The Spirit “spoke by the prophets” in the Old Testament. This phrase of the creed summarizes the Spirit’s ministry before Christ’s baptism. Since the same Spirit of God was at work in both Old and New Testaments, his ministry before Pentecost was not different in nature but only in degree, including his work of regenerating (Deut. 30:6), indwelling (Ex. 29:45‒46; Hag. 2:5), restraining (Isa. 63:10‒11; Micah 3:8), and empowering specific people for specific tasks (Ex. 31:2‒5).

A Vital Force of God’s Mission

The Holy Spirit is the vital force of God’s mission in the New Testament. He is the divine apologist who convinces the world of sin, righteousness, and coming judgment, and the divine evangelist who bears witness to Christ in this broken world. He is the divine pastor-teacher who reminds God’s people about Christ and guides them into his truth. He is the divine church planter who gathers, grows, and guards the church until Christ’s final return. All these and much more are the ongoing ministries of the Holy Spirit, crucial for the success of the mission of the triune God.

The mission of the Spirit proceeds directly from Christ’s mission. His mission is the outcome of Christ’s resurrection, ascension, and session; it is the overflow of Christ’s blessings in this present age. Furthermore, God’s redemptive plan and universal purpose for all nations, are being fulfilled globally through the mission of God’s Spirit. The Spirit’s mission, therefore, comes third in the biblical story of God’s mission.

The Spirit Within God’s Mission

The Spirit’s vital work in mission often does not get enough attention.1 Scripture usually does not focus directly on the third triune person since he, as the divine author, desires to speak of Christ rather than draw attention to himself. His role in God’s mission, however, is clearly evidenced across the pages of Scripture, from his life-giving presence first at creation (Gen. 1:2) to his gospel witness with the church until the end of mission (Rev. 22:17).

The vital role of the Holy Spirit has always been confessed by the church. Though still obscure in the Old Testament, the Spirit’s work was more fully revealed in the New Testament, and faithfully summarized by the early church in AD 381: We believe “in the Holy Spirt, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.”2 We echo this confession, and others, as we outline below seven main points in a concise biblical theology of the Spirit’s mission.

First, we confess that the Spirit is the “Giver of life” in both creation and redemption. From the beginning, the Spirit is revealed as God’s breath of life. Physical life is given and sustained by God’s Spirit (Gen. 2:7; Job 34:14‒15). The Spirit is also, within God’s redemptive mission, the giver of eternal life to God’s people, in addition to the physical life given to all (John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6).

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