Holy Spirit: Power or Person?
Acts 10: 17 – 23, 29 – 33, 44 – 48; John 15: 9 – 17
The difference between seeing the Holy Spirit as a person or a power.
The book of Acts chapter 10 is pivotal in the early development of Christianity. Without the events of Peter’s and Cornelius’ visions and their corresponding faith Christianity might have remained a sect within Judaism. Those events fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah and the intention of Jesus.
Foundational to this pivotal moment in the history of Christianity is the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit’s action then we would be very different. But this is not surprising at all. The Holy Spirit is foundational to our faith. Her work is critical to the existence of the Church. Jesus said this to the disciples in his farewell conversations; I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever – the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you [Jn 14:26].
So what was so important in Acts chapter 10? Well, Peter had a strange vision/dream in which he was instructed to eat unclean things according to Jewish Law. He is aroused from his dream/vision by a request from a Roman officer’s servants to come and explain the Christian faith. Now Romans were gentiles and Jews were not supposed to associate with Gentiles, as they were ‘unclean’. Peter goes in obedience to the command of the Holy Spirit and he preaches [Acts 10:28]. The Holy Spirit ‘falling’ on the Gentiles interrupts Peter’s preaching and the Gentiles begin to speak in tongues [10: 44,45]. Peter and his Jewish Christian helpers are amazed to see Gentiles now blessed with the Holy Spirit as they were on the day of Pentecost. Peter baptised them saying that these Gentiles have ‘received the Holy Spirit just as we have’ [10:47]. For the first time we have Gentiles baptised and included in the new community of Christ. This is so significant that they later call the followers of Jesus together in Jerusalem and have the first Church Council discussing the issue of including Gentiles into the community of Christ – the Church [Acts 15]? Wow, this was big and it wasn’t easy, because it raised matters concerning circumcision and what foods one should and should not eat etc. They resolved the issue by accepting that the conditions of entry into the community was acceptance of Jesus as Lord and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.
Did you notice how many times the Holy Spirit is mentioned and acted. She gave Peter the vision and motivated Cornelius to invite Peter to speak. The Holy Spirit prompted Peter to go, to speak and accept these Gentiles. She interrupted Peter’s fine sermon by coming upon Cornelius and his household and they spoke in tongues. The Holy Spirit is active. This is why some commentators think the book of Acts – the Acts of the Apostles is its full name – should be named the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit. It is full of stories about the Holy Spirit’s guidance and work. Our problem has always been that the Holy Spirit works quietly and points to Jesus. The result is that we think largely of Jesus and think of the Holy Spirit as a power, when she is a person just as God the Father and Son are.
Seeing the Holy Spirit as a person is so very important to us for three reasons.
Firstly the Holy Spirit is to be worshipped. She is part of the Trinity. When we worship God we worship God the holy Trinity. Now if you do not see the Holy Spirit as a person there are two problems. In the first instance you are robbing the Holy Spirit of worship, which is her due. The simple test is to ask ourselves do we worship the Holy Spirit? We do in our liturgy: our songs and doxologies, e.g. TiS 768: –
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise him all creatures here below,
Praise him above, ye heavenly hosts,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost
We worshipped the Holy Spirit in our opening songs, Holy Lord God and Father we adore you, which are in TiS 132 and 716 respectively.
We might do it liturgically but do you, do I, worship the Holy Spirit? When we fail to worship we rob the Spirit not only of her due but we are failing to surrender to her teaching, guidance and testing. This failure begins a significant fault line in being Christian. It means we only acknowledge God the Father/Creator and Christ Jesus. It means we are not acknowledging the fullness of God.
In the second instance if we are not recognising the Holy Spirit as a person we are merely treating her as an influence or power. The Spirit becomes something we use. It will be the case of how can I use the Spirit instead of how can the Spirit use me? When we see the Spirit as a spiritual resource we can utilise we run the risk self-exaltation. If I think of the Holy Spirit as an influence or power that I can get hold of, then I will inevitably develop some pride in myself if I think I have the Holy Spirit. Men and women of God let me tell you, when the Charismatic- renewal took place in South Africa there were many Christians claiming to have the Spirit. They showed off their gifts and exhibited a spiritual superiority. It is not how much more of the Spirit I can get but how much more of me can the Spirit get. When the Spirit dwells in us we belong to God fully [1 Cor 3:16; 6:19]. When we can say I am the Holy Spirit’s, rather than I have the Holy Spirit, then we have moved to a whole new level of joy and peace in our lives. Humility and peace will fill our lives and a new sense of well-being will come. When we surrender to God the Holy Spirit we allow the sap of the Vine, Christ Jesus, to move through our lives invigorating our lives. When we think we have the Spirit the opposite happens. Pride sets up permanent residence in our lives and restlessness follows and dissatisfaction enters our lives.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit is a person. That has become obvious in recognising the Spirit as not a power, but a person who empowers. The Spirit’s empowerment is not surprising. Jesus said that he will ask the Father and he will send us an Advocate who will teach us everything we need to know, help us remember the truth, who will speak about God to us, help us understand sin, rightness and judgment, and guide us into truth [Jn 14: 16,26; 15:26; 16: 8,13]. When we think about the roles of the Holy Spirit as advocate or helper, teacher and guide we have someone who is empowering us. All those roles belong to a person, not a power. A person who teaches, advocates, guides and explains is not a force or a power. The Spirit is a person. To treat the Spirit as a power or influence is to not only misunderstand Scripture, but also deny the Spirit her role – that is insulting. We also deny ourselves the full enjoyment and appreciation of God who is for us. They are the roles of the Holy Spirit empower people.
Let me share a little experience I had many years ago. I was 22 years old at the time. I had returned to my car in the hospital car park. I got in looked around and swung the wheel reversing out. Ouch! I touched the car next to mine. My human instinct immediately kicked in. I looked around to see who had seen this error in my driving. No one had seen it. About to drive off I heard a voice in my head. “Peter, do unto others as you would have them do to you.” ‘Yes, Lord.’ I sighed. The Spirit had reminded and reprimanded me. I got out and went over and inspected the damage – smallish dent. I had no way of knowing whose car it was. The hospital administration would not know either. So I pulled out my calling card and wrote a message apologising and claiming responsibility and placed it in clear vision of the driver under the windscreen blade. Yes, there is a difference between our own voice and that of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reminded me of the Word of God, truth and rightness.
These days I am trying to hear the Spirit’s voice. It is a constant learning process for me. With the many agendas I have – personal and professional – my mind is constantly moving. I have to pause and say, what should I do Holy Spirit? I still get amazed at some of the results. Just little things and they are right. The other day my mind was saying that visit to a parishioner could wait, but I checked in with the Spirit. I prayed, ‘what should I do Holy Spirit?’ I just felt then that I had to go. So I did. The Spirit was spot on – I went at the right time for that person. Everything about the time right down to the hour was right. Most importantly that person needed that visit. Thank you Lord, Holy Spirit. I just get saddened when I don’t always check in.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit is essential to our development as followers of Jesus. By now I am sure you can see how important it is for us to experience the indwelling of the Spirit in our lives. I cannot say it better than what Paul writes to the Roman Christians in chapter 8 saying; But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you [8:9-11].
I want to say that coming back to this foundational truth in recent times I have experienced a renewal in my life. A cloud is lifting and a lightness and joy returning. I want to say more and more, “I am the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place!’ I am opening myself to the Spirit making a home with me.
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Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 29/04/2018
