The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts

The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts

Throughout the book of Acts we encounter the growing forces which we know today as the church and the kingdom of God. From cover to cover of this book we see the systematic expansion of the gospel from Jerusalem to the majority of the Roman world in only a few decades. This level of achievement is frankly not possible through human might and wisdom alone, there must have been another factor driving this growth. That factor is the Holy Spirit, but exactly what role did the Holy Spirit play in the birth and expansion of the church?

The Holy Spirit Makes Everything Possible

“Throughout Luke’s narrative there are references to the promise, gift, outpouring, baptism, fullness, power, witness and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It would be impossible to explain the progression of the gospel apart from the work of the Spirit.”[1] For it was the Spirit which made it possible for the believers to perform the ministry they did, have the protection necessary to not be immediately wiped out and provided the miraculous confirmations to the words of the gospel. We can look at the role of the Spirit in Acts and in the early church in many ways, he is the both the wind and the fire, he is the ship and the sea and he is the road and the horse. All of these examples demonstrate to us that the Holy Spirit is both the agent of movement and the producer of the means required to be moved. A fire left calm will burn out, a ship outside of water does not move and a horse travels much farther on a road then on muddy fields.

On the theological level we understand that “he Spirit is God’s control, authority, and presence in the world. That is to say, he is the Lord. As Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King, the Spirit is God’s authoritative word, his abiding and mediating presence, and his powerful control over all things.”[2] The Holy Spirit is the power of God upon the earth, for by the Spirit Jesus performed many miracles, had prophetic insight into people and experienced resurrection from the dead. For it was by the Holy Spirit in which Jesus was able to move in his divine nature upon the earth, and now that same spirit rests upon Jesus’ followers.

Everything Begins at Pentecost

In the first two chapters of Acts we are presented with the Holy Spirit which will come in power and immerse Christ’s followers into himself. Not only will Christ’s followers be covered externally with the Spirit like the prophets of old, but the Spirit will come to live within them just as it did with Jesus. This is why the feast of Pentecost in 30AD is such a monumental day for the church, it was the day it tapped into the power of God and to its full potential. From this point on the Holy Spirit plays leading role.

At Pentecost the apostles experience something entirely different from when they were sent out to the villages two by two in the gospels. Now they were filled with the Spirit who carried the authority of the risen Christ. Immediately they were endued with the ability to speak in tongues and were filled to the point of appearing drunk. It is then that Peter stood up and gave the first sermon of the church, one which was guided by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit spoke through Peter and confirmed his presence among the 120 and at least 3,000 people came into the kingdom. This confirms Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:20, “for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

In many other instances with the likes of Peter, Paul, Stephen, Philip we see the Holy Spirit being upon them and speaking through them in order for the gospel to be spread. “This implies that the Spirit inspires the preaching itself. This does not mean that the Spirit is only the force behind the proclamation (subjective genitive) as he also proves the validity of the words themselves (objective genitive), illuminating the preaching to the hearers, resulting in faith.”[3] The Holy Spirit does not only provide the words but also the faith and boldness to proclaim them, as we witnessed with Stephen. He must have been aware that his closing remarks would enrage the Sanhedrin since he was accusing the of many things, but at the same time he saw the Spirit and was given a vision to prepare him for his end.

The Holy Spirit Moving in Power

While many stop at the works of illumination and inspiration by the Spirit the book of Acts demonstrates another level of His involvement, acts of power. We consistently see in the development of the early church a pattern of the Spirit sending people to specific places, the word being preached and miracles manifesting to confirm the words. Stott proclaims that, “Moreover, the word and the signs would goo together, the signs and wonders confirming the word proclaimed with boldness.”[4] This was not limited to only the apostles as we see the likes of Philip witnessing the same pattern by the Holy Spirit.

In Samaria, Macedonia, Asia and all other places where the kingdom expanded into the Spirit moved through healings and other miracles. Paul gained the attention of Sergius Paullus by the blinding of the sorcerer. Peter saw the region of Joppa open up from because of the resurrection of Tabitha, days after Pentecost Peter and John saw the crippled healed. Philip performed wonders in Samaria beyond the ability of the famous Elymas. In each instance, the Holy Spirit was proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah and that these men were not just speaking empty words.

We also witness to the fact that the Godhead is unified in the expansion of the kingdom as “we also might view this unity of activity with an eye toward the special function of each member of the Trinity: the executive is the Father, the architect is the Son, and the contractor is the Holy Spirit.”[5] Paul himself commented on this synthesis of the Holy Spirit moving in words (inspiration) and power in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, “4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

Just as the Spirit confirmed Jesus’ words so now he does the same through his followers. By this manifestation of the Spirit combined with the words the people who heard the preaching were not just left to judge the words alone but witnessed the accompanying confirmations of the Spirit. Yet one is not exclusive without the other as miracles do not preclude preaching, and preaching does not render unnecessary miracles. For it is the same Spirit which empowers believers to do both and without the Holy Spirit neither can be accomplished.

