BY DR. JOHN SULLIVAN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-TREASURER
FLORIDA BAPTIST CONVENTION

DOCTRINE OF HOLY SPIRIT

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has been a sadly neglected of in recent years. The Holy Spirit is today, as it has been throughout Baptist history, the neglected stepchild of theology. The major work of the Holy Spirit is power for witness. The New Testament church must realize and come to grips with this fact.

In these next few weeks, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit will be explored, looking at the definition of the Holy Spirit and his role in revelation. But first, we will begin with an introduction.

Our culture has the tendency to test everything by experience. Has it happened to me? If I can feel it, it must be good.

Three words need to be kept in the proper order: facts, faith and feelings. Facts—find out what the Bible says; faith—by faith believe what God has said in His word; feeling—that God will give whatever feeling He wants us to have.

The danger here is that not only affirming the Bible’s teaching, but affirming more than the Bible’s teachings.

When we get away from what the Bible teaches and rely on our own experience, we move in the direction of mysticism and fanaticism.

The Holy Spirit’s works will never contradict his words. British preacher Martin Lloyd Jones: “Fanaticism is a terrible danger which we must always bear in mind. It arises from a divorce between Scripture and experience, where we put experience above Scripture claiming things that are not sanctioned by Scripture, or are perhaps even prohibited by it.”

Three circles of context must be kept in mind to understand Biblical truths. The inner circle is the immediate context, the verse itself and the verses before and after it. We take the words for their literal meaning. Someone said if the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, then seek no other sense.

The second circle, outside the immediate context, is the book of the Bible where the passage is located. Noted author John Phillips: “It is an axiom that you don’t get your doctrine from the book of Acts. We get our doctrine from the teaching of the apostles, not the experiences of the apostles.”

The third circle of context, outside the immediate circle and the secondary circle, is the whole Bible. If the interpretation of a passage of Scripture contradicts the whole message of the Bible, it is incorrect.

All Scripture is written for us (Romans 15:4), but not all Scripture is specifically written to us. Some passages are specifically intended for a particular group. God has closed the canon of Scripture. There is no new revelation today. If experience becomes the basic court of appeal, then the Bible is no longer our guide for determining truth.

An outline of the next weeks’ series is:

Definition
1. The Holy Spirit is the personal spirit of God
2. The Holy Spirit is sovereign
3. The Holy Spirit is inseparably related to Christ

The Holy Spirit in Revelation
1. Place of the Holy Spirit in Christian experience
   A. Tongues
   B. Slain in the spirit
   C. Power evangelism
   D. Spiritual warfare
   E. Dancing in the Spirit
   F. Healing
   G. Restoration
   H. Clapping
2. Conviction of sins
3. Illumination of Jesus Christ
4. Repentance and faith

SULLIVAN'S OTHER ARTICLES

You may contact Dr. John Sullivan at
1-800-226-8584, ext. 3015, or by email.