Appendix B:  All Spirit Passages
do not Speak of the Holy Spirit

           This final section should provoke us to further study. It is not intended to be a complete examination of all "spirit" passages. Hopefully, you will use it as a springboard to further investigation. It should, however, serve to caution us in all our studies to look carefully at the context in order to determine whether or not a passage applies to the Holy Spirit.

Some Problems Men Have With The Word "Spirit"

           Some religious people go through an unconscious exercise in their minds whenever they see the word spirit. "Spirit means Holy Spirit; Holy Spirit means Holy Spirit baptism." It is often the case that they conclude that all Christians are to have Holy Spirit baptism. They may draw their conclusion from a verse that does not even speak of the Holy Spirit! While we may not be guilty of that, we may yet misinterpret spirit passages. Let us take caution in our study.

           Evidence that "spirit" may apply to things other than the Holy Spirit.
 

§     Spirit may be used to describe the nature of God, John 4:24.
 

§     Spirit is used of the life-giving power of Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:45.
 

§     Spirit is sometimes used of angels, Hebrews 1:13-14
 

§     Spirit can be used of evil beings, as it is with demons, Matthew 8:16.
 

§     Spirit may be used of the invisible, immaterial part of man—his soul, James 2:26.
 

§     Spirit may also be used of man's disposition, 2 Timothy 1:7.
 

§     Spirit may be used as metonymy to describe man's will or mind, Matthew 26:41.
 

§     Spirit is used to describe the nature of the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 3:6.
 

           The list above should in no way be considered complete. There may be several other uses of "spirit" beyond these. Our purpose here has only been to point out that we must be cautious in our studies that we do not make assumptions about "spirit." In addition to the use regarding the Holy Spirit, we have listed only eight other ways that "spirit" may be used. Some authors list as many as fourteen uses of the word. It is interesting that most of the additional uses have to do in some way with man. Though some of the uses may have only slight variations in meaning, it is clear that "spirit" may be used in many ways.

A Brief Exercise For Your Personal Study

           In the list which follows, look up the passages and identify how "spirit" is used. These passages are only a sampling of the verses where "spirit" is found. There are nearly 400 passages in the New Testament where the word "pneuma" (the Greek word for “spirit”) is used.
 

           Let us take what we have learned in this study and be discerning as we view other "spirit" passages. Let us not only be discerning, let us also respect all that we find in the Spirit's word. May our God bless us all.

Glory to God in the church by Christ Jesus
Franklin Church of Christ