When we think about the work of the Holy Spirit, we think right away about the renewal of our hearts and lives. For it is he who causes us to be born again (John 3:8) and who works our sanctification (1Th. 2:13). And so Lord’s Day 8 of the Heidelberg Catechism rightly speaks about “the Holy Spirit and our sanctification”.

But Scripture shows that the work of the Holy Spirit is not restricted to sanctifying us. He also participated in creation (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 33:6), and he is involved in the upholding all things. It is the Holy Spirit who renews the face of the earth in the spring (Ps. 104:30) and who gives us life (Gen. 3:6; Job 33:4). The Spirit is even involved in matters of learning and insight (Ex. 31:3; Isa. 11:2).

In this article I draw attention to an aspect of the comprehensive work of the Spirit that has remained very much in the background in theological reflection and in our speaking about the Holy Spirit. For Scripture calls the Holy Spirit also “a spirit of judgment and of fire” (Isa. 4:4). We do not connect that with the Spirit so readily. It has struck me that in almost all discussions about the Holy Spirit and his work, the topic “the Spirit and judgment” is left out of consideration. And that is a lacuna that fails to do justice to an important piece of Scriptural instruction. The Spirit is certainly the Lord who gives life (see the Nicene Creed), the Spirit who makes people come alive, who regenerates God’s children, and who endows people with wisdom and knowledge. But he is also the Person who executes judgment and who plays a role in the administration of God’s wrath.

For it is surely striking that just when the Spirit is poured out on Pentecost, the apostle Peter speaks about signs of “blood and fire and billows of smoke” that are coming (Acts 2:19-20). In that we hear an echo of what Isaiah says when he is speaking about “a Spirit of judgment and a Spirit of fire”, the Spirit who executes God’s judgment (Isa. 4:4).

Give credit where credit is due. One can make many critical comments about the dogmatic work of Dr. A. van de Beek, professor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. But it is he who has paid broad attention to the darker side of the work of the Holy Spirit and who has worked very hard to ensure that the work of the Holy Spirit is not restricted to the doctrine of our deliverance.¹There is a characteristic property to the work of the Spirit that we cannot articulate Christologically (p. 182). The Spirit operates in a broader framework. God’s Spirit blows through the world and traverses history. He is the supporting and creating power in the world and its history.

This implies that we ought not to speak “so sweetly” about him. He is also “a chaotic Spirit” (p. 211), who is present in the destructive crossroads of history. The Holy Spirit is active not just in the attractive aspects of life, but also in calamities, wars, and sickness. The cosmic Spirit is a terrifying power. God’s Spirit is also a whirlpool of seething wrath (p. 212), who broadcasts death and ruin. He is a power before whom we tremble.

But fortunately, in Jesus Christ, God made a new beginning. The Spirit we know from the Old Testament as the Spirit of wrath and destruction has become the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of love and renewal. Because of Jesus’ suffering, the Spirit of wrath and vengeance no longer exists. God has chosen “new paths for human history. He has rejected the power of vengeance, of wrath, of destruction for himself and for humanity” (p. 242).

Van de Beek puts his case very strongly when he posits: “The power of evil and the Spirit of love find their source in the one God. They are his one Spirit, who becomes a multiple power by his new deeds. Above all, they are present in the one creation that springs from the past and is fulfilled in the newness of the Spirit of Christ…” (p. 269).

I do not subscribe to much of what the professor writes about the Spirit. How can you speak about “the Spirit of darkness” (p. 269) and about “a malevolent power…that no longer has the right to exist in God” in the face of what the apostle John tells us: “God is light; in him is not darkness at all” (1 John 1:5)?

But I do appreciate the fact that Van de Beek corrects our overly sweet image of the Holy Spirit and demands our attention for the rage of the Spirit.

The Old Testament⤒🔗

Reformed theology has always emphasized the unity of God’s works. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all involved in creation, deliverance, and sanctification, even though one Person takes a prominent place in each of them. That is true also of God’s judgment. The Holy Spirit is involved in it too. Thus, when it says, “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29), that applies also to the Spirit!

You can observe that already in the Old Testament. The Spirit fills Gideon, the judge, to fight the Midianites (Jdg. 6:34). He also takes hold of Samson to take on the Philistines (Jdg 14:19).

In Isaiah 4:4 we learn that God’s Spirit will cleanse Jerusalem, as “a spirit of judgment and of fire”. The judgment of purification that God’s people must undergo will be the work of the Spirit.

