The Holy Spirit

The Hebrew ruach (רוּחַ) means wind, breath, and spirit, three meanings in one word, distinguishable only by context. Genesis 1:2: "and the Spirit of God (ruach elohim, רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים) was hovering (merachefet, מְרַחֶפֶת, brooding, hovering, moving; used only here and in Deuteronomy 32:11 of an eagle hovering over her young) over the face of the waters." The ruach elohim is not a vague creative force, it is a personal presence, intimately engaged with the pre-formed creation.

Genesis 2:7: "then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed (wayyippach, וַיִּפַּח, blew, breathed) into his nostrils the breath of life (nishmat chayyim), and the man became a living creature (nefesh chayyah)." The breath of life that makes the creature living is YHWH's own breath, a direct impartation of divine ruach to the creature. The continuity between the Spirit hovering over creation and the breath animating the human is the same divine ruach.

The ruach in the Hebrew Bible has both a quantitative and a qualitative dimension. Quantitative: the ruach "falls upon" judges, empowers warriors, moves prophets. Qualitative: the ruach is the moral and spiritual dimension of the person, Psalm 51:10 "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right (steadfast, firm) spirit (ruach) within me." The Spirit of God and the spirit of the human being are connected: the human spirit is animated by and responsive to the divine ruach.

The Spirit of YHWH in the Hebrew Bible functions in several distinct modes. In the judges era: the Spirit "rushed upon" (tsalach, צָלַח, to rush, to come upon powerfully) figures like Othniel, Gideon, Samson, empowering them for military deliverance. The Spirit enables capacity that the natural person does not have.

In prophecy: "the Spirit of the LORD came upon" is the standard introduction to prophetic speech. Numbers 11:24-30: YHWH takes the Spirit that was on Moses and distributes it on the seventy elders, who prophesy. When Joshua objects on Moses's behalf, Moses responds: "Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" This is the unfulfilled wish that Joel 2:28-29 promises will be fulfilled: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions."

In the messianic king: Isaiah 11:2, "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD." The seven-fold Spirit resting on the branch from the stump of Jesse is the fullest description of Spirit-anointing in the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah 61:1 (cited by Jesus at Nazareth, Luke 4:18-19): "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives."

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper (Parakletos, Παράκλητος, one called alongside to help; Paraclete; Advocate; Helper; Comforter) will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7).

Jesus's farewell discourse in John 14-16 is the most extended teaching on the Spirit in the Gospels. Jesus names the Spirit "another Paraclete" (allon Paraklyton, John 14:16), "another" of the same kind as Jesus himself. Jesus has been their Paraclete (cf. 1 John 2:1, "we have an advocate/Paraclete with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"). The Spirit is a second Paraclete, continuing and extending what Jesus does.

The Spirit's roles in John 14-16: (1) to teach and remind (14:26, "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you"); (2) to bear witness to Jesus (15:26); (3) to convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8-11); (4) to guide into all truth (16:13, "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak"). The Spirit does not draw attention to himself, he glorifies the Son (16:14): "He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Acts 2:1-4: "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind (pnoes biaias, πνοῆς βιαίας, the pneumatic language echoing Genesis 1 and 2), and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Peter's explanation (2:16-21) cites Joel 2:28-32: "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.'" Pentecost is Joel fulfilled. The "last days" (eschatais hemerais) have begun, the Spirit poured out marks the inauguration of the eschatological age.

The Pentecost narrative reverses Babel (Genesis 11): at Babel, YHWH confused the tongues and scattered the nations; at Pentecost, the Spirit gives tongues that unite the nations in hearing the "mighty works of God" (2:11) in their own languages. The mission to the nations, inaugurated in the Spirit, is the inverse of the Babel judgment. The nations are not permanently scattered; they are being gathered by the Spirit into the new covenant community.

Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." The fruit of the Spirit is singular (karpos, one fruit, not nine separate fruits), it is the unified character that the Spirit produces in those who walk in him (5:25). The contrast is with "the works of the flesh" (5:19-21), the flesh produces a list of separate vices; the Spirit produces a unified character of love-joy-peace-patience-kindness-goodness-faithfulness-gentleness-self-control.

1 Corinthians 12-14 addresses the charismata (gifts of grace, spiritual gifts): "Now there are varieties of gifts (charismata), but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (12:4-7). The gifts are given not for the individual's edification alone but "for the common good" (pros to sympheron, for what is beneficial to the whole). Paul's catalog: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues (12:8-10).

1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, is the necessary center of the gifts discussion: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (13:1). The gifts without the fruit are empty. The Spirit who gives the gifts is the same Spirit who produces the love that makes those gifts meaningful.

The Sanctum is a pneumatological community, a community formed and sustained by the Holy Spirit. Every Bible study in the Sanctum is guided by the one whose job is to "guide into all truth" and to remind of all that Jesus has said. The fruit the Spiritborn are called to bear is the Spirit's own fruit in them. The gifts the community exercises for one another's good are the Spirit's charismata. The intercession that sustains the community in prayer is the Spirit's own groaning within them.