More Aspects of the Holy Spirit

Next Part Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

The Greeks believed that the gods were in everything. This is what led them to “create” their own “gods many and lords many,” believing they had to put a separate god in every conceivable kind of inanimate object. (Recall that the Greeks had at least 30,000 gods.)

The true God—the Father and Christ—are in one place, but can be everywhere at once (omnipresent) through the power of the Holy Spirit. Their bodies are not spread throughout the universe like a kind of amorphous nebula. Notice what David wrote in the Psalms: “Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in [the grave], behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psa. 139:7-10).

Paul exhorted Timothy to “stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands” (II Tim. 1:6). Here, the Holy Spirit is referred to as a gift, one that must be stirred up within a Christian’s mind. Can a person be literally stirred? Is the Holy Spirit some kind of “genie in a lamp,” lying asleep until summoned by rubbing the lamp and the utterance of a magic incantation?

Also consider that, at baptism and conversion, Christians are given a “measure” of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:7). Can a person receive a measure of a person? No, but they can receive a measure of power, which must be continually exercised in order to grow. Paul wrote, “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19). A Christian is one who has been given a supply of the Holy Spirit. If it is not constantly replenished, that Spirit will run out, potentially until it is completely gone (Heb. 6:4-6).

As Matthew 25:14-30 shows, those who do not exercise God’s Spirit and “bring forth much fruit” (John 15:5, 16) will not be given eternal life in God’s kingdom. II Corinthians 4:16 shows that through enduring trials and sufferings, a Christian increases his supply of the Holy Spirit: “For which cause [being “always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” – I Cor 4:11] we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

Notice also that the Holy Spirit is something that needs to be renewed: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). This verse is referring to the Holy Spirit at work inside a Christian’s mind. To renew something is to keep it active or current.

When someone renews his driver’s license, it is so that he can continue to legally operate an auto-mobile. The license itself cannot drive, but empowers the individual to do so. And, unless it is renewed every three to four years, he will lose his driving privilege. Figuratively, the Holy Spirit is the same way. Unless it is renewed, one will lose the privilege of receiving eternal life.

A person cannot be renewed. But, if it is an “amount” of something, it has to be renewed or replenished. Yet, if it is a person, it is either there or it is not! There can be no in-between.