The Holy Spirit Guided the Early Church

Beyond the Holy Spirit’s guidance in what to preach, He also directed the apostles and evangelists of the early church where to preach. At the beginning the twelve received the words of Jesus that the Gospel would spread from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria and then to the ends of the earth. Yet they did not receive a timeline or a step by step check list of when to visit a town, when to visit it and who in the town they were to preach to. That responsibility fell upon the Holy Spirit who guided people to the right town, at the right time to speak to the right person. Philip for example was divinely lead to go into the wilderness along to road, where he found the Ethiopian official who believed and carried the gospel home with him. An entire region outside of Judea would not receive the gospel because Philip went where the Spirit told him to go.

We see a similar example with Peter when he was sent for by Cornelius, if it hadn’t of been for the vision he may have refused the offer and the doctrinally critical conversion of Cornelius wouldn’t of happened and the gospel would not have gone to the Gentiles. Again, with Paul who through the Spirit was (for a time) forbidden from going to Asia. “Luke does not give the precise way in which the Holy Spirit imparts his will to the apostles, but the most likely means was through the gift of prophecy possessed by Silas (15:32). What is important here is that God sometimes intervenes in man’s best intentions.”[6] It was not that the Spirit didn’t want the gospel to be preached in Asia but that His timetable knew it was better for Paul to go to Macedonia first.

It becomes clear then that through the persecutions and the leading of the Spirit the church expanded according to the planning of the Holy Spirit and not man. If not for the spirit the kingdom could have remained confined in Jerusalem or Judea for centuries, and the divide between Jewish believers and Gentile believers could of taken even longer to mend.

Not only would regions and peoples have been excluded from the kingdom but key people as well. For it was by the Spirit that Saul was converted, commissioned and sent out to preach the gospel. We see the Holy Spirit as the light which encountered him on the road to Damascus, then we see the Spirit speaking to Ananias to heal Saul and to give him his commission to preach. This call to preach to the Gentiles came again to Paul by Jesus (through the Spirit) who numerous times offered encouragement, warning and direction. It can be argued that without the movement of the Spirit Saul would have remained the persecutor of the church and the Greco-Roman world would have looked much different in terms of the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Confirms the Gospel

Aside from these three outward activities of speaking, working of miracles, and given direction there is another way in which the Spirit moved in the book of Acts, by acting as the confirmation of one’s repentance. Peter spoke bluntly about this on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38;

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Jesus spoke in Gethsemane of the Holy Spirit coming as the confirming sign of his presence and as our comforter to lead us into truth. The presence of the Holy Spirit alone in a person contributed greatly to the maintaining of the expanded kingdom of God. This is because “the Holy Spirit bears witness to the believer’s sonship… This is not just an inner feeling. It is a Divine witness of a new relationship brought about by the Holy Spirit; and when it is accomplished, He is the One Who testifies to its reality.”[7] Beyond the compelling words heard and miraculous seen the new believers were rooted and grounded in their belief by this abiding presence, which lasts much longer than words or sights.

Conclusion

Understanding all which has been spoken we clearly see the role that the Holy Spirit played in the birth and expansion of the church. First the Holy Spirit provided inspiration, illumination, recollection and revelation to the believers so they could preach the gospel and argue from the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. Secondly the Holy Spirit would then confirm these words through healings, miracles and prophetic insights. Third the Spirit acted as the confirmation sign that a person was a believer in Christ. Lastly the Holy Spirit acted as a living blueprint for how the Kingdom of God was to expand, providing the time, place, opportunities and people who would best respond to the gospel so the local church could be established.

This movement of the Holy Spirt was not a one-generation event. As even today “We need to receive the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our ministries, to the greatest extent possible, in order to serve God well in our world.” Both then and now the Holy Spirit is recognized as the living presence of God which is active in the earth to bring about the expansion of the kingdom and the spread of the gospel into the hearts of all people.

