The final subarticle of Article II of the Baptist Faith & Message deals with the last member of the eternal Godhead, the Holy Spirit:
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
I am not afraid to admit it, and I am sure that my past statements have revealed this, but I am a big fan of the Holy Spirit. Now, I know that sounds weird, and truly I am a big fan of the whole Trinity, it’s just that I feel like the Holy Spirit is oft neglected and we as Southern Baptists would do well to pay attention to just what it says about him in Scripture. As the BF&M states, the Scriptures were inspired by the Spirit, conviction is administered by the Spirit, and regeneration is “wrought by the … Spirit” (this actually is quoted from Article IV). It is the indwelling of the Spirit which endows believers with and empowers them to execute spiritual gifts. This indwelling occurs at the moment of regeneration and perseveres until our final reconciliation with God.
One part that I would like to address is near the end when the BF&M states that “[the Holy Spirit] seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ.” This most definitely comes from the the passage in Ephesians 1.13-14. As you may have seen here before, this issue of assurance is a big deal for me, and what we have here in the BF&M is a statement which I feel I can be fully on-board with.
This does then however make me wonder about how a person who espouses a Free Grace theology could stand under this confession? Here is how I see it: the one phrase that was added to the Holy Spirit subarticle in the 2000 that was not in the 1963 is where it says, “At the moment of regeneration [the Spirit] baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ.” This would then be the baptism of the Holy Spirit referred to by Christ in Acts 1.5, a process in which the Holy Spirit comes down to take residence inside the believer. This would also allow for a theologian who holds to decisional regeneration to say that at the moment of decision then regeneration is effected and from that point the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer’s heart. Thus, when they speak of the presence of the Spirit as being “the guarantee” of salvation they have no need to require the Spirit “bear[ing] witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8.16) but instead are able to fall back upon their claim that the Holy Spirit is only around because the person believed in the first place. Therefore, it really is just the persons knowledge of trusting in Christ which is their assurance, not some subjective spiritual experience. Coming at it this way it is no wonder the Spirit is so impotent in many baptist congregations.
No, I am certainly in favor of a much more sovereign Holy Spirit. How is God sovereign and yet the Spirit constrained by human decision? Was it not Jesus who said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3.8)?
