Who Is the Holy Spirit?
CHAPTER 7
Chapter at a Glance
• The Holy Spirit is a real person.
• The Holy Spirit is God.
• The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.
Well Said
The Holy Spirit is not religious fervor or a righteous attitude. He is God. He usually stays in the background of our spiritual life, holding things together. But He is no less necessary than gravity to the earth. Without both, everything would go flying apart.
Discovering Pluto
At the time Pluto, our most distant planet, was discovered, we did not have a telescope powerful enough to see it. Astronomer Percival Lowell began searching from his private observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, for an unknown planet at the far edge of our solar system. He had noticed that something unseen seemed to be influencing Uranus, the most distant planet known to us at that time. He concluded that the only thing that could be making Uranus act that way was if another heavenly body, as yet unseen, were exercising gravitational pull on it. Putting two and two together, he concluded that there must be another planet out there, so far away that it was as yet unseen. His computations and deductions were vindicated when the planet was finally seen by Clyde W. Tombaugh on February 18, 1930.
Discovering Pluto is a lot like learning about the Holy Spirit. We cannot see Him, but we know of His presence because of the influence He exerts. He didn’t walk the earth, as Jesus of Nazareth did. He is not the main focus of those of all faiths who believe in a God. Indeed, many who believe in God do not believe in the Holy Spirit. The only way we conclude that there is a Holy Spirit is through the teachings of Scripture and through our experience. The Holy Spirit’s influence is evident. We can’t see Him, but we know of His presence because of the influence He exerts.
Snapshot
Who is the Holy Spirit? To some, He is not a person but an impersonal force like school spirit. To others, He is a mystery, someone or something unknown and perhaps to be feared. However, if we hold to the teachings of the Bible, the mystery is cleared up greatly and we see three major truths emerging.
The Holy Spirit Is a Real Person
My brother and his wife had two children early in their marriage, a boy and a girl. A few years later, on the birth of his third child, my brother quipped, “Well, I always said I wanted three children, one of each—a he, a she, and an it.” He said it purely for amusement and we all got a good laugh out of it. All of his children, grown now, think it is funny.
Just as my brother wanted “a he, a she, and an it,” many people see God as a He (the Father), another He (the Son), and an It (the Holy Spirit). I suspect the issue goes back to the King James translation of the Bible. God is a masculine word in the original language of the Bible; Jesus is a masculine word, too; but Spirit is a neuter word—a concept rather foreign to English. The word is literally “breath” or “wind,” though it was also translated “spirit” or “ghost” in a.d. 1611 when the King James Bible was translated. As a result, the King James Version refers to the Holy Spirit as “it.” This, plus general theological uncertainty about the Holy Spirit, has caused some to be confused as to whether He is a real person. He is, of course, and many of the more recent translations of the Bible refer to Him as “He” rather than “it,” helping to dispel the impression created by the original King James translation.
There are a number of reasons why we believe in the “personality” of the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit has the characteristics of a person. He has
• intellect (1 Cor. 2:10–11)
• emotion (Eph. 4:30)
• will (1 Cor. 12:11)
In addition, He does things that only a person would do:
• teaches us (1 Cor. 2:13)
• prays for us (Rom. 8:26)
• performs miracles (Acts 8:39)
• helps us (John 14:26)
• guides us (John 16:13)
Repeatedly, Jesus used the masculine pronoun, “He,” when referring to the Holy Spirit (John 16:7–15). Today, those who do not believe the Holy Spirit is a person usually believe that He is merely a force emanating from God the Father. This position can only be held by ignoring or tampering with some verses in the Bible. A high view of all of Scripture will lead a person to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is a person.
The Holy Spirit Is God
Not only is the Holy Spirit a person; He is also God. In Acts 5:3 Peter asked two people caught in a sin why they lied to the Holy Spirit. Then, in verse 4, he said, “You have not lied to men but to God.” Peter equated lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God.