Occurrences of the Holy Spirit in ActsThe Holy Spirit’s activity or role described  
1:2Gives instructions
1:5The one who will baptize(fill) the believers
1:8Bringer of power
1:16Inspirer of David’s words
1:26The one who chose Judas’ replacement
2:4The one the 120 were filled with
2:5The giver of new languages
2:14-38The inspirer of Peter’s sermon
2:17The part of God poured out on the people
2:18The enabler of prophecy
2:33Given to Christ to give to us
2:38The gift given in exchange for repentance
3:6-8The healer of the cripple
4:8Gives power and inspiration to Peter’s words
4:25Inspirer of David’s words
4:31The living presence of God in the believers
5:3Representation of God among the people
5:9Representation of God among the people
5:12Performer of signs and wonders
5:32A witness to what was done to Christ
6:3Giver of wisdom
6:5Evidence of God in Stephen
6:10Defender of Christ
7:51The one resisted by the unrepentant
7:56Giver of Stephen’s heavenly vision
8:6Performer of signs and wonders
8:15-17The one who will baptize(fill) the believers
8:19-20Transferred between believer’ hands
8:26-29Giver of direction to Philip
8:39Performer of a miracle
9:3The light on the road to Damascus
9:10-15The one who spoke to Ananias and commissioned Saul
9:17The one who will baptize(fill) the believers
9:18Healer of Paul’s blindness
9:31The comforter
9:40The power greater than death
10:19Interpreter and giver of Peter’ vision
10:38The anointing on Jesus
10:44-47The one who will baptize(fill) the believers
11:12Interpreter and giver of Peter’ vision
11:15-16The one who will baptize(fill) the believers
11:21Enabler of the church’s success in Antioch
11:24Confirmation of God’s presence in someone
11:28Giver of prophecy
12:10-11Peter’s deliverer from prison (along with an angel)
12:23Killed Herod for his self-idolatry
13:2, 4Giver of instruction and ministry commissioning
13:11Made the sorcerer blind
13:52Confirmation of God’s presence in someone
14:9-10Performed a healing
15:8Gift from God
15:28Gives confirmation to the decision of the council
16:6-7Giver of direction and ministry plans
16:9Giver of dreams and visions
16:26Sent an earthquake to Paul’s prison
17:23The unknown God?
18:9Giver of dreams and visions
19:2, 6The one who will baptize(fill) the believers
19:11-12Performer of miracles
19:21Giver of direction and ministry plans
20:10The power greater than death
20:22-23Foreteller of Paul’s upcoming troubles
20:28The appointer of overseers
21:4, 11Foreteller of Paul’s upcoming troubles
22:6The light on the road to Damascus
22:13Healed Paul’s blindness
22:14The giver of Paul’s commission
23:11(through Jesus) Giver of dreams and visions
26:12The light on the road to Damascus
26:16-18The giver of Paul’s commission
28:3Protected Paul from the viper (and shipwreck)
28:8Performer of healing
28:25-27Inspirer of Isaiah’s words

[1] John Stott, The Message of Acts (Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990), 33.

[2] John M. Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006), 162.

[3] Simo Frestadius, “The Spirit and Wisdom in 1 Corinthians 2:1–13,” ed. Paul Elbert, Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research 3 (2011): 68–69.

[4] John Stott, The Message of Acts (Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990), 100.

[5] Jack W. Hayford. Hayford’s Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995).

[6] William H. Baker, “Acts,” in Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, vol. 3, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995), 909.

[7] Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, Foundations of Pentecostal Theology (Los Angeles, CA: L.I.F.E. Bible College, 1983), 277.

 
Creative Commons LicenseThe Role of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts Cameron Conway is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
 
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Life Beyond Church 07: The Forgotten Part of God

Life Beyond Church 07: The Forgotten Part of God

Learn how you can better understand and relate to the Holy Spirit in your life!

07 – The Holy Spirit aka The Forgotten Part of God

Conway Christian Resources Podcast

WHEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING WHO GOD IS we tend to be comfortable in the identities of Jesus and the Father. Yet when it comes to the Holy Spirit He feel less like a familiar neighbor and more like some hermit in that creepy house at the end of town…

The Holy Spirit aka the Forgotten Part of God

The Holy Spirit aka the Forgotten Part of God
Go even deeper with the Podcast of this teaching

WHEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING WHO GOD IS we tend to be comfortable in the identities of Jesus and the Father. Yet when it comes to the Holy Spirit He feel less like a familiar neighbor and more like some hermit in that creepy house at the end of town. Throughout the Old Testament we hear of God moving through the prophets and the nation of Israel. While in the New Testament we are focused on the works and words of Jesus, however what we usually don’t realize is that the Holy Spirit is working right there along side them.

On a technical level the Holy Spirit is the third member of the trinity and is an equal part of the godhead along with Jesus and the Father. The Holy Spirit is the part of God in which we can interact with on a daily basis. He is the personal part of God which we have not only living inside of us but is a part of the world around us, as the tangible presence of God on the Earth (2 Corinthians 13:14, John 5:6-8).

The Holy Spirit is Closer Than Your Trusty Smartphone

Some people tend to see God as being far off in Heaven and Jesus is right there beside Him, while the Holy Spirit is here on the earth and is never far away. Through salvation and baptisms the Holy Spirit not only becomes part of our lives but comes to live inside of us. We can’t just reduce that truth to a Christian phrase or a theological topic, but we must come to a living reality of that truth in our own lives.

The Holy Spirit wants to be known by us and we must be just as willing to know Him.

