To be a Christian is to know God as Father, Son, and Spirit. This is the distinct and unique name by which we know God. The risen Christ commands his church, "Go into all the world and make disciples, teaching and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:18-20). The doctrine of the Trinity is not meant to be "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" with no practical value other than turning our brain into mush. It is not just an empty dogma meant to baffle us.

The Christian name of God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is the name that best describes our experience of God's saving work. In this holy and sacred name - one God revealed in three persons who dwell together in eternal communion - we find our identity, our lives, our redemption. This is what it means to be "baptized" into the triune name.

Tragically, many of us work off a truncated version of the gospel message. The gospel is not simply about God sending the Son to reveal the Father's love. It is also about the Father and the Son sending the Holy Spirit to bind us to God. We easily limit our focus on the fact that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son" to reveal the Father's heart to us. Far too often, we fail to also recognize that God so loved the world that he "sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" (Galatians 4:6).

As Irenaeus, the church's first systematic theologian, taught in the second century, the Son and the Spirit are the "two arms" of the God, sent to draw us into the embrace of the Father. The Father comes to us through the Son and in the Spirit. Consequently, we come to the Father in the Spirit and through the Son. The Spirit binds us to the Son and the Father, by allowing us to share in their mutual love. Jesus taught, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain (or abide) in my love." We abide in God's love through the bond of the Spirit.

Our experience of God is deeply and profoundly Trinitarian. We walk in the love of God as revealed in the Son who told us, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." We walk in the way of Christ, who reveals God's glory and obeys the Father's will. We walk in the Spirit, who transforms us into the likeness of the Son, to the glory of God the Father.

The challenge of our entire baptized lives is to continually discover - and rediscover - what it means to find ourselves in the eternal embrace of the Triune God.       

Images of the Spirit

It is through the Spirit that God is most personally encountered. The Spirit brings Jesus close by manifesting the personal presence and power of Christ to us. It is through the Spirit that we declare "Jesus is Lord" - even more, that we are transformed so that this confession becomes a practical reality in our daily lives, both personally and corporately. Consequently, the Spirit brings us close to the Father, causing us to say, "Abba, Father."

The Spirit transforms us - sanctifies and glorifies us - from deep within and from without.

The chief metaphor used to describe the Spirit is that of wind. Both ruach in the Old Testament and pneuma in the New Testament mean "breath or wind." Breath is a close and intimate image. It draws our attention to life within. If there is no breath there is no life. Breathing is such a part of life, we rarely focus on its necessity until we have to stop and catch our breath. Every time we speak we release our breath out into the world. (Hold your hand to your mouth as you speak, if you need reminding of how intimately connected these two are. This also reminds us of how important it is that we connect the ideas of "word" and "Spirit/breath." We cannot speak without breath. Scripture teaches that the words are "Spirit-breathed" and thus create and sustain life.)

An old hymn communicates our desire to know God's power within: "Breathe on me, breath of God. Fill me with life anew." Just as God breathed the Spirit into clay, giving life to Adam, now God breathes the Spirit into us through the new Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The image of wind is not so intimate and personal. Unlike breath which comes from within, wind comes from without. We all have experienced either firsthand or through video, the incredible power that strong winds can have. Though invisible, the wind is a powerful force that moves us. Jesus taught, "Just as the wind moves where it will and we do not see it, so the Spirit mysteriously moves among us and in us."

Through the Spirit, God is experienced in both ways: as a gentle breath moving deeply within our being and as a strong wind catching us up into its path, carrying us along. We experience the Spirit as a gentle transforming force within us and a guiding force outside of us. We are guided by the Spirit's gentle voice and we are moved like a sailboat in the sea by the Spirit's blowing power.  

These images of the Spirit lack one important dimension: The Spirit is not merely a power or force, but a person. The Spirit is not an "it" but rather, a he or she that fills us and leads us in the way of Christ. The Spirit is our personal bond to a personal God - God with us and in us. The sacred scriptures are clear in this regard. For example, the Spirit can be blasphemed (Mark 3:29; 12:32). It is impossible to blaspheme an inanimate power or force. Also, by definition, blasphemy is something one does against God, thus underscoring the fact that the Spirit is God. There are plenty of other personal references to the Spirit. For example: The Spirit cries out within us (Galatians 4:6), leads us in God's ways (Galatians 5:18; Romans 8:14), bears witness with our spirits (Romans 8:16), intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27), helps us in our weaknesses (Romans 8:26). The Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), gives gifts according to his will (1 Corinthians 12:11), and guides us into the truth (John 16:13).

Some theologians have spoken of the Spirit as the "shy" of "anonymous" person of the Trinity. The reason: The Spirit does not draw attention to himself, but to the Son and the Father. The Spirit is not self-referring, but Christ-referring. The Spirit's work leads us to confess "Jesus is Lord" and to take comfort in God as our Father, "Abba, Father." Just as the Son came in the name of the Father to make the Father known, so the Spirit does not come in his own name but in the name of the Son, to bear witness to the Son. The Spirit effectively says to us: "Listen to Jesus! Look to Jesus! Learn of Jesus!"

There is a certain self-deferential humility within the life of God that is evidenced by all three persons of the Trinity. "The divine Persons do not themselves assert themselves, but one bears witness to another... The Holy Spirit, as Person, remains unmanifested, hidden, concealing Himself in His very appearing."[1] Working in harmony, Father, Son and Spirit draw us into the humble, self-giving, mutual love of God.

