Reader Questions: What Will Be the Work of the Holy Spirit in Eternity?

Published on by nickcady

There is a page on this site where readers can submit questions or suggest topics. Recently I received the following question:

Both God the Father and the Son have distinct and obvious eternal roles that we see in the Bible, but as I was thinking through the role of the Holy Spirit in eternity, I couldn’t come up with anything concrete.

Could you give a brief overview of the role of the Holy Spirit in eternity?

Great question! I would begin by stating, that from God’s perspective, eternity is not a future reality, but an ongoing reality. Jesus said (speaking to the Father): “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) In other words, eternity is the continuation of what has already been ongoing for eternity past. For that reason, there are many things about the Holy Spirit which will not change, but, there are some that will.

I laid out the distinction between the “ontological Trinity” (who the members of the Trinity are) and the “economic Trinity” (what the members of the Trinity do) in this post, which is worth checking out: The Trinity: Ontological & Economic

What will not change

For eternity, the Holy Spirit will continue to be the third person of the Trinity—fully God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son.

Furthermore, the Spirit, who now dwells in believers as a guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13–14), will continue to indwell God’s people, enabling perfect love, worship, and joy in the presence of the Triune God.

What will change

Some of the roles of the Spirit in the present age include:

  • Conviction of sin and the need for a savior
  • Empowerment for mission and fulfilling God’s callings
  • Sanctification of believers

In eternity, these roles will not continue, because they will no longer be needed. However, the indwelling Spirit will continue to unite the redeemed, not only with one another, but also with the Father and Son as we are brought into the eternal communion of the Godhead in a greater way than we experience now here on Earth.

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