I conclude posts of excerpts from Ryrie’s book with his last paragraph in Chapter 22, “History of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.” His last chapter discusses points made in this paragraph, and I recommend his book to you.

“Thus in the sweep of church history one sees first the formulation of what has come to be known as the orthodox doctrine of the Spirit, then the definition of it in the early councils [which I discuss in my second book, The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story], and the development of it during the Reformation. With every surge toward defining or developing the truth, there have been movements away from it, either in the form of rationalistic coldness or in the form of unbalanced enthusiasm and mysticism. History should teach us that orthodox doctrine is not only important to faith but equally vital to life. Perhaps in no doctrine is the wedding of truth and life more important than in a proper understanding and application of the doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit.”

It has been my commitment to share what I have learned in over 21 years of study about the Holy Spirit. So many people in the church today have little or an inaccurate understanding of the Holy Spirit and how He communes with us interactively as a Person. How His communion involves our neural synaptic networks has also been my interest, showing concordance between current neuroscience and properly interpreted Scripture. There is a hunger for this knowledge.

I enthusiastically share this excerpt from Ryrie’s book, Chapter 19, this section entitled “He Teaches Us”, giving compelling evidence of the bidirectional interactive communion between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit and soul I have addressed in my books and blogs:

“One of the last promises the Savior made to His disciples before His crucifixion concerned the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the Upper Room He said:

‘I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.’ (John 16:12-15)

“This particular ministry of the Spirit was yet future when our Lord spoke these words. It began on the day of Pentecost and continues throughout this age [Italics added]. Peter’s clear comprehension of truth in his Pentecostal sermon shows that this ministry had begun.”

Ryrie gives further clarification of what it means to be dependent on the Holy Spirit. It is my hope that I have given compelling evidence for the bidirectional interaction between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit and soul, actualized by God’s created synaptic networks, in my books and blogs.

“Finally, the Spirit-filled life is a dependent life. ‘But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh’ (Galatians 5:16). . . . In this verse in Galatians the Christian is reminded that in order to walk and make progress in the Christian life he must walk by faith, which means to live in dependence on the Holy Spirit. . . . Thus to be Spirit-filled is to be Spirit-controlled. And to be so controlled requires dedication of life, victory over the reigning power of sin, and constant dependence on the Spirit.”

Believers are able not only to pray TO the Holy Spirit/God the Father/Jesus Christ but also to hear/receive guidance FROM Him, for example, through dreams, visions, discernment, direct words, phrases, sentences and intuition. The Holy Spirit DOES interact with believers through the transmission of specified information in its various forms. This continues in our day. It did not disappear at the closure of the Canon as it is often taught. It has been restored to repentant believers through the sin sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the verses in the song,

He Lives

Alan Jackson

I serve a risen Saviour, He's in the world today
I know that He is living, whatever men may say
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer
And just the time I need Him He's always near

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way
He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart

In all the world around me I see His loving care
And though my heart grows weary I never will despair
I know that He is leading, thro' all the stormy blast
The day of His appearing will come at last

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way
He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart

Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian! Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King!
The Hope of all who seek Him, the Help of all who find
None other is so loving, so good and kind

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way
He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart

Ryrie shares comments that clarify what being baptized by the Holy Spirit means:

“The baptizing work of the Spirit is the means of associating us with the crucifixion of Christ (Colossians 2:12 and especially Romans 6:1-10) in our dying to the old life. Being associated by baptism unto His death, burial and resurrection is the basis for the crucifixion of the believer’s sin nature and his victory over sin. Crucifixion involves death, but death is not extinction; rather it is separation. So our co-crucifixion with Christ does not mean that our old nature becomes extinct; rather, we are separated from its domain and dominion so that we can live in a new way of life. . . . water baptism vividly pictures outwardly what the Spirit does for the believer inwardly. The baptism by the Spirit does not necessarily mean a special endowment with power. It places us in a position in Christ that enables us to receive power. . . . You were baptized when you believed, and that joined you to the body of Christ, never to be amputated from that body. Sin in the believer’s life is serious, but it does not cut us off from our secure position in Christ.”

Ryrie discusses the difference between Spirit baptism and filling of the Spirit. I have addressed this difference in my second book, The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story, Chapter Four:

“The baptizing work of the Spirit occurs each time a person is converted but is experienced only once by each believer. . . . By contrast, the filling of the Spirit is said to be experienced by the same group on more than one occasion (Acts 2:4; 4:31), and the command to be filled is expressed by a present tense indicating that it can be repeated (Ephesians 5:18). The event of being baptized by the Spirit places one into the body of Christ; therefore, if it could be repeated, it would mean that a person would have to be removed from that body in order to be reinstated into it again by a second baptism. Such an idea is completely foreign to the Scriptures.”

