The Sing! Hymnal
The Sing! Hymnal
A Biblical Theology of the Holy Spirit
What Scriptures Say About the Holy Spirit
I would like to take a brief look at the biblical theology of the Holy Spirit, summarizing some of the major findings of my previous biblical-theological work on this topic.1 As we study the Bible’s teaching on the Spirit historically, inductively, and descriptively, we start with individual references to the Spirit in both Testaments. There are about four hundred references to “spirit” (ruah) in the Old Testament, but only about one hundred of these relate to the person of the Holy Spirit; the rest refer to the human spirit or breath or to the wind (which at times serves as an emblem for God’s judgment). Remarkably, the expression “Holy Spirit” occurs only twice in the Old Testament (Ps. 51:11 [disputed by some]; Isa. 63:10–11); most commonly, the reference is to the “Spirit of YHWH” or simply “the Spirit.” Similarly, in the New Testament, not every reference to pneuma, “spirit,” refers to the person of the Holy Spirit. Many references are to the human spirit or the wind.2 What is more, sometimes the Holy Spirit is referenced apart from the word pneuma.3 Theologically, there is a development from the Old Testament—where the Spirit is shown to be active in creation and later said to come upon certain leaders or prophets at God-appointed times but is not said to indwell ordinary believers—to the New Testament, where the Spirit comes to indwell believers, starting at Pentecost (Acts 2).
One fascinating challenge when studying the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture is that there is only a limited amount of material on the Spirit in the Old Testament. To begin with, there are three references to the Spirit in Genesis and ten more in the remainder of the Pentateuch.4 The Spirit is first mentioned in the Bible as hovering over the waters at creation (Gen. 1:2); the closest Old Testament parallel speaks of an eagle hovering over her young (Deut. 32:11), so the word picture is likely that of the Spirit as a mother bird (see also Isa. 31:5). In Genesis 6:3, just prior to the universal flood, it is said that God’s Spirit will not remain with humanity forever. In Genesis 41:38, none other than Pharaoh recognizes the Spirit’s presence with Joseph. In the rest of the Pentateuch, the Spirit is depicted as coming on or being with various individuals: the craftsmen, Bezalel and Oholiab, building the sanctuary (Ex. 31:2–3, 6; 35:30–35); the seventy elders (Num. 11:17, 25); Balaam the prophet (Num. 24:2); and Joshua, Moses’s successor (Num. 27:18; Deut. 34:9).
New Testament Theology
Andreas J. Köstenberger
New Testament Theology provides a comprehensive examination of the major themes, ethical teachings, and places within the overarching storyline of Scripture for each of the 27 books in the New Testament.
In the Pentateuch, then, the Spirit is shown in three primary functions: (1) as an agent of creation; (2) as an agent of judgment (in the sense that withdrawal of the Spirit leads to weakness and death); and (3) as an agent of empowerment for God’s service. In the Historical Books, in the days of the judges the Spirit is said to have come upon national deliverers such as Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.5 During the early days of the monarchy, the Spirit came first on Saul (1 Sam. 10:6) and later on David his successor (1 Sam. 16:13). In both time periods—the judges and the monarchy—the Spirit is shown to mediate God’s presence and to empower national deliverers and rulers. In addition, the references to the Spirit in Kings, Chronicles, and Nehemiah all involve his activity in conveying God’s words to his people through prophets—or inspired individuals—such as Elijah, Elisha, or Zechariah.6 Thus, in the Historical Books the Spirit’s work is essentially twofold: (1) raising up and equipping national deliverers and rulers; and (2) empowering God’s spokespersons to prophesy.
There are few overt references to the Spirit in the Wisdom Literature.7 Overall, wisdom theology is more focused on God’s powerful, effective word as the ground of everything that exists. Thus, the Spirit takes on foundational importance for how God’s creation works and is to be inhabited, utilized, and enjoyed. The Spirit is also shown to teach God’s will and to examine a person’s inner being (Ps. 143:10; Prov. 20:27).
