The work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is by a wide margin more connected to life after conversion than before.  There is, however, a work that he has prior to conversion.  He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).  And even though there is scant teaching on it, it is essential; the larger work for believers would never occur if there were no activity to make such believers in the first place.

How one understands the extent and nature of that work depends at least partly on how much of a Calvinist one is or isn’t.  The stronger one’s theology of sin, the more essential and extensive the work of the Spirit is understood to be.  Verses like John 1:12 and 6:44 and the work of the Spirit throughout the Acts narratives make clear that at least some supernatural work is involved in coming to Christ.

The more intriguing question in this activity is how the Spirit works.  How does he engender conviction in a sinner?  There is very little in the New Testament to suggest that he works apart from some human action.  In Acts 13 the Spirit sets apart missionaries and works through them to bring people to faith.  The focus is usually on the proclamation of the gospel.  Following such usage, the Reformation insisted that there is an intrinsic connection between the Spirit and the Word.  Its doctrine was developed in distinction to both Roman Catholic rationalism and the more fanatical subjective elements that developed in the wake of Luther’s break with Rome (known collectively sometimes as enthusiasts).

In the modern church the Reformation view has sometimes been taken in an almost magical sense, as if there is some inherent power in the text of the Bible that the Spirit puts to use with sinners.  Thus, all one has to do is quote the Bible to sinners and let the Spirit work.  Conversion is certain to result.  But perhaps it isn’t out of line to point out that the Bible is not magical.  The New Testament was not written in a special Holy Ghost Greek, as was once thought, but in the language of the marketplace.  What the Spirit uses in his work is truth, whether expressed in biblical language or not.  Paul did not quote the Old Testament when evangelizing people who did not know it or accept its authority, though he did present Old Testament concepts (see Acts 17).  The Bible gives us truth that we could not otherwise know and truth that is more important than any other we might know.  The job of the evangelist is to present that truth in language and a conceptual framework that the sinner can grasp.  The Holy Spirit uses that to bring conviction.

It is important to note that bringing about conviction is finally the Spirit’s work, not the evangelist’s.  Evangelists are witnesses, but bear no guilt in relation to those who do not respond.  On the other hand, there can be a firm confidence that the Spirit is at work when biblical truth is presented.  We do not speak in vain.

Phil Meade, Will Uminn, Dana Arledge, Kevin Farmer