Thread: Knowing the Holy Spirit

Having first come to faith in a charismatic deliverance type church, I had experiences that I thought were the workings of the Holy Spirit that I now believe were mostly not. One legacy of those experiences is that now I am not always certain that I know the Spirit, which has devastating effects on my assurance at times. I used to think the warm fuzzies was the Spirit, and maybe sometimes it was, but that was often enough related to biblically unsound practices that I'm never sure now.

From reading the scriptures, it seems as though we should be intimately familiar with Him, so as to walk in Him and receive His comfort. So much so that we can refer to Him as a person rather than a thing or a doctrine. After all the error I was a part of back then, I'm leery of anything other than purely objective fact, so I'm sure that affects my perspective, perhaps negatively. I want to know Him as Comforter and Guide, as Paraclete. Maybe I'm approaching the whole issue from an erroneous direction borne out of my past experience, I don't know.

Is the way we know Him by the affect He has on our consciences, causing us to desire what is good and eschew what is evil? Is it by scripture coming to remembrance when we need it? Is it by recognizing that the love we have for God and His people is His work in us? Is it by seeing His fruit in our lives (boy, I'm in trouble with that!)? Is there something more intimate, or am I hanging on to mystical ideas from my past?

Anybody have any counsel, or could point me to some applicable resource that might help?

Huge topic.

You can take immediate comfort that Mr Calvin is sometimes known as the "Theologian of the Holy Spirit" because he really drew out and highlighted His role through Scripture.

A very readable summary that sets out biblical parameters on this is our denomination's Pastoral Letter which addressed some of the things you and I and many others were experiencing in the "charismatic renewal" that swept through in the 1970's and 1980's and has lingering affects to the present:
PCA Historical Center: PCA Pastoral Letter on the Expeience of the Holy Spirit in the Church Today

In short, the Holy Spirit is fully God and eternal, very real, very active and co-equal in every way with the Father and the Son. He speaks through Holy Scripture and illuminates our understanding of Scripture and bears witness to its Truth with applications in every aspect of our life, every day.

Originally Posted by Brad

Having first come to faith in a charismatic deliverance type church, I had experiences that I thought were the workings of the Holy Spirit that I now believe were mostly not. One legacy of those experiences is that now I am not always certain that I know the Spirit, which has devastating effects on my assurance at times.

These are all good questions but make no mistake, your assurance is your faith. The reason I point out this fact (which you probably already know) is because many Charismatics do teach to look for gifts of the Spirit as assurance. But our true assurance is our faith.

LBC 18:1 Although temporary believers, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God and state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.