The Spirit is mentioned repeatedly in the Prophetic Books, especially Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah.8 In Isaiah, the operation of the Spirit is linked with the coming of the servant of the Lord. In Isaiah 11:2, the prophet says that
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him [the servant],
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
In Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah prophesies,
Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
The figure of the servant of the Lord also finds its fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah. Finally, in a passage cited by Jesus in his hometown synagogue at Nazareth, Isaiah writes of a figure who appears to be the servant of the Lord:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn. (Isa. 61:1–2; cf. Luke 4:18–19)
The Spirit is also frequently mentioned in Ezekiel, while being virtually absent from Jeremiah. Ezekiel prophesies that God will provide his people with a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 36:25–27; cf. Ezek. 39:29) and links the Spirit with restoration from the exile (Ezek. 37:12–14). Perhaps the most important passage on the Spirit in the Twelve (the Minor Prophets) is Joel 2:28–29, the well-known passage cited by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–21), which speaks of a universal outpouring of God’s Spirit on “all flesh” regardless of ethnicity, gender, or social status.
In the New Testament, we see the Spirit actively at work in strategic salvation-historical individuals such as John the Baptist, Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Simeon in anticipation of the coming Messiah, Jesus, through whom God would be present with his people in an unprecedented manner (Luke 1–2).9 During his earthly ministry, Jesus is shown to possess the Spirit to an unlimited degree (John 3:34), and the Spirit is depicted at Jesus’s baptism as descending and resting on him.10 The future would hold the promise of even more significant pneumatological developments. John the Baptist, and later Jesus himself, indicated that the Messiah would baptize not merely with water but with the Holy Spirit.11 At this future giving of the Spirit (John 7:38–39), both Jesus and his Father would make their home with believers by the Spirit, who would be with them forever.12
Jesus’s promise is realized following his ascension at Pentecost, when believers are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) in fulfillment of the promise of Joel 2 that in the last days God would pour out his Spirit “on all flesh” (Acts 2:16–21).13 Now it was not only the leaders of God’s people who experienced the presence of the Spirit but everyone who called on the name of the Lord. Soon it became clear that the same presence of the Spirit was available to Gentile believers in Jesus as well (Acts 10:44–47), in keeping with John the Baptist’s prophecy (Acts 11:15–17). Throughout Acts, the Spirit is shown to empower and direct the early church’s mission to the ends of the earth, so much so that Acts is not so much the Acts of the Apostles as it is the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.
The New Testament letters, especially the writings of Paul, reinforce the notion that every believer now enjoys the Spirit’s indwelling presence.14 Paul writes that believers have “received” the Spirit (Rom. 8:15) who “has been given” to them (Rom. 5:5). The Spirit is “within” believers (see 1 Cor. 6:19) and “dwells in” them (Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 3:16). They possess the Spirit as “firstfruits” (Rom. 8:23) and as a “guarantee” (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5), and they are to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). In terms of his activity, the Spirit is shown in Paul’s letters to mediate God’s presence, impart life, reveal truth, foster holiness, supply power, and effect unity (see esp. Eph. 4:1–5).
In the non-Pauline letters, the Holy Spirit is featured in three warning passages in the letter to the Hebrews.15 The author issues warnings not to disregard the witness borne by God through the Holy Spirit; not to disregard manifestations of the Holy Spirit as the people of Israel did in the wilderness during the exodus; and not to disregard the Son of God and the blood of the covenant, thus enraging the Spirit of grace (Heb. 2:4; 6:4; 10:29). The Spirit is also featured as the author of the sacred Old Testament writings through which God still speaks today (Heb. 3:7; Heb. 9:8; Heb. 10:15–16). Peter, in his first letter, highlights the Spirit’s role in sanctification (1 Pet. 1:2). He reminds his readers that they are blessed if and when they are persecuted, because the Spirit of God rests on them (1 Pet. 4:14). Peter also underscores the Spirit’s role in the ministry of Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles (1 Pet. 1:10–12; 2 Pet. 1:21) and features the Spirit as an agent of Christ’s resurrection. John, in his first letter, speaks of believers having an “anointing from the Holy One,” namely, the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20 NIV; cf. 1 John 2:27). John also, in all likelihood, identifies the Spirit as God’s “seed” and agent of regeneration (1 John 3:9), as one of three witnesses to Jesus together with Jesus’s baptism and crucifixion (1 John 5:6–8), and as the one who bears internal witness to believers (1 John 5:10).
