The Giver of Life: The Biblical Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and Salvation, by J. V. Fesko. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2024, xxxvi + 338 pages.

Reformed theology is often known for its understanding of salvation and often critiqued for ignoring the work of the Holy Spirit. Although the Reformed emphasis on salvation is well noted, the criticism that we do not give proper place for the Spirit’s activity in the Christian life usually rests on an assumption about what the Spirit’s work must look like. J. V. Fesko’s new book shows how the Reformed view of salvation is closely tied to a rich understanding of who the Spirit is and how he is still at work among God’s people.

The We Believe series from Lexham Academic is a new multi-volume project to tackle the main heads of doctrine from a Reformed perspective. Its goal is to look at “the primary doctrines of the Christian faith as confessed in the Nicene Creed and received in the Reformed tradition” (xix). That starting point of Nicene orthodoxy is of course where this book gets its lead to look at the Spirit as “the Lord and Giver of life.” Although the Nicene Creed is detailed in its description of the person of Christ and aspects of his work, it is more minimal in describing the Spirit’s role in salvation, simply stating him as the one who gives life. Fesko’s book expands upon exactly that point to show how Reformed theology has received Nicene orthodoxy in elaborating perhaps most extensively upon that very line. Fesko shows how the doctrines for which Reformed theology is most distinctly known are implications of confessing that the Holy Spirit is responsible for conveying life to sinners redeemed by Christ.

As readers of Ordained Servant will know, Fesko has been writing on Reformed soteriology for some time, making contributions both to historical theology and constructive systematic theology. This book is arguably the synthesis of that longstanding study, as it presents a survey of Reformed soteriology and reaches new depths by relating it to the Spirit’s work both for the individual and the church. It brings together biblical theology, dogmatic construction, and perspectives for application.

One of the crowning features of this book is the chapters in part one that situate the work of the Holy Spirit in the context of redemptive history’s full scope from creation to consummation. The Spirit was not absent at creation or from the Garden as humanity began our first moments. Fesko draws upon significant themes from biblical theology to show how the interrelated motifs of temple and sonship are not only imbedded in the creation narratives but also highlight the Spirit’s presence and work. The original Garden temple was a place where the Spirit was at work. More than that, he was at work within the covenant that God had made with his people. That principle will resound across redemptive history in each administration of the covenant of grace.

In part two, Fesko turns from an emphasis on biblical theology to dogmatic development. This section weaves together how the classic elements of the Reformed ordo salutis are intimately related to the Spirit’s ongoing work in and through the church. After a chapter on the person of the Holy Spirit, the remaining chapters in this part outline how the Holy Spirit’s role from the covenant of redemption is to apply the completed work of Christ to the elect. His work is to bring the elect to faith and thereby to unite them to Christ so that they may partake of his benefits. In this section, Fesko gives a fresh statement of the classic Reformed understanding of the facets of our salvation.

Although the emphasis in part three is on how the work of the Spirit shows itself in the life of the believer and the life of the church, this theme has really appeared throughout much of the book. Fesko rightly stresses that spiritual gifts have two important features. First, they come from the Spirit. That means that we should not lose focus on the person giving these gifts by getting lost on the gifts themselves. Second, the Spirit gives these gifts so that we might bless others and so that the church might work effectively as believers mutually encourage and benefit one another. This point marks how the Spirit’s gifts are to equip us for service and to make a contribution within the life of the covenant community. Everyone has a gift and a way to bless their fellow church members.

While that point might sound rather basic, it truly highlights the profundity of Reformed pneumatology. Rather than limiting our experience of the Spirit to extraordinary and rather visible manifestations, as is the case in alternative paradigms, Fesko shows us how Reformed churches see the Spirit at work in everything we do as a church. Even the seemingly mundane aspects of helping one another in various ways as we walk with Christ are marks of the Holy Spirit empowering, encouraging, and enlivening God’s people. We should never feel as though we have gone without a taste of the Spirit’s goodness or of the power of the age to come as long as we have sat under faithful preaching of Holy Scripture. The Spirit himself is at work through the ordinary means of grace to bless Christ’s people with an experience of grace as we live life together in the church. Fesko’s book is an encouraging refresher on the majesty of the Spirit’s work in making us partakers of all that Christ has won for us.

Harrison N. Perkins is pastor of Oakland Hills Community Church (OPC), a Senior Research Fellow at the Craig Center for the Study of the Westminster Standards, online faculty in church history at Westminster Theological Seminary, and visiting lecturer in systematic theology at Edinburgh Theological Seminary. Ordained Servant Online, August–September, 2024.