THE SPIRIT’S PERSONALITY
In many Christian circles the Holy Spirit is either neglected, forgotten, or misunderstood. The One given, to unite the body of Christ is the center of controversy … So often Christian work is so rigidly programmed that it seems we need no longer depend on Him -- yet Jesus said, "Without Me you can do nothing. "
The late Dr. A. W. Tozer, author and preacher, said, "If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference ."
As we mentioned last week, some people have the notion that God’s Holy Spirit is a glorified “it.” Neither is he this mysterious and nebulous influence that somehow affects the life of a Christian.
The Holy Spirit is a divine person that works in conjunction with God and Christ. He is a person equal in every way with God the Father and God the Son.
Before his death, Jesus advised his disciples, “These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you. But 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 works of the Spirit proclaim his personality. God’s Spirit speaks and teaches as John 16:3 NASB records, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
The Holy Spirit is also our guide as we see in John 16:12-13 CEV which reads, “I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn't speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen.”
We also learn that the Holy Spirit is our guide that sometimes forbids certain actions. Notice Acts 16:6-7 CEV, “Paul and his friends went through Phrygia and Galatia, but the Holy Spirit would not let them preach in Asia. After they arrived in Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not let them.”
Another aspect of the Holy Spirit is that he searches. 1 Corinthians 2:10 CEV reads, “God's Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God.” When our minds are in tune with the Spirit’s mind we can better understand the deeper matters of God’s will for us. Romans 8:27 reads, “All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.”
I cannot know everything that is going on in your personality but God does through the workings of his Holy Spirit. God is concerned about the trials we continually face. For non-believers, this is often difficult to understand and quite frankly we too do not always understand.
The Apostle Paul urged the prayers of Roman Christians on his behalf. He said, “My friends, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that comes from the Holy Spirit, I beg you to pray sincerely with me and for me” (Romans 15:30 CEV). This is an urgent, personal plea from Paul, not an authoritative command. We never know the power of God’s Spirit working in our concerns and prayers.
In 1 Corinthians 12:11 Paul says that all of the gifts that he mentions in the chapter are the work of God’s Holy Spirit. In the church, unity and diversity must be balanced by maturity, and that maturity comes with love. It is not enough to have the gift of the Spirit and gifts from the Spirit. We must also have the graces of the Spirit as we use our gifts to serve one another .
God’s goodness is seen way back in the book of Nehemiah when it says, “Your gentle Spirit instructed them, and you gave them manna to eat and water to drink. ”
Because of God’s great compassion he did not abandon the children of Israel in the desert. His gentle Spirit provided spiritual instruction while God provided for their physical needs.
God’s Spirit can suffer slights and injuries that can only be assigned to personality. He can be grieved as we are warned in Ephesians 4:30 GNT when it says, “And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free.” Bitterness not only grieves the Holy Spirit, but also Christ and God the Father.
Hebrews 10:29 CEV informs us that we can insult the Holy Spirit – it says, “But it is much worse to dishonor God's Son and to disgrace the blood of the promise that made us holy. And it is just as bad to insult the Holy Spirit, who shows us mercy.” Sometimes our arrogance and pride dishonors Christ, profanes his sacrifice and insults the Holy Spirit.
And, of course, no discussion of the Holy Spirit would be complete without the mention of blasphemy and the “unpardonable sin.” Matthew 12:31-32 NIV has been the source of a lot of anxiety and concern for many Christians. The text reads, “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Notice that Jesus prefaces his remarks with the assurance that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. Jesus makes it clear that the blasphemy that will not be forgiven is not the mere formation of words or thoughts, or deeds done in ignorance, but rather a hardened form of opposition that attributes the works of God’s Spirit to Satan, and thereby rejects God’s offer of salvation through Christ Jesus .
This was a denunciation of the Pharisees willful, slanderous and obstinate rejection of God’s Spirit and his work in the life of a Christian.
Another grievance that mankind can make against the Holy Spirit is rejection. Acts 7:51 CEV, reads, “You stubborn and hardheaded people! You are always fighting against the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors did.” These were the words of Stephen to the Jewish religious leaders because they rejected and resisted the work of the Holy Spirit.
