The Holy Spirit Sanctifies us Dispositionally to make us as Holy as God is Holy

Whenever the Bible mentions God, Christ, and the Spirit, it is very specific and precise; these are not interchangeable terms for one person. In a similar way, whenever the Bible speaks of the Spirit, it is very specific and precise; for example, there’s no mention of the Spirit of Christ or the life-giving Spirit anywhere in the Old Testament or in the Gospels.

The revelation in the Holy Word of God concerning the Spirit is progressive: in Genesis we see the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jehovah, and all throughout the Old Testament we see the Spirit of Jehovah. There’s no mention of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament – there’s only the Spirit of holiness (the correct translation for the Holy Spirit in Psa. 51:11 and Isa. 63:10-11).

Each title of the Spirit refers to something specific and precise: the Spirit of God is mentioned in relation to God’s creation and bringing forth of life for God’s purpose, and the Spirit of Jehovah is always mentioned in God’s relation with man.

Whenever God relates to man, does things with man, speaks to man, covers and protects man, and works with man in the Old Testament, He is the Spirit of Jehovah. You cannot see the term, the Spirit of Jehovah in the New Testament, however, but we can see such titles as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, the life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the seven Spirits, and the Spirit.

In order for us to know the Spirit and experience the Spirit for God’s building, the church, we need to be clear concerning who the Spirit is, what the Spirit does, what do all these titles of the Spirit mean and how do they relate or apply to us.

There’s much confusion in Christianity today concerning the Spirit, and even genuine seekers of Christ use terms such as the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of God in an interchangeable ways, as if they refer to the same thing.

It is the same Spirit, but at the same time it is not the same Spirit, since the Spirit of God is the base, the essence, and there’s a process that the Spirit of God goes through to pick up elements, experiences, functions, and things until it becomes the Spirit testifying with the Bride, Come Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:17).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit with the Element of the Holy Divine Nature

The first divine title of the Spirit of God in the New Testament is the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit with the element of the holy divine nature. The nature of God’s person is Spirit (John 4:24), and one of the attributes of God’s nature is holiness; the Holy Spirit refers to the Spirit with the holy divine nature to sanctify man and make man holy even as God is holy.

The Holy Spirit is not mentioned in the Old Testament; in Psa. 51:11 and Isa. 63:10-11 “the Holy Spirit” in King James Version should be translated, “the Spirit of holiness”. The Holy Spirit is specifically mentioned first related to the conception of John the Baptist (the forerunner of the Lord Jesus, the Savior) – he was full of the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and relate to the conception of the Lord Jesus, whose essence was both divine and human.

The preparing of the way for the Savior’s coming required that His forerunner be filled with the Holy Spirit so that he could separate the people unto God from all things other than God, making them holy unto Him for His purpose. The preparing of the human body for the Savior required that the Holy Spirit impart the divine nature into humanity, making man holy for the carrying out of God’s plan of redemption. (Witness Lee, The Conclusion of the New Testament)

John the Baptist, the forerunner and announcer of the Lord Jesus, was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and his mission was to sanctify people unto God by baptizing them and pointing them to go to Christ, the One who baptizes with Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11).

The Lord Jesus was conceived in the womb of a virgin who was found with child from the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35). What was begotten in Mary was of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ was a mingling of the divine holy nature and the human nature; the Holy Spirit provided the seed, and Mary was the one who brought the Lord forth.

This is quite mysterious and incomprehensible to the human mind, but what we see in the Lord Jesus is the mingling of the divine holy nature of God from the Holy Spirit, and the human nature from Mary – without producing a “third nature”. The Lord Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit, was anointed by the Holy Spirit, and did everything through the Holy Spirit.

Before the coming of the Lord Jesus there were some holy people and holy things, which were separated and sanctified unto God from being in a positionally common place to a holy realm, but their intrinsic nature was not affected. Not until the Lord Jesus was born was there someone who actually possessed the holy nature of God.

Because in the Lord Jesus the Holy Spirit came and mingled the divine nature with the human nature, now God can mingle Himself with man and sanctify man not only positionally but also dispositionally so that man would be filled with God’s holy nature.

Praise the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived from the Holy Spirit and born through a human virgin called Mary, and He was the first Man who was not only separated unto God but also saturated with God’s holy nature! Lord Jesus, we may not understand how this happens, but we praise You for becoming a God-man, a man filled with and anointed by the Holy Spirit! Now we all have a way to be sanctified by God by being dispositionally filled with God’s holy nature and become the holy city, New Jerusalem!

The Holy Spirit Sanctifies us Dispositionally to make us as Holy as God is Holy

The first mentions of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament refer to the preparation of the Lord’s forerunner and the conception of the Lord Jesus, showing us that the Holy Spirit’s function is to sanctify man dispositionally and make man holy as God is holy.

