How might one summarize succinctly the work of the Holy Spirit? In his Discourse on the Trinity, Jonathan Edwards does well, I believe. He says that the office, or work, of the Holy Spirit is threefold: "to quicken, enliven, and beautify all things; to sanctify intelligent creatures; and to comfort and delight them."
First, "He quickens and beautifies all things. So we read that 'the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters' (Gen. 1:2).
Second, the Spirit "sanctifies created spirits, that is, he gives them divine love: for the Scripture teaches us that all holiness and true grace and virtue is resolvable into that, as its universal spring and principle. . . . It is the office of the person that is God's love to communicate divine love to the creature. In so doing, God's Spirit or love doth but communicate of himself." Here Edwards cites 1 Jn. 4:12-13; Jn. 14:16-18; 17:26; 2 Cor. 6:6; Rom. 5:5; 8:9-10; 15:30; Phil. 2:1; Gal. 5:13-16; Col. 1:8.
Third, the last office of the Holy Spirit "is to comfort and delight the souls of God's people." Here Edwards cites Acts 9:31; 13:52; Rom. 14:7; 1 Thess. 1:6.
—Jonathan Edwards, "Discourse on the Trinity," Works, vol. 21, pp. 123-126.
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