Cannons from Canon

INTRODUCTION

“Humility is so shy. If you begin talking about it, it leaves.” Humility is uncharted territory for most Christians. Although it is commanded and expected of the believer, humility can become difficult to delve into. Is wanting to be humble pretentious? Is talking about or teaching how to be humble self-defeating by nature? Since this virtue has a unique nature in relation to the Christian, it gets set aside in the “not until we get to heaven” bin.

What is humility? John Piper offers a helpful definition:

The uncommon virtue of humility is the disposition of the heart to be pleased with the infinite superiority of Christ over ourselves in every way. And because we still have a fallen sin-nature in this world, that humility also includes the reflex of displeasure toward all the remnants of our old preference for self-exaltation, with all its insidious manifestations. …humility consists not essentially in broken heartedness over preferring self-exaltation, but rather in being pleased that Christ is infinitely superior to us in every way. And that pleasure in his superiority will last forever.

Philippians 2 offers inspired insight when Paul tells us to, “[I]n humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil 2:3). Humility is “[D]efined functionally, not philosophically” here. We are only given what humility looks like in practice, not what it is in essence. In Philippians chapter 2, Paul continues to point towards Christ as the example of humility, which encourages the reader to think back to the famous words of Jesus when He claimed to be “gentle and lowly” (Mt 11:28 emphases mine). Not only does Jesus set the perfect example of humility, but He also teaches something fascinating that so many people miss: God can be humble. Not only can God be humble; God is humble in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus shows that humility exists in the Godhead. This paper will explore the humility of the Holy Spirit with a two-fold purpose of revealing the Spirit as a Person and giving the reader a tangible example of how to emulate humility in their life.

THE FORGOTTEN SPIRIT

“Biblically speaking, there can be no doubt about the existence of the Holy Spirit’s existence in that he is mentioned over 320 times.” While the Spirit’s presence may not be disputed, any introduction or treatise on the Holy Spirit will start with a defense of His personality in contrast to the thought of the Spirit being a mere force or power. This paper is not a defense of the personality of the Spirit, but it can be noted that the person of the Spirit is not a main theme in Scripture. Pentecost notes:

If I were to ask you, “Is Jesus Christ a person, and are you conscious of personal fellowship with Him?” without doubt or hesitation you would reply, “Of course, He is very real to me.” If I were to ask you, “Is God the Father a Person, and are you conscious of personal fellowship with Him?” with perhaps a little less assurance you would respond, “Yes, I know God is a Person, and even though I feel closer to and more intimately associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, I recognize that fellowship with God the Father is possible.” If I were to ask you, “Is the Holy Spirit a Person, and are you conscious of personal relationship with Him?” probably you would say, “I have never been conscious of any personal fellowship with the Holy Spirit,” or, “How can you have fellowship with the Holy Ghost?”

The reality that this is how the average Church goer would respond to a question of the personality of the Spirit is interesting considering it is the Spirit Himself who authored Scripture (see 2 Pet 1:21). A study of God’s Word will clearly show the Spirit to be God Himself manifested in the third person of the Trinity and yet, like Christ, the Spirit is equal with and in the form of God, having no desire to attract attention to Himself.

INSPIRATION

“On this subject the common doctrine of the Church is, and ever has been, that inspiration was an influence of the Holy Spirit on the minds of certain select men, which rendered them the organs of God for the infallible communication of his mind and will. They were in such a sense the organs of God, that what they said God said.:”

Bibliology is a fascinating study for any student of Scripture. Not far into a study of Inspiration, the student will find that all 66 ‘books’ that make up the Bible have two authors: human and divine. The pens of over 40 different humans were used for the Apographa of Scripture and yet all of Canon was voiced by One person. “…men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pe 1:21 Emphasis Mine). “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? (Mt 22:43-44 Emphasis Mine). “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared…” (Mk 12:35 Emphasis Mine). “When the Spirit of truth comes,… he will declare to you the things that are to come” (Jn 16:13).