There are many other verses in the New Testament which speak of the Holy Spirit, and they all point out the same thing: God in Christ as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us dispositionally, that is, makes us holy in our nature even as God is holy, and eventually we are being produced as the New Jerusalem, the holy city.

Here are some verses that speak of the Holy Spirit and His function in the New Testament:

• Matt. 3:11, Mark. 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33 – Christ came to baptize people in the Holy Spirit and fire.
• Matt. 12:32, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10 – We should not speak against the Holy Spirit, or else the Spirit cannot have the ground to work in us and cause us to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus.
• Matt. 28:19 – the Lord commanded His disciples to go and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• Mark 13:11 – the Holy Spirit will give the disciples the words to speak when they need to speak, and they do not need to be anxious.
• Luke 3:16, 4:1 – The Lord Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, and after this He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested and tempted by the devil, after which He became victorious.
• Luke 11:13 – if we ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, He as a good Father will give us this good gift!
• Luke 14:26 – The Holy Spirit is the Comforter which the Father sends in the Son’s name, and He teaches us all things, reminding us of the things the Lord told us.
• John 20:22 – The Lord breathed into His disciples and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit! We can breathe the Lord in by calling on His name and we receive the Holy Spirit.
• Acts 1:5, 8; 2:4, 33; 4:8, 31 – the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit and were filled with power to be Christ’s witnesses on earth.
• Acts 5:3, 6:5, 7:51, 55, 8:15, 17, 19, 9:17 – we can be filled with the Holy Spirit, we can oppose the Spirit, be stiff-necked against the Spirit, receive the Holy Spirit, and be filled with the Holy Spirit
• Rom. 15:16 – we are laboring priests of the gospel, offering the ones we save to God as sanctified acceptable offerings, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit. When Christ is wrought into others, they are sanctified and saturated with Christ to be holy unto God, acceptable sacrifices to Him.
• 1 Cor. 6:19 Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, and we are not our own. Hallelujah, through regeneration we have received the Holy Spirit, and now the Spirit dwells in us.
• 1 Cor. 12:3 When we say, Jesus is Lord, we are in the Holy Spirit, sanctified unto God.
• 2 Cor. 13:14, Eph. 1:13 The Holy Spirit seals us and is the means for us to receive the dispensing of the Triune God: the love of the Father is the source, the grace of the Son is the course, and the fellowship is the transmission of the Father’s love and the Son’s grace into us.
• Eph. 4:30, 1 Thes. 1:5, 6, Titus 3:5 We should not grieve the Holy Spirit but be filled in power and in the Holy Spirit, full of joy in the Holy Spirit, enjoying the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
• Jude 1:20 We need to be built up upon our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

Hallelujah for the many wonderful functions of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament! The main function of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify us by separating us unto God and by saturating us with God’s holy element.

The Holy Spirit comes into us at the time of our regeneration, and He sanctifies us all the time by renewing us, reminding us of the things the Lord said, leading us, sealing us, filling us, indwelling us, empowering us, anointing us, bearing witness to us, giving us joy, and speaking to us.

The result is that Christ grows in us and is formed in us, and we are sanctified dispositionally by being filled with God’s holy nature to become as holy as He is holy. Through His Holy Spirit God sanctifies the believers in His organic salvation to make them the same as Christ in life and nature but not in the Godhead for God’s corporate expression! Hallelujah!

Lord, thank You for coming into us as the Holy Spirit to anoint us, speak to us, seal us, lead us, empower us, fill us, and indwell us. We open to Your sanctifying work as the Holy Spirit. Lord, do a further work of separation unto God and of saturation with God’s holy element so that we may be the holy people of our holy God! Amen, Lord, make us as holy as You are so that we may be the same as You in life and nature, but not in the Godhead! Keep us in the process of the dispositional sanctification every day!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Minoru Chen’s sharing in the message for this week, and The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 79 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 10 (week 34), The Compound Spirit.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
  # Christ indeed was born of Spirit / When He came a man to be; / And before His service started, / With the Spirit filled was He. / Yet He still received the baptism / Of the Spirit from on high / When He came to start His service / And was clothed with pow’r thereby. (Hymns #272)
  # Of the Spirit born in spirit, / As the sons of God indeed, / We possess the Holy Spirit, / Dwelling in us for all need. / Yet we still need more of Him, Lord, / That we may be full of Thee; / May Thou fill us with Thy Spirit, / Give us life abundantly. (Hymns #271)
  # That I might be a minister, / A minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, / A laboring priest of the gospel of God, / A laboring priest of the gospel of God, / In order that the offering, / The offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, / Having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit, / Sanctified in the Holy Spirit. (Scripture song)