The Main Character Revealed

It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.  He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."  And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."  Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.  There were in all about twelve men. (Acts 19:1-7 NASB)

Discussions about the Trinity typically run aground on the Person of the Holy Spirit.  One of the linguistic difficulties encountered is the accident of language where "spirit" is a neuter noun in Greek and Hebrew (or rather, both masculine and feminine).  It's difficult to see such an objective reference as a "person".  But the use of the words shows these references to the Spirit of God acting.  That is not an "objective" reference.

In Acts 19, Paul is on his third journey through the region of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and comes to Ephesus.  When he gets there, he encounters some disciples with only partial knowledge.  The first reference to the Holy Spirit is as something received, and if that were the only reference we would be left with an objective reference.  But that's not how it turns out.  In verse 6 it the Holy Spirit coming on them, which changes the reference.  Now the 12 men are the objects and the Holy Spirit is the subject.

This may seem like a semantic issue, but it has important implications.  Remember that these men had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.  In other words they were not even that familiar with the Scriptures.  The Spirit of the Lord is all over the Hebrew Scriptures, so a Jewish person would have encountered Him at several points in their study.  These are most likely Gentiles who have received a partial instruction into the saving work of Jesus.  Their immersion in water was for sorrow at having sinned against God, not identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; good but not sufficient (i.e. it's not enough to be sorry for what we've done, we must accept Jesus' payment of what we owe for what we've done).

The understanding of these twelve men was incomplete.  Paul completes their training, immerses them once again in water, but this time into the name of the Lord Jesus (notice it wasn't into Jesus Christ - that would be a "Jewish" term; another clue that these are Gentiles).  After their immersion and Paul lays hands on them, then the Holy Spirit acts.  He comes on the men and they demonstrate His gifting.  So when Paul asks them, "Have you received the Holy Spirit" what he is asking them is if they have submitted themselves to His coming, His work, in them.  He isn't asking them if someone gave them a Holy Spirit.  Even Paul laying on his hands doesn't "give" the Holy Spirit.  What happened is the Holy Spirit waited until after Paul had done that to come on them.  It was the Holy Spirit Who chose when and what to do.  He acted.  Only a Person does that, not a 'thing'.

This understanding has to form the foundation for any discussion of what He does.  Submission to the Person of the Holy Spirit; allowing Him to decide when and what to do; and seeking His guidance in the study of Scriptures, prayer, and the rest of life; these are what is necessary to experience Him to a greater depth.  Tongues, prophecy, healing, interpretation, other gifts, are all easily focused on to the exclusion of the One giving such gifts.  We cannot afford to objectify the God of Scripture, not as Father, nor as Son, and certainly not as Holy Spirit.  Such is a sin of disastrous proportions.  He is a Person to Whom we submit.  Once there, we can then worship correctly, pray correctly, study Scriptures correctly, and then live correctly.

So, the Holy Spirit is One to Whom I submit.  To submit to Him is to submit to the Maker and Master of the universe.  He is the God of Scripture, the Creator of all things, and Master of my soul.  To Him I pray, and from Him flows power to accomplish His work.  I am a "smart" extension cord, not the Power Source.  But that probably means that I'm also a dysfunctional extension cord, if human attempts at anything "smart" are an indicator.  I think my track record bears that concept out as well.  But as I submit to my Master, He, the Holy Spirit, will work His work through me in the portion of the world in which He has placed me.  For instance, now I believe He is leading me to make my daughter's lunch and help her get ready for school.