Work of the Holy Spirit

Definition and Meaning

The work of the Holy Spirit is a comprehensive term for all that the Holy Spirit, one person of the triune God, does. Protestant theology generally explains this work under the following headings:

• Creating and preserving the world
• The inspiration of Scripture, that is, causing Scripture to be written under the moving of God
• Regeneration, by which people are born anew, and leading people to faith and repentance
• Sanctification, by which believers are made holy
• Building up the church by granting it spiritual gifts

It is a central theme of pneumatology, the doctrine concerned with who the Holy Spirit is.

Biblical and Historical Background

In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2) and came upon judges and prophets. Joel prophesied a day when the Spirit would be poured out "upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28). In the New Testament, Jesus promised the Spirit as the "Comforter" (John 14:16), that is, one who stands alongside to help, and the church began after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Paul taught about the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) and the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4–11).

The Nicene Creed, which received its settled form through the Council of Constantinople in 381, confesses the Holy Spirit as "the Lord and Giver of life." After the Reformation, John Calvin emphasized that the Holy Spirit applies the salvation of Christ to believers. John Wesley emphasized the witness of the Spirit and holiness. Pentecostalism, which arose from the Azusa Street Revival in the early twentieth century, gave prominence to Spirit baptism and to experiences of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues.

Practice in Korean Churches

Among Korean Protestant denominations, the work of the Holy Spirit is understood with differing emphases:

• Presbyterian churches (in the Reformed tradition) explain the work of the Holy Spirit chiefly in connection with illumination, by which the Spirit enables believers to understand the Word, as well as with regeneration and sanctification. Many hold that baptism in the Holy Spirit is received by all believers at conversion. Regarding gifts such as tongues, both cessationism, which holds that such gifts ceased with the apostolic age, and continuationism, which holds that they continue today, are represented (see cessationism and continuationism).
• Methodist and Holiness churches, following the Wesleyan tradition, emphasize holiness wrought by the Holy Spirit. The Holiness Church proclaims regeneration, holiness, divine healing, and the Second Coming as the Fourfold Gospel.
• Pentecostal denominations, including the Full Gospel churches, regard Spirit baptism as an experience received separately after regeneration and tend to understand speaking in tongues as its initial evidence.

Across denominational lines, Korean Protestants remember the Great Pyongyang Revival as a work of the Holy Spirit. Prayer for the fullness of the Holy Spirit is widely practiced at revival meetings, in unison spoken prayer (tongsung gido), and at Friday prayer meetings, and many sermons on the work of the Holy Spirit are preached on Pentecost Sunday.