Christ Confronted Error About The Holy SpiritMichael Hatcher

INTRODUCTION

Errors concerning the Holy Spirit (Ghost) are abundant. They stretch from the idea that

the Spirit is simply a force or power to modern-day miraculous ability. Yet, when studying the

Holy Spirit, people often fail to pay close attention to what Jesus taught. This should be an

obvious mistake. Prior to entering into the main passage we will consider in Christ’s confronting

errors about the Spirit, let us consider the two passages as a background for our study.

JOEL AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

Joel prophesied in the long ago:

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call (2:28-32).

While the scope of this chapter does not allow for a detailed study of this passage, it

should be noted that it is a promise of the Holy Spirit being “pour[ed] out” during the Christian

dispensation. The Spirit would be poured out upon “all flesh,” yet we understand only human

flesh is under consideration. Regarding that pouring out of the Spirit, there would be no sexual

distinctions (sons and daughters), no age distinctions (old and young), and no social distinctions

(servants and handmaids). This is fulfilled in the miraculous age of the New Testament period

when individuals received the Spirit directly from God (the apostles on the day of Pentecost of

Acts 2 and Cornelius in Acts 10) or indirectly by the laying on of the apostles’ hands. I believe it

is a mistake to parallel the pouring out of the Spirit with the baptism of the Holy Spirit that was

given to the apostles.

John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “I indeed baptize you with water unto

repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:

he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Mat. 3:11). Some have falsely assumed

that since John mentions both baptism in the Holy Spirit and baptism in fire, that all people are

included in John’s statement; instead, the full identity of those who would be baptized in the

Spirit is revealed at a later date. (This principle is observed numerous times in Scripture as

revelation is progressive in nature—consider the continual specifying of the promised Messiah in

the beginning with widely inclusive terms to limited terms: seed of woman, Abraham’s seed,

tribe of Judah, lineage of David, etc.)

Jesus limits the baptism in the Spirit to the apostles as shown by what He tells them after

giving them the Great Commission: “And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send

the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with

power from on high” (Luke 24:48-49). We learn the “promise of my Father” is the baptism in the

Spirit in the account recorded in Acts: “And, being assembled together with them, commanded

them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which,

saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with

the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (1:4-5). Thus, Jesus ties the “promise of my Father” to the

baptism in the Spirit and it was only being promised to His apostles. When they receive this

baptism, they would be receiving power: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost

is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in

Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (1:8). This is also the “power from on high”

the apostles would receive with the “promise of my Father” in Luke 24:48-49. Thus, these three

ideas (promise of the Father, receiving power, and baptism in the Spirit) all have reference to the

same thing: baptism in the Spirit. This promise made by John is seen when the apostles (and only

the apostles) were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:1-4.

CONFERENCE WITH APOSTLES

In John 14-16, Jesus calls His apostles to Him to comfort them prior to His arrest,

crucifixion, and ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. He needs for Him to

prepare them for the coming events. He promises them another Comforter upon the condition of

their love for Him: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he

shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth;

whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know

him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (14:15-17).

Later in this preparatory discussion with the apostles, Jesus delves into a greater detail

regarding this other Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Jesus states:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you (16:7-15).

The Spirit’s Work

Jesus shows them the work that the Spirit would be doing: reproving the world. Reprove

in the King James is translated convict by other translations (ASV, NKJV, ESV, etc.). It is the

Greek elenxei from elencho and is defined as “to bring a person to the point of recognizing

wrongdoing, convict, convince someone of something, point something out to someone… to

express strong disapproval of someone’s action, reprove, correct” (Arndt, Danker, and Bauer

315). Among the definitions Thayer uses is “to convict, refute, confute, generally with a

suggestion of the shame of the person convicted” (202). Thus, the work of the Spirit is to bring

the world to the point of recognizing their wrongdoing, to convict or refute everyone bringing

them to a sense of shame.

The reproving or convicting the world involves three areas: (1) sin, (2) righteousness, and

(3) judgment. Sin is a transgression of God’s law: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also

the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). Thus, the Spirit would convict the

world of transgressing God’s law. The specific sin Jesus mentions is the rejection of the Christ.

