Dr Paul Allen

The Spirit supports believers against the world (John 16:8, 11) The term ‘world’ ( kosmos ) is used by John more than any other NT writer (105 times, mainly in his Gospel) and with a variety of meanings, including the created planet (John 1:10), humanity (John 8:12) and, most often, humanity in its opposition to Jesus (John 7:7; 15:18; 16:20). In 16:8, 11, he uses the term to describe those who have rejected Jesus.  Despite their unbelief, Jesus reciprocates not by rejecting them but by dying for them (John 1:29; 3:16–17; 4:42). In 16:7–11, Jesus reveals that, when he leaves his followers, the Spirit will undertake the same function of helping people who reject the truth of the gospel to realise the remarkable fact that it is not only true, but that it is good news for them. In particular, the Spirit will convict and convince them of their sin and the fact that Jesus is their saviour. Consider the consternation of the disciples leading up to these statements by Jesus.  In the ...

The opening greeting of Peter’s first epistle gives a clear example of the Trinitarian nature of our salvation. The “elect exiles” are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, that they might be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled by his blood (1 Pet. 1:2). The Holy Spirit sanctifies in two ways. First, he sets us apart in Christ so that we might be cleansed by his blood. Second, he works in us so we can be obedient to Jesus Christ. Through the sanctification of the Spirit, we are given a new position and infused with a new power. We usually think of the second element, the new power, when discussing sanctification. Though sanctification is positional too, as a theological term, it usually refers to our progressive sanctification, how God works in us for his good pleasure as we work out the life of salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12–13). Or, as Romans 8:9–13 puts it, we are no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit (posi...

The Holy Spirit subsists in the indivisible Trinity as one of the three hypostases (persons). As such, He is fully and exhaustively God, one in being eternally with the Father and the Son, one in power and glory. Whatever God does, the Spirit does, since in all God’s works all three persons work together inseparably, whether in creation, providence, or salvation. Therefore, when we speak of the Spirit at work, we must always remember that the Father and the Son are also involved. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit is not the Father, and He is not the Son either, for the three are eternally distinct. There is but one God, so the Spirit is identical in being or essence with the Father and the Son, but in terms of personhood, He is irreducibly distinct. Thus, there are actions attributed (or appropriated) peculiarly to the Spirit—only He was sent at Pentecost—but even here He was sent by the Father through and in the Son. In terms of the eternal relations of the three, the Spirit proc...

You need to do a number of things in order to receive this blessing. First, you need to be born again. The person who is going to be filled with the Spirit must have the indwelling Spirit and must belong to Jesus (Rom. 8:9). The second thing you have to do is ask. The Bible says, if we ask for the Holy Spirit, that prayer will be answered (Luke 11:8). 3. The third thing you have to do is surrender. The apostle Paul made this need clear in the Book of Romans when he said, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1). Fourth, you must be willing to obey the Spirit. God does not give this power to someone and then say, "You can take the part you like and leave the part you do not like." If you want to be immersed in the Holy Spirit, you need to be prepared to obey the Spirit (Acts 5:32). Fifth, you need to believe . The apostle Paul said, "Did you receive the Spirit | by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Gal. 3:2). The answer...