The Holy Spirit wants to be known by us and we must be just as willing to know Him. That is the purpose of this first section to better know the Holy Spirit and develop a living relationship with Him here and now. To take away any walls of separation between us and the trinity. To live in the fullest possible measure of God’s presence and purpose for our lives.

We see The Holy Spirit at work in many ways throughout the Bible all the way back at creation in Genesis 1:2, 26 we see the spirit hovering, waiting to create, waiting to bring life to the natural realm we live in. Fast forward to the baptism of Jesus and we see Him at work again as the one who empowers Jesus to fulfill His mission to redeem mankind (Matthew 3:16-17).

After the death and resurrection of Jesus we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work through the apostles and the early church in the book of Acts.

The Holy Spirit was moving in the same way He was during Jesus’s ministry because we have been given the same authority to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and the do the same. The Holy Spirit isn’t a type of magic to be invoked He is the power and presence of the living God who is looking for those willing to not only have a relationship but be willing to do was the Father calls them to do with their lives.

One With Jesus And One With Us

The Holy Spirit’s role can be seen clearest through Jesus’ words about His unity with the Father. (John 5:36-40, John 8:28-29). The same relationship that Jesus lays out concerning His relationship with the Father should be the same for us and the Father today. The Holy Spirit, aka God’s presence on the earth should be just as open and vivid to us as it was to Jesus during His earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit does not glorify Himself, but the Son. This does not speak of an inferiority in His standing in the Trinity but reveals the role of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption. That is why we must never forget that the Holy Spirit came to make real the things of Jesus, that through Him the same power that was at work through Jesus is available to us today (John 16:13-15).

The Holy Spirit came to make real the things of Jesus, that through Him the same power that was at work through Jesus is available to us today

Unlike in the Old Testament where people were kept a safe distance from the Spirit of God, in the Gospels, Jesus signaled a change in how the Holy Spirit would relate to men and women. No longer would there be a separation where only the high priest on one day a year could experience the presence of God but all people at all times could be that near to God. Before the people would fear and quake at the presence of the Father, now under the New Covenant  the barrier of sin is gone and God through Holy Spirit has deposited His presence into us. No longer are just the prophets and patriarchs privy to a special relationship with the Creator but everyone who have called Jesus their Messiah and Savior.

The Holy Spirit Reveals The Father

Another key role of the Holy Spirit is that He takes the all of the things we associate with the Father and reveals them to us (John 16:12-16)We see this modeled over and over with Jesus as He only said and did what He heard from the Father. That same relationship is available to us today, and not just for a select few such as prophets or leaders of large churches. All who are willing to listen and obey can hear the voice of the Father.

This leads to another one of the Holy Spirit’s roles, the one who would empower His church to do what God called it to do. He helps the church be an authentic witness to the world just as we saw in Acts 1:8.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The Holy Spirit wasn’t just sent to help the church metaphorically or emotionally, but He is here to help the church move in power. Be it power over sin, hopelessness, or the fallen state of the world. He also brings to us gifts of wisdom, knowledge and even (at times the most needed manifestation) miraculous power which sees the dead raised, people healed and testimonies which cannot be denied come to pass. You see as believers we are nothing more than living lightbulbs and the Holy Spirit is the electricity which generates light for people to see Jesus.

Starting with the apostles and carrying on to today we are all called to be proclaimers of the gospel. From the beginning God knew that Jesus’ physical presence would leave but He would send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ place to work through and with believers (John 16:7).

The Holy Spirit came in this “new way” when Jesus’ physical presence left the earth and now uses everyday believers such as you and me to continue the ministry of Jesus and to expand the Kingdom. Everyday people who are willing to follow the Holy Spirit and not just the elite few. We all have our own places of influence and people we can reach that others will never be able to. If we give Holy Spirit room to move in those areas imagine what could happen, with Jesus’s resurrection and ascension the promise of John 7:39 is NOW in effect.

John 7:38-39 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Living As If The Kingdom Is Already In Effect

When we begin to accept that the Holy Spirit is the living and active presence of God that lives within us then and only then can we have a true impact on this world. When we no longer look at Him as being some type of mystery or some genie certain denominations talk about we begin to understand. The God we read about in the Old Testament and the Christ we preach about from the New Testament lives inside of us and is looking to continue the work He began so long ago.

The same holiness, compassion and power Jesus walked in is available to us today through the Holy Spirit.

The same compassion and power Jesus walked in is available to us today, but with that the same standard of holiness spoken of by the Father in the Old Testament remains. The Holy Spirit has been unleashed to bring people to the cross, to work in power and to ensure that Christians live according to the standards which have been lovingly set by the Father.

John 16: 7-11 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

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Creative Commons LicenseThe Holy Spirit aka the Forgotten Part of God Cameron Conway is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.