Holy Spirit

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term seongnyeong (聖靈) means "holy spirit." Christianity confesses the Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, as one person (a distinct personal subject) of the triune God, the Trinity. The major Protestant denominations understand the Holy Spirit not as an impersonal force but as God who is personal. Seongsin (聖神), an older Korean term with the same meaning, appeared in earlier Bible translations and confessional documents.

Biblical and Historical Background

In the Old Testament, Genesis 1:2 records that "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Joel 2:28 conveys God's promise to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. In the New Testament, Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as the "Comforter" (one who stands alongside to help; John 14:16). Acts 2 records the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, which the church commemorates as Pentecost Sunday. Paul taught about the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). The Nicene Creed, as expanded at the Council of Constantinople in 381, confesses the Holy Spirit as "the Lord and Giver of life," formally affirming the Spirit's divinity.

Practice in the Korean Church

The Korean church remembers the Great Pyongyang Revival of 1907 as a work of the Holy Spirit. The revival gave rise to an enduring tradition that emphasizes repentance and prayer. Today, prayer for the presence of the Holy Spirit remains widespread during revival meetings and times of tongseong gido (praying aloud together).

Denominations differ in how they understand the experience of the Holy Spirit.

• The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterian churches, holds that baptism with the Holy Spirit occurs together with regeneration (the new birth). It understands the work of the Spirit to be manifested in sanctification, by which believers are made holy through the Word and the sacraments. Some within this tradition hold that gifts such as tongues and prophecy ceased after the apostolic age; the debate over this question is treated in Cessationism and Continuationism.
• Pentecostal denominations, including Full Gospel churches, regard baptism with the Holy Spirit as a distinct experience subsequent to conversion. Many understand speaking in tongues as its initial evidence.
• The Holiness Church has traditionally linked baptism with the Holy Spirit to the experience of holiness (entire sanctification) that follows regeneration.
• Methodism, following Wesleyan theology, emphasizes that the Holy Spirit gives assurance of salvation and leads believers into sanctification.
• Baptists place great weight on the autonomy of the local church, so understandings of spiritual gifts vary from congregation to congregation.