Notes taken from Power From On High by Jack Cottrell

Introduction

Relevant Terms

Old Testament: Ruach

• Used over 380x
• “wind” (~100x)
• is most basic meaning
• Instrument of God (Gen. 8:1; Ex. 15:10; Num. 11:31; Ps. 148:8; Jonah 1:4; 4:8)
• Associated with power
• “breath” (> 25x)
• Also connected with power (Ex. 15:8; Ps. 33:6; Is. 30:28; 2 Sa. 22:16; Job 4:9; Ps. 18:15; Isa. 11:4; 33:11; 40:7)
• Life-giving breath (neshamah)
• Cf. 2 Sa. 22:16; Job 4:9; 32:8; 33:4; 37:10; Ps. 18:15; Isa. 30:33
• “spirit” (>230x)
• Like wind/breath, is invisible
• Angelic beings (Jdg 9:23; 1 Sa. 16:14-16)
• Human spirit (Num 16:22; Ps. 31:5; 142:3; Isa. 26:9; Eze. 36:26)
• Holy Spirit (~80x)

New Testament: Pneuma

• ~380x, like ruach in OT
• Practically equivalent in meaning to ruach
• “wind” (Jn. 3:8; cf. Heb. 1:7)
• “breath” (2 Th. 2:8; Rev. 11:11; 13:15)
• “spirit”
• Overwhelming majority of cases
• Sometimes means “attitude”/”state of mind” (Rom. 8:15; 11:8; Eph. 4:23; 1 Pet. 3:4)
• Usually spiritual beings
• Angels (Heb. 1:14)
• Demons (Mt. 8:16; 10:1; Mk. 5:2; Acts 5:16)
• Human spirit (Mt. 26:41; 27:50; Lk. 1:47; 8:55; Rom. 8:10)
• Holy Spirit (~260x)

English Words: Spirit & Ghost

• Latin spiritus -> “breath”, “wind” like ruach/pneuma
• KJV “Holy Ghost”
• Middle English gost
• Old English gast
• Never meant “guest”
• 900 AD, Durham Ritual: “halig gast”
• 1300 AD, Cursor Mundi: “hali sprite”
• 1340 AD, Hampole’s Psalter: “haly gast”
• 1535 AD, G. Joyce’s Apology of Tyndale: “holigost”
• 1549 AD, Book of Common Prayer: “holy spirit”
• Near end of 14th century, “gost/ghost” took on meaning of “disembodied spirit of a dead person”
• Misleading/confusing to use “Holy Ghost”   

Concept of Spirit

2 basic kinds of stuff/substance: material (or physical) and spiritual

• Isa. 31:3; Mt. 26:41
• Spirit is nonmaterial
• Lk. 24:36-43
• Physical stuff has certain innate limitations that don’t apply to spiritual substance (Isa. 31:3).
• One of the main points of the 2nd commandment (Ex. 20:4) - don’t try to capture essence of uncreated, divine spirit in material form
• Important in understanding power of HS

Spirit is invisible

• Jn. 3:8; 2 Kgs. 6:17; Col. 1:15; Jn. 1:18; 5:37; 1 Jn. 4:12; Ex. 33:20; 1 Tim. 6:16)
• Even when God chooses to reveal Himself to men we aren’t seeing his uncreated, transcendent essence
• We may see results of Spirit’s presence but never Spirit Himself
• [Here Cottrell adds: “From this we may infer that we will never actually sense or feel the presence of the Spirit in our lives and bodies, in the way we may detect or be conscious of the presence or movement of any created essence within us.” Ezekiel’s experience of being “lifted” multiple times by the Spirit and the experiences of demonic-spirit-possessed people in the NT seem to contradict this. They could certainly sense or feel the presence of those spirits in their lives and bodies. I need to think more about this.]