In Revelation, the Spirit is associated with each of John’s four visions. The phrase “in the Spirit” is found at or near the beginning of each of these visions.16 The Spirit is also repeatedly featured in Revelation as the “seven spirits of God” (Rev. 1:4; Rev. 3:1; Rev. 4:5; Rev. 5:6), and the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3 contain the consistent refrain, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Finally, the Spirit is shown to be actively involved in the church’s witness and mission amid persecution, and at the end of the book of Revelation, the Spirit and the church both plead with Jesus to return soon (Rev. 22:17).
To summarize, “From Genesis to Revelation, from creation to new creation, the Spirit of God is an active participant in the story of Scripture.”17 He mediates God’s presence, reveals truth, fosters holiness, and effects unity. He is life giving, life empowering, and life transforming. While closely aligned with God, the Spirit operates as a distinct person along the salvationhistorical continuum. The Bible, in both Testaments, provides a fascinating and intriguing conglomerate of pieces that comprise the mosaic sketching the contours of a biblical theology of the Spirit. Carson has rightly said that the measure of any biblical-theological proposal is the way in which it deals with the question of the Bible’s unity and diversity.18 Regarding a biblical theology of the Spirit, one detects a measure of both unity and diversity, continuity and discontinuity. On the one hand, the same Spirit is operative throughout the full orbit and canvas of Scripture. On the other hand, the day of Pentecost marks a watershed with the outpouring of the Spirit on all believers. The New Testament writers provide a multifaceted portrayal of the roles and ministries of the Spirit. He regenerates, renews, transforms, guides, convicts, teaches, sovereignly distributes spiritual gifts, and fulfills many other vital functions in the life of the church and individual believers. He also sustains an intimate and integral relationship with God the Father and God the Son throughout salvation history past, present, and future.
Notes:
- Andreas J. Köstenberger, “Part 1: Biblical Theology,” in Allison and Köstenberger, Holy SpiritM, 3–219.
- See, e.g., Jesus’s wordplay in John 3:6–8, where he uses πνεῦμα to refer to both the Spirit and the wind.
- See, e.g., Jesus’s reference to “the promise of my Father” in Luke 24:49 or “the gift my Father promised” in Acts 1:4 (NIV).
- Gen. 1:2; 6:3; 41:38; Ex. 31:3; 35:31; Num. 11:17; 11:25 (2x), 26, 29; 24:2; 27:18; Deut. 34:9. See Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 9–15.
- Judg. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; etc. See Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 17–26.
- 1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16; 2 Chron. 24:20.
- Though see, e.g., Job 33:4; Pss. 33:6; 104:30; 139:7. See Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 26–31.
- Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 33–49.
- Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 53–79.
- Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32–33.
- Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5.
- John 14:16–17, 21; cf. John 20:22; Luke 24:49.
- Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 81–101.
- Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 103–66.
- Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 167–88.
- Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10. Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 188–94.
- Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 201. See “A Biblical-Theological Synthesis of the Holy Spirit in Scripture,” in Allison and Köstenberger, Holy Spirit, 201–19.
- Carson, “New Testament Theology,” 810; cf. Hahn, Theologie des Neuen Testaments, 1.xvii.
This article is adapted from New Testament Theology: A Canonical, Thematic, and Ethical Approach by Andreas J. Köstenberger.
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