Multiple Witnesses

"We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." Acts 5:32

It is interesting that Peter refers to the Holy Spirit as a witness of Jesus. When he does this, Peter is in good company...Jesus does much the same thing in the gospel of John. But what does it really mean that the Holy Spirit is a witness?

The most basic meaning of witness is that you saw something. You witnessed it to use a circular definition. In this sense of course the Holy Spirit is a witness. If the Holy Spirit is God then essentially he is a witness to everything since God is omniscient. Pointing out this aspect of the witness of the Holy Spirit is not particularly meaningful.

The idea of witness also carries with it a legal connotation both in our culture and the culture of Acts. In fact under Jewish law two witnesses were required for conviction in capital cases and was in many ways the standard of establishing truth. So in part Peter is saying here that it is not just him that is witnessing but also the Holy Spirit. So the truth is not just established on his witness but also on a second witness who just happens to be God.

Even more than that though Peter is speaking to individuals who are being prompted by the Holy Spirit to believe. The witness is not just that the Holy Spirit knows about Jesus, but he is also moving in the hearts of some of Peter's audience to accept Peter's message. This is a profound realization for us. When we do evangelism it is sometimes tempting to think that we invite the Holy Spirit into what we are doing. Instead, the Holy Spirit invites us to participate in the witness that he is already doing in people's hearts and lives.

I once heard some really good advice about evangelism and conversion. When we get the privilege to see or be part of someone coming to Christ, it is a really good idea to ask what the path has been for that person becoming a believer. More often than not we will find out we have played only a small part. We will see all the ways that the Holy Spirit had been pursuing the person and guiding them to faith. We very often had only a small part and get the benefit of "reaping where we did not sow."