The Person of the Holy Spirit.
Who or what is the Holy Spirit?
There are differing opinions concerning The Holy Spirit. Some say the Holy Spirit is the divine influence of God.
Jehovahs Witnesses, for instance say, The holy spirit is God’s power in action, his active force. They believe that God sends out his spirit by projecting his energy to any place to accomplish his will.
Muslims, on the other hand believe The Holy Spirit (Arabic: Rūḥ al-Qudus) in the Islamic faith refers to the source of prophetic or divine revelation. The archangel Jibra'il (Gabriel) is according to Islam
responsible for carrying the revelations to prophets, thus Holy spirit and Jibra'il are often used interchangeably.
For the Mormon, the Holy Spirit is an entirely spiritual person without flesh and bones and thus different in nature from the father and the son. He emanates from the deity and is everywhere present, although only in one place at a time.
The World Wide Church of God, known also as Armstrongism, after its leader, (Herbert Armstrong) flatly denies the personality of the Holy Spirit.
For the Christian Scientist, the Holy Spirit is just the unfolding of the thoughts and mind of God, the Divine Science, but by no means a
person on its own.
Orthodox Christianity (Christians) however, believe in the Trinity, that is, in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It is important to realise that this does not mean that Christians believe in three gods – they do not. Christians believe in one God that is three persons.
Christians believe that God took human form as Jesus Christ and that God is present today through the work of the Holy Spirit.
God became flesh and dwelt among us. (Emmanuel – meaning God with us).
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The “Word” here is (Greek – Logos) and this refers to Jesus and is the second person of the Trinity.
(See John 1:1)
We see in scripture that the Triune Godhead is mentioned in the very first verse of the Bible.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The word for God in the original Hebrew is “Elohim”. Elohim is a plural noun. The “im” at the end of the word mean two or more. As in Cherub – Cherubim, Sereph – Serephim.
Again in Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
The Triune God was involved in the creation.
In John 1 it says :
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.
This verse tells us that Jesus, the Word, was the creator.
So in the beginning God, the Triune God, was involved in the creation. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
So, the Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead. Three persons, one God.
The Personality of The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a person. The third person of the Triune God.
He is a personal being, rather than an impersonal thing.
First, every pronoun used in reference to the Spirit is “he” not “it.”
John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
John 16: 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Notice, one name, three persons.
We are told the Holy Spirit can be Grieved.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
You cannot grieve a thing, an influence.
The Holy Spirit can be sinned against.
Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit;
The Holy Spirit can be lied to.
Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
He convicts of sin and righteousness and judgement.
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
He gives commands.
Acts 8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
All these characteristics are personal.
The Work of the Holy Spirit. (What does the Holy Spirit do?)
He helps us to learn and remember.
When Jesus was with His disciples, He said that he would pray that the Father would send them the Holy Spirit.
John 14:25-26 “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
The disciples needed the Holy Spirit to remind them of what Jesus had said to them when He was on earth.
Notice: “bring to your remembrance”. One can only remember what they are told or what they have read.
What we learn of God and Jesus by reading the scriptures or being taught by the use of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is the one that can bring it to our remembrance.
He Guides us into Truth and Glorifies Jesus.
It is the Holy Spirit that reveals the truth of scripture to us, by our reading or by teaching.
John 16:12-14 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth … He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” .
He gives us Power.
God has not given us a spirit of timidity.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
After Jesus died, the disciples were hiding away in fear of the Jews. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit and would receive power.
Acts 1:5-8 you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit … But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” .
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is essential for Christians to be effective witnesses for Jesus.
Peter, who had only a few days before, denied Christ three times, in the power of the Holy Spirit confronted the Jews with the Gospel.
Act 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Also, Stephen, when confronted by the Jews in Acts 6, did the same.
Act 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
He indwells us. He quickens us, (raises us from spiritual death to spiritual life).
Collosians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
When we become Christians, when we believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Saviour and we confess our sins and repent, we put our trust Him, confessing Him with our mouth, we are born again of the Spirit, we are saved.
He indwells us:
Ezekiel 36:27" I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
2 Timothy 1:14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
He quickens us:
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
John 5:21 “For as the Father raises up the dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickens whom He will.”
Psalm 80:18 declares, “quicken us and we will call upon Thy name.”
The new birth is the result of the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. Without the quickening of the Holy Spirit, we cannot believe.
He regenerates us and Renews us:
The Holy Spirit regenerates and renews the believer.
Titus 3:5 he saved us--not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy--through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
He saves us:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Titus 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,
At the moment of salvation, the Spirit baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ.
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Believers receive the new birth by the power of the Spirit.
When we believe the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts by faith.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
He Sanctifies us: (makes us Holy, makes us more like Jesus)
Romans 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
He Comforts us: (He draws along side us in times of need)
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
The Spirit, in His mighty power, fills believers with “all joy and peace” as they trust the Lord, causing believers to “overflow with hope”
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
There are many many more scriptures to show these truths concerning the Holy Spirit.
These are just a few to prove that the Holy Spirit is a real person and active in the world and in the lives of God’s people today.
