Pneumotology
What we believe concerning the Holy Spirit
01
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the divine third Person of the Trinity. He is eternal and coequal with the Father and the Son (Acts 5:3-4; cp. Isa. 6:8-9 with Acts 28:25-26; cp Jer. 31:31-34 with Heb. 10:15-17). The Holy Spirit is a Person (John 16:7-8) possessing intellect (I Cor. 2:10-13), emotions (Eph. 4:30), and will (I Cor. 12:11).
02
We believe that the Holy Spirit is coequal with the Father and the Son (Mt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14; I Cor. 12:4-6), eternal (Heb. 9:14), omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10), omniscient (Isa. 40:13-14), omnipotent (I Cor. 12:11), and the truth (John 16:13).
03
We believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the will of the Trinity in the world. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Gen. 1:2), the incarnation (Mt. 1:18), the writing of the Bible (II Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).
04
We believe that the work of the Holy Spirit began in this age at Pentecost when He came from the Father, as promised by Christ (John 14:16-17, 15:26), to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ which is His church (I Cor. 12:13). The broad scope of His activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-8); baptizing all believers into the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13), and adopting (Rom. 8:15), instructing (I Cor. 2:12), empowering (Acts 1:8-9; I Thess. 1:5), and enabling believers to produce fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).
05
We believe that every believer possesses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation on, and it is the duty of all believers to be filled (controlled) by the Spirit of God (John 16:13; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 5:18; I John 2:20, 27).
06
We believe that the Holy Spirit alone sovereignly bestows spiritual gifts to the church, not to draw attention to Himself by ostentatious displays, but to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:13-14) and implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the faith (Acts 1:8; I Cor. 12:4-11; II Cor. 3:18).
07
We believe that speaking in tongues (unlearned languages) and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the Bible was completed and the church was well-established (I Cor. 12:4-11; II Cor. 12:12; I Cor. 13:8-12: Heb. 2:1-4).