Spirit is living

• James 2:26
• God (including HS) has “life in Himself” (Jn. 5:26; cf. Isa. 37:4; Heb. 3:12)
• The HS gives life (Jn. 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 8:2, 9-11)

Spirit is personal

• Impersonal or nonpersonal spirit-stuff is an idea foreign to scripture
• This will be elaborated in later section
• 4 aspects of personhood:
• Rational consciousness: has thought processes, thinks, has knowledge, wisdom, understanding
• Self-consciousness: awareness of self as a thinking individual
• Self-determination: ability to plan and choose and decide
• Interpersonal relationships: awareness of the existence of other persons as persons and ability to relate to them on personal level
• All are true of HS

Spirit is powerful

• All personal beings have power to make plans, carry them out. Power to create events sometimes has far-reaching consequences
• Power of uncreated, divine Spirit is infinite
• Ex. 15:8; Is. 11:4; Acts 2:2

Names and Descriptions of the Spirit (cf. Power From On High pp. 19-21 for references)

OT

• The Spirit
• The Spirit of God
• The Spirit of the LORD (YHWH)
• The Spirit of the Lord GOD (Adonai YHWH)
• My Spirit
• His Spirit
• His Holy Spirit
• Your Spirit
• Your Holy Spirit
• Your good Spirit
• The Spirit of wisdom
• The Spirit of grace and supplication

NT

• Spirit (pneuma without definite article)
• The Spirit (to pneuma, using definite article)
• My Spirit (w/ def article)
• His Spirit (w/ def article)
• Holy Spirit (pneuma hagion, w/o def article)
• The Holy Spirit (to pneuma to hagion, w/ def article before noun and adjective)
• His Holy Spirit (to pneuma to hagion w/ “His”)
• The Holy Spirit of promise (to pneuma to hagion w/ “of promise”)
• The Holy Spirit (to hagion pneuma, w/ 1 def article)
• The Spirit of holiness
• Spirit of the Living God
• Spirit of God (w/o article)
• The Holy Spirit of God (w/ article)
• The Spirit of your Father
• Spirit of the Lord (w/o article)
• The Spirit of the Lord (w/ article)
• The Spirit of Jesus Christ
• The Spirit of Jesus
• The Spirit of His Son
• Spirit of Christ
• The Spirit of truth
• The Spirit of life
• Spirit of adoption
• The Spirit of grace
• The Spirit of glory and of God
• Eternal Spirit

Presence or absence of the Greek definite article appears irrelevant

• John 3:5 pneuma; John 3:6 to pneuma
• Matt. 22:43 pneuma; Mark 12:36 to pneuma to hagion
• Lk. 2:25 pneuma hagion; Lk. 2:26 to pneuma to hagion; Lk. 2:27 to pneuma
• Jn. 7:39 to pneuma and pneuma
• Matt. 3:16 to pneuma you theou; Mark 1:10 to pneuma; Lk. 3:22 to pneuma to hagion
• Matt. 12:18 to pneuma mou; Matt. 12:28 pneuma theou
• Acts 2:4 pneuma hagion and to pneuma; Acts 10:45 to hagion pneuma; Acts 11:15 to pneuma to hagion; Acts 11:16 pneuma hagion
• Acts 8:15, 17 pneuma hagion; Acts 18:18 to pneuma
• Acts 19:2 pneuma; Acts 19:6 to pneuma to hagion
• 2 Cor. 3:6 pneuma and to pneuma
• Gal. 3:2 to pneuma; Gal. 3:3 pneuma
• Gal. 5:16-25 pneuma, 4x; to pneuma 3x

The name “Holy Spirit”

• Not that the Father and Son are not also spirit (Jn. 4:4) anymore than calling the Father “God” means that the Son and the Spirit are not God (cf. 1 Cor. 12:4-6; Eph. 4:4-6)
• “Holy Spirit” only used 2x in OT (Ps. 51:11; Is. 63:10-11) but about 90x in NT
• Root meaning of terms for holiness seem to be separation, separated from the ordinary, set apart for something
• Cf. Is. 6:3, this is a basic attribute of God
• God is in a separate category of being; everything else is a part of creation (ontological holiness)
• God is separate from sin and sinners (ethical holiness)
• The Holy Spirit is different from all created Spirits and is separate from sin
• The HS makes us holy, sanctifies us

Chapter 1: The Person of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a Person

