Ethics and the Holy Spirit as Reconciler
This is part 2 of a 3-part series reviewing Karl Barth's 1929 lecture reproduced in the book The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life, the Theological Basis of Ethics. For part 1, click here. For part 3, click here. We looked last time at what Barth says about the Spirit as Creator. Now we'll see what he says about the Holy Spirit as Reconciler, working to make us "fit for God" (p. 20).
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| Descent of the Holy Spirit (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) |
We must understand the Holy Spirit...as not simply some sort of spirit like the spirit of the true, the good, the beautiful, but as being the...Holy Spirit who is striving with man's hostility in this battle and victory of grace.... This operation of the Spirit has to be seen in its radical and inevitable erection of a barrier against all that is our own action. When man's own action, whatever its pretense or form, is made into a condition with regard to fellowship with God, then the Holy Spirit has been forgotten.... (p. 20)Thus we err grievously when we place human effort alongside the work of the Spirit as the basis for fellowship with God. Though a "works-righteousness" might aim to uphold grace, in fact, it denies the sovereignty of grace, making it "null and void" (p. 23). Barth comments further:
When God's grace and man's doing are looked upon as two sides of an affair, where one can turn it round and say, instead of the words "Holy Spirit," with just as good emphasis, "religious fervor," "moral earnestness," or even "man's creative activity"--then it is a simple fact that man has been handed over...to his sins. Sin is not taken in deadly earnest when it is regarded as something that can be radically overcome by the enthusiasm of "good intentions," and then, by and by, can be removed by practical activity. You may cure a wound by such treatment but you cannot restore a dead man to life." (p. 23)
A dead person can only be...resurrected, and by grace sin can only be forgiven... We are compelled to believe this as God's action, without our seeing it. (p. 24)Sanctification
And so Barth emphasizes that humans (sinners all) are transformed--they become ethical beings in fellowship with God--only and precisely by the grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in reconciliation. Do we then have no part in this work? As we saw, Barth pointed out that dead men cannot raise themselves and thus cannot sanctify themselves. Only God can do that. And he does! Just as it is God who justifies us entirely by grace, so too it is by grace that he sanctifies us--it is his work, in Christ, by the Holy Spirit.
Repentance
The Spirit's work of sanctification includes our repentance (the changing of our mind toward God). Again, this is the Holy Spirit's work in us, convicting us of sin: "Man, even the Christian man, is not aware that he is a sinner, particularly a sinner against God" (p. 27). As noted above, our greatest sin is unbelief--a refusal "to live by God's forgiving mercy" (p. 28) and instead live by our own efforts. This works-righteousness is the most egregious expression of our unbelief (p. 28). And the Spirit leads us to repent of this as well--it is his gracious work upon us and in us. Repentance is "not an affair that we can accomplish on our own resources." (p, 28)
Faith
And so it is with faith. It too is God's gift to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in reconciliation. This gift of faith is assurance flowing from sure confidence (trust) in the Word of God that declares that our sins have been taken away and that Christ's own righteousness has been imputed to us apart from any works or merit of our own.
And so we understand that all aspects of our sanctification are unmerited and unearned. Our personal efforts do not bring them about. Indeed, from first to last, all aspects of our salvation (repentance and faith included), are the gracious work of the Holy Spirit upon us, in us and with us (p, 29).
Works (Christian living)
We thus must conclude that what gains the victory in our lives over sin and death, and transforms us into ethical people, is not our own works, but the Holy Spirit who graciously is at work in us, producing faith, joy and assurance, despite the presence of doubt and temptation (pp. 31-32). Though this work is often hidden to us, it is a stunning miracle that brings forth in us action (works/ethical behavior), for the Spirit is pouring into us his gifts and guidance, yielding the Christian life. As Barth notes, this life of faith "is active"--it yields an activity that when truly Christian, "takes place in the Holy Spirit" (pp. 32-33).
This life of sharing in the faith of Christ (see Galatians 2:20, KJV) through the Holy Spirit cannot be reduced to a formula, a set of points, or a list of laws. As we look at any particular human act (work), "only in the Holy Spirit is it decided whether it is obedience [to God's word] or disobedience" (p36). Stated more emphatically, "the Holy Spirit is absolutely and alone the umpire with reference to what is or is not Christian life" (p. 37).
And thus, when it comes to ethics--Christian living--we seek after the life and love of God made present to us in the work of the Holy Spirit our Reconciler. And so we pray, come Holy Spirit and show me Jesus!
Next time we'll look at what Barth says about ethics and the ministry of the Holy Spirit as Redeemer.