Who Is The Holy Spirit?

Have you ever wanted to get to know the Holy Spirit? When we take some time to study Scripture, we are able to see the truth about who the Holy Spirit is.

In the book of John, we see that the Holy Spirit has a personality; He is not merely an impersonal force. In chapters 14, 15, and 16, Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as “He.”

…The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.

John 15:17

Jesus also referred to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter or the Counselor (John 14:16 and 15:26).

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.

John 14:16

This title conveys the ideas of advising, exhorting, comforting, strengthening, interceding, and encouraging.

It’s hard to have the same fruit as the early Church, when we value a book that they didn’t have more than the Holy Spirit they did have.

To have a relationship with the Holy Spirit we must understand a few core truths about Him.

3 Truths About the Holy Spirit

1. The Holy Spirit is God

In The Old Testament, we see that He is called God.

For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

Psalm 95:7

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 17:7

In the New Testament, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as God.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Matthew 12:28

Apostle Peter also called the Holy Spirit God.

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

Acts 5:3-4

Divine attributes are ascribed to Him:

He is omnipresent (everywhere at once).

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,  even there your hand will guide me your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalms 139:7-10

He is omniscient (knows everything).

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” are 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.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

He is omnipotent (all-powerful).

When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Psalm 104:30

He is eternal.

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Hebrews 9:14

Creation is ascribed to Him.

By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

Job 26:13

When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Psalm 104:30

He is a worker of miracles.

to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:9,11

Worship is required and ascribed to Him.

And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Isaiah 6:3

What does that mean? Many Christians treat Him as third in rank of importance. Every person of the Trinity is equally important. The Holy Spirit was there at the beginning.

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 1:2

When the human race continued in its evil ways, the Lord cut our years because “His Spirit shall not strive with man forever” (Genesis 6:3). The Lord turned against Israel because they grieved His Spirit (Israel 63:10). Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit in His life on earth from birth to resurrection. When the Pharisees credited Jesus’ miracles to the devil, He revealed something shocking, that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would not be forgiven even if the blasphemy against Him or the Father was.

Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.

Mark 3:28

That’s the value of the Holy Spirit. He is God. God is worthy of worship, adoration, and exaltation.

Read: Did You Know This About The Holy Spirit?

2. The Holy Spirit is a Person

What makes someone a person? Is it life? Trees have life but they are not people. A person is a being with a personality. A person is a being with a soul. The soul is the mind, emotions, and will.

We know God has a soul when He expresses pleasure in Jesus’ baptism.

Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

Matthew 12:18

Jesus has a soul. We see this example when He spoke the words,

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.

Matthew 26:38

We also see that the Holy Spirit has a soul because we know He has a mind.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 8:27

He also has a will.

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

Acts 16:6

And we also see He is described to have, “gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:23).

The Holy Spirit is a person, not just a power.

We should not refer to Him as “it.”

He is not a force or a feeling, He is a real person. We can have a relationship with Him just like we do with any other person.

3. The Holy Spirit is Here

I read a quote that said,

“If Jesus could physically minister 14 hours a day, He would see 840 people for 60 seconds. It would take 1,190 days (3.26 years) to see 1 million people and 2,147,239 years to see 7 billion people.”

John Bevere

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

John 16:7

Read that again. It is to YOUR ADVANTAGE that I go away. We would not have access to the Holy Spirit if Jesus had not departed.

I got baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues at the age of 16. But I did not see much change in my life. I still struggled with the same things, and I didn’t have power in my life. I was confused because Scripture promised power when the Holy Spirit comes, not just tongues.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

I felt like I only got tongues and not power. It was only a decade later that after much reading and praying, the reality that the Holy Spirit is a person and that He is here now on earth became a revelation to me. I knew it theoretically, but when it became a revelation it changed my life. I believe in tongues and speak in them a lot, but more than that, I have fallen in love with the Holy Spirit.

I used to only believe in the God who lives in heaven, but now I also believe in the God who lives within me.

the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:17

What did you learn about the Holy Spirit when you grew up?