THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, by George Smeaton

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

by Steve West

 

Table of Contents

First Division: The Biblical Testimony
Second Division: Dogmatic Lectures
Third Division: History of the Doctrine

 

Summary

 

First Division: The Biblical Testimony

Many theologians have abandoned the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but it is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith that must be preserved if the church is to have any vitality. The doctrine of the Trinity goes beyond our comprehension, but it is affirmed in the church’s baptismal formula and is a core doctrine of the faith. There is one God in three persons (each person having the identical divine nature but subsisting in different personal relationships). The Father generates the Son, and the Father and Son spirate the Spirit. Everything in their works is from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit—the Spirit is the executor of the actions. There is scarcely a heresy that does not begin with an attack on the doctrine of the Trinity.

When we study the Scriptures, we discover that the texts which establish the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and Spirit also refute the heresies found in church history. Genesis 1:2 describes the ruach of God (i.e., the wind or breath of God, and an intelligent being). The term the Spirit of God, like the term the Son of God, speaks of a distinct personality that is of or from God. Job and Psalms contain verses that show us how God creates and gives life through his Spirit, and the Spirit is a personal agent. God created Adam in his image and likeness as a temple for the indwelling of the Spirit; “let us make man in our image” is trinitarian. Genesis 2:7 teaches that Adam was filled with Spirit, and it was the Spirit which was the principal that gave him life. In his sin Adam forfeited the possession of the Spirit which he could have passed down to his posterity. It is the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, who possessed the Spirit, kept the Spirit, and bequeaths the Spirit to his children.

God’s Spirit was rejected by the generation that was judged in the flood. God’s Spirit also filled the patriarchs as prophets; he likewise filled Moses and the seventy elders. In Judges we find that God would empower individuals with his Spirit to enable them to deliver his people from their enemies. With Samuel we begin to find a higher work, where God’s Spirit filled and inspired the prophets in Israel. They were instruments of the Spirit, understanding history and the covenant through Spirit-given insight. They were inspired to speak and write the very words of God. Their supernatural knowledge of the future was given to them by God’s personal Spirit.

David was anointed to be king and was filled with the Spirit for this role. He was inspired to write the words of God in the psalms that he authored, and the Holy Spirit is specifically referred to in some of them. In the prophets we find that the Spirit is referenced as the one who filled and inspired them. The Spirit revealed that he would be poured out on the church, and that the Messiah would be specially anointed with the Spirit’s unction. Joel prophesied the outpouring of the Spirit on God’s people, and that the Spirit would give them prophetic and spiritual gifts. This river of life in the Spirit began to be poured out on the Day of Pentecost. 

In the prophecies of Isaiah we find numerous references to God’s Spirit, of which the ones that connect the Spirit with the Messiah are of the utmost significance. Isaiah prophesied that the Spirit would fully rest on the Messiah, replenishing his humanity by anointing him and resting upon him to supply him with all that he needed. In the days of the Spirit-filled Messiah, the Spirit would also be poured out on Messiah’s followers. Ezekiel contains a great many references to the Spirit, including the transforming work of the Spirit’s irresistible grace in chapter 36, and his life-giving work in chapter 37. Zechariah prophesied that it was not by human might or power but by the Spirit of God that there would be success. Even in the OT age the Spirit was recognized as a divine person who filled a small number for prophecy but who comforted many. . . .

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