rather than partial [13]. Dr. Ryrie points out that the Holy Spirit was already at work in the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost because Acts 2:36 records how Peter was able to identify Jesus as Lord and Christ [14]. According to Dr. Ryrie, Peter could not have known these "complete" truths about Jesus had the Holy Spirit not revealed them to him.
In John 16:13-14, Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit would tell them what He had heard about Him and that the Spirit would show them all things to come. In his commentary about this passage, Dr. Greene writes that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples about all things relative to the Church Age and even about the ages beyond the Church Age. Dr. Greene goes on to say that all we need to know is in the Word of God and that holy men wrote the Word of God as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit [15]. Dr. Towns indicates that this statement about knowing all things to come is probably a reference to the doctrines that the disciples would write for the New Testament Church. He also suggests that this reference might have some significance concerning eschatological truth, as well, thus agreeing in large part with the remarks of Dr. Greene [16].
Finally, Jesus said in these verses from John 16 that the Holy Spirit would seek to glorify Him. Dr. E. Y. Mullins, former President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote, "The sphere of the Spirit's activity is the heart of the individual believer and of the church. His chief function is to illumine the teaching and glorify the person of Jesus" [17]. Matthew Henry wrote, "God the Father glorified him in heaven, and the Spirit glorified him on earth" [18]. Moreover, Mr. Henry went on to say that all the gifts, all the works of grace, all the writings of the apostles, all the sermons, and all the other works, conducted under the influence of the Holy Spirit, were and are done for the singular purpose of glorifying Jesus, the Christ. As Christians, each of us should strive to bring honor and glory to our Lord. However, we can only hope to accomplish this objective by submitting ourselves completely to the leadership and obedience of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
D. The Holy Spirit Comforts. In John 16:7, when Jesus was speaking to His disciples about going away, He knew that the Spirit could not come until after He had gone. Thus, Jesus told them that He would soon be leaving. Matthew Henry wrote, "The Spirit has work to do . . . therefore it was expedient for them that [Jesus] should go away" [19]. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Comforter, and Dr. Towns writes that the Greek word for comforter means lawyer, tutor, doctor, friend, and one who encourages or comforts [20].
Life can often be very difficult. Certainly, during the days of the early Church, when persecution was all around, Christians needed the indwelling Holy Spirit to comfort and help them through. During His own ministry, in fact, Jesus had frequently brought comfort to those around Him, particularly at times like in John 6 when He fed the five thousand and calmed the violent seas. Dr. Mullins wrote that the Greek word for comforter literally means, "called to one's side" for help, and in many ways, Jesus was like a best Friend to those around Him [21]. In today's economy, the Holy Spirit is the Christian's best Friend and biggest Helper, and He, unlike Jesus, is not limited by space. The Holy Spirit can teach us what we need to know to serve our Lord, and He can go with us and be with us through any difficulty or hardship so that we are never alone.
On the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles, during a conversation with some Jews and Pharisees, and in the third year of His ministry, Jesus spoke the words recorded in John 7:38-39. The point of interest about His remarks was in what He was saying to them about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come, but He was telling them that in a short time He would. When that happened, then those who had and would believe on Jesus would be indwelled by the Spirit. The theological teaching, which takes into account this coming of the Holy Spirit to abide in the earth, is called procession.
Dr. Ryrie writes, "Procession is a term which has been used by theologians to try to describe the relationship between the Spirit and the other Persons of the Trinity" [22]. John 15:26 says that the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Hence, this verse is a key reference for presenting the idea of procession. Initially, the Holy Spirit was viewed as having been sent exclusively from the Father. But because John 15:26 also says that the Son will ask the Father to send the Spirit, the concept was expanded over time to more accurately include the Son [23]. In 589 AD, the Synod of Toledo officially attributed the procession of the Holy Spirit as being from both the Father and from the Son.
The involvement of both Father and Son in the procession of the Spirit is further supported by John 14:26 because that verse uses the words "whom the Father will send in my name." Those words show that the Father in the Son's name has sent and is eternally sending the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they form a more accurate picture of what has and is actually happening with respect to the Holy Spirit's coming.
