In considering the Holy Spirit in its manifestation through men, we first note that its occurrence in the Old Testament did not bestow upon its recipients the powers which some people today visualize as the result of “having” the Holy Spirit. We note that the powers were limited. Moses and the Seventy Elders were inspired by the Spirit with the powers of wise judgment. They could not perform “miracles”—except the few which God brought about before and during the Exodus. We do not find the Old Testament Holy Men healing the sick, speaking in tongues, and so on. Very often the miraculous powers could not be used without first praying to God in a very specific way. We can say that nobody in Old Testament times “had” the Holy Spirit in the way that we find it exhibited in the New Testament.
The Purpose Of Its Giving
Before going into a detailed study of the operation of the Holy Spirit in New Testament days, it is important that we should consider the reason why it was given. We find that it was not given as a sort of prize to the faithful, and something to boast of, as some appear to think today. We find that there were two basic reasons : first, and most important, as a proof to unbelievers that the disciples were speaking the truth ; second, to give them the courage to speak the truth in face of persecution, torture and trials such as we are not called upon to endure.
We would suggest at this stage that the careful student will come to the conclusion that, having the New Testament and the witness of 1900 years of prophecy and a century and a half of archaeology, we do not need the Holy Spirit to convince people either that the Bible is true or that we are speaking the truth.
Let us now look at some of the scriptures which prove the purpose of the giving of the Spirit.
Mark 16. 17. Jesus said, when commanding the apostles to go into all the world, “And these signs shall follow them that believe : in my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover”. v. 20 : “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following”.
How many of those who claim to “have” the Spirit today could meet the above challenge ?
Hebrews 2. 3. 4—concerning the evidence of the disciples—”God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit”.
Hebrews 10. 15 : “Whereby the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us…
I Cor. 2. 4 : “And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.-
Remembering that an apostle is “one sent forth” to preach, how striking is Paul’s claim that the power of the Holy Spirit was not common property : 11 Cor. 12. 12. “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.- This he said to support his claim that he was sent by God, a point which they disputed. If every believer had these powers (as some suppose) there would be no point in Paul’s assertion that these powers set him apart from the rest of the Christian community.
The Comforter
The word paraklesis, translated “Comforter”, comes from para, meaning beside, alongside (as in parallel), and klesis, the same as in ecclesia, meaning calling or being called. It has the idea of somebody or something called alongside as a helper. It may be noted that the original meaning of the English word “comforter” is much the same : “corn” means “with” and “fort” means strength as in fortify. Properly, a comforter is not a person who soothes or pacifies you, but somebody who gives you support or strength.
The word “comforter” occurs four times only in the New Testament in which Jesus promises strength and support to the apostles : namely, John 14. 16, 26 ; 1 5. 26 ; 16. 7. The purpose of this strengthening was to be two-fold : first, because Jesus was about to be crucified and leave them, and therefore they would not have his personal instructions—John 14. 26, “The Comforter… shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”. Second, for the very reason that we have already pointed out, namely, a sign to others that they were messengers of the truth : John 15. 26, “The Comforter… he shall testify of me, and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”
The fact that the Comforter is referred to as “he”, not “it”, need not lead us to conclude that the Holy Spirit is a person. Other languages are different from English in their use of the genders. Usually it is the form of the word, not the object represented by the word, which determines whether it is masculine or feminine. In Hebrew and French nouns are all masculine or feminine ; there is no neuter. Thus, in French “customer” and “sentinel” are feminine. Therefore one says, “Another customer walked in ; she had a pointed black beard, and was accompanied by her wife”. Or again, “The sentinel paced back and forth, with her rifle on her shoulder”.
Too often we rely on the guess-work of the translator. In Hebrew “aretz”, meaning land, is masculine. So in Daniel 11. 39 where we read, “. . . and shall divide the land for gain ; and at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him”, it could just as correctly be translated “push at it”, that is, “push at the land”. There is, in fact, nothing in the scripture to suggest that the Holy Spirit is a person ; it is simply an error of judgment on the part of the translator, which leads some people to form such a conclusion.
