God’s Spirit at Work

What Is the Spirit of God?

The Spirit of God in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament have played an extremely important role in God’s plan. We might define the Spirit of God as God in action; God thinking, planning, teaching, directing, acting. It is God-directed power carrying out His will.

Since God first spoke to Adam and Eve. people of God in all ages have had some form of contact with the Almighty, visible or invisible. To some He sent angels to deliver His message. Some were informed through visions; others in dreams. God was said to have spoken His Word to Moses out of a cloud, and Moses wrote it “for a memorial in a book.” Through His Spirit all the writers of the Bible received the words which they wrote. This fact is well-stated by Peter: “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).

The patriarchs and prophets themselves confirm how they received the Word, that these words were not theirs but God’s. We read that “Moses wrote all the words of the Lord” (Ex. 24:4). The “two tablets of the Testimony” that he received on the mount were “written with the finger of God”—that is, they bore God’s direct authority (Ex. 31:18). “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.” said King David. “Hear the word of the Lord,…give ear to the law of our God,” wrote Isaiah at the beginning of his prophecy. Jeremiah also received his message direct from God: “and the Lord said to me: Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9). God spoke to men through the prophets, and the Bible is not the work of the minds of men but the work of God through the influence of His spirit.

Many churches today invoke the power of the Holy Spirit in their prayers and sing praises to it in their hymns. But it is our conviction that the Bible teaches that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased with the end of the Apostolic Age. For one to claim the power of the Holy Spirit today is to overstretch the promise of the Scriptures. Paul, an apostle chosen by Jesus Christ Himself, stated definitely that the gifts of the Spirit-tongues, superhuman knowledge, prophecy would end and that only “faith, hope, love, these three” would remain. The command of this same Great Apostle to us in his letter to Timothy was: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). If we possessed the gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of knowledge, our study would not be necessary. We, like the Twelve, would be told what we should say and what we should teach. But lacking the gifts and possessing only

“faith, hope, love, these three,” we are obliged to study to ascertain the true teaching of the Word of God.

• Original Words Translated “Spirit” in Scripture

The term “Spirit” as used in the Scriptures covers a wide range of ideas. In the Old Testament it most often appears as “the Spirit of God” or “the Spirit of the Lord.” In the New Testament, “the Holy Spirit” predominates, while “the Spirit of God,” or “the Spirit of the Lord” is used less frequently.

The Bible speaks of different “spirits.” We read of a “spirit of knowledge” (Isa. 11:2), a “spirit of judgment” (Isa. 4:4), a “spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1), a “spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10), and a “spirit of truth,” among others. There is also the “humble spirit,” a “spirit of jealousy,” and a “spirit of bondage.” Use of the term in Scripture is not limited to that which is holy or of God. We will confine our study to the “Spirit of God, or of the Lord” in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit as distinguished from the Spirit of truth in the New Testament; also the “spirit” or “breath” that animates man.

Hebrew Word: ruah, or ruach

The Hebrew word translated “spirit” in the Old Testament is ruach. Literally rendered it is, according to Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon, spirit, breath; “‘breath of His mouth,’ as spoken of the creative word of God in Ps. 33:6.… Breath of the nostrils, breath of air, air in motion.” Then the Lexicon comments as follows: “Metaphorically used of any one stupified with astonishment and admiration. 1 Kings 10:6. It is more often the wind, a storm…. It is clear that all these passages alike speak of the Spirit of God himself, and not of any wind supposed to be moved by the breath of God.”

Ruach is used of human breath of a living being as God-given and life-animating. One such use occurs in Gen. 7:22, where we read of those “in whose nostrils was the breath [ruach] of life”; again in Eccl. 3:19, speaking of the human and animal creation, “Surely, they all have one breath.” Ruach is also used directly of God’s power, as that which is out-breathed from God and as much a part of Him as breath is part of our being. As in Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; And all the host of them by the breath [ruach] of His mouth”; or in Isaiah 11:4, again speaking of His power, “He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath [ruach] of His lips He shall slay the wicked.” Again ruach is translated “spirit” and is used of a life-imparting essence from God, as in Job 27:3, “As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God [ruach] in my nostrils” (Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon).

The Greek word for “spirit” corresponds with the Hebrew as well as the Greek in the Septuagint. (Greek definitions are from The Greek-English Lexicon by Arndt and Gingrich.)

Greek Word: pneuma

The Greek word translated “spirit” and used to refer to the Spirit of God is pneuma. As with many Greek words, this word has many shades of meaning. Some of its definitions are: “wind, the breathing out of air; breath, blowing, spirit; the spirit as a part of the human personality; the source and seat of insight, feeling and will, . . . spirit as compared to flesh, . . . It can mean self, a person’s very self, or ego; also, spiritual state, state of mind, disposition; a spirit as an independent being.”

The same word is also used of “evil spirits, or spirit-beings which were thought to cause illness; demonic powers, especially as in the accounts of Jesus’ healings in the Gospels” (cf. Matt. 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26; Luke 8:29; 11:24, and many others). We will discuss this “spirit” later in our study.

Often in the New Testament the Greek word for spirit (pneuma) is used with the Greek word hagios, meaning “holy.” This differentiates it from other uses of pneuma, such as “breath,” or “wind.” The number of times that pneuma is used to refer to the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God is comparatively few in relation to the total number of times the word appears in the New Testament.

Another Spirit: the Spirit of Truth

Not to be confused with the “Holy Spirit” or power of God is the “Spirit of Truth.” In His last message to His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus said: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you for ever; the Spirit of truth…” (John 14:16-17). What is this “Spirit of Truth”?

Jesus, possessing all knowledge and able to foresee the future, knew that His disciples would need help to carry on after He ascended to heaven. At the time He spoke these words (John 14) they were not yet able to comprehend the meaning of His death and resurrection; but He had been given advance knowledge from the Father, hence He was preparing them for the separation that was inevitable. The promise of the Spirit and of “another Comforter” are important parts of His after-supper discourse.

The words “another Comforter,” commonly rendered in the newer translations as “Advocate,” means a “supporter,” or “helper.” This helper, or Comforter which will abide for ever is the “Spirit of Truth”-not supernatural power to perform miracles but the revealed or written knowledge of God contained in His Word, a vital part of God’s overall plan on this earth. We must remember that Jesus was speaking not only to the eleven disciples on this occasion but also to all those who would believe, even in our time, and for us the written Word is vital. Without it, we could have no part in God’s plan.

Jesus defined the Spirit of Truth to His apostles in John 6:63: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

The “Spirit of Truth” is also spoken of as the “paraclete,” meaning “one who aids another, a helper,” from the Greek word parakletos, meaning “call to one.” According to one writer, this word has two senses, one of calling to someone by way of encouraging or exhorting him, and the other to call on someone to summon him to one’s aid. The Scriptures might be said to fulfill both senses of the Word. Through His Word, God not only encourages and exhorts us but also aids us to the end that we may gain eternal life.