The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the eternal triune God (Gen. 1:1, 2; Mark 1:10, 11; Matt. 3:16, 17; 2 Cor. 13:14). He has all the attributes of God the Father and the Son. He has been from the beginning and will be at the end. The Bible describes various activities of the Holy Spirit during the OT times. In creation the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters (Gen. 1:1, 2) and preparing the way for the creative word of God to shape the world. The prophets and other leaders during the OT times were directed and instructed by the Spirit of God.

These leaders were equipped by the Spirit of God to do acts of service. Notable among them were Joseph (Gen. 41:37); Bezalel (Ex. 31:1-3); Moses and the seventy elders (Num. 11:16, 17); Joshua (Num. 27:18); Gideon (Judg. 6:34); Jephthah (Judg. 11:29); Samson (Judg. 13:24, 25); David (1 Sam. 16:13); Daniel (Dan. 4:18, 5:11) and Zerubbabel (Zech. 4:6). In the NT the activities of the Holy Spirit became more prominent. He did not just come on people, perform a task and leave for a time, but has come to stay as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:16, 17). From the beginning of the Gospels, He empowers Mary to conceive the Lord Jesus (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35); gives a sign of attestation to Jesus at His baptism (John 1:32-34) and anoints and ushers Jesus to His ministry on earth (Luke 4:18, 19).

When Jesus proclaimed that “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21) He was actually quoting from the prophet Isaiah chapter 61:1-3. Through the Spirit, the prophets of the OT prophesied that the activities of the Holy Spirit would increase. They looked forward to the time when there will be a general outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all of God’s people. Joel therefore prophesied that: And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days (Joel 2:28, 29, NIV).

This was what Peter quoted on the Day of Pentecost, confirming that their experience was by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that has enabled them to prophesy, see visions, speak in tongues and perform various signs and wonders. We will now examine these gifts and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 2.1 Baptism Of The Holy Spirit 

An important area of the activities of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal tradition is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When a person hears the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit convicts the person to believe and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

The Holy Spirit then acts as a “spiritual midwife” and delivers the person, thus making him a child of God, a ‘born again’ person or a person who has received new birth or spiritual birth (John 3:3-7) or what Amos Yong, an AsianAmerican Pentecostal theologian calls ‘pneumatological soteriology’. Emmanuel Achim Gyimah, a retired apostle of CoP, describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit as “a transition or translation of the believer from the Kingdom of darkness and sin to the Kingdom of light and righteousness.”

The apostle Paul explains that, “we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is therefore baptism by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, where the believer becomes member of the universal church with Christ as the Head of the Church. This act of regeneration means that the Holy Spirit comes and joins with the spirit of the believer, quickens his spirit and reproduces the life of Jesus in the believer’s life. The Holy Spirit, who is also referred to as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Life, the Eternal Spirit or the Counselor (Rom. 8:9; Judg. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 16:13; Rom. 8:2; Heb. 9:14; John 14:26), amongst others, indwells, teaches, guides and empowers the believer to live a victorious Christian life.

2.2 Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Pentecostals  consider that when a person becomes born again and is baptized by immersion, the next experience he seeks is baptism in the Holy Spirit. In an earlier writings of the, it was observed that, “baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience of the Holy Spirit coming upon (falling upon) and filling all those who profess faith in Christ and have been regenerated (Matt. 3:11; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:3, 4; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Acts 10:44; 19:6)”130. The Scriptures make it clear that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit. During Christ’s earthly mission, one of his ministries was to baptize his followers in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). Before ascending into heaven, Jesus instructed his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. This was necessary for them to be clothed with power for witnessing (Acts 1:8).

On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples who had gathered were filled with the Holy Spirit with signs following (Acts 2:1-12). It is, however, interesting to note that Christians have argued so much about what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit’, ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ or ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’ are all biblical phrases that have added to the debate.131 Even amongst Pentecostals, there seems not to be a common stand. Other words or phrases used to describe the Holy Spirit experience include