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It is very surprising that so little has been written to deal with this subject. The best
work we know is Dr. E. W. Bullinger's The Giver and His Gifts, which deals with every
occurrence of the word `spirit' in the N.T. Unfortunately at the moment it is out of print.
If one carefully studies a chapter like Rom. 8:, where the word `spirit' occurs
frequently, one is constantly faced with this problem of when to use capitals. In the
current editions of the A.V. the capital "S" is used all through the first 14 verses with the
exception of `spiritually minded' in verse 6. The R.V. is very different and commences
using a small `s' in verse 4, making `spirit' the opposite of `flesh', in other words the two
natures in the believer are the subject, and we feel this to be nearer to that which the
Apostle Paul was intending. Let no one think that the Holy Spirit is being eliminated in
this way for there cannot be a gift without a Giver and so there cannot be a new nature in
the believer without the work of the Holy Spirit. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3: 6). The Giver and the gift clearly
appear in verse 16 of Rom. 8:
The Apostle Peter in his second epistle describes this gift coming through
"exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the
divine nature . . . . ." (II Pet. 1: 3, 4). Every truly saved person therefore possesses a small
portion of God's holy nature implanted within by the Holy Spirit and this in direct
contrast to the old sinful nature inherited from fallen Adam, hence the internal conflict
that is often experienced. The doctrine of the two natures in the believer is of great
importance and failure to understand the teaching of the Word of God on this subject can
cause many difficulties both in the interpretation of Scripture and in the individual life.
Here again a work of Dr. Bullinger is of great help, The Two Natures in the Child of God
and this should be carefully considered by lovers of the Word.
A study of the word `spirit' in the N.T. will reveal that it is used in fourteen different
ways. Readers who have The Companion Bible should turn to Appendix 101 where
much helpful information is given. Sometimes it is employed with the definite article
"the" and sometimes without it. It is used with hagion holy in four ways:
(1)
pneuma hagion (holy spirit).
(2)
hagion pneuma (spirit holy).
(3)
the hagion pneuma (the holy spirit).
(4)
the pneuma the hagion (the spirit the holy).
All these are rendered in the A.V. "the Holy Spirit", but is this correct? Pneuma
hagion (without the definite article) occurs 52 times in the N.T. and often refers to the gift
the Holy Spirit gives rather than Himself, whereas the longer expression (4) refers to Him
personally. It has been pointed out that the Acts of the Apostles is really the Acts of the
Holy Spirit, for He is the dominating personality of the book, and this longer emphatic
expression referring to Himself and His activities occurs 15 times (1: 16; 2: 33; 5: 3;
7: 51; 10: 44, 47; 11: 15; 13: 2, 4; 15: 8; 19: 6; 20: 23, 28; 28: 25).