Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Spirit of God

References in the O.T. to the Spirit of God and to the Spirit of the Lord are more numerous than is sometimes imagined in upwards of twenty-five places this Divine Spirit is spoken of as entering man for the purpose of giving him life, power, wisdom, or right-feeling. God, moreover, is called 'the God of the spirits of all flesh' in the O.T., as He is called the 'Father of our spirits' in the N.T.; and it is everywhere taught or implied that the personal agency of God is in contact with the centre of life in every child of man. How He acts, we know not; in what mode He enlightens, inspires, comforts, and warns, we cannot tell. We see and feel the results, but we are unable to comprehend the processes.

Meanings of the Word Spirit in N T

A full examination of the usage of the word πνευ̂μα (spirit) in the N.T. would be a work of great interest, but of no little difficulty. The passages in which it occurs may be generally classified as follows: -

First, there are various references to the spirit of man, that part of human nature which is breathed into him by God.

Secondly, mention is often made of evil spirits, which are spoken of as personal beings, capable of allying themselves with men and inflicting various evils up on them.

Thirdly, there are references to the work of the Holy Spirit of God in John the Baptist and others before the day of Pentecost.

Fourthly, some passages are found which speak of the Spirit of God dwelling and working in our Saviour during his earthly ministry.

Fifthly, there are a number of passages which imply a special agency of the Holy Spirit, which has come into operation in consequence of the mediatorial work of the ascended Lord.

Lastly, there are texts which speak of the effects produced in man by the Spirit of God, and which combine under the same designation both the Worker and the effect produced.

The first and third of these classes naturally associate themselves with similar passages in the O.T. The second is deeply mysterious and interesting, but does not call here for special discussion. There remain three others up on which a few remarks may be offered.

The Lord Jesus, as man, possessed spirit, soul, and body; and his spirit was in a special sense the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. He was filled with the Spirit, which was given to Him without measure. [It is almost dangerous, and yet it may be helpful to some minds, to take an illustration of this difficult subject from nature. as it is true that no man hath seen God at any time, so it may be said that no one has seen electricity. But as a man may be charged with electricity without losing his personal identity, and may thus become, not only an embodiment of that unseen agency, but also capable of communicating it to others by contact, so the son of Man contained the Fulness of the Spirit. this indwelling Agency had complete possession of the human Nature, so that in Him the manhood was taken into the Godhead. by the touch of faith we draw the virtue of Force of the Spirit from Him into ourselves; we thus become partakers with Him of the Spirit of God. The relationship between the three Persons of the Godhead is utterly beyond human conception. The Father is represented in Scripture as the Source of life, will, and affection, the son is the obedient Agent of the Father's will working on the creature ab extra; the Spirit works on the creature ab entra.] He was guided in his movements by the Spirit; his wisdom and discernment, his power over evil demons, and perhaps we may say all his words and deeds, were wrought through the agency of the Spirit. See Matthew 1:18; Matthew 4:1; Matthew 12:18; Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:1; Luke 4:14; Luke 4:18; John 3:34.

A special point in the teaching of John the Baptist was that Jesus, the Lamb of God, should baptize with the Holy Ghost; and our Lord, in his conversations with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and others, teaches that those who believed in Him would become partakers of a New Life, which would be in a peculiar sense the work of the Holy Ghost in the course of these conversations He put forth this truth in various forms. There was the heavenly birth, the living water, the bread of life, the resurrection life, the sap of the vine, each in turn taken as the central point in a discourse, leading up to the truth that (after his glorification) those who believe in Him should receive the Holy Ghost. Our Lord's last conversations with his disciples before his crucifixion were full of this subject; and when He rose from the dead He indicated by the symbolical act of breathing on his disciples the truth that through his mediatorial agency they were to receive the promised blessing of the Spirit. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, this Divine gift was showered down. A life of praise, of sonship, of love, of boldness, and of missionary labour, was inaugurated. The disciples were organised through this new influence into a Church, which breathed the spirit of Christ and did the work of Christ up on earth. for a time the Christian life and preaching were accompanied by special miracles, as our Lord's own life had been. These were intended to give an authoritative seal to the mission of the original disciples, just as similar works had testified a few years earlier to the mission of the son of God.

If it be asked in what way the work of the Holy Spirit of God differs now from what it was in earlier ages of the world's history, it may be sufficient for the present purpose to answer that, though the Agent is the same, the Truth whereby He operates up on the feelings and affections of man is much more developed now than in old days. Formerly, the way of redemption from sin and corruption was only dimly shadowed forth; now, the substance has been wrought out: Christ has been lifted up, and all men are being drawn to Him, and those who believe in Him enter there by into a special relationship with Him, so that they live in Him and He in them, both being partakers of one Spirit. Formerly, the Spirit operated through the written word, through types and shadows, through laws and ordinances, reproving men of sin, and kindling their hopes of a better time; but now He operates especially through the Living Word, of Whom all the Scripture testifies, and Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He manifests Christ in his completed work to the heart of man, and quickens the believer into newness of life by breathing into him that eternal life which is in the Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ. Metaphysically, we cannot understand the nature of this agency, but theologically, and as a matter of revelation, we believe and thankfully receive it.

The last class of passages to which reference has to be made consists of those which seem to identify the Spirit of God with the results which He is producing in the heart and life of man Thus we read of the spirit of sonship or adoption, Romans 8:15 the spirit of meekness, 1 Corinthians 4:21; the spirit of faith, 2 Corinthians 4:13; the spirit of wisdom and revelation, Ephesians 1:17; the spirit of truth, 1 John 4:6; and the spirit of holiness, Romans 1:4. It is evident that these passages refer, not to the inherent characteristics of the Holy Spirit, but to those effects which He produces in the believer. They answer to a similar class of passages in the O.T.; see, for example, Isaiah 11:2.