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but also a distinctive method of working; and therefore we should distinguish between the
work of Christ in meriting salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit in applying it. Christ met the
demands of divine justice and merited all the blessings of salvation. But His work is not yet
finished. He continues it in heaven, in order to put those for whom He laid down His life in
possession of all that He has merited for them. Even the work of application is a work of Christ,
but a work which He accomplishes through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Though this work
stands out in the economy of redemption as the work of the Holy Spirit, it cannot for a moment
be separated from the work of Christ. It is rooted in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and
carries this to completion, and that not without the co-operation of the subjects of redemption.
Christ Himself points out the close connection when He says: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from Himself; but
what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak: and He shall declare unto you the things
that are to come. He shall glorify me, for He shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.”
John 16:13,14.
B. GENERAL AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Scripture clearly shows that not all the operations of the Holy Spirit are part and parcel of the
saving work of Jesus Christ. Just as the Son of God is not only the Mediator of redemption, but
also the Mediator of creation, so the Holy Spirit, as represented in Scripture, is operative, not
only in the work of redemption, but also in the work of creation. Naturally, Soteriology is
concerned with His redemptive work only, but for its proper understanding it is highly desirable
to take some account of His more general operations.
1. THE GENERAL OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
It is a well known fact that the trinitarian
distinctions are not as clearly revealed in the Old Testament as in the New. The term “Spirit of
God,” as it is employed in the Old Testament, does not always denote a person, and even in
cases in which the personal idea is clearly present, does not always specifically point to the
third person of the Holy Trinity. It is sometimes used figuratively to denote the breath of God,
Job 32:8; Ps. 33:6, and in some instances is simply a synonym for “God,” Ps. 139:7,8; Isa. 40:13.
It serves very commonly to designate the power of life, the principle that causes the creatures
to live, and that is in a unique way peculiar to God. The spirit dwelling in the creatures, and on
which their very existence depends, is from God and binds them to God, Job 32:8; 33:4;
34:14,15; Ps. 104;29; Isa. 42:5. God is called the “God (or, “Father”) of the spirits of all flesh,”
Num. 16:22; 27:16; Heb. 12:9. In some of these cases it is quite evident that the Spirit of God is
not a mere power but a person. The very first passage in which the Spirit is mentioned, Gen.
1:2, already calls attention to this life-giving function, and this is particularized in connection
with the creation of man, Gen. 2:7. The Spirit of God generates life and carries the creative