In this video, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson describes some common misconceptions about the Holy Spirit.
I think it’s a really important question that people sometimes ask, “Are there misconceptions we can have about the Holy Spirit?” And I think there are several, at least that I’ve encountered. Maybe the first thing to say is that it almost depends on where you are in the world, which misconceptions people will have.
But generally speaking, I think the first one is the ease with which we refer to the Holy Spirit as an it rather than a “He.” And sometimes people tend to think of Him as a power rather than a person. And it’s important therefore to notice the way in which both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, He is described as a person, and He does personal things. And that’s even clearer in the New Testament and especially in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus—that the Spirit who comes upon Him—I think we could think about Him as coming upon Him as a friend, comes upon a friend rather than just a naked power coming on the Lord Jesus. And you see this right from His conception that the Holy Spirit comes on the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness. And leading is not something a power does. Leading is something a person does.
I think one of the most interesting passages actually in the Old Testament is in is Isaiah 63. Where is Isaiah is reflecting on what happened in the Exodus, in the wilderness wanderings. And Isaiah speaks about the Holy Spirit leading them through the wilderness. And he describes the rebellion of the people in the wilderness as them grieving the Holy Spirit. And you don’t grieve a power, but you can grieve a person. And I’m pretty sure that’s the passage Paul had in mind in Ephesians 4:30 when he says to the Ephesians, “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit through whom you are sealed for the day of redemption.” So, I think the first thing I would say is it’s important to remember the Spirit is a person and not an it.
The second misapprehension I think, is that often Christians don’t relate the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son. So, He kind of belongs somewhere out there in left field. And when that happens, I think we miss out that the New Testament speaks about Him as the Spirit of the Father; and that the Father has sent His Spirit to us in order to bring us into a relationship with Him as children to a father. And I think that’s a very important part of the New Testament’s teaching, that we are not by nature, children of God; we are by nature, children of wrath. But the Holy Spirit not only regenerates us and brings us into God’s family. He’s the one who, as Paul says in Romans 8, persuades us so that in times of need, our instinct through the Spirit is to cry, “Abba Father.”
And then I think in relationship to the Lord Jesus, one of the things that’s so easy for us either not to understand or misunderstand is that it is the Spirit Who was on the Lord Jesus Who is given to us, and not another spirit. So just like He’s not a power; He’s not another spirit than the Spirit who was on the Lord Jesus. And nothing could bind us more, I think, in trust and affection and love for the Lord Jesus than knowing that He has given us the very Spirit that He Himself enjoyed during His ministry.
And then I think quickly, the third thing would be to say that often I think Christians believe that the Spirit is given so that we can have special gifts and special power when almost all the New Testament emphasis is on the fact that the power of the Spirit is working in our lives to make us more like Jesus. It’s possible, apparently, to have amazing gifts. Jesus Himself teaches, “You can cast out demons in my name and yet not really belong to Me.” So, the really important ministry of the Holy Spirit is producing the fruit of the Spirit and making us more like Jesus. And that’s how He witnesses and testifies to Jesus in the world.
So, I think if we can deal in our own thinking with these three misapprehensions, we can begin to apprehend the Spirit and experience the blessing of the Spirit more fully.