Isaiah 34 speaks about God’s judgment over Edom. It will become a rubbish heap in which terrifying creatures dwell. “None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.” The Hebrew uses the word ruach, which means “breath”, but can also quite properly be translated as “spirit”. So here we meet the Spirit of God who takes up arms on behalf of Zion and takes vengeance against Edom for its enmity against God’s people. Thus, this is further evidence to prove that the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit “of judgment”!

Isaiah 40 depicts for us the transience of people over against the eternal Word of the Lord. “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them”. Here the word ruach is used again and, instead of “breath”, it can be translated as “spirit”. In that case it would mean that the Spirit of the Lord can cause glory to fade.

In the prophet’s prayer in Isaiah 63, we learn about Israel’s recalcitrance. The sad consequence of Israel’s history is that they “grieved the Holy Spirit”. “So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them” (v. 10). The pronouns, “he” and “himself” undoubtedly refer to the Lord. But we can also understand them as referring to the Holy Spirit, who actually became Israel’s enemy and, instead of turning their hearts to the Lord, hardened them (see v. 17: “Why…do you…harden our hearts so we do not revere you?”).

There is yet another passage that strongly supports the judgmental role of the Spirit. Zechariah 6:8 says: “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north”. J. Ridderbos translates this passage as: “Look, those going toward the north country are letting down my Spirit in the north”. ²He points out that Zechariah 5:11 uses the same verb that he translates as “letting down” in 6:8 and that is translated as “set” or “set down” in 5:11.

God sends his Spirit to the country of Judah’s oppressors as a Spirit of judgment. That Spirit arrives in the country where godlessness rules (Zech. 5:11). Ridderbos comments: “Apparently, God’s revelation wants to emphasize that not only godlessness, but also the Spirit of the Lord will arrive in the north country. In this connection I think it likely that the Spirit of the Lord appears here primarily as the Worker of the judgment over the godlessness that was introduced in the north country”.

We can therefore draw the conclusion that the Old Testament already teaches us that the Holy Spirit is not just the Lord who makes alive, but also the Spirit who causes judgment and brings evil on the wicked.

The New Testament←⤒🔗

The New Testament proclaims in even stronger fashion what we already discovered in the Old.

It is very striking that John the Baptist introduces Jesus as the person who will baptize “with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16). The context supports the conclusion that the word “fire” refers to purification and judgment. For Jesus will purify his threshing floor with his winnowing fork and will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (v. 17). The Baptist mentions baptism with the Holy Spirit and baptism with fire in one breath. Clearly they are ineluctably connected to each other. The coming of the Holy Spirit also has a dark side. A purification will take place that will gather the grain together on the one hand, but will also result in a destructive judgment on the chaff. Here we learn the extent to which the Spirit of Pentecost is “a Spirit of judgment and a Spirit of fire” (Isa 4:4)!

This is even more evident from what Peter says at the time of the pouring out of this Spirit. In Acts 2 we discover how terrifying it will become when Christ will “baptize with fire”. The apostle quotes from the prophecy of Joel and speaks about “blood and fire and billows of smoke”, and says, “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood” (vv. 19-20). The coming of the Spirit introduces “the last days” (v. 17) and those are also the days of God’s wrath and judgment.

So we see how Peter extends the ideas of Joel’s prophecy and of John the Baptist’s statement by connecting the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to awe-inspiring judgments.

Pentecost introduces an increase in grace and judgment! The Spirit comes “with deep conviction” (1Th. 1:5), but his coming unleashes also the powers of the “glorious day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20).

The sudden deaths of Ananias and Sapphira show us that the Spirit of Pentecost is also the Spirit of judgment (Acts 5). With their hypocrisy, they besmirched what the Spirit was working so gloriously in the congregation of Jerusalem. Thereby they grieved the Holy Spirit and therefore he became their enemy (see Isa. 63:10). What happened to these two members of the young Christian church, convinces us that the Spirit who has come to dwell among us (see Eph 2:22) is also a “consuming fire”.

Revelation←⤒🔗

The last book of the Bible emphatically proclaims to us that the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost brings with it grace and judgment. In Christ, God is the God who comes (Rev. 1:4, 7). That is the great theme of Revelation. And the Holy Spirit has a very important role in that coming.

