The Holy Spirit: A Power, Not a Person
In much popular religion today, the Holy Spirit is usually identified as a person rather than a power. Most major denominations claim the Holy Spirit to be the third person of the Trinity. However, there is nothing in the account of the Pentecost experience to indicate that the Spirit which descended was a person.
Neither do the Scriptures support the view that the Holy Spirit is a person. This belief came about by a misunderstanding of the Greek word pneuma which was frequently translated “ghost” in the King James Version. The error in translation has been recognized in more recent years and the rendering in most other versions of the Bible is “spirit.” The King James Version of the Bible was translated when superstition was rampant and ghosts were very “real” in the minds of the average person. Because the Holy Spirit was something that could not be seen, it was thought to be of a mysterious nature, hence the rendering “ghost.”
The Holy Spirit bestowed on the day of Pentecost was an increased measure of the same Spirit of God which the prophets had possessed in Old Testament times and which the disciples themselves had in a lesser degree during Jesus’ ministry. The power was given to “confirm the word,” which it did effectively, adding as many as three thousand to the church in a single day. Miracles such as the healing of the man at the gate Beautiful brought many into the church. Following Peter’s sermon, we read that “many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand” (Acts 4:4). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, such a miracle and such wholesale conversion would not have been possible.
How God Administers His Spirit
The Spirit of God in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament are simply God working by means of His power entrusted to specially appointed and chosen men. Always the power makes the recipient capable of doing something that would otherwise be beyond that person’s capabilities. In some instances the power was used to perform miracles of healing and on some occasions to restore the dead to life.
Visible Work of the Spirit
Throughout the Scriptures the Spirit of God was manifest in exceptional actions, always towards the fulfillment of God’s purposes. At times ordinary men were made capable of supernatural actions, while at other times unrighteous and even unscrupulous men were used in fulfilling God’s purposes.
• Power Manifested through Angels
The angel Gabriel was caused to “fly swiftly” to Daniel by means of the spirit of God.
Some denominations describe angels as spirit beings, a phantom that comes and goes as the wind, unheard and unseen. Angels can be invisible, but angels are real beings. The angels that were sent from the courts of heaven to deliver God’s message or to perform His will in Bible times were real beings, men in a glorified state.
These angels were sometimes described as men, and apparently resembled the men of the particular period of time in which they appeared. Abraham looked up as he sat in his tent door and saw three “men” standing by. Lot saw two angels approach the gate of Sodom, two of the three that had just visited Abraham. The “men” were “angels.”
When “he insisted strongly;…they turned in to him, and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate” (Gen. 18:1-2; 19:1, 3). They washed their feet, and they ate as other men-but they were angels bringing a message of doom to that city.
The Bible pictures angels as real beings with material bodies but with divine power. The power of the angels is the power of God, God’s Spirit, or the Holy Spirit as it was known in New Testament times.
• Power Manifested through Men
God’s will was not always made known through angels. Sometimes mortal men were the instruments. But when men were used, they were working under an influence beyond their control. using a power that was not their own.
Obedience to a command of God was often a significant part of manifestations. At the Red Sea crossing, Moses was told to “Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it” (Ex. 14:16). Moses did as he was commanded; but it was the Lord, working through His power that caused the sea to go back (14:21). Again, when the people murmured for lack of water, Moses was told to “strike the rock, and water will come out of it” (Ex. 17:6). Moses did as commanded and the people had water. As before, it was the power of God, His Spirit, that caused the water to flow from the rock. Moses was God’s instrument through which the power was manifested. The rod which he held in his hand in each case was but a symbol of that power.
The times where God’s Spirit was visibly working through men were many and varied. The plagues that came upon the Egyptians because Pharaoh would not hearken to the Lord were all visible manifestations of God’s power. At the command of God the plagues came and at His command they ceased. Other signs were visible in times of battle. With God on their side, a small army might rout a host; a shepherd boy with a sling could slay a giant. Without God, defeat was sure.
The Holy Spirit dispensed at Pentecost was power placed in the hands of men for a specific purpose: to confirm the spoken word of the Lord (Mark 16:20). It was a “partitive” arrangement and consisted of various powers. Some had the power to prophecy, others to teach, others to speak in tongues, others to perform miracles (see 1 Cor. 12:4-12).
• Power Manifested through Visions and Dreams
Visions and dreams, as they came to many in old times, were another facet of God’s Spirit, His means of communicating with men.
Dreams and visions served a very useful purpose when God was working openly with men. Through a dream Joseph was warned of a famine and was able to save the people of Egypt by planning in advance. As a youth Joseph had been nicknamed “the dreamer” by his jealous brothers because of his many dreams concerning the future. There can be no doubt God was revealing His will for Joseph through these dreams since all were fulfilled to the letter in later years.
The Old Testament Scriptures indicate little difference between a dream and a vision. Abraham received information through visions many times during his lifetime, including the knowledge that he was to have an heir, a vital link in God’s promise to him.
This means of revealing God’s will to His people was used frequently throughout the period covered by the Scriptures, but this open means was not to continue uninterrupted. “Whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge [by divine revelation], it will vanish away” (1 Cor. 13:8). As we shall see later in this study, the power of the Holy Spirit was dispensed for a limited time only, until “that which is perfect has come,” the completed Word of God, at which time “that which is in part will be done away” (1 Cor. 13:10). The power was withdrawn, just as prophesied, and since that time God has been silent. There has been no visible manifestation of God’s power since the end of the Apostolic Age.
Invisible Work of the Spirit
God does not do all His work openly or with sounding trumpets. He has other means of communicating with His people. These we will call invisible means of ministration.
During a large part of the 6,000 year period, God worked openly among men. Visits from angels, visions, dreams and other supernatural phenomena were common. Such open communication was necessary to make known His plan and His will for mankind. God might simply have spoken quietly to Moses on the backside of the desert, but the burning bush attracted his attention more quickly. Likewise, the Law might have been given in an obscure valley of the wilderness, but the clouds, the thunder and lightning, the earthquake and the trumpets that preceded the giving of the Law left a lasting impression on all who witnessed it. They knew it was the voice of God; such a scene was not possible with man.
However, there were periods of relative silence. During part of the time when the prophet Samuel was a child, “there was no widespread revelation” (1 Sam. 3:1). God was silent temporarily, and we read that “the word of the Lord was rare in those days.” We live in a comparable time. We see no visions, hear no voices, perform no miracles-and the Word of the Lord, which is now written, is precious to us.