The Coming Of The Comforter
(or Strengthener)
When Jesus had been crucified, raised and ascended into heaven, the disciples were like lost sheep : leaderless. Jesus had warned them (John 15. 20), “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you”. In Matt. 10. 19, he told them that, when they were brought before the authorities, the Spirit would direct their words.
Peter had denied Christ, but in Luke 22. 32 Jesus had told him, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”. It was not until the Strengthener came to them, as Jesus told them in Acts 1. 8, that he and the others received this power. Pentecost gave them only one of the Gifts of the Spirit—the gift of tongues. It was when persecutions recorded in Acts 4 began that the Strengthener was given. Read the prayer of the disciples commencing at Acts 4. 24, concluding in v. 29, 30 : “Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak the word…and that signs and wonders may be done…
The Strengthener was given, “and they all spake the word of God with boldness” (v. 31), so that (v. 33) “with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ”.
We note that we do not need this miraculous power to prove the resurrection of Christ —we need only to quote the New Testament.
We suggest that throughout the New Testament, and specially the Acts, when we read of a person receiving the Holy Spirit or being “full of the Holy Spirit”, it is this gift of boldness in witness that is referred to and no other, unless specifically stated.
Metonymy
Before we go further into the manner of the giving of the Holy Spirit, let us consider what that expression really means. We doubt whether, in fact, God gave his Power to men, to do with it whatever they wished, as we might give a child a present. We would like to suggest that very frequently, if not always, what is really meant is that the recipient received one specific gift. There were many gifts of the spirit, such as the gift of tongues, the gift of healing, the gift of boldness, which was the most common, and the one we all hope for, the gift of eternal life. We suggest that “the spirit” is put for “gift of the spirit”, i.e. a gift which
The Gifts Of The Spirit III
the spirit gives. These are not necessarily the same as “spiritual gifts” : a brother today may have a gift for exhorting—that is a spiritual gift ; he may have a gift for carpentry, which is a mundane gift.
The use of the word “spirit” for “that which the spirit gives” is a figure of speech called metonymy, which, in Elpis Israel (p. 33 of 1917 ed.), Dr. Thomas defined as, “a figure of speech in which the container is put for the thing contained, or vice versa.” There are many examples in Scripture. In 2 Kings 4. 46, a poison is called, “Death in the pot”. In Deut. 9. 21, the golden calf was described as “your sin”. Heb. 1 1. 39 : received not the promise” means “received not the things which the promise foretold”. In everyday life, we read in the papers : “White House announced- so and so”, meaning, “The President (who lives in White House) . . .” And while test cricket is being played we are not unduly terrified to see a headline, “Australia collapses”.
We read in I Cor. 14. 25, “God is in you of a truth”. This, nevertheless, cannot be literally true ; it is a figure of speech by which the manner of living and thinking inspired by God is referred to as God.
What is probably the best known example is the “sin” which is in our members (Rom. 7. 1 7). This is generally understood to mean the natural tendencies which lead to sin : the effect is put for the cause.
So also we think that the “Spirit” or “full of the Spirit” might well be metonymy for “one of the gifts which Spirit gives”, because we find throughout the “Acts” that these gifts were usually given for a specific purpose. Further, we find that, except in three specific instances, these powers were given (in the Acts) only by the “laying on of hands of the apostles”, not directly from God, and, furthermore, that with remarkably few exceptions, these powers were exercised for the benefit of unbelievers only—one notable exception being the gift of boldness of speech. In our detailed study of the giving of the Spirit, we shall take special note of this.
Summary
The powers which the Spirit gave were essentially as a witness to unbelievers—as signs that the speakers were men of God. The Comforter was not a person, but one particular gift—that of boldness in witnessing and therefore is basically a Strengthener, not a soother. Metonymy is frequently used in the scriptures and it could be that “receiving the Holy Spirit” really means “receiving a gift from the Holy Spirit”.
Having the New Testament record, we have no real need for these miraculous powers.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One