The Trinity is a complex idea which man will never fully be able to understand. Throughout the Bible we see God as the Father, Son and Spirit working in incredible ways. More than simply addressing how the coming of the Holy Spirit revolutionized the people of God it will also be important to recognize the infinity of the Spirit and the effect The Holy Spirit has had on mankind throughout history.
Long before creation up to today we see the Spirit as work in the lives of people. Genesis 1:2b says, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” However, the way the Spirit works is different in the Old Testament times and after Jesus as we see at Pentecost in Acts 2. One of the biggest differences between the time before the ‘coming’ of the Holy Spirit is that the Spirit in the old testament would come upon people occasionally as we see with Saul in 1 Samuel 16:12-13 where as afterwards the Spirit dwells in and among the people of God permanently, 2 Timothy 1:14 clearly shows that the Holy Spirit lives in us, “Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.”
There are many different ways in which the Holy Spirit works. There are four things I have pulled out to show the ways He is the same in the old and new testament. He brings about rebirth, dwells within, retrains and empowers people.
In John 3:3 we read about the way we need to be reborn to enter the kingdom of God. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about this rebirth when we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. In Deuteronomy 30:6 we also read of the way our hearts are changed so that we may have life. Ezekiel 36:26-27 also has this concept of renewal through the Spirit in us, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations”
This passage in Ezekiel also shows how the Spirit leads us away from sin, in Genesis 6:3 God says, “My Spirit will not remain in humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh…” It is the Spirit of God who leads us to repent, turn from sin and draws us to the Father. Then also, the Spirit is the one who empowers us and gives us what we need to do the will of God, in new testament we see the Spirit bring about the fruit of the Spirit and give the Spiritual gifts (Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 respectively ). In Exodus 31:3 it says, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts.” The Holy Spirit gives us what we need, to do what God tells us to do.
Then also the Spirit is indwelling, man can be filled by the Spirit of God. This is true for all time but the change is more apparent when it becomes a permanent indwelling. We read of the Spirit being in Joshua in Numbers 27:18 and also see this clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 where Paul explains that our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
However, although it is the same Spirit indwelling, His permanent presence revolutionized the early church both Jews and Gentiles. With the death and resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Spirit and new covenant the early church had to undergo a great change in their minds and hearts. Possibly two of the biggest shifts they needed to make were, for the Jews to accept that with the coming of the Spirit and because of the work of Jesus both Jews and Gentiles could be believers. Galatians 3:28 explains how we are all one in Christ Jesus. This was extraordinary also for the Gentiles because they now God have the Spirit in them and they were not required to live by the Jewish law in order to serve the true God, they now lived by grace through faith. The second mind shift is the idea that the old covenant had been abolished and replaced by the new and any believer no longer lived by the law but rather by the Spirit.
Both of these revolutionary ideas affected the ministries and personal lives of the early church in several ways. We see throughout the epistles that the Jews really had a hard time accepting the Gentiles and moving away from a life guided by law to a life guided by the Holy Spirit. The Gentiles had a hard time as well. Together these believers were starting off as infants, having to be taught and reminded of how to properly use the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit and how to work together with the holy Spirit to bring about God’s will. Examples of these are the churches of Galatia (swayed by false doctrine of living by works and not the spirit), Ephesus and the churches in Rome.
However, I believe that not only did the early church have to change their minds to come to an understanding of how to live a Spirit filled life but today still we need to do the very same thing. Personally, I have been on a journey of discovering the person of the Holy Spirit and all He is and does in my life today. I suppose one of the more clear examples of how the Spirit has worked in my life is concerning the fruit of the Spirit. From a young age I had learned them and always strived to live it out. However, it was frustrating because I was striving, I needed the revelation that it is the Holy Spirit in us which produces this fruit and rather than striving to produce fruit I started focusing on following the Spirit and that in turn produced all the good fruit. My walk in coming to know the person of the Holy Spirit has been a long one and I have a long way to go. I know that I have not been called to an ordinary life but a life of missions. The Holy Spirit always guides me to do things I only later realize was equipping me for something bigger. I am preparing to go home and study as the next step and I heavily need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me. It is His guidance which helps me to fulfill my calling, to live in intimate relationship with God, drawing people to Him by example. I cannot do it by myself and I have no idea how!
I see that in my life although I trust the Holy Spirit to help me live out all the fruit of the Spirit the most evident are joy, love and faithfulness. I need to work on and want to see growth in a fruit of patience, self control and peace, not peace with others but within myself. I don’t like putting myself or God in a box but of the Gifts given as we see mentioned in several places, of the Spirit specifically in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 there are several I identify in myself. I have definitely got the gift of giving wise advise (1 Cor 12:8), many times I find myself helping others and counseling, giving advice that I have no idea where my words come from if it is not from the Holy Spirit. I also have the gift of teaching (Ephesians 4:11) and leadership (Romans 12:8). All these are things which are continually developing and getting stronger.
I pray that as the Holy Spirit has always been and will continue to be, He will continue to develop me as I draw near to His guidance and to the Father and Son.
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