Ryrie addresses the permanence of the Spirit’s indwelling:

“. . . sin affects the ministry of the Spirit to the believer, not His presence within the believer. Sin grieves the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and causes the ramifications of His indwelling, but not the fact of it, to be diminished. It is the filling of the Spirit . . . , not the indwelling of the Spirit that is affected by sin.”

Ryrie discusses the “distinctive and foundational ministry” of the Holy Spirit:

“The permanent and universal-among-all-believers indwelling ministry of the Spirit is at the heart of the distinctiveness of the Spirit’s work in this church age. Although He did live within some people in the Old Testament, that indwelling was neither permanently guaranteed nor universally experienced even by all believers. It was also the focus of our Lord’s promise to His disciples concerning the ministry of the Spirit after His (Christ’s) departure from earth (John 14:17). Also, the doctrine of the indwelling is foundational to the other ministries the Spirit performs today.

“Today the Holy Spirit lives in the beings of Christians only, and He does so in all Christians. This was apparently not always well known by the church, for Paul had to remind believers in the early days that this was a fact (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), just as it is necessary to instruct believers today of its truth. Too often, some of God’s people seem to think that the Spirit comes and goes and that this erratic and usually unpredictable behavior of the Spirit is often based on the individual’s feelings. Nevertheless, the truth of the Spirit’s indwelling does not depend on our feeling or knowing that it is true. . . . He is a gift to us, not a reward we earn for good behavior. . . . His presence is evidence of being saved. . . . The Holy Spirit is the One who reveals to the Christian the indwelling of our Lord Jesus in him. . . . ‘The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us’ (1 John 3:24). Thus the knowledge of the indwelling of Christ is dependent on the ministry of the Spirit, which is not restricted but which operates in all believers.”

Ryrie discusses the fruits of regeneration:

“The new birth brings a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). It does not eradicate the old (better texts do not say ‘all things are become new,’ but ‘new things have come’), nor does it split the personality. Natures are capacities, and whereas the unregenerate person has only the capacity to serve sin (Romans 6:20), the regenerate person has a new nature with its capacity to serve righteousness (Romans 6:18). The Holy Spirit is also involved in the life and activity of the new creation, controlling and filling (Romans 8:4, 14; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18). The believer is not made perfect, but he does have the new capacity to please God and to grow into the image of Christ because of the new birth and the subsequent ministries of the Spirit in his life.”

I offer in clarification that the “new nature” that is mentioned by Ryrie refers to the human soul, consisting of mind, will and emotion. When regenerated a person has a new mind that wills to please God (Ezekiel 36:26), bringing joy to the believer. It is a process that occurs through sanctification so that the person becomes over time more Christlike. The Holy Spirit serves as Counselor and Helper.

Ryrie addresses the means of regeneration:

“The Scriptures clearly teach that regeneration is the act of God. Direct statements show this (John 1:13) as well as statements that link regeneration to spiritual resurrection - an act which God alone can accomplish (John 5:21-24; Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17). . . . it is the work of the Holy Spirit of God (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). . . . the means of regeneration is the Spirit’s effecting the new birth in those who believe in Christ.”

As I have shared in my books and blogs the sin sacrifice of Jesus Christ provided for the restoration of a permanent indwelling of the human spirit by the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent upon His resurrection. Recipients of this blessing are repentant believers. I have addressed the dualist interaction that characterizes this two-way communion through God’s created synaptic networks in our time. In this connection the Bible and neuroscience, properly interpreted, are in concordance. Ryrie states further, “. . . the actual event of being born again happens instantaneously. . . . people do not birth themselves, but that they are birthed by Someone Else, the Holy Spirit.”

Ryrie defines regeneration, referred to in Titus 3:5:

“[Regeneration] is connected with the accomplishing of our salvation by the ‘washing of regeneration’ that brings new life to the one who believes. . . . the term literally means to be born again. . . . Theologically, regeneration of individuals precisely means that act of God which imparts eternal life to them. . . . Regeneration is that which begins the new life; it is the new birth.”

The Holy Spirit indwells the repentant believer whose human spirit and soul (mind, will, emotion) are guided by the Spirit into a life of righteousness patterned after the person and life of Jesus Christ.