Who is The Holy Spirit?
If you want to understand who God is, you need to understand all of who God is. Getting your head around the difference between God the Father and Jesus is one thing. But many struggle to grasp who the Holy Spirit is in a way they could explain clearly to someone else.
God is one God, but three persons. That’s not a simple idea to get to grips with.
When theologians speak of the three-in-oneness of God, they refer to Him as “the Trinity.” The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.
Understanding who the Holy Spirit is, the place He holds within the Holy Trinity and the role He plays in individual lives is vital to anyone exploring what it means to become a Christian and anyone trying to follow Jesus.
Knowing the Holy Spirit will radically change your life because He is the way you will experience the life of God within you.
So let’s take a deep dive into this topic and see how He can transform you.
When Christians talk about God coming to live in their hearts, it’s the Holy Spirit they are describing. The Bible describes the Spirit as the “breath” of God.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you." And with that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
(John 20:21-22)
So just as you need oxygen to live in your human body, if you trust in Christ, you are born again in a spiritual sense and the Holy Spirit becomes the source of new life God places within you. You no longer just relate to God as a higher power outside of yourself. God transforms you from within so that you become more like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in the life of a believer. But this does not mean God separates Himself into three separate parts.
God is three distinct persons who somehow are one in substance. God is unique in this way, so it’s not surprising that it takes some work to come to terms with this truth.
The Bible helps us to break down the mysteries of the Holy Spirit into ideas we can grasp.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON -
Often, people describe the Holy Spirit as a presence or an "it." But the Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit has thoughts and a will.
The Holy Spirit can be grieved and even insulted. But He can also be pleased as we rely on Him to give us the strength to live in a way that’s consistent with God’s plan for us.
Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
(Galatians 6:8, New Living Translation)
The following verses from the Bible help us see the truth about the individual nature of the Holy Spirit:
The more you let this sink in, the easier it will be to give the Holy Spirit the place of authority He deserves in your life.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD HIMSELF -
The Holy Spirit is an equal among and a true member of what is known as “the Godhead.” That’s just another way of describing the three-in-oneness of God.
The Godhead is made up of three equal persons living in perfect unity with each other. Believing this is vital to understanding the powerful role the Spirit plays in the lives of Christians and the way God is active in the world.
The Bible verses in this section show that the Holy Spirit is God. They describe Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit interacting and existing in community with one another.
God is one God, but three persons. That’s not a simple idea to get to grips with.
When theologians speak of the three-in-oneness of God, they refer to Him as “the Trinity.” The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.
Understanding who the Holy Spirit is, the place He holds within the Holy Trinity and the role He plays in individual lives is vital to anyone exploring what it means to become a Christian and anyone trying to follow Jesus.
Knowing the Holy Spirit will radically change your life because He is the way you will experience the life of God within you.
So let’s take a deep dive into this topic and see how He can transform you.
When Christians talk about God coming to live in their hearts, it’s the Holy Spirit they are describing. The Bible describes the Spirit as the “breath” of God.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you." And with that He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
(John 20:21-22)
So just as you need oxygen to live in your human body, if you trust in Christ, you are born again in a spiritual sense and the Holy Spirit becomes the source of new life God places within you. You no longer just relate to God as a higher power outside of yourself. God transforms you from within so that you become more like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in the life of a believer. But this does not mean God separates Himself into three separate parts.
God is three distinct persons who somehow are one in substance. God is unique in this way, so it’s not surprising that it takes some work to come to terms with this truth.
The Bible helps us to break down the mysteries of the Holy Spirit into ideas we can grasp.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON -
Often, people describe the Holy Spirit as a presence or an "it." But the Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit has thoughts and a will.
The Holy Spirit can be grieved and even insulted. But He can also be pleased as we rely on Him to give us the strength to live in a way that’s consistent with God’s plan for us.
Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
(Galatians 6:8, New Living Translation)
The following verses from the Bible help us see the truth about the individual nature of the Holy Spirit:
- “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
- “‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love Him — these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:9-12).
- “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
- “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
- “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” (John 14:16).
- “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
- “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
The more you let this sink in, the easier it will be to give the Holy Spirit the place of authority He deserves in your life.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD HIMSELF -
The Holy Spirit is an equal among and a true member of what is known as “the Godhead.” That’s just another way of describing the three-in-oneness of God.
The Godhead is made up of three equal persons living in perfect unity with each other. Believing this is vital to understanding the powerful role the Spirit plays in the lives of Christians and the way God is active in the world.
The Bible verses in this section show that the Holy Spirit is God. They describe Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit interacting and existing in community with one another.
- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
- “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “‘You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:9-12).
- “God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us” (Acts 15:8).
- “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
- “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33).
