Evangelical Movement of Wales (EMW) Statement of Faith
- The Infallible Word Of God (1)
- The Holy Trinity (2)
- God And Father Of Our Lord Jesus Christ (3)
- The Lord Jesus Christ (4)
- The Holy Spirit (5)
- Rescued From Sin (6)
- Jesus Did It All (7)
We believe…
In the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, whose work is indispensable to regenerate the sinner, to lead him to repentance, to give him faith in Christ, to sanctify the believer in this present life and fit him to enjoy fellowship with God. For spiritual power and effectiveness His ministry is essential to the individual Christian and the Church.
Since the 1960s, the statement ‘We believe in the Holy Spirit’ has had the potential to split the closest of friendships and disrupt the worship and ministry of countless churches, yet it is one of the most thrilling statements of Christian life and truth. The problems arise from a complete misunderstanding of his Person and work.
Many make the mistake of thinking the Holy Spirit never existed before the Day of Pentecost, and yet we read in the second verse of the Bible, ‘the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.’ Another mistake is that he is thought of as simply a power that God uses, but the Spirit is able to be blasphemed, making him equal with God. Similarly, with the Father and Son, he pours out blessing on the church. The Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and God the Son, completing the Godhead.
The night Jesus was betrayed, he told his disciples, ‘Apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5), yet Jesus had already told them that he was going to the Father. Was he contradicting himself? No! Understanding their need, he had said, ‘I will not leave you as orphans’ (John 14:18). Jesus had promised that he, with the Father, would give them ‘another Helper, to be with you for ever’ (John 14:16). It is clear that having completed the work required of him, Jesus would leave this earth, so that the Holy Spirit might continue God’s purposes for his world and his church. There is a way in which the Holy Spirit is the key player in the current purposes of God in redeeming his people.
Born of the Holy Spirit
Many argue that the gift of the Holy Spirit is something received following a conversion experience, having believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but nothing is further from the truth. Early in his ministry, Jesus had spelt out the essential, initial work of the Holy Spirit in Christian experience: ‘… unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. … Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3,5). Just as the Son of God became a man through the work of the Holy Spirit, every person who becomes a Christian is given new life by a secret work of God the Holy Spirit in their heart. We need to be born again of the Spirit before we can even trust or repent. Paul goes as far as to say, ‘Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him’ (Rom. 8:9).
This is seen most clearly on the Day of Pentecost. The promise of Jesus was fulfilled when God poured out his Spirit, having the effect of equipping Peter to preach. In this Spirit-filled message, the focus is primarily on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the listeners were ‘cut to the heart’ and asked, ‘What shall we do?’ (Acts 2:37). The Spirit had empowered Peter to preach, he had glorified Christ, but he had also convicted his hearers of their need, which in turn led to repentance, faith and obedience.
The work of the Spirit continues in the life of the believer, giving assurance of our adoption into God’s family: ‘The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God’ (Rom. 8:16). It is in this experience that we get one of the sweetest aspects of his work as the Helper or Comforter. His work is not only in the individual Christian, but rather it is a shared work in the corporate body of the church. It is here that some of the greatest problems have been faced in current teaching on the Spirit.
Many have rooted all their teaching concerning the Spirit in the gifts listed and discussed in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, but we need to understand the purposes of God in the New Testament. Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, completing his earthly ministry, he said, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8). In this, Christ has promised all needed power to fulfil God’s purposes in the New Testament age. Again, notice that Spirit-filled ministry will always bear witness to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Equipped by the Holy Spirit
With that in mind, we can then move to Paul’s teaching. Christians have different opinions about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but there are principles that undergird any gift that God continues to give to his people. Paul says, ‘… there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; … it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone, and… the manifestation of the Spirit’ (1 Cor. 12:4-6). Where gifts are exercised, they are to be ‘for the common good… and… for their upbuilding, encouragement and consolation’ (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:3). Paul goes as far as to write, ‘Strive to excel in building up the church’ (1 Cor. 14:12).
Having focused on the work of the Spirit, it is important to remind ourselves of the cooperation within the Godhead, because in Ephesians, Paul writes about the gifts given to the church by the ascended Christ. Again there is no contradiction or conflict because he gave gifts ‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ’ (Eph. 4:12-13, 15). Similarly, we remind every believer that the Spirit never works contrary to the Bible, the Word of God. It has been ‘breathed out by God’ (2 Tim. 3:16) and human beings spoke and wrote it ‘as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Pet. 1:21).
Just as the Christian is born again by a secret work of the Spirit, so we grow as Christians through his work. We are taught that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. With all the struggles of the Christian life, we have the glorious promise:
And we all, … are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18).
He, who began a good work in us, will bring it to completion.
