(An audio recording of the sermon will be uploaded here after the Sunday service.)
Today’s message is about the Holy Spirit. Have you ever wondered things like, “Is the Holy Spirit actually a person or more like a spiritual force? Can we pray to the Holy Spirit? Should we worship him, along with God the Father and God the Son?”
My sermon today is Part 5 in a series about the Nicene Creed and the Trinity. The Nicene Creed, first written in AD 325, contained only one sentence about the Holy Spirit. It simply said “We believe in the Holy Spirit,” and that was all.
It was only half a century later that the Nicene Creed was revised and became the current version we know. That revision happened because of a debate during the 4th century AD about whether the Holy Spirit is God or not. Before we go into that story, let’s pray and then recite the Nicene Creed together.
[Pray and read Nicene Creed]The Nicene Creed was revised in AD 381
Around AD 350, some people claimed that the Holy Spirit was not God but one of his creations. In response Athanasius, one of the great Church Fathers, argued using Scripture that the Holy Spirit must be God because he does things only God can do.
But this issue continued brewing. A group appeared from Macedonia, north of Greece, teaching that the Holy Spirit was just a kind of super-angel and lower in hierarchy than God the Father and the Son. Well-known Church Fathers, St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzus, debated with the Macedonians to show that the Holy Spirit is equally divine.
Finally, at the Council of Constantinople of AD 381, a group of 150 bishops met to confirm the beliefs of the Nicene Creed. After the council, the Nicene Creed was revised to include more statements about the Holy Spirit, which we just recited.
The reason I’ve been sharing stories like this with you is because knowing the history of our faith can help us avoid repeating old mistakes. In my last sermon, I talked about why theology matters; for what we believe about God influences how we behave. History also matters. When we’re not aware of church history, we may be more vulnerable to misunderstanding the Bible and repeating theological errors from the past.
Now, let’s look closely at what the Nicene Creed says about the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
Who is the Holy Spirit? What is his relationship with the Father and Son? And finally, what is the Holy Spirit’s message to us?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Firstly, who is the Holy Spirit? Let’s look at his name from Scripture, which has the words “holy” and “spirit”. After that, let’s look at what the Creed calls him: “the Lord” and “the giver of life.”
We’ll start with the word “spirit.” The word in Scripture for “spirit” has a wide range of meanings in the original Hebrew and Greek. It can mean wind, breath, or the life-giving power that animates living beings. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection, John 20:22 says he “breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”. It is as if the Holy Spirit is the breath of God himself, God’s own life being shared with people. Therefore, the word “spirit” is a suitable translation for someone who is invisible, who lives within believers, and who shares with us the life of God.
Next, the word “holy.” Why is the Holy Spirit in particular called “holy”? Perhaps the Bible can give us a clue. Scripture often links the Holy Spirit with God’s work of sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming holy, set apart for God, or set free from sin. Paul writes in Romans 15:16, “He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”1 Corinthians 12:3: “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”Furthermore, Paul teaches that even having faith is itself a work of the Spirit. In other words, the Holy Spirit changes our hearts.
Next, the Nicene Creed calls him “the Lord, the giver of life.” Where can we find these ideas in Scripture? One example is 2 Corinthians 3:6, which says that the law kills, “but the Spirit gives life”. Also John 6:63: “The Spirit gives life.” And Romans 8:11: “. . . if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” To summarize, the Holy Spirit brings life, not in a metaphorical or spiritual sense but even physical life.
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is Lord. This is based on Scripture, such as 2 Corinthians 3:17, where Paul writes, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” In this context, the word “Lord” carries its full weight as the divine name of the God of Israel.
As I mentioned earlier, Athanasius argued that the Spirit must be God because the Spirit does what only God can do. The Spirit gives us life and sanctifies us. Only God can give what belongs to God. As Athanasius put it, “If the Spirit makes us holy, then there can be no doubt that his nature is of God.”
So, what does all this information mean for our daily lives as Christians?
Firstly, if the Holy Spirit is the Lord then, as the Nicene Creed says rightly, the Spirit “is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son.” In other words, it is not wrong to worship the Holy Spirit. Worship belongs to God alone, after all. The earliest Christians placed the Holy Spirit alongside the Father and Son. For example, Paul’s prayer of praise and blessing in 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”.
