The idea of limiting the Holy Spirit comes up frequently in writings and especially discussions concerning spiritual gifts. The concern is typically that some idea expressed limits the freedom of the Holy Spirit to act in whatever manner He chooses. The most frequent topic that [produces the expression] is the possibility that there is a structured or ordered manner in which the Holy Spirit gives the gifts, especially a limit to the number of gifts a person can receive. The issue at stake, however, is whether a hypothesized structure in the gifts has been accurately identified or not. A proposed order in the gifts is either true or not, and the charge of limiting the Holy Spirit has no meaning in this context.
To illustrate the principle we can look at the visible world which has many overt examples of order and structure. One is that different adults have different heights and we don’t observe drastic change in these heights over short periods of time. We could, though, ask the question “What if the Holy Spirit needed a five foot five inch man to be seven feet tall to accomplish His purpose?” The very absurdity of the question illustrates the point. The Holy Spirit never needs someone to be other than what God has created. He simply works within the created order to accomplish His ends.
Although some structure is visible and obvious, some is invisible and difficult to discern, but no less true. Order in the spiritual realm is ascertained first through revelation, and second through reason. Reasoned attempts to identify this order should not be confused with limiting the Spirit. Hypothesized order in the spiritual realm is not nor can be limiting to the Spirit. We can only limit the Spirit by not having faith that He can fulfill God’s Word and answer prayer (even then we don’t really limit Him, but He limits Himself in response to us and for our benefit). We can say that a hypothetical order has been incorrectly identified and is therefore untrue, but the charge of limiting the Spirit is out of place in the discussion. If we find this formulation of structure is not supported by biblical and other evidence, we abandon it as insufficiently supported. If, though, we find it supported by the evidence, where does the idea of limiting the Holy Spirit enter the picture? We could just as easily respond that by believing the gifts must lack structure we are limiting the Holy Spirit in that we are assuming that He cannot work within a structure but must be free of structure to accomplish His will.
Order in the invisible world is no different than the more obvious order in the physical world. It is the normal order of things which God typically works through to perform His will, but which He can override when He desires, e.g. Acts 8: 39-40. It is unlikely, even in these cases, that the Spirit of God ever needs to transcend the created order, but does so only for our instruction.
To illustrate the principle we can look at the visible world which has many overt examples of order and structure. One is that different adults have different heights and we don’t observe drastic change in these heights over short periods of time. We could, though, ask the question “What if the Holy Spirit needed a five foot five inch man to be seven feet tall to accomplish His purpose?” The very absurdity of the question illustrates the point. The Holy Spirit never needs someone to be other than what God has created. He simply works within the created order to accomplish His ends.
Although some structure is visible and obvious, some is invisible and difficult to discern, but no less true. Order in the spiritual realm is ascertained first through revelation, and second through reason. Reasoned attempts to identify this order should not be confused with limiting the Spirit. Hypothesized order in the spiritual realm is not nor can be limiting to the Spirit. We can only limit the Spirit by not having faith that He can fulfill God’s Word and answer prayer (even then we don’t really limit Him, but He limits Himself in response to us and for our benefit). We can say that a hypothetical order has been incorrectly identified and is therefore untrue, but the charge of limiting the Spirit is out of place in the discussion. If we find this formulation of structure is not supported by biblical and other evidence, we abandon it as insufficiently supported. If, though, we find it supported by the evidence, where does the idea of limiting the Holy Spirit enter the picture? We could just as easily respond that by believing the gifts must lack structure we are limiting the Holy Spirit in that we are assuming that He cannot work within a structure but must be free of structure to accomplish His will.
Order in the invisible world is no different than the more obvious order in the physical world. It is the normal order of things which God typically works through to perform His will, but which He can override when He desires, e.g. Acts 8: 39-40. It is unlikely, even in these cases, that the Spirit of God ever needs to transcend the created order, but does so only for our instruction.
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