Scripture clearly points to the Spirit as the Author of itself. The Spirit undoubtedly is the Author and influence upon the human hands, but going one step further, Scripture reveals the Spirit as an amanuensis rather than the originator. Jesus tells His disciples the Spirit “[W]ill not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak” (Jn 16:13). The Spirit humbly carries a message. He does not force His own words, as beautiful and wise as they might be, rather, He speaks the words of another. Scripture tells us whose words the Spirit relays. The Bible is referred to as “[T]he word of Christ” in Col 3:16 and Rom 10:17. It is referenced as the “[W]ord of God” over 40 times. Jesus gives insight concerning His words: “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (Jn 12:49-50). Later, Jesus will explain that the Spirit “[W]ill take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:14).

These Scriptures point to a clear participation of the entire Godhead in the divine authorship. The Father’s words are spoken by the Son and carried by the Spirit. Much can be gleaned from this observation. The steward of the Word can mimic the Spirit as a carrier of God’s Word. He can remove any pressure to add to the gospel, to make it more appealing (if that were possible), to water it down, to put his own twist on it. In humility, he can relay the message he has been entrusted with. This mindset allows the preacher to proclaim along with Paul, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God” (Rom 1:16).

PRAYER

Another way the Spirit shows humility is through prayer. E.M. Bounds, a 19th-century methodist writer, dedicated most of his writings to the subject of prayer. He noted: 

Humility is an indispensable requisite of true prayer. It must be an attribute, a characteristic of prayer. Humility must be in the praying character as light is in the sun. Prayer has no beginning, no ending, no being, without humility. As a ship is made for the sea, so prayer is made for humility, and so humility is made for prayer. Humility is not abstraction from self, nor does it ignore thought about self. Humility is born by looking at God.

Romans chapter 8 teaches that the Spirit prays for the saint. If Bounds is right in his assertion of humility and prayer, the Spirit embodies humility. Not only does the Spirit display humility by going to the Father with requests and intercessions, but meekness is also in view in the way believers are to pray.

“Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven… ” (Mt 6:9). Jesus teaches His disciples to address the Father with petitions and supplications which “[L]ays a general foundation for prayer”. A foundation also built by Nehemiah (Neh 1:5), Daniel (Dan 3:20), Paul (Eph 3:14), and the prayers of other saints throughout redemptive history. Prayer, then, is to the Father.

Jesus also teaches us to “[A]sk in my name” (Jn 14:13) when we pray. Reuben Archer Torrey, a contemporary of Bounds, captures beautifully the reason to pray in the name of the Son. He writes, “Prayer in the name of Christ has power with God. God is well pleased with His Son Jesus Christ. There is a fragrance in the name of Christ that makes acceptable to God every prayer that bears it.” Pray to the Father; in the name of the Son.

This fundamental component of prayer is made possible by the Spirit. We pray by way of and “[I]n the Spirit” (Eph 6:18). Dr. T.W. Hunt helps explain this trifecta: “The Holy Spirit is indispensable to the prayer life of the christian. Spiritual prayer, prayer that is effective, is prayer led by the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit “helps us in our weakness. For we do not know to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes… according to the will of God” (Rom 8:26-27). The Holy Ghost helps us pray to the Father and in the name of the Son. 

The Spirit points to the Father and to prayer according to the Father’s will, not His own. The Spirit sets another example for believers; they too should not seek their own will, but the Father’s. Christians can also follow after the Spirit in pointing fellow brothers and sisters to the Father and helping them in times of need.

PARACLETE

“The term Paraclete (παράκλητος, paraklētos) appears four times in John’s Gospel in reference to the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) and once in 1 John 2:1 in reference to Jesus. In light of His approaching death and departure, Jesus promises His disciples that He will send the Paraclete (παράκλητος, paraklētos), whom He identifies as the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).” Paraclete is a transliteration of the Greek word used by John. Its definition has caused some confusion, hence the many different translations in english: Helper, Comforter and Advocate. “More generally the word denotes one who acts on another’s behalf as a mediator, an intercessor, or a comforter.”

