The Christian lives in the Spirit (Gal. 5:15), is filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), is led by the Spirit, and walks in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 18, 25).

Paul makes a contrast between flesh^[1] and Spirit (Rom. 8:1, 4, 9, 13; Gal. 3:2; 5:17; 6:8), and the Spirit and letter of the law (Rom. 2:29; 1 Cor. 3:6; Gal. 3:22).

From Paul we learn that a person cannot be a Christian without the Spirit and Christian living is not possible apart from the Holy Spirit. We can’t live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. He is the key to victorious Christian living.

Quotations in the New Testament are sometimes introduced using such words as “the Holy Spirit says” (1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:7) and “the Holy Spirit indicates” (Heb. 9:9). The Spirit of Christ inspired the prophets and foretold Christ’s suffering (1 Pet. 1:11). Prophecy is not a matter of human impulse but the moving of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

The Holy Spirit is connected to the inspiration of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16), preaching (1 Pet. 1:12), and praying (Jude 20). In the book of Revelations, the Spirit is the giver of vision (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10), bringer of message (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22), guarantor of the promise (13:14) and bearer of invitation (22:17).

Much was accomplished in the early church because of the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples. The early church met the problems and challenges of the day with the Holy Spirit. Even today we need the Holy Spirit as we confront challenges in this world and in the church.

Without the Holy Spirit there can be no power in Christian living and ministry, no spiritual and numerical growth, no personal development and maturity, no spiritual unity, and no true worship. “Without the Holy Spirit even the Bible becomes a dead letter and creedal statements become fossilized antiquities.”^[2]

Summary

Much of the work of the Spirit in the Old Testament “belongs to the category of dynamic power and mysterious, sometimes stormy, intervention in the affairs of Israel or the larger world. Here the Spirit is rarely distinguished clearly from God.”^[3]

The Spirit of God in the Old Testament seems to suggest the energizing force in the lives of people to accomplish God’s mission on earth.^[4] The Spirit’s primary purpose was to empower, endow (fill), equip, and enable someone to do something extraordinary. As a result, an ordinary man became an extraordinary leader (see Appendix). The Lord’s Spirit can be disruptive (destructive, Judg. 9:23; 1 Sam. 16:14–16, 23; 18:10; 19:9). In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon selected individuals and then departed when the mission was completed or even before completion because of sin (e.g., Samson in Judg. 16:23–31).

The Spirit of God endowed them with the Spirit and gave them special gifts and power for sacred service (Exod. 35:31; Mic. 3:8) which can be in the form of leadership, defeating enemies, judging, and prophesying.

Therefore, in the Old Testament, the spirit of the Lord was considered more of a force emanating from God, while in the New Testament the Holy Spirit is a person and part of the Godhead. The Spirit’s role in the Old Testament is also centred upon physical empowerment, while in the New Testament it seems to be centred upon spiritual empowerment. They are not contradictory, however, because of progressive revelation. We must not read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. “Whereas prior to the life of Jesus the Spirit was rather a mysterious and undefined figure, now he becomes visible in the hues and brushstrokes of Jesus’ life to such an extent that he can be spoken of the early church as ‘the Spirit of Jesus’ (Acts 16:7).^[5]

The operation of the Holy Spirit can be generally summed up in this way:

1. “upon” (e.g., in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon selected individuals and remained temporary for a season; Judg. 14:19)

2. “with” (e.g., in the gospels he is represented as dwelling with the disciples in the person of Christ; John 14:17)

3. “in” (i.e., in Acts 2 till today, he is spoken of as being in all believers permanently; 1 Cor. 6:19)

The Old Testament proclaims God the Father clearly but the Son more obscurely. The New Testament reveals the Son and gives us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself (St. Gregory of Nazianzus).