A Person, not a power
The Bible speaks of the Spirit with personal verbs: he teaches, comforts, convicts, intercedes, and can be grieved. Electricity cannot be grieved. That is why the historic creeds confess the Spirit as “the Lord, the giver of life, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified”. Older English Bibles and the Book of Common Prayer say “Holy Ghost”, which is simply the same word in Tudor dress; “ghost” once meant spirit, with no spooky overtones intended.
The Spirit through the story of Scripture
The Spirit appears in the Bible's second sentence, hovering over the waters of creation. He equips craftsmen, emboldens judges and speaks through prophets, who look forward to a day when God's Spirit will be poured out on all people. In the Gospels the Spirit overshadows Mary, descends on Jesus like a dove at his baptism, and empowers his ministry. Then comes Pentecost: fifty days after Easter, the Spirit falls on the frightened disciples, and a huddle of about 120 people becomes a movement that reaches Britain within a few centuries. Christians keep Pentecost, once widely called Whitsun in England, as the church's birthday.
What the Spirit does in a believer
- Brings new birth. Jesus told Nicodemus that entering God's kingdom means being “born of the Spirit”. Faith itself is the Spirit's gift.
- Assures. The Spirit witnesses within that we are God's children, teaching us to pray “Abba, Father”.
- Transforms character. The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, grows slowly, like an orchard rather than a firework.
- Illuminates Scripture. The same Spirit who inspired the Bible helps readers understand and apply it.
- Equips for service. Gifts such as teaching, encouragement, generosity, healing, administration and prophecy are distributed for the good of the whole body.
- Unites the church. One Spirit makes one people out of every background, a truth visible in Britain's wonderfully international congregations.
Where Christians differ, honestly stated
All the historic traditions agree on everything above. The friendly family disagreement concerns the more dramatic gifts. Pentecostal churches, such as Elim and the Assemblies of God, and charismatic congregations within the Church of England and elsewhere, expect gifts like tongues, prophecy and healing as normal Christian experience, and often speak of a distinct “baptism in the Spirit”. Many Reformed and conservative evangelical churches hold that such sign-gifts belonged chiefly to the apostolic age, while Catholic, Orthodox and much Anglican teaching sits somewhere between, cautious but not closed. These are differences of emphasis within one faith, not rival religions, and it is wise to hold them with charity.
The Spirit in British church life
You will meet the Spirit's work in every tradition, differently dressed. In a Catholic or Anglican confirmation the bishop lays hands on candidates and prays for the Spirit's sevenfold gift. The hymn “Come Down, O Love Divine”, sung to a tune named after the Surrey village of Down Ampney, is a prayer to the Spirit. In a Pentecostal fellowship the prayer may be louder and more spontaneous, but it is the same request. Even the Quaker practice of silent waiting is an act of trust that the Spirit still speaks.
Getting acquainted
The Spirit's own preference, Christians observe, is to shine the light on Jesus rather than on himself. So the ordinary ways of meeting him are refreshingly plain: read the Gospels, pray honestly, and worship with others. If you would like to see Spirit-filled community at first hand, find a church near you and simply ask someone what difference their faith makes on a wet Tuesday. The answer, whatever words they choose, will be a description of the Holy Spirit.