(A)

We have noted the major role of God’s Spirit in the conviction of sin, and regeneration, accompanied by repentance and faith, in the process of conversion, when the gospel is communicated.

However, in the outworking of the Christian life, the Holy Spirit continues to have a central and major role, particularly in sanctification, and transformation into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the lop-sided emphasis, in many believers and some churches today, has been on the gifts of the Spirit and the external ‘spiritual experience and manifestation’ rather than on the more important aspects of His ministry.

The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to change people, making them more like Christ. Hence true change in Christian lives cannot take place without the Word of God and the application of the Holy Spirit.

In this process, the Holy Spirit operates intellectually by imparting understanding of Christ and of all the Scriptures as witness to Him. It goes without saying that Christians ought to use their sanctified minds to receive from the Spirit understanding of the Lord Jesus, as well as the Scriptures which witness to Him. It is a misnomer to think that Christians ought not to think and to understand better God’s revelation to believers and the church. Although we have limitations to understand everything about God and His ways, yet God expects us to understand and appreciate as much as we can the knowledge He has revealed for our salvation and outworking of our Christian lives.

Motivationally, the Spirit engenders trust in Christ and sustains within us a purpose of cleaving to revealed truth. A life of walking by faith, and a life that prevents believers from being led astray by errors and distorted truth, depends very much on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. An academic study of the Scriptures and theology may lead to a Spiritless life without the input and life of the Spirit of God; the knowledge instead may lead to pride (being puffed up) as well as a lifeless knowledge which gives a false assurance of true understanding.

Behaviourally, the Spirit induces the Christlike pattern of action and lifestyle that flow from the state of the soul. Augustine stated that true wisdom leads to a sense of practical understanding of truth, beauty and the good godly life.

A good deal of what is called theology today is specialist speculation and does not bear at all on the Christian’s personal life and outworking; but theology in the best sense (also termed Theologia) ought to be a matter of conscientious concern to every Christian who aims at a life that honours God and glorifies HIm. True and accurate knowledge and understanding are revealed in the Scripture, particularly in the Epistles (eg. 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Eph.5:15-20). It would do us well to know and handle the Word of God faithfully and prayerfully.

(B)

The Holy Spirit is the gift of the new age in Christ, guaranteeing what is to come (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:13-14); our redemption and life in the Spirit is the beginning, and it looks forward to the end and the consummation in the new heaven and new earth.

We have considered that for the individual Christian, the Spirit enlightens and gives understanding of Christ and the gospel; He indwells as the seal and guarantee that the Christian henceforth belongs to God (Rom. 8:9-11); He transforms, producing in the believer the fruit of Christlikeness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fruitfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-24), plus prayerfulness and hope. And He assures, witnessing to our adoption by God, our eternal acceptance and future inheritance (Rom.8:15-25).

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force at our disposal or harnessed to do our biddings. The way and approach of some believers in seeking to battle the evil forces or to heal those who are ill come through in a manner that they, the individuals, take the spotlight and limelight, and they project the ‘ability’ to exercise much power in their ministry and have the Spirit at their disposal. The Holy Spirit is a sovereign person with his own will, which is also the will of the Father and the Son. He can be grieved by the sins of God’s people; He can also be resisted by various ones, for He does not treat us like “robots” but as individuals created in the image of God, given the freedom by God to choose. But realise that there are serious consequences in grieving Him and resisting Him – for in effect, when we do this, we are grieving and resisting the Triune God.

The Spirit’s creative action at the centre of our personal being so changes and energises us that we do in fact obey the truth. The persuasion at the conscious level is powerful; the heart-changing action that produces Christian commitment is almighty. First to last, however, the power exercised is personal – the Spirit is a living person, not a mere force, and as the third person of the Trinity, His ministry is powerful, almighty, life-changing and personal. His spotlight is on the Lord Jesus Christ, and He seeks to constantly glorify Him and to make His children to be like Him (Jesus).

When we speak of the Spirit guaranteeing what is to come and granting us the hope and transformation toward the consummation of our redemption and salvation at the end of the age, we are in fact introducing the subject of Eschatology (the study of the last things).
Eschatology is first of all the key to understanding the unity of the Bible. Holy Scripture in its totality is a book of hope looking forward to a final consummation, and finding its unity in all the lines of thought and teaching about the divine action will bring in the final consummation toward which God is working. The Holy Spirit is the Author and Teacher of God’s revelation in the Scripture and He is undoubtedly a ‘main player’ in the process towards this consummation.

Eschatology is also the clue to understanding the nature of the Christian life. This life is essentially a life of hope, a life in which nothing is perfect yet, but the hope of perfection is set before us, so that we may forget what is behind and reach out to what lies ahead and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philip. 3:12).

Living in this world with its whole materialistic culture around us, its temptations, its distractions, its values, tend to make us forget that there are two worlds instead of just one, two lives not just one, and heaven is really more important than earth, for heaven’s life is the goal for which this life is preparation (Col. 3:1-4). And the Holy Spirit changes us from within and keeps us focussed on the things above and the eternal future and hope, and encourages us not to be distracted by the ‘things below’.

Eschatology is also the key to understanding the shape of world history. The church under the sovereign hand of God is the real center of what is going on and always will be. We have a great deal of pessimistic hopelessness on the part of people who feel they have seen through the false hopes of society and now have no hope at all. People realise that climate change has reached a point of no-return; they are disillusioned with all the ‘talk’, ‘promises’ on the global stage about the need to correct situations; they see the demise of almost all forms of political agenda, whether it be capitalism, whether it be communism, the far right or the far left – you name it – they see violence, killing, upheavals, in many nations and societies under the guise of seeking something better for the populace – and many feel they have had enough and rather not talk about it, hear it or read it!

We need to speak loudly and clearly about the glory of the Christian hope!! Hence the need to communicate the true and complete gospel; hence the importance of seeing the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of believers and in the church. There is no true message and conversion without the ministry of the Spirit, and the faithfulness of God’s people to speak and live the message they proclaim.