"You have another spirit than we," said Luther to Bucer after the Colloquy of Marburg (1529). These words marked a division between the Reformers. According to Luther, Bucer and others, who did not hold to Luther's position on the presence of Christ at the Lord's Supper, did not merely have a different mind, but rather lacked the Holy Spirit. To him it was not merely a matter of psychology but of pneumatology.¹

Today the evangelical movement claims to place more emphasis on the Spirit than the traditional churches. This applies even more to the charismatic movement. They often purport that the early church developed the confession of the Trinity, the Reformation the confession concerning Christ in the doctrine of justification through His merit, and the charis­matic movement the confession concerning the Holy Spirit during the last century and a half. Church history tells a different story, however. There was a great deal of emphasis on the Spirit in the days of the sixteenth century Reformation. The question is, by virtue of which spirit? When can we say: "You have another spirit"?

There are three essential marks for testing "the spirits to see whether they are from God" (cf 1 Jn. 4:1). First, the Holy Spirit fully illuminates Christ in all His glory. By the Spirit we confess Jesus to be Lord (1 Cor. 12:3). "He shall glorify Me," says Christ. "He shall not speak of Himself" (John 16:13). J. I. Packer writes: "When floodlighting is well done, the flood­lights are so placed that you do not see them." The Holy Spirit is "the hidden floodlight shining on the Saviour."² We sometimes call this the "modesty" of the Holy Spirit. He never calls attention to Himself. He does not glory in Himself. He teaches to glory in Christ alone. There is an inseparable connection between Christ and the Spirit. Christ has obtained the life-giving Spirit. The Spirit works out of Christ and leads us constantly to Christ.

A second characteristic trait of the work of the Holy Spirit is His steady connection with the Word. Other spirits work outside of the Word and apart from the Word. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Word. There is no one who respects the Scriptures more than the Holy Spirit does. He uses the Scriptures. He brings Christ to us in the garment of Scripture. Rooted and grounded in the Word of God, the course of our life becomes steady and sure.

A third mark of the work of the Holy Spirit is His connection with the church. The confes­sion "I believe in the Holy Spirit" is immedi­ately followed by: "I believe a holy, catholic, Christian Church: the communion of saints." Spiritualism brings about a separation between Spirit and Church. The Church becomes merely something external. This is wrong. The Spirit binds us to the Church, by which the Lord works salvation. He also binds people to one another in fellowship and communion.

The Spirit glorifies Christ, and by His word renews and reveals Himself in the communion of saints. If these three things are true or not, we can never say: "You are of another spirit," whatever the differences may be. Conversely, the absence of these three spiritual marks begs the question: by which spirit are you led? The season of Pentecost is the time par excellence for self-examination on this point, personally and ecclesiastically. Let us go to it.