Also, the Holy Spirit can be lied to – remember Ananias and Sapphira’s escapade? Peter’s pointed question in Acts 5:3 CEV was, “Why has Satan made you keep back some of the money from the sale of the property? Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit?” This was open rebellion to the Holy Spirit and his work in the early church. Lying is bad when done among humans but to lie to God’s Holy Spirit is shameful.
There is also an eternal nature to the Holy Spirit, just as there is with God and Christ. Hebrews 9:14 NIV states, “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!” The Spirit could not dwell within us if Jesus Christ had not paid for our sins and provided a way for eternal reward.
And, like God, his Holy Spirit is omnipotent. God’s Spirit has frequently been associated with power throughout the Old Testament. There are numerous examples of God’s Spirit working powerfully in the lives of men and women of yesteryear. However, today his Spirit since Pentecost has been spiritual and not physical – his power is for the “inner being” rather than the outer. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16 stated, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”
Also, God’s Spirit is omnipresent. Psalm 139:7 NIV ask, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” God’s Spirit guides us even in the unknown and his hand supports us in our trials and circumstances of life. His divinity was present at creation and continues with us today.
Part of his work is regeneration. Titus 3:5 NIV informs us, “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” We are saved not just because of God’s kindness and love but also his mercy. We cannot save ourselves and with God’s gift we are regenerated with the aid of his Spirit. We are made ‘new’ by the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit.
God’s Spirit was at work even at the resurrection of Jesus. Romans 8:11 NIV informs us, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” If God’s Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, he will surely raise us when Christ returns.
The Holy Spirit is an individual person just like God and Christ. Each one is a divine living being capable of speaking, acting, influencing, blessing, reconciling, transforming, loving and glorifying . The Holy Spirit then is not an “it” or a thing but a glorious person – God’s Holy Spirit!
In both the Old as well as the New Testament we find that the Holy Spirit is presented as the organizing, life-imparting, law-giving and guiding personality and representative of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is prominent and present in all the work of God and Christ today concerning the redemption of mankind.
The Bible is certainly a product and blessing of the Holy Spirit. Common, ordinary men, through the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit wrote both the Old and New Testaments.
In the patriarchal dispensation, God chose to speak to men and women from the cloud on Mt Sinai. From the glory of heaven, Jesus full of grace, chose to teach, suffer, die, and rise again so men and women might have abundant life. And today, we have the Holy Spirit here with us carrying on the work of God and Christ, renewing and sanctifying Christians and the church, which is the body of Christ.
Together, in divine cooperation, each has interacted since creation to draw men and women back to God. God, our Creator longs for relationship with each one he has created – that is the story of the Old Testament. Jesus, who willing came to earth as God and man died and was resurrected to provide salvation that only grace can supply.
And today, we have God’s Holy Spirit directing and guiding us in ways that we cannot totally perceive. Each member of the Godhead seems to have yielded to the other in their prominent work here among us.
It is the Spirit of God who breaks through and demolishes our sinful confidence in our own ability, and in doing so, does for us what we ourselves could never do – sets us free from all condemnation through the death and resurrection of Christ, and brings us safe into the family of God where there is life and peace.
The New Testament clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit has an essential and indispensable role in our salvation. The Holy Spirit is no add-on to the Gospel, nor a second or higher step to which we ascend beyond the Gospel and in addition to Christ; rather the Holy Spirit works in unity of will and purpose with the Father and Son to bring us to salvation. Just as salvation is not possible apart from Christ so salvation is not possible apart from the Holy Spirit.
Have you responded to God’s love, grace and mercy? Have you allowed the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood cleanse you from all sin? Has God’s Spirit prompted you to a life of service in God’s kingdom? Is He nudging you this morning to make a decision to follow Jesus?
If we can assist you in becoming a child of God today, it would be an honor to hear you confess that Jesus is Lord of your life and baptize you for the remission of your sins.
If that is your need, we pray that God’s Spirit will empower you to come forward as we sing a song of encouragement.
Resources used:
John 15:5
The Holy Spirit, Alan Redpath in "Christian Life" magazine, Christianity Today, Vol. 29, no. 18
John 14:25-26 NKJV
Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – New Testament, Volume 1.
Nehemiah 9:20 CEV
The College Press NIV Commentary – Matthew
Garth W Black, Empowered by the Grace of God, Mustang, OK, Tate Publishing, 2014