Through the Son and in the Spirit we are drawn into the divine family. Through the Son, God shares in our humanity that we might share in God's holiness, Spirit-bearers in the world. Our humanity is sanctified by the Son in order that we might be a dwelling-place of God's Spirit. Through the Spirit, God draws as close as possible, entering into our very lives, binding us to the Son and the Father. It is in Christ and in the Spirit that we experience the intimate closeness of God. As Father, God is for us. As Son, God is with us. As Spirit, God is in us. "This produces a feeling of kinship, of connectedness, of oneness, of sharing, of participating in the divine love that unites all things."[2] We are eternally bound to God in Christ through the Spirit - bound by love eternal.

How Then Do We Live?

How then do we know when the Spirit is guiding us? By reflecting upon what it is that the Spirit seeks to produce in our lives. In the words of Paul, by evaluating whether we are expressing "the works of the flesh" or whether we are experiencing "the fruit of the Spirit." The works of the flesh are divisive, inhuman, and selfish.

We must recognize that there are other "spirits" at work around us and within us - "spirits" at odds with the way of God.

The Holy Spirit, in other words, is not the only spirit at work in and among us. There are also other spirits: our own individual spirits, the spirit of the times, the spirit of this or that particular interest group. There are also the spirits of envy, revenge, malice, greed, lust for power, and other evil spirits (at work in Christians inside the church as well as in non-Christians outside the church!).[3]

The fruit of the Spirit consists of qualities that unite us to others relationally. The fruit of the Spirit highlights the qualities that build others up rather than tear them down. The fruit of the Spirit sustains and creates meaningful and lasting relationships.

The question we must constantly ask ourselves as we seek to "walk in the Spirit" - or "keep in step with the Spirit" - is this: Are we manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in our daily lives? In other words: Can someone coming into our door to visit for the first time recognize these traits in us?

• Love: Do we love each other, and do we love those who are different from us? Do we seek the well-being of others? Do we love and welcome visitors, no matter who they are? Do we put their comfort above our own?
• Joy: Do we know the deep, substantial, and lasting joy of the Spirit - endures when pleasure subsides? Do we look joyous to outsiders?
• Peace: Is there peace between us, and peace within us? Do we make every effort to live at peace with others? Knowing quiet, rest, and harmony in the midst of turmoil?
• Patience: How many of us are willing to let others (and ourselves) grow at their own pace? Do we bear with the frailties, mistakes, oddities of others?
• Kindness: Do we show compassion and generosity to others and ourselves?
• Generosity:  Do we seek to do what's right, just, and true regardless of the sacrifice and suffering involved in doing so? Do we believe that doing good is more important than our happiness, prosperity, and popularity?
• Faithfulness: Is our steadfastness to Christ's church based upon an enduring loyalty that is true to God, no matter how we feel about the pastor, our denomination, the women's group, the organist, or any other facet of our organization?  
• Gentleness: Are we gentle and even-tempered with each other, and with ourselves? Is our strength under control for others - like a tame lion or like a parent holding a newborn?
• Self-Control: Do we practice the discipline of managing our desires and controlling our passions, rather than indulging ourselves at our own expense and others?

These qualities are rather abstract. But they are embodied in Jesus. The truth behind Paul's list is that he is painting a portrait of Jesus.

Perhaps the best way to evaluate whether we are keeping step with God's Spirit is by comparing our lives to Jesus. Unlike anyone else before him or after him, Jesus is the perfect example of what it means to be filled with God's Spirit.

The Gospels teach us to think of him also as a human being who at every point in his life, in everything he said and did, was filled, led, inspired, and empowered by God's Holy Spirit. Look at Jesus, they tell us, if you want to know what it means to have the Holy Spirit dwell within you. He is our prime example of what it means to be a Spirit-filled person.[4]

What kind of life is that? It is not the kind of life people in his time (as in our time?) expected of a "spiritual" person. Rather, it was the life of a person who went to parties, ate and drank, had a good time. He talked more about what people did with their money than about their sexual purity and was as interested in the health of their bodies as in their souls. Jesus was the friend and companion not just of the morally pure and pious but of immoral, unbelieving sinners. He defended the cause of those who were rejected and despised by polite society and the religious and political establishment. He believed that human need takes precedence over strict conformity to the law. He came to serve other people, not to assert his moral and religious superiority over them. He loved his enemies and did good to those who hated him. He trusted and served the God he called Father even when it did not pay off in personal success and happiness, even when it meant giving up his own life for unworthy, no-good sinners. His life was the life of one who prayed even when everything he had worked and hoped for was denied him and he felt forsaken by God. That is the kind of life that is the result of God's Holy Spirit coming to dwell in a person.[5]

Conclusion

Through the Spirit, God is still speaking. And yet, the Spirit speaks by pointing us to Jesus through the Spirit-breathed words of sacred scripture. We can evaluate how well we hear God's voice and how accurately we are following God's Spirit by considering how our lives align with the ministry, model, and message of Jesus. The Spirit is certainly leading us into new territory, but it is territory first traveled by the author of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Salvation is the work of the triune God: Father, Son, and Spirit. God is known to us by the divine name. It is in this name that we are baptized. It is in this name we find eternal life - the divine life shared by the tri-personal God. We are loved by the Father. We are being conformed to the Son. We are being transformed by the Spirit.

The challenge of our entire lives is to continually discover - and rediscover - what it means to find ourselves in the eternal embrace of the Triune God.

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© Richard J. Vincent, 2009