What do Baptists Believe about God the Spirit?

We know from our 30 Core Truths study that the Holy Spirit is a person of God. He is not some supernatural force that comes upon us.

From The Baptist Faith and Message:

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

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Everything we know about God was taught to us through the Holy Spirit. We would know nothing if He did not enable us to understand more about God. John 14:26, "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." 1 Cor. 2:10-14, "...these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

The Holy Spirit calls men to repentance, to salvation, and regenerates hearts. "Regenerate" means that the Holy Spirit literally tears out the old self and generates a new self that is inclined toward God. This occurs when a person becomes saved, and at the moment of salvation, the Spirit brings a person into the Body of Christ. Eph. 1:13-14, "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." 1 Cor. 6:11 says, "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

The Spirit guides Christians in how to live and helps them serve God better through conviction and teaching. John 14:26, "But the Helper, 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." One can see how to walk according to the Spirit by reading Gal. 5:16-23.

The Spirit leads us where God desires, even temptation. Matthew 4:1, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

Once the Spirit enters a person's life, he never leaves that person, and will always work to mold the Christian more into the image of Christ. John 14:16-17, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." 1 Cor. 3:16, "Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?"

The Holy Spirit gives each believer gifts. He gives us these gifts so we can better magnify God to others. 1 Cor. 12:11, "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills."

As God, he empowers believers. We can see this throughout the Bible: Joshua – Num. 27:18; Saul – 1 Sam. 11:6; the Exodus – Isa. 63:11-12; Jesus – Matt. 3:16; Jesus' disciples – Acts 1:8; Christians – 1 Cor. 12:11.

Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

Discussion Questions:
1) What is the difference in the ways the Father, Son, and Spirit act in your relationship with God?
2) Have there been times when you have been aware of the Spirit working in you?
3) How is the Holy Spirit different from a conscience?


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