The Apostle’s Creed: The Holy Spirit

The Apostle’s Creed - The Holy Spirit

“I believe in the Holy Spirit.”

This is not so much an affirmation that there is a Holy Spirit, but that we Christians believe certain things about the Holy Spirit.

So what are some of the key things that Christians believe about the Holy Spirit?

Firstly, that he is a “he”. The Greek word for spirit is pnumos, a neuter noun; in English we have three (3) genders for our pronouns: he, she, and it. A neuter noun is an “it”. Greek is the same, the word pnumos must use “it” as its pronoun. But Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “he” using the male pronoun. “But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak whatever He hears, and He will tell you things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will receive from Me and will declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine. Therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and will declare it to you.” Jhn 16:13-15

Grammatically, this is incorrect Greek; it would be like us saying, “The table, he is white”; correct English is, “The table, it is white”; but what was grammatically in-correct Greek, is 100% theologically correct; the Holy Spirit is a he. The 1st Century Greek believed spirits were “its”, not persons.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit is 100% God, just as are the Father and the Son. “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” 2Co 3:17 This too was at great variance with the 1st Century thinking, because though they believed that the gods had spirits, and that these spirits emanated from the deity, they did not believe the spirit itself an individual Deity. This is definitely part of the mystery of the Trinity: the Three-One (Tri-Uni) nature of God:

three (3) persons, yet one (1) God.

Thirdly, we believe that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives spiritual life to dead sinners. The term “born again” which means “to be birthed again / a second time”, “to be given life a second time”, speaks of the Holy Spirit giving spiritual life to dead sinners. Jesus is the one who first used the term “born again” when he said, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jhn 3:5-8

The Nicene Creed calls the Holy Spirit, “The Lord and Giver of Life”.

Fourthly, we believe that he dwells in those whom he has given this new life to; not hovers around, but indwells. He is called the “guarantee”, “the seal”, “the down payment” of our salvation. Paul writes, “In Him you also, after hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and after believing in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Eph 1:13-14 The Holy Spirit living in us assures us that have been born again, and that we therefore will be in heaven forever.

If matter is inherently evil, corrupt, as the 1st Century Greek believed, then God’s spirit would not / could not dwell in it; but we Christians say matter is good, God made everything good, so there is no problem with God’s spirit dwelling in a person; here too there was a huge stumbling block for the 1st Century Greek.

Fifthly, we believe the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, meaning he leads us from sin to holiness. He is the Holy Spirit, he loves holiness, and so he leads us into holiness, into holy living. He causes us hate sin, so that we do not want to sin.

“But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, beloved brothers of the Lord, because God has from the beginning called you to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth.” 2Th 2:13

“… elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification by the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ: c Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” 1Pe 1:2

Sixthly, we believe the Holy Spirit is our teacher. He lives within us, and as we read the Bible, he illuminates the meaning to us: we read and think and meditate; he teaches.

“But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority. But He will speak whatever He hears, and He will tell you things that are to come.” Jhn 16:13

“But the anointing which you have received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. For as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and just as it has taught you, remain in Him.” 1Jn 2:27

The Christian has real, live, interaction with the Living God by the Holy Spirit.