Righteousness is the state of being right or just. It is, for example, when a judge would

pronounce one “not guilty.” In relation to God, there is the pronouncement of being not guilty of

sin (because of the washing away of sins by the blood of Christ as is applied in the act of

baptism) and thus in a right relationship with God. Jesus mentions the righteousness of Christ

and that He was proved righteous by His resurrection (God was declaring Jesus to be His Son;

Acts 13:33-34; Rom. 1:4). Also by proving the righteousness of Christ, God established the guilt

of those who crucified Him. Judgment has reference to the making of a decision regarding

something. The application is generally that of condemnation. Jesus here specifies that the

“prince of this world”—Satan—is judged or condemned. By proving Christ to be God’s Son, the

Spirit condemns Satan, meaning that Satan’s dominion and power to enslave man is destroyed.

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown summarize this in their commentary by writing the following:

Thus, then, the Spirit shall bring home to men’s conscience: (1) the sense of sin, consummated in the rejection of Him who came to “take away the sin of the world”; (2) the sense of perfect relief in the righteousness of the Father’s Servant, now fetched from the earth that spurned Him to that bosom where from everlasting He had dwelt; and (3) the sense of emancipation from the fetters of Satan, whose judgment brings to men liberty to be holy, and transformation out of servants of the

devil into sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. To one class of men, however, all this will carry conviction only; they “will not come to Christ”—revealed though He be to them as the life-giving One—that they may have life. Such, abiding voluntarily under the dominion of the prince of this world, are judged in his judgment, the visible consummation of which will be at the great day. To another class, however, this blessed teaching will have another issue—translating them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.

How The Spirit Accomplishes His Work

After telling the apostles what the Spirit’s work was, He now proceeds to inform them

how the Spirit will accomplish His work. The Spirit was not going to accomplish His work by

coming to specified individuals (those God chose before the foundation of the world, as

Calvinism teaches) and working directly upon the hearts of those chosen by God to salvation.

Jesus does not say that the Spirit will accomplish His work through some vision, still small

voices, or better-felt-than-told experiences.

While Jesus had many things to tell the apostles, they were not spiritually mature enough

at that time for him to tell them. However, Jesus was promising to them the baptism in the Spirit

(as was promised by John the Baptist). The Spirit (“Spirit of truth,” Holy Spirit) is going to come

to you—the apostles (Jesus is not promising this to anyone other than the apostles). The Spirit

would do three things for the apostles: (1) guide them into all truth, (2) show them things to

come, and (3) bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had said. This last point had previously

been stated to the apostles in this conference: “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet

present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my

name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have

said unto you” (John 14:25-26).

Application

Jesus tells His apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the baptism in the Spirit.

Luke records this for us twice: “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but

tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

“And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from

Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John

truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence”

(Acts 1:4-5). “[N]ot many days” occurred about ten days later: it was the day of Pentecost and is

recorded in Acts 2.

After the selection of Matthias to be “numbered with the eleven apostles” (1:26), we

observe the Spirit coming upon them (the apostles).

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (2:1-4).

Notice that upon being baptized in (filled with) the Spirit, the apostles began to speak.

What did they speak? It was the words given to them by the Spirit. What words did the Spirit

give to them? It was the words to (1) guide them into all truth, (2) show them things to come, and

(3) bring to their remembrance all that Jesus said. For what purpose did the Spirit give them

these words? It was for the purpose of reproving or convicting the world of (1) sin, (2)

righteousness, and (3) judgment. Thus, we begin to see how the Spirit accomplishes His work.

We need to continue on through Acts 2 to get the whole picture. In verses 5-13, we have

the gathering of the multitude. However, notice what it says regarding this gathering: “Now

when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that

every man heard them speak in his own language” (2:6). The multitude heard them speak. What

were the apostles speaking? They were speaking the words given to them by the Holy Spirit. As

Peter began to respond to the Jews, he said, “Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at

Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words” (2:14). Why the need to hearken

to the words Peter was going to speak? The Spirit, through Peter and the apostles, was going to

be doing His work in reproving (convicting) the world. Consider the Spirit’s message, delivered

by Peter and recorded by Luke by inspiration of the Spirit.

