Over the last couple of years I’ve been paying attention to conversations that I’ve had with various Christians, particularly with regard to how they view the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life. Frequently, whenever I am discussing a particular view that I hold on a specific doctrine, my conversation partner will say something like this: “Well, when I looked into that view the Holy Spirit led me to the opposing view.” Of course, it is not said that bluntly, but that catches the overall message. This post will point out a problem with replies like that and then a related larger problem within American Christianity in general.
Individualistic Interpretations
To begin with, replies like the example above are an immediate trump card that virtually dismisses another believer’s opinion or belief. Who cares how much you’ve studied the topic? Who cares that there is a long, sustained, and historical interpretation that supports the other view? The Holy Spirit led me to my position! What more proof do I need?!
Sometimes, when Christians drop the “Holy Spirit led me” card in a conversation like this, they are more often than not shutting down another believer. Of course, I do not believe that to be their actual intention. Nevertheless, by implication, they are insinuating that the Holy Spirit does not lead the other person in the same way as this enlightened believer is led. Does the Holy Spirit guide and work in a believer’s life? Yes, we absolutely do not want to over correct here.
However, to use just one commonly mentioned verse that gets taken out of context, John 14:26 states that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things.” Now, many Christians read that and immediately assume that it must apply to them. However, is that what it means? I don’t think so, although I have heard this passage mentioned several times whenever I appeal to an authority (including the Bible) as being helpful and wise to guide one to come to a position on a doctrine versus them following their own individual feelings.
There is a reason that the Bible establishes teachers and encourages believers to grow in knowledge. There is a reason the Word of God is so heavily praised within the Bible. The immediate context of that verse in John is Jesus talking to the Apostles in private (not a sermon to a vast body of disciples, like the Sermon on the Mount). The very next line supports what the Spirit is doing, “and He will bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26b).
So the Apostles were assured by Christ that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all that He said to them. What does that mean for the individual believer? If we want to be guided by the Holy Spirit, we need to “remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savor spoken by your apostles” (II Peter 3:2; emphasis mine).
Do we want the Holy Spirit to teach us? Go to the Word! There is a reason that “God’s Household” has “been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20; emphasis mine). The foundation has been laid and we as Christians build on that foundation together, by the work of the Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, and for the glory of God the Father.
Does the Holy Spirit work in more ways than that? Of course. More personal ways? Of course. My point is simply that we need to be careful about what we claim the work of the Spirit is and isn’t.
The Church is the historic body of believers that the Holy Spirit has brought to spiritual life. The individual members of this body are not led against each other and the Holy Spirit certainly does not lead brothers and sisters in Christ to contrary truths. For that, we can only blame ourselves.
American Christianity
We can be so desperate in America to justify our faith by looking within ourselves and not looking outward to the historic fact of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. The roots of this experiential and inward approach to the Christian view of the Spirit in America run all the way back to the post-reformation radical anabaptists that moved away from doctrine and creeds to a strong inner faith experience. This doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit does not have an inward presence and work within the believer’s life. Romans 8:16 clearly states that, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” All we are seeking to do here is balance an overcorrection, not create another one.
That said, the inward, experiential, and individualistic movement has affected much of modern American Christian culture. You hear many people say that they know that Christianity is true merely because of a feeling in their heart, as if an objective fact in history is of no importance. They even asked Jesus into their heart! What they typically fail to realize is that much of their terminology is never used in the Bible.
The Objective Nature of Christian Faith
The Apostle Paul actually defines the gospel explicitly in I Corinthians 15. That seems like a good place to look at what the Christian message is all about and how we should view it. Paul says that this message of “first importance” is that “by which you are saved” (15:2). It goes like this: “That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (15:3-5). He then goes on to describe a variety of Jesus’s appearances to others before His ascension. He also does not forget to mention that if this external historical message is not true, then “your faith is in vain” (15:14). For good measure, he once again states that no matter what we feel inside or how great a personal experience we’ve had, if Christ has not been raised, “your faith is worthless” (15:17).
