Here at the beginning of 2024 I’ve been preaching a series on The Holy Spirit at Immanuel. Each week we’ve tried to focus on one aspect of the person and work of the Holy Spirit – who he is, what he’s done in the past, how he works in the world, and how he works in the lives of believers. Additionally, each week we’ve tried to be grounded in a particular text of Scripture even as we tried to understand that particular text in light of the full counsel of God’s Word. In this series I have been greatly helped by several commentaries, and I have been greatly helped by several books about the Holy Spirit. Here are five in particular that have proved helpful in my preparation.

The Holy Spirit, by Sinclair Ferguson … This book is part of the well-respected Contours of Christian Theology series. Ferguson is a well-respected theologian and preacher. This is a very helpful book with rock solid theology.

“Because the Spirit works in us we are able freely to respond. Sovereign divine activity does not negate the necessity for human activity; rather it grounds in and renders it possible.”

The Holy Spirit, Ferguson

The Mystery of the Holy Spirit, by RC Sproul … Sproul had a unique ability to clearly communicate complex ideas to the average lay person. This book stands alongside The Holiness of God and The Glory of Christ as a trilogy on the Trinity.

“We conclude then that the Bible clearly ascribes deity to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is a person; the Spirit is God.”

The Mystery of the Holy Spirit, Sproul

Keep in Step with the Spirit, by JI Packer … This is actually the first book I ever read on the Holy Spirit. Packer – the author of Knowing God – lays out a robust doctrine of the Spirit while also responding to some of the errors of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches.

“No experience just by happening can authenticate itself as sent by God to further his work of grace. The mere fact that a Christian has an experience does not make it a Christian experience.”

Keep In Step with the Holy Spirit, Packer

The Holy Spirit: An Introduction, by Fred Sanders … This is the most recent book I’ve read on the Holy Spirit, and I’m thankful to have read it. This is a thought provoking book that sets the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in a Trinitarian context.

“The Holy Spirit points in three different directions: he points to the Son, he points back to us, and he points to all truth.”

The Holy Spirit: An Introduction, Sanders

The Holy Spirit, by Gregg Allison and Andreas Kostenberger … This book is the longest of the five on this list. Part I is devoted to a Biblical Theology of the Holy Spirit, and Part II is devoted to a Systematic Theology of the Holy Spirit.

“The method that we use prioritizes biblical revelation as it presents the person and work of the Holy Spirit; this God-breathed Scriptures possesses ultimate authority in the construction of our pneumatology.”

The Holy Spirit, Allison and Kostenberger