After quickly dismissing the false charge of being drunk, Peter quotes Joel’s prophecy of

the Holy Spirit being poured out and informs them that the fulfillment of that prophecy was

occurring. Notice that this prophecy ends with the statement, “And it shall come to pass, that

whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (2:21). This is a statement dealing

with convicting the world of righteousness (but will be developed later in his sermon). The Spirit

guides Peter into convicting the world of the righteousness of Christ. Notice the Spirit is

accomplishing His work through the avenue of the words Peter spoke. Peter states that Jesus was

“approved of God” (2:22). God approved Jesus by the miracles that took place among them and

they knew. However, they had taken Jesus and with wicked hands crucified Him. In this, the

Spirit was accomplishing His work of convicting the world of sin.

Peter then reveals that God raised Jesus from the dead (2:24). The Spirit was doing His

work regarding Jesus in convicting the world of the righteousness of Jesus—God, by the

resurrection, was showing that Jesus was righteous. He has already laid the foundation as to how

those convicted of sin will be made righteous: by calling on the name of the Lord (2:21). He then

proceeds to show how God prophesied of that righteousness of Jesus—that God would raise up

Jesus and make Him king by sitting Him at His right hand. Peter quotes prophesies from David

and gives the proper application of them to give evidence to what he was saying. He then comes

to the conclusion, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that

same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (2:36). This summary statement

involves all the Spirit’s work in “reprove[ing] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of

judgment” (John 16:8). The Spirit reproved or convicted the world of sin by showing that they

crucified Jesus. The Spirit has reproved or convicted the world of righteousness by showing that

God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. The Spirit has reproved or convicted the world of

judgment by proving Jesus to be God’s Son; He has judged or condemned Satan.

Seeing that the Spirit is accomplishing His work, we are again impressed with how He is

accomplishing it: using words. Notice the statement, “Now when they heard this” (Acts 2:37).

The Spirit was guiding the apostles to speak (2:4) words by which He would accomplish His

work of reproving or convicting “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” He

has convicted the hearers of sin as we see them asking, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

(2:37).

In John 16, Jesus specifically applies the righteousness to Himself as He is crowned king

in going to His Father. However, as we previously pointed out, righteousness is the state of being

right or just. After having convicted them of sin, the Spirit is now going to convict them of

righteousness—how they can be righteous. He will do this by giving Peter the proper words to

inform them how to be saved: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of

you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy

Ghost” (Acts 2:38). The Spirit, through Peter’s words, informs them that if they will repent and

be baptized, they will be in a right relation with God by having their sins remitted.

The Spirit also was convicting the world of judgment in what He taught through Peter.

By proving Jesus to be God’s Son, the Spirit condemned Satan and destroyed his dominion and

power to enslave man. The Spirit has proven Jesus to be “both Lord and Christ.” Lord shows one

who has dominion and power. Satan would no longer have power and control over those who

would repent and be baptized. Romans 6 shows that in the waters of baptism, sin and its

dominion has been destroyed: “that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we

should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin…. For in that he died, he died unto sin

once… Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body… For sin shall not have dominion over

you… Being then made free from sin… But now being made free from sin” (6:6-7, 10, 12, 14,

18, 22). Sin, and thus Satan, no longer has dominion over one who is freed from his sin by being

baptized for the remission of his sins.

We continue to see the emphasis regarding the way the Spirit accomplished His work. He

wanted the people to free themselves from the dominion of sin and be saved, so “with many

other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation”

(Acts 2:40). The Spirit, by using words (many additional words), was convicting the Jews of

judgment—that Satan’s power would be destroyed in their life. He also convicts those who

refuse to come to Jesus as Lord and Christ in their being “untoward,” perverse, or crooked. We

then find that those who “received his word” (i.e., the Spirit’s word spoken through Peter) were

baptized (2:41). In that baptism, they were emancipating themselves “from the fetters of Satan,

whose judgment brings to men liberty to be holy, and transformation out of servants of the devil

into sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty” (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown).

To remain emancipated from the fetters of Satan, they continued in the apostles’ doctrine

(2:42). Doctrine simply means teaching. The apostles taught that which the Spirit was guiding

them to speak: (1) all truth, (2) all that Jesus said, and (3) things to come. Those who had obeyed

the Spirit’s message through the apostles continued in living the life the Spirit directed. The

Spirit was showing Christians how to remain in a just or righteous state with God. Satan is

constantly attempting to enslave Christians back into sin: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your

adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

The Spirit, through the apostles’ teaching, was showing Christians how to overcome Satan and,

thus, remain righteous.

