We reformed and covenantal Presbyterians love doctrine (right thinking). Some say our favorite verse is 1 Corinthians 14:40, "But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." Nonetheless, we realize that our favorite books about doctrine begin and end with the Spirt revealing God through Christ.

The Spirit, who is from God, helps us understand the doctrines that our Lord has freely given us. "We speak not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things [because] we have the mind of Christ." See 1 Corinthians 2:12-16.

For many centuries, saints before us have dedicated their lives to Spirit-led prayer and Bible study to discern how the mind of Christ can guide us now and in future centuries. Most influential have been John Calvin and the Westminster Divines. Benjamin Warfield, the great professor of theology at Princeton Seminary, writes, "above everything else [Calvin] deserves, therefore, the great name of the theologian of the Holy Spirit"^[1].

John Calvin inspired the Westminster Assembly of Divines, a council of theologians who began meeting in 1643 to prove if/how all 39 articles of the Church of England could be proven from the Bible ^[2] Between August, 1644, and December, 1646, the Westminster Assembly wrote 33 chapters that systematically summarized fundamental doctrines of Scripture. These "Westminster Standards" became the "subordinate standards (secondary to Scripture) throughout the Presbyterian churches of the world." ^[3] These standards are described as "Spirit-drenched" because of how they strongly affirm the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and spirit of adoption for all children of God. ^[4]

While Calvin and the Divines emphasized the work of the Spirit in the 1500s and 1600s, many modern theologians have worked to make the doctrines of the Calvin and the Divines more relevant in the modern era. In 1903 for example, a new Chapter 34 was added to the Westminster Confession by some Presbyterians who wanted a clearer (and possibly unnecessary) reaffirmation of teachings about the Spirit in Chapters 1 to 33. This new chapter summarized teachings about the personal and corporate work of the Holy Spirit:

• Personal Relationships. He regenerates men by his grace, convicts them of sin, moves them to repentance, and persuades and enables them to embrace Jesus Christ by faith. He unites all believers to Christ, dwells in them as their Comforter and Sanctifier, gives to them the Spirit of adoption and prayer, and performs all those gracious offices by which they are sanctified and sealed unto the day of redemption. ^[1]
• Corporate Relationships. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit all believers being vitally united to Christ, who is the head, are thus united one to another in the Church, which is his body. He calls and anoints ministers for their holy office, qualifies all other officers in the Church for their special work, and imparts various gifts and graces to its members. He gives efficacy to the Word and to the ordinances of the gospel. By him the Church will be preserved, increased, purified, and at last made perfectly holy in the presence of God.^[5]

While conservative Presbyterian denominations still affirm the 33 original chapters in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the 34th chapter is subject to debate.^[6] Modern theologians continue to seek better ways to encourage spirit-filled living in our personal and church relationships. The books to the left provide valuable guidance from all modern believers seeking Spirt-guided relationships with God through Christ.

Endnotes

[1] https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/ warfield/warfield_calvintheologian.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Westminster_Assembly#CITEREFVan_Dixhoorn2004
[3] http://www.cmfnow.com/articles/pe170.htm
[4] http://www.dr-fnlee.org/the-holy-spirit-and-the-calvinistic-westminster-confession/
[5] http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappb.html
[6] https://tinyurl.com/bk-FeskoSpiritAge