The Apostle John used four titles of deity for the Holy Spirit in his Gospel. He used the word "Spirit" throughout to express the Holy Spirit. In John 1:32, he wrote about the Spirit and said that He, appearing like a dove, descended upon Jesus at His water baptism. In John 3:34, the word "Spirit" was used, and Dr. Thiessen writes that the Spirit equipped Jesus for His messianic ministry [24]. Thirteen other times, the Apostle John used the word "Spirit" as a title for the Holy Spirit. Four times, in John 1:33, 7:39, 14:26, and 20:22, he used Holy Ghost to identify the Holy Spirit. Four times, in John 14:16, 14:26, 15:26, and 16:7, he used the descriptive title, Comforter, and three times, in John 14:17, 15:26, and 16:13, he used the descriptive title, Spirit of truth. Based on these titles, one can conclude that the Holy Spirit is both holy and spirit. Based on His personality traits, the He is a Person, He is our Comforter, and He is our Spirit of truth. He helps us through our difficulties, and He teaches us what we need to know to serve the Lord.
Dr. Towns discusses the works of the Holy Spirit by categorizing those works into His pre-conversion works, His conversion works, and His post-conversion works [25].
A. The Pre-conversion Works of the Holy Spirit. John 16:7-10 says that the Holy Spirit will reprove or convict. He will reprove of sin, He will reprove of righteousness, and He will reprove of judgment. John 16:9 records Jesus as saying that the Holy Spirit will reprove of sin because people do not believe on Him. Dr. Towns points out that the word used for sin in this verse is a general term for wrongdoing, thus implying all forms of sin. However, Dr. Towns also points out that Jesus narrowed the discussion principally to the sin of unbelief, meaning that, in Dr. Towns' words, "the Holy Spirit [will cause] people to see their unbelief" [26].
John 16:10 says that the Holy Spirit will reprove of righteousness because Jesus is about to go to His Father and they will see Him no more. In I Corinthians 1:27-30, written by the Apostle Paul, Jesus is identified as our Basis for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. If our basis for righteousness is Christ and if He is gone, then the Holy Spirit, Who will take His place, will reprove unrepentant sinners and cause them to see themselves in the light of Jesus' righteousness.
John 16:11 says that the Holy Spirit will reprove of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. The prince of this world is the devil, and the judgment to which Jesus has referred is being eternally lost. The Holy Spirit will reprove lost sinners and show them their eternal doom without Christ.
Though not mentioned explicitly by John, the Holy Spirit also restrains evil. Dr. Pentecost writes about the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Tribulation and speaks to His role as the Restrainer of evil. Based primarily on II Thessalonians 2:7-8 and to some degree on John 16:7-11, Dr. Pentecost concludes that the work of the Holy Spirit since His arrival on earth has been to restrain evil and hold back the man of sin [27].
B. The Conversion Works of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit performs four conversion works in the life of the new believer. First, He is involved in the regeneration process that occurs when a sinner comes to Christ. Based on John 3:3-8 and 6:63, Dr. Thiessen states that through the Holy Spirit a person is born again and given life [28]. Dr. Chafer writes, "While regeneration in itself is not an experience, the new life received in regeneration gives the believer new capacity for experience. Once he was blind, now he can see" [29]. When Jesus taught this truth to those Jews that had gathered, many could not accept his message and turned away. John 6:66 says, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."
The second conversion work of the Holy Spirit, though not talked about by John, is that the Holy Spirit is responsible for the spiritual baptism of new believers. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, as is recorded in I Corinthians 12:13, about how the new believer is baptized into the body of Christ. Next, in John 14:16-17 and 15:26, the Apostle John wrote about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which occurs at salvation, and this indwelling is the third conversion work of the Holy Spirit. His fourth work, also not mentioned explicitly by John, is when the new believer is sealed into the family of God. Dr. Chafer wrote that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has taken place in the heart of every believer since Pentecost. He also said that the sealing of the Holy Spirit, like that of His indwelling, is something that happens at the time of salvation [30].