Sinclair Furguson brings perspicuity to the Spirit as a parakletos. He summarizes the Helper with three ministries: Counselor, Homemaker, and Teacher.

“The Spirit will come as their Helper in the sense that He would be their Counselor”. The Spirit serves as an advocate for the child of God. He gives council, comes alongside as a helper, and serves the believer. Humility is on full display here.

The second aspect of this ‘Paraclete’ ministry is homemaking. Furguson notes two aspects of this homemaking: making the believer feel at home and making a home for the Father and Son. “This is what the Spirit’s ministry is like. He not only enables us to feel at home with God (we will not feel orphaned) but transforms us so that we might become men and women about whom the Father might say to the Son, ‘I feel at home there, don’t You?’” The homemaking ministry of the Spirit is fascinating not only with its implications to the Christian but also to the Spirit. Furguson points out the ramifications:

In the Western world, if a woman who is not employed out-side the family home answers the question “What do you do?” by saying, “I am a homemaker,” she may sometimes feel demeaned by the response she receives, such as “Oh, so you don’t do any-thing” or “You don’t do anything else.” The implication is often this: you are not worth much if that is all you do. Three cheers, then, for Jesus, for using this picture to describe His “Best Friend”! Like a homemaker, the Spirit does not draw attention to Himself. His passion is not to glorify Himself but Jesus (16:14) and to transform lives for the Father and the Son to indwell with comfort. In every loving family, the homemaker is well known and much loved, even adored-because she is the one on whom the happiness of the home depends. True, the Spirit glorifies not Himself but Jesus. But that is another reason to honor Him for His ministry. Without using the word, Furguson is describing humility. Surely the Spirit sets a great example for mothers and homemaking. The Spirit, equal in value, takes a subsidiary role in order to point us to Christ.

The third and final ministry Furguson points out is teaching. “When the Paraclete, He will also be their Teacher”. But what does He teach? The Spirit teaches “[T]hat I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20). In other words, when the Holy Spirit comes, the disciples will have an even deeper understanding of Jesus’ relationship to His Father and of the intimacy of their fellowship. But if the Spirit will teach them deep things about Jesus’ relationship to the Father, He will also teach them deep things about His relationship to them: “In that day,” Jesus says, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” There is a parallel between the relationship our Lord has with His Father and the relationship the disciples will have with Him. This, too, they will experience when the Paraclete comes.

It is as if Jesus is saying: “Throughout My ministry, I was with you, but always outside of you. You see Me. You can touch Me. You hear Me. But when the Holy Spirit comes as One like Me, He who indwells Me will indwell you. He will live in you and transform and empower you from within.” To be indwelt by the Spirit is to have Christ Himself dwelling in us and to experience what Paul describes as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). This helps explain Jesus’ enigmatic statement about the Spirit: “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

The Spirit teaches us about relationships: that of the Father and Son and the believers’ relationship to the Father and Son. Again, the Spirit’s selflessness is clearly seen. His deepest desire seems to be to point us to the Father and Son and understand the love that lies within that relationship. This is what Paul speaks of when he prays for the Spirit’s empowering of the saints to understand the love of Christ (see Eph 3:14-19). Should not the saints’ deepest longing be to point others to the love of the Father and Son and how they can experience that same love through the gospel? The Spirit sets the greatest example of that desire.

CONCLUSION

In a very brief survey of the personality and works of the Spirit, infinitely deep caverns can be dug. The hope of this paper is that those caverns are explored. That the Trinity might be grasped as glorious and practical for the Christian. That the Spirit might be worshiped and glorified as God Almighty. That the saints might better understand meekness and humility from the example set by the Spirit and rely on His power to act out those virtues. Finally, that the words of Jesus, “[I]t is to your advantage that I go away,” (Jn 16:7) would be true not just theologically but practically as “[W]e all, with unveiled face, behold the glory of the Lord, [and] are 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). 

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