The same factors that lead Christians to describe the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives in very subjective terms are the same factors that cause many Christians to “defend the faith” by talking about a life-changing personal testimony more than declaring a historic fact of God’s redemptive act for His entire church. The American Church has a lot of work to do in moving away from this cultural and worldly expressive individualism and moving towards a more biblically faithful corporate and historically rooted faith.
The Work of the Spirit
Michael Horton puts the Holy Spirit’s work like this:
“The good news is that we are in the age of the Spirit. The age of the Spirit is the age of witnessing to what Christ has done. The Spirit does not lead us out of the age of the Son; rather, it is the age of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one age. As this present evil age is failing and fading, the age to come is breaking in upon us. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to actually raise us from the dead through the preaching of Christ!… The Holy Spirit isn’t on some freelance mission to tell you secret things in your heart of hearts, but rather to awaken you to the wonder and the splendor of what God the Father has done in God the Son, not only from all entirety, but in history when God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. That’s the Good News!”
Amen. No matter what kind of feeling or emotion we have during a praise song, no matter how much we know it deep down in our heart, if the historical work of Jesus Christ is not consistently being proclaimed, we have very little biblical reason to believe that the Holy Spirit is at work. May the Holy Spirit fill our hearts and minds with hope, joy, peace, confidence, knowledge and faith as He guides us to look outside ourselves and towards Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father.
Notes
1. Adriel Sanchez, Kim Riddlebarger, Michael Horton, and Rod Rosenbladt, “Christianity and Liberalism,” The White Horse Inn, October 15, 2017 https://www.whitehorseinn.org/show/christianity-liberalism/ (35:37)
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash
Further Reading
Moore Thinking 
“No matter what kind of feeling or emotion you have during a praise song, no matter how much you know it down deep in your heart, if the historical work of Jesus Christ is not consistently being proclaimed we have very little Biblical reason to believe that the Holy Spirit is at work.” This is an excellent and timely message!
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I think a lot about the Holy Spirit. I’ve heard it said that the Holy Spirit is the most neglected Person of the Trinity. This might be long, so bear with me. I kind of hesitated about sharing this because I’ve been met with distain the couple times I did share it with anyone. A few years ago I (at night) I was somewhere between sleep and being awake. I don’t know how to describe it. I was in bed and I felt a buzzing static type energy( maybe not the best word but all I have) hovering above me. Then I saw a white dove with olive branch in His mouth. I knew it was the Holy Spirit. He( Holy Spirit in dove form) started coming down and at that moment, I felt the top half of my body come up off the bed (like how someone rises up after they’ve been baptized in river). I felt like I was coming up through water. I could see light and the Holy Spirit in dove form and I became one. I was totally consumed, as one with the Holy Spirit. The amazing thing is , I always sleep on my side. When I came up as though out of water , I would’ve had to have been on my back . Only I wasn’t. I never knew that the Holy Spirit would come upon a person like that these days. I went looking for answers in the bible. I talked to a couple people , but got treated rather badly for sharing what happened. I don’t hold to any particular denomination. I’m just a follower of Christ. My great grandfather ( on my mom’s mother’s side) was a Pentecostal minister. I never knew him as he passed on long before I was born. I know Pentecostal’s tend to really value experiences. I don’t agree with all their beliefs. My mom’s father was raised as a Dunkard Brethren (they are a “plain” kind of people, along lines of Amish /Mennonite). Not sure exactly how that worked out- a pentecostal preachers daughter ending up with a Dunkard Brethren. Lol. Anyway, I prayed a lot and asked the Lord about what happened to me. The experience with the Holy Spirit. This had happened a few weeks before Easter that year. After much praying ….I believe that He was empowering me for ministry. I got really bold in sharing the gospel . It seemed like my knowledge of biblical things increased as well. I seemed to have a lot better understanding of a lot of things. I felt very comforted and empowered by the experience. I know there are christians who believe that the Holy Spirit still comes upon believers today, and ones who don’t believe that He does. I read a lot of stuff that Matt Slick posts. I don’t always agree with him on everything. He did have a post about the Holy Spirit and said in the footnotes how he had an experience of the Holy Spirit coming upon him. Of course he said we should always go by God’s word . I found it interesting (and comforting) to know that he had an experience with the Holy Spirit. Made me feel not so alone. It meant a lot to me. I definitely felt strengthened by my experience with the Holy Spirit. There was nothing said. I just knew it was Him. I don’t sit around trying to conjure anything up. It just happened and I’m still grateful for the experience. It was a very profound moment in my walk with Christ. Maybe you’re praying right now that the Holy Spirit would move me not to talk so much. Lol. Thanks for listening!!!