• May not be immediately obvious. “Spirit” is not as aggressively personal as “Father” or “Son”
• All spiritual beings are persons
• See above
• The Spirit is “another Helper” (Jn. 14:16)
• Allos parakletos
• Allos
• Another of the same kind, as opposed to heteros: another of a different kind
• The Spirit is to be thought of as another like Jesus
• Parakletos
• helper/comforter/counselor/advocate/paraclete
• Literally “called alongside”, someone called for assistance
• “Someone else to stand by you”
• “Another to befriend you”
• Legal defense/advocate (1 Jn. 2:1), like “lawyer” or “attorney”
• Maybe too narrow a definition for Jn. 14:16; meaning may be broader: “Encourager”
• The word is used of persons, not things
• The Spirit is listed with other persons
• Matt. 28:19 - linked with a single “name” to Father and Son
• Acts 15:28 - “It seemed good to the HS and to us…”
• Neuter noun, masculine pronouns
• Pneuma is a neuter noun but is followed by masculine pronouns when referring to the HS
• John 14:16; 15:26; 16:13-14 (ekeinos)
• Eph. 1:14 (hos)
• The HS does what persons do
• rational/intellectual activity
• Jn. 16:8 convicts the world
• Rom. 8:26-27 the mind of the Spirit
• 1 Cor. 2:10-11 searches depths of God, knows His thoughts
• Performs volitional acts
• Acts 13:1-4 chose Barnabas and Saul
• Acts 15:28 decided what burden to bind on Gentile brethren
• 1 Cor. 12:11 decided what gifts to bestow
• Speaking
• Acts 8:29; 1 Tim. 4:1; Matt. 10:20; Jn. 15:26; 16:13; Acts 13:2; 21:11; Heb. 3:7; 10:15; Rev. 2:7
• Teaching
• Neh. 9:20; Jn. 14:26; 16:13-15; 1 Cor. 2:12-13
• Feels emotions
• Is. 63:10 grieved
• Eph. 4:30 don’t grieve
• Rom. 15:30 love of the Spirit
• Could be His love for us or our love for Him, but both giving and receiving of love are experienced by persons
• The HS is treated as a person
• Acts 5:1-11 lied to the HS, tempted the HS
• These acts are only meaningful when directed toward a person
• Heb. 10:29 insult the HS (cf. Mt. 12:31)

The HS is a Divine Person

• Trinitarian statements
• Mt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 12:4-6
• These texts show there is no one proper order for listing them
• The HS isn’t always “the third person of the Trinity”
• Eph. 4:6; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 1 Pet. 1:2
• 1 Jn. 5:7 should not be used; very late addition to the Bible.
• The HS has divine attributes
• Eternal (Heb. 9:14; cf. 1 Tim. 6:16, Ps. 90:2)
• Omniscient (1 Cor. 2:10-11; Is. 40:13-14; Ps. 139:7-10)
• The fact that the HS simultaneously indwells all saints worldwide shows that His essence is not limited by space, which is the very presupposition of omnipotence
• Enormous power
• Creation (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 104:30)
• Raising the dead (Rom. 8:11)
• Creation and resurrection are the two masterworks in God’s repertoire of omnipotence (Rom. 4:17)
• The Spirit of power (Mic. 3:8; Zec. 4:6; Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:13, 19)
• Blasphemy against the HS
• Mk. 3:29; Mt. 12:31-32; Lk. 12:10
• Incomprehensible if the HS isn’t divine
• Called God
• Acts 5:1-4
• “Lied to the HS”/”Lied… to God”
• 1 Cor. 3:16
• “Temple of God/HS dwells in you”
• Cf. Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 6:19
• OT events and sayings of which Yahweh (the LORD) is subject are attributed to the HS in the NT
• Possibly Heb. 3:7-11
• Introduced w/ “as the HS says”, events described were directed toward Yahweh in Ex. 16:7; 17:1-7
• Also possible that it is simply acknowledging the Spirit’s authorship of Ps. 95:7-11, which is being quoted in Heb. 3:7-11
• Acts 28:25-27, citing Is. 6:8-10
• The OT clearly places the quoted words in the mouth of Yahweh
• Heb. 10:15-17, citing Jer. 31:31-34 does the same as Acts 28:25-27
• The HS is a distinct divine person
• Modalism: view that in His inner nature there are no distinctions within God, threefold or otherwise, that He assumes different modes in order to make Himself known
• Sometimes known as Sabellianism
• `Still exists in Oneness Pentecostalism, some other groups
• False doctrine
• Lk. 1:35; 3:22
• Jn. 14-16 is a “welter of double-talk” if modalism is true
• Cf. Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26
• Acts 2:33
• Many passages loose their meaning in modalism
• Rom. 8:11, 26; 1 Cor. 6:11; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 2:18; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2; Jude 20-21
• Implications
• Should always speak of HS in personal terms, “He”, not “It”
• Yahweh in the OT is the Trinity, not just the Father
• We should worship the HS
• No biblical precedent for direct worship
• But necessary inference from His full deity
• Shouldn’t elevate HS above Christ because HS’ purpose is to glorify Christ (Jn. 16:14)
• Pray to the Father (Mt. 6:9; Lk. 11:2) through the Son (Jn. 16:23-24; 1 Tm. 2:5; Heb. 4:14-16) with the assistance of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26, 27; Eph. 6:18)
• Even prayers about the HS’s power and working in our lives are addressed to the Father (Eph. 3:14-16)
• Eph. 2:18 sums up the roles of the Trinity in our prayers
• “If we think of the Holy Spirit as so many do as merely a power or influence, our constant thought will be, “How can I get more of the Holy Spirit,” but if we think of him in the Biblical way as a Divine person, our thought will rather be, “How can the Holy Spirit have more of me?”

Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit and the Bible

• 2 main kinds of gifts the HS gives to mankind: knowledge and power
• Knowledge: “Revelation”
• General: conveyed to everyone
• Creation (Ps. 19:1-2; Rom. 1:19-20)
• Conscience (Rom. 2:14-15)
• Special: given to specific people at specific time, place
• Adam & Eve (Gen. 3:8-19)
• Abraham Gen. (12:1, 7; 17:1-22)
• Moses (Ex. 3:4-14)
• Peter (Acts 10:19-20)
• Large groups (Ex. 20:1-22)
• Dreams and visions (Num. 12:6; 1 Sam. 3:1-18)
• Prophets and apostles (2 Sam. 12:1-15; Acts 2:14-39)
• Angels (Mt. 1:20; Lk. 1:26-38)
• Direct writing (Ex. 31:18; Dan. 5:5, 24-28)
• Guiding of lots (Jonah 1:7; Acts 1:24-26)
• Most Important: the Bible
• If we didn’t have the Bible we wouldn’t even know about these other forms of special revelation

The HS and the Origin of the Bible

• Bible’s primary purpose is to communicate God’s thoughts to us
• In doing so, further ends are achieved:
• Generating faith (Jn. 20:30-31; Rom. 10:17)
• Equipping for righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
• How does God ensure that the Bible will succeed in transferring what is in His mind to our minds? Revelation and inspiration.

Revelation and Inspiration

• Revelation
• Apokalupsis: an unveiling, an uncovering, a disclosure
• Communication is an act of revelation; one person is revealing his mind to another person
• God could reveal the fullness of His will to every human and work exclusively through revelation
• But he chose to communicate some things to people other than their immediate, original recipients
• Inspiration
• When God chooses to reveal something to someone by means of an intermediary/spokesman, how can He guarantee the message will be passed on accurately? Through inspiration.
• God’s active participation in the human act of transmitting or mediating a message (oral or written)
• Includes whatever it takes to make sure the message is communicated correctly.
• Some parts of the Bible are revealed, some are not. But all parts of the Bible are inspired.
• Some parts had to be revealed
• Creation (Gen. 1, 2)
• Predictive prophecies (Is. 9:6-7; Mal. 3:1-4; 4:5-6)
• Other parts were known to the writers from human sources
• Existing documents (Josh. 10:13)
• Personal investigation (Lk. 1:3)
• Personal experiences (Acts 20:6-7, 13-15)
• Personal subjective feelings (Ps. 51:3; 119:97)
• In these cases, revelation was unnecessary but inspiration may have involved memory assistance, judicious selection of data, omission of erroneous material

Revelation, Inspiration and the Holy Spirit

•  HS as source of oral prophecy
• Eg. Num. 11:25; 24:2; 1 Sam. 10:10; 19:20-24; 1 Chron. 12:18; 2 Chron. 15:1; 20:14; Neh. 9:30; Zech. 7:12
• Mrk. 13:11; Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:6; cf. 1 Cor. 12:8-11
• Acts 4:8; 21:10-11; cf. 1 Pet. 1:12
• HS as source of written testimony
• Inspiration of OT prophets
• Neh. 9:30; Is. 59:21; 2 Sam. 23:2
• HS' authorship of OT scriptures
• Mt. 22:43; Mk. 12:36; 
• Acts 1:16 (referencing. Ps. 69:25; 109:8), cf. Acts 4:25
• Acts 28:25-27, referencing Is. 6:9-10
  
• Heb. 3:7, referencing Ps. 95:7-11, cf. Heb. 9:8; 10:15
• 1 Pet. 1:10-11; 2 Pet. 1:19-21