Secondly, if the Holy Spirit is the Lord, we can address him in prayer. We can ask him for help. Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” We can ask him to help us when we are tempted. Or pray he will keep changing us to become more like our Father in heaven. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” And when we don’t know the right words to pray, he still understands our needs and intercedes for us.
Relationship with the Father and Son
Moving on, our next question is, “What exactly is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Father and Son?”
The New Testament gives us a rich picture of who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does, but it says much less about his relationship to the Father and Son. This was exactly the question that became urgent in the 4th century. The Macedonian group I mentioned earlier offered a straightforward answer. They said the Spirit was a creature made by God. The Nicene Creed responded by stating that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
This language about “proceeding” is drawn directly from Jesus’ own words. In John 15:26: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” In John 14:26, Jesus says something similar, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
To summarize, the Spirit comes from the Father, through the Son.
The Bible does not explain how the Spirit “proceeding” from the Father is different from the Son being “begotten” by the Father. But since the terms used for Spirit and Son are different—“proceeding” for the Spirit and “begotten” for the Son—it implies that the Spirit, Son, and Father are not identical persons. Regardless, the early Church Fathers recommend that we don’t speculate too far beyond what is revealed in Scripture. Sometimes a mystery will remain a mystery.
Rather than try to figure it out with so little information, it’s best that we focus on what the Scripture does tell us about the Spirit.
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit plays a role in bringing us into relationship with the Trinity. God adopts us as his children through the Spirit. For example, Romans 8 verses 15 and 16: “. . . the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Also, Galatians 4:6: “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”
The very Spirit of God the Father and his Son comes into us and draws us in union with them. Not only do we become his children but he also lives inside us. The Holy Spirit brings the living presence of God within us. Someday we will have to say goodbye to our earthly parents or to the person who was like a father or mother to us. When that happens, we might feel that a strong pillar in our lives has disappeared; the person who cared for us all these years is gone. Our Father in heaven, however, will never leave us; his presence is constantly with us through the Holy Spirit. We will never be alone.
What is the Holy Spirit’s message to us?
Let me end this sermon with one last question: What is the Holy Spirit’s message to us?
The Nicene Creed tells us that the Holy Spirit “has spoken through the prophets.” These prophets include the ones in the Old Testament, such as Ezekiel who said in Ezekiel 11:5 “And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, ‘Say, Thus says the Lord’”. Such prophets were given the mission of speaking God’s very own words.
But the Spirit did not only speak through the prophets of long ago or only to the people of Israel. He continues to speak to the churches. Revelation 2:7 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
In addition, he continues to speak through believers, even if they are not called prophets. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 10:19-20, “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
Furthermore, the Spirit speaks the message he receives from the Father and Son, for the purpose of God’s glory. In John 16:13-14, Jesus says, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
The Holy Spirit does not point to himself but to Christ. His message is primarily a message about Christ. Inspired by the Spirit, the old prophets announced the coming of the Messiah. And after the Messiah came, his followers were led by the Spirit told the world about him. It’s as Jesus said in John 15:26-27, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify . . .”
I know it’s not easy to testify about Jesus. We can ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom how to answer questions about our faith when people ask. We can also pray to know when we should just listen instead of speaking. And let’s pray that our attitude and actions—not just our words—will show the love and truth of Jesus.
One last thing before I end. Our situation as Christians today is different from the 4th century. We may not meet people like the Macedonians who say the Holy Spirit is a kind of super-angel. But we often hear people say, “The Holy Spirit told me this,” or “God said that to me.” When that happens, we should ask ourselves: Does this align with Scripture? And does it fit with what the Church has believed across the centuries? If not, then we should be cautious. The Holy Spirit does not contradict himself. The Spirit who speaks today is the same Spirit who spoke through the prophets, the apostles, as well as the Church throughout history.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force like electricity or just one of God’s servants. He speaks. He is God Himself. The Spirit gives us life and transforms us towards God’s character. He brings us into close relationship with the Father and Son. And He wants to speak through our lives about Jesus to people around us. He will help us to do so.
Let’s pray. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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