In addition, the Holy Spirit has characteristics that only God has. He is …
• eternal (Heb. 9:14)
• all-knowing (1 Cor. 2:10–11)
• everywhere simultaneously (Ps. 139:7)
Also, He did things that only God could do. He …
• helped create the world (Gen. 1:2)
• miraculously conceived Jesus (Luke 1:35)
• imparts spiritual life (John 3:8)
• gives life to our resurrected bodies (Rom. 8:11)
Finally, the New Testament treats Him on an equal plane with God the Father and God the Son:
• The Spirit is mentioned in the Great Commission—“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” (Matt. 28:19).
• The Spirit is mentioned in Paul’s benediction to the Corinthians—“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14).
The complete evidence from Scripture leaves little doubt that the Holy Spirit is a divine person.
The Holy Spirit Is the Third Person of the Trinity
The Holy Spirit is a person; He is God; and He is, therefore, the third person of the Trinity. His role within the Trinity is not as clearly defined or understood as the Father and the Son. The role of the Father is to initiate relationships and plans, and to provide for and protect His own. The role of the Son is to respond, to trust and to obey. The role of the Holy Spirit appears to be a supporting role to the work of the Father and the Son.
John 15:26 says, “When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, … He will testify of Me.” The phrase “from the Father” has caused a good bit of trouble for some people. In the early days of the church, some people believed that it implied that the Holy Spirit was not God. However, this conclusion is not warranted and in fact flies in the face of the others passages that indicate His deity.
It is true that there is a subordination of role and relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father, just as there is a subordination of role and relationship of the Son to the Father. But it does not imply a lack of equality with the Father and Son, nor does it imply that the Holy Spirit was a created being rather than an eternal being with the Father and Son. The ancient church councils of Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451) clarified the deity and equality of the Spirit with the Father and Son, and that doctrine has been safe among Bible-believing Christians ever since.
The Holy Spirit is a real person who cares about me.
If these three things are true, then it is good news indeed. It means the Holy Spirit is a real person who cares about me, He has the power to help me, and it is the Holy Spirit’s role in the Trinity to help me.
Think about It
If you don’t believe what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit …
• You may get a twisted notion of who the Holy Spirit is, believing that He is not a real person and not God.
• You may get confused about the trustworthiness of the Bible, because the Bible treats Him as a person and as God.
• You may lose the ability to trust in Him for your daily life because you don’t realize He is there to help you.
• You may lose the peace that comes from believing that He is there, He can help, and He wants to help.
Conclusion
When I was growing up, I had two brothers, one two years older than I and one four years older. Growing up, they were always bigger than I was and knew more than I did, so I concluded that I was short and stupid. I was neither, but no one told me that. We lived in a very small town and one day when I was about six years old and my brothers were eight and ten, the new grocery store owner asked me what my name was.
“Just call me Shorty,” I said in dead earnestness.
As it turned out, all three of us are now either a little over or a little under six feet tall, and each of us possesses advanced knowledge in a specialized area. It was a revelation to me when I finally realized I was not short or stupid. There is much more equality among us now that we have grown up than there was when we were still immature.
A similar point is true with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we have an immature understanding of them, we might conclude that God the Father is the biggest and best, Jesus is second, and the Holy Spirit brings up the rear. A more mature understanding, however, leads us to a different conclusion. They are equal in personhood, though different in the roles they play. As James Packer wrote, “These three persons are the one God to whom Christians commit themselves.”
Let Me Ask You
1. Before you read this chapter, what was your understanding of who the Holy Spirit is?
2. Did your understanding change any? If so, how?
3. What seems like the most important thing to you concerning the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person?
Instant Recall
Three things are true of the Holy Spirit:
1. He is a real p_____________.
2. He is G___________.
3. He is the third person of the T__________________.
Action Line
Read: My book What You Need to Know about the Holy Spirit contains more helpful information about this subject. If you would like to learn even more about the Holy Spirit, read Keep in Step with the Spirit by James I. Packer.
Memorize: John 14:16.
Pray: Dear Lord, thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to give me new life and to be my comforter and guide. Help me to grow in my understanding of who He is and in my ability to draw on His strength to live my life. Amen
Max Anders, New Christian’s Handbook (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999), 48–55.
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