As Christians who hold to doctrinal orthodoxy, Baptists are Trinitarian in our theology.
As Christians who hold to doctrinal orthodoxy, Baptists are Trinitarian in our theology.
That means we Baptists believe that the one and only God eternally exists in the three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Each person is fully God and equal to the other two persons of the trinity while at the same time the one true God is one, existing in three persons.
The three persons enjoy equality in nature and yet possess subordination in their function, activity, or economy. (I know it is confusing, but there is not enough space here to go into greater detail.)
Theologically speaking, we Baptists have tended to do a fairly good job of dealing with and teaching about the Father and Son– especially the Son’s redemptive work and its salvific implications for fallen humanity.
However, we Baptists tend to be rather weak in our theology and practice when it comes to the third person of the trinity. We may mention the Spirit’s convicting and drawing work during the invitation and we may preach an occasional sermon about some of the Spirit’s gifts, but for the most part we tend to neglect the third person of the Godhead. I don’t think it is necessarily a conscious or intentional slight – we just tend to stress humanity’s need for salvation more than we stress sanctification – which is where the bulk of the Spirit’s work lies.
We should not feel too ashamed, the early church likewise focused on the Father and Son – usually to the detriment of the Spirit.
Within the Apostles Creed (which was first written around AD 215), the person and work of both the Father and Son are discussed while the creed merely affirms, “I believe in the Holy Spirit” (pisteuo eis to pneuma to hagion). Even worse, the Definition of Chalcedon (AD 451), which establishes the orthodox Christological formula (i.e. – Jesus was fully God and fully Man), does not even mention the Holy Spirit.
We should be concerned that our current practice – which has tended to de-emphasize the Holy Spirit – may be damaging to our own spiritual growth and the spiritual growth of our churches. In John 16:7-14, Jesus affirmed,
7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (NASU)
Within the text, Jesus explained to the disciples that he had to leave them in order to send the Spirit. He described the sending of the Spirit as something that is to our sumpherei, which is rendered as advantage, benefit, or good.
According to Jesus, the disciples were better off with the presence of the Holy Spirit than they were with Jesus’ own physical presence. Let me say that again, the presence of the Holy Spirit is more helpful to the Christian than is the physical presence of Jesus himself.
Truth be told, I think that many of us would much rather trade the Holy Spirit for the physical presence of Jesus. Surely Jesus is easier to talk to and hear from? I think we may not really understand or appreciate what the Spirit desires to do in our lives and in our churches.
Within the text of the Bible, we see the Spirit empower men and women, enabling them to accomplish great things for God’s kingdom.
Yet we also see that the Spirit cannot be controlled or manipulated. There is something about the Spirit that is always a little unpredictable.
As Jesus explained in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Personally, that makes me uncomfortable because, in my fallen state, I like to think of myself as being in control of my own life.
Of course, it is that same desire for control that has made me a fallen creature in need of divine help – hence the sending of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus referred to the Spirit as the parakletos, which is often translated as the helper, advocate, or comforter. His work is that of elegxei, which encapsulates the concepts of convicting, reproving, and exposing. Jesus lists some specific ways that the Spirit will help us – conviction of sin, teaching about righteousness, judging the ruler of this world, and guiding us in truth.
While on the surface it may seem that Jesus has given us a nice four point sermon as he has described the Spirit’s work, in fact the Spirit’s work is more unified than it may initially appear. The Spirit’s convicting work is about exposing and correcting sin in our lives. We sometimes think of conviction as an activity God does to withhold from us something which is pleasurable, good, or desirable. That is not at all what the Spirit’s convicting work is about.
The effects of sin are always destructive to us – no sin ever imparts any benefit to the sinner. The Holy Spirit works to free us from the ravages of our own actions by convicting us and then leading us avoid those choices.
The Spirit’s convicting work is a demonstration of God’s grace – it is deliverance from that which harms us, not a withholding of something that is good for us. Although we often try to avoid it, conviction is in our best interest.
The result of our positive response to this conviction is that our life begins to reflect the righteousness that was supposed to characterize humanity (in God’s original plan before Adam and Eve disrupted the divinely inspired order).
We can walk in this righteousness because the ruler of this world is now powerless– rendered so by the work of Christ on the cross and the Spirit within the world.
We need not fear the devil and his schemes. Because of the Holy Spirit we are able to live victoriously and experience peace, love, and joy rather than merely existing in bondage to our sin– captive to our own poor choices and sinful desires. Tying all of this sanctifying process together is the guidance and leadership that we receive from the Holy Spirit.
The catalyst that can change our lives from their fallen state to a position of righteousness, wherein we function according to our divinely created design, is the Holy Spirit.
Yet if the Spirit is going to do this, He has to have a chance to speak to us – to reveal God’s truth to us – and guide us. Within my own spiritual life, that is where my greatest struggle lies.
Our society is so “self-help oriented” that if we are not careful, we can find ourselves trying to navigate through life relying on our own strength and wisdom.
Our spiritual life can begin to embody a “God helps those who help themselves” mentality rather than depending completely on the Spirit for wisdom, direction, and strength.
Likewise, our churches need to rely of the Spirit to lead, guide, and direct our various ministries.
It is not enough to pray and ask God to bless our “well thought-out” plans. As churches we ought to be wholly and completely dependant on the Holy Spirit to shape and direct all that we do.
Christ, as the “head” of the church, ought to be able to direct his “body” through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Living a life of dependence is not easy – it requires an intense humility that surrenders our own will in order to do that which God directs. It also necessitates that we be still enough long enough to hear from Him.
Our lives are so busy and hectic that it is hard to slow down and just “wait on God” to provide the direction we need. But wait on Him we must.
In Galatians 5:25, Paul taught that “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
For those of us in relationship with Christ, our life is now grounded in the Spirit – it is through His indwelling that we have spiritual life. The task for us now is to walk in and with our helper – the Spirit.