That is apparent immediately from the greeting of peace with which the vision of John begins. By way of introduction to that vision, John speaks about the “seven spirits” who are before God’s throne (Rev. 1:4). The apostle has seen the seven sprits as seven lamps (Rev. 4:5) and as the seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb (Rev. 5:6). All three passages (1:4; 4:5; and 5:6) are based on Zechariah 4:1-14, which connects the seven lights and the seven eyes to the activity of the Spirit. Evidently, Zechariah is the key chapter for the appearance of the Spirit in the world. Considering the irresistible power of the beast, how will God establish his dominion on earth? The Lord says: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zech. 4:6).³

Thus, already at the beginning of John’s book, we are informed of the extent to which the Holy Spirit is involved in the coming of God in grace and judgment!

What was announced at the beginning becomes clearer in Revelation 4 when John sees God’s throne and sees and hears how “flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder”, an arsenal of destructive powers, come from the throne. It is striking that in this exact context John sees seven blazing lamps before God’s throne and declares of them: “These are the seven spirits of God.”

God’s coming is accompanied by awe-inspiring judgments and those are closely connected to the work of his Spirit. When he comes in judgment, the King on his throne has seven spirits at his disposal, a full complement of actions of the Spirit. And the blazing lamps tell us that the Spirit is a “consuming fire”.

I also mention Revelation 5 as the last text in the series. John sees the Lamb in the centre of God’s throne, “with seven horns and seven eyes”. This tells us that the Lamb is not only competent, but also has the power to execute God’s decrees that are written in the scroll for the liberation of his people and the punishment of his enemies. The seven horns and seven eyes speak of that power. The Lamb has at his disposal a sevenfold impact and perfect vision, so that nothing escapes him.

It is again striking that John adds: “These are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:6). This explanation may apply exclusively to the seven horns and seven eyes. If so, this points to the power of Christ’s Spirit (with an allusion to Zech. 4:10): his Spirit is powerful and active! Powerful and active to build his church (see Rev. 3:1), but also to take action against all enemies. And that two-fold work of the Spirit is worldwide. For the seven spirits have been “sent out into all the world” (Rev. 5:6).

Revelation 5 proclaims to us how the rule of God has become the rule of Christ and that it is he through whom the Father now governs all things (see Heidelberg Catechism, Answ. 50). For that purpose our Saviour has at his disposal a Spirit who displays his power and activity throughout the world. He does that in grace and judgment as “the Spirit of sonship” (Rom. 8:15) and as “a Spirit of judgment” (Isa. 4:4).

Conclusion←⤒🔗

What we discovered in Scripture makes clear that we need to adjust our concept of the Holy Spirit, although we should not go as far as Professor Van de Beek does. His contrast between “the cosmic Spirit” as the Spirit of violence and darkness and “the Spirit of Christ” as the Spirit of love and restoration, not only denies that there is no darkness in God, but also fails to do justice to what the New Testament says about the work of the Spirit in grace and in judgment.

We may and must certainly say glorious and pleasant things about the Spirit. It is amazing that he wants to live in us (Rom. 8:11), causes us to be born again (John 3:5), sanctifies us (2Th. 2:13), endows us with gifts (1Co. 12:8ff), and ultimately glorifies us (1Pe. 4:14). The Spirit demonstrates a love and perseverance by being at work in us our whole life long!

But although we may thus rejoice in the Spirit, we must not forget that he is the Holy Spirit, of whom it is also true that his eyes “are too pure to look on evil” and who “cannot tolerate wrong” (Hab. 1:13). He is not only “a Spirit of grace” (Zech. 12:10), but also “a Spirit of judgment’ (Isa. 4:4)! He is the Spirit who caused Ananias and Sapphira to fall down dead and who, as the Spirit of the Lamb, is also judging this world and brings about blood and fire and billows of smoke. The last book of the Bible proclaims to us in detail what this means for God’s enemies. But it is not far from us either, for Peter says, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God” (1Pe. 4:17). Thus it is the Christian church where the lightning of God’s judgment will strike first. The Spirit of judgment and destruction begins his work of sanctification and punishment in the place where he lives (Eph. 2:22)!

That warns us of the seriousness of the Pentecost dispensation. All that the New Testament says about the glorious work of the Spirit in and for us, makes us deeply responsible. We may not continue to grieve him (Eph. 4:30), or to quench him (1Th. 5:19). Even less ought we to resist him (Acts 7:51), for the consequence of that can be that we insult the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29; see Matt 12:31). For the Spirit who lives in us will not be mocked. It is especially in the context of his work of grace that we are warned: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

But blessed are all those who let themselves be guided by that Spirit. They are children of God (Rom. 8:14). And they will realize it too! For the Spirit of Christ is powerful and active. He will purify and renew God’s children daily and finally he will give them a place, fully cleansed, among the congregation of the elect.