CONTINUED EVIDENCE

Paul gives us added confirmation as he tells the Ephesian brethren that the Spirit would

strengthen them: “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be

strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (3:16). The Spirit was going to

strengthen the inner man of the Ephesians. While Paul mentions the fact of the Spirit’s

strengthening, this passage does not mention how He would accomplish this strengthening. In

strengthening brethren, the Spirit would be doing His work of reproving the world of

righteousness—how to be in a right relationship with God, and judgment in that the Spirit was

showing how they can continue to be emancipated from the powers of Satan.

We learn how the Spirit was going to accomplish this strengthening from two passages.

In speaking to the elders from Ephesus, Paul states, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God,

and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among

all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). They were going to be strengthened or built up by

the Word of God. We see confirmation of this when Paul is telling the Ephesians to put on the

whole armor of God and says, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). The Spirit’s instrument in accomplishing His work is the

Word of God.

As God writes to the seven churches in Asia, we find the statement, “He that hath an ear,

let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,” written to each one of them (Rev. 2:7, 11,

17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). The Spirit has a message for each congregation of the Lord’s people. His

message was dealing with His work of convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

His work was accomplished through the words He was inspiring the penman, John the apostle, to

write to the church.

CONFRONTED ERRORS

There are numerous erroneous doctrines we find regarding the Holy Spirit, His work, and

how he accomplishes His work. In a study such as this, we are limited in the detail and amount

we can discuss. However, let me briefly mention some of the errors refuted by a proper

understanding of Christ’s teaching regarding the Spirit. We immediately see that Jesus considers

the Spirit as a person who, like Himself, is God. Thus, those who believe the Spirit is just an

active force or power are shown to be false by Jesus’ teaching.

Pentecostalism of our day is rebuffed with a proper understanding of Christ’s teaching.

Pentecostalism posits that the work of the Spirit is miraculous manifestations and, specifically

today, the miracles of tongue speaking and healing. Tongue speaking today is a must for all

Pentecostals; it is the evidence of one’s salvation. Thus, without speaking in tongues (speaking

gibberish, which is not the same as Bible tongue speaking—a language of man that the person

did not know but was able to speak), a person is still in need of salvation. Additionally, to garner

greater attention, there will be “healing services” to heal a select few of mysterious diseases.

They have a misunderstanding of the work of the Spirit and how He accomplished that work.

Closely connected with Pentecostalism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They are still

claiming the baptism of the Holy Spirit today (sadly some members of the church are following

this damnable doctrine). Jesus shows that only the apostles were to receive the baptism of the

Holy Spirit.1 Spirit baptism was never intended for all Christians and has nothing to do with the

salvation of the soul. Spirit baptism was for the apostles to accomplish the work He was given to

do in convicting the world. We now have the inspired Word to accomplish the work of the Spirit

today. Since we have the inspired Word, no one today needs Holy Spirit baptism.

We also learn that the direct operation of the Spirit upon the heart of man is false

(whether Calvinism’s view of His working in conviction, conversion, and sanctification, or

Wesley’s view of His working only in the area of sanctification—a false view many brethren

hold). This comes from a misunderstanding of how the Spirit accomplishes His work. They

erroneously believe that the Spirit must work immediately or directly upon the heart of the

individual instead of using means and working indirectly. The Spirit accomplished His work by

using the means of the word: spoken during the time of the apostles and then the written Word

today.

CONCLUSION

The study of the Spirit is a vital topic today in our emotional-driven world. A correct

understanding of what Jesus taught regarding the Spirit and His work will go a long way in

correcting many of the errors regarding the Holy Spirit.

WORKS CITED:Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other

Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak

Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi

Testamenti. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1889.

ENDNOTE:1It is my opinion that only the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Some believe that Cornelius also received

Holy Spirit baptism, however all would agree that Cornelius did not receive everything the apostles received, only that he received it directly from God, as did the apostles. The 120 of Acts 1:15 did not receive it, nor do people today receive Holy Spirit baptism. The apostles were able, by the laying on of their hands, to impart the Spirit to others in fulfillment of Joel’s promise (Joel 2:28-32) of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon all flesh. This empowered those to work miracles, but that miraculous age ended with the completion of the New Testament (1 Cor. 13:8-13; Eph. 4:7-16).