C. The Post-conversion Works of the Holy Spirit. After conversion, the Holy Spirit conducts the works of filling believers for service, sanctifying or sitting them apart, illuminating their understanding, praying, developing the fruits of the Spirit in the believer, and manifesting the gifts of the Spirit in the life of the believer. Of these, the Apostle John only wrote about the Holy Spirit's work of illuminating believer's understanding in John 14:26 and John 16:13. When He comes, the Spirit of truth shall teach us or illuminate us concerning all things that are needful so that we can conduct our respective ministries for the Lord.
The Apostle John wrote in some detail about the Holy Spirit. He dealt with the Holy Spirit's deity, about His person, about His eternal procession from the Father in the name of the Son, about some of His titles of deity, and about some of His works. Concerning the Spirit's personage, John wrote in his Gospel about how the Holy Spirit teaches, testifies, enlightens, and comforts. The Holy Spirit teaches the child of God all that he needs to know to serve God. He testifies to the Christian about Jesus, plus He enlightens and comforts those who follow the Lord. The Apostle John is the only biblical writer to use the descriptive title "Comforter" for the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle John also wrote about some of the specific works of the Holy Spirit. Those works can be categorized into pre-conversion, conversion, and post-conversion works. As pre-conversion works, the Holy Spirit reproves the unrepentant sinner and restrains the world from evil. His conversion works include overseeing the regeneration process, baptizing the new believer into the body of Christ, indwelling the new believer as both Comforter and Teacher, and sealing the new believer into the family of God. His post-conversion works are numerous, but John only wrote about His work of illumination.
The Holy Spirit helps us understand all truth about Jesus, and He guides us into paths that will help us best serve God. As Christians, we should submit ourselves to His leadership so that we can be faithful servants and also bring honor and glory to Jesus.
1. Elmer Towns, Theology for Today (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1989), pp. 259-262.
2. Charles C. Ryrie, A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1972), page 70.
3. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Revised by John F. Walvoord, Major Bible Themes (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974), page 93..
4. Charles C. Ryrie, pages 67-68.
5. Towns, page 256.
6. Chafer, pages 88-89.
7. Oliver B. Greene, The Gospel According To John, volume 2 (Greenville, South Carolina: The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1966), page 392.
8. Henry C. Thiessen, Revised by Vernon D. Doerksen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), page 256.
9. Oliver B. Greene, The Gospel According To John, volume 3 (Greenville, South Carolina: The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1966), page 76-78.
10. Chafer, page 88.
11. Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live (Lynchburg, Virginia: 1990), page 281.
12. Greene, The Gospel According To John, volume 3, page 77.
13. Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, page 288.
14. Ryrie, pages 85-86.
15. Greene, The Gospel According To John, volume 3, page 104.
16. Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, page 289.
17. E. Y. Mullins, "Holy Spirit," The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume III (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956), page 1413.
18. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible. Volume V - Matthew To John (McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company), page 1139.
19. Ibid, page 1138.
20. Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, page 265.
21. E. Y. Mullins, "Comforter," The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume II (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956), page 679.
22. Ryrie, page 71.
23. Ibid, page 71-72.
24. Thiessen, page 254.
25. Towns, Theology For Today, page 279.
26. Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, page 287.
27. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come - A Study In Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), pages 259-263.
28. Thiessen, page 255.
29. Chafer, page 100.
30. Ibid, pages 102-107.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Revised by John F. Walvoord. Major Bible Themes. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974.
Greene, Oliver B. The Gospel According To John. Volume 2. Greenville, South Carolina: The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1966.
Greene, Oliver B. The Gospel According To John. Volume 3. Greenville, South Carolina: The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1966.
Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible. Volume V - Matthew To John. McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company.
Mullins, E. Y. "Comforter." The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. volume II. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956.
Mullins, E. Y. "Holy Spirit." The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. volume III. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things To Come - A Study In Biblical Eschatology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958.
Ryrie, Charles C. A Survey of Bible Doctrine. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1972.
The Liberty Annotated Study Bible. Edited by Jerry Falwell. Lynchburg, Virginia: Old Time Gospel Hour, 1988.
Thiessen, Henry C. Revised by Vernon D. Doerksen. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979.
Towns, Elmer. The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Lynchburg, Virginia: 1990.
Towns, Elmer. Theology for Today. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1989.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
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