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I appreciate your willingness to share Carrie. That is a really interesting experience. Personally I’ve never had anything like that happen, so it wouldn’t be honest of me to say I can easily relate to it. But, I do still believe that God works in this world and with his people. There are so many times God gives visions and dreams and just shows up to people in Scripture that it’s hard for me to believe that He just all of a sudden stopped. I’ve mostly been in a denominations that hold to that view (that He did stop), but it’s not one I share with them. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that it’s just really important to ensure that whatever experience we have it’s not contradicting the Word of God. That’s our absolutely our baseline, but I’m personally not convinced it is the only way in which God can work in the lives of believers.
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I totally get your point about declaring what Jesus did for us. Without preaching His death , burial and bodily resurrection….. personal experience means nothing . Rest assured ,…I proclaim it loudly. Jesus Christ is my all. I will always stand on the rock of my salvation.
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I believe you get the Holy Spirit when you confess Jesus as Lord and Savior . I believe He dwells within me. Like I said, other experiences with the Holy Spirit have happened to people. I’ve read arguments on both sides. Im trusting in Him. I can’t discount my experience either. Hope that makes sense.
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I appreciate the gentleness of your response Chandler . Thankyou. I still believe God is working today as well. I know what you mean. I’ve seen so many instances in the bible . I don’t believe He’s stopped either. A lot of christians (at least the ones I’ve dealt with) hold to it being unbiblical for Christians to experience things like I did. All I know is that He hears me and He answers me . I’ve said that to other christians and they seem taken aback that I could say something so bold. Well , it’s like this ….. In the bible, what does it say? Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD. Jesus’ sheep know Him. They know His voice. Tell this mountain to move in faith. We can do what as christians? Go boldly before the throne. Seek and Ye shall find. I’ll send you a comforter …..who’s the comforter ? The Holy Spirit. I could go on and on . Really I can ….so I will lol. Even if we go back to Abraham…..Abraham’s faith was what ? Credited as righteousness. God has always wanted what? Relationship with His people. How do you have a relationship with God? By Faith. Even back before Christ (God incarnate) came in human form …..He still existed . He was there from the beginning because He is God. Sin corrupted and what happened? Lost intimacy , lost relationship with God. We could never be in His Holy perfect presence . We stood condemned. Holy perfect God cane to earth in meekness and humility to rescue His people. What does it say in the bible? We must believe. We must have faith. Confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. To believe we must have faith. It’s hard to have a relationship with someone you don’t believe in. Someone you don’t have faith in. It all goes back to that. Faith is trust. It’s hope. It’s believing that He is Who He says He is. It’s knowing that He is the God who saves and rescues His people. A little louder for the ones in back.. … I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ!!!!! Always be ready with an answer as to why you believe what you do. Well there it is. (BIG SMILE).
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I like how your faith is clearly a living faith! I think that is very important in the life of a believer and it is certainly what we see in the Scriptures.
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Thanks Chandler. Definitely Christ wants us to live out our faith. For I am crucified with Christ, yet I live. Not I but Christ who lives within me. He’s alive, I’m alive. My faith should be alive as well. My mouth will never die LMBO
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