The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is an integral, supernatural element of the Trinity. Neither God nor Jesus created the Holy Spirit for the Spirit is One with God, yet a Divine Person, truly God, distinct from the Father and the Son. All of which is sacrosanct evidence of the Holy Trinity. As God and Jesus are eternal, so is the Holy Spirit. This, blended unity of perfection of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is the Oneness of the Divine Godhead.

The Holy Spirit is so monumental to and for the salvation of the entire human race—that God Himself introduces Him to us in the second line of Genesis. “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.” Throughout the King James version of the Old and New Testaments, the word “Spirit”—in capitalized form, appears over 520 times. Other, various titles describing the Spirit refer to particular characteristics like “Breath Of The Almighty” as found in Job 33, or “Spirit of Truth” in John 16, and “Spirit of holiness in Romans 8.

In Revelation, the last book of our Holy Bible, the Spirit and the bride say, “Come! And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

The Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is a bearer of many gifts, strength, and wisdom to strengthen and fortify Christians. These empowerments from the Spirit are obviously from God so faithful Christians can accomplish what He has called us to do. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Those freely given gifts of the Holy Spirit are components of everything “words, wisdom, and abilities” we need to carry out His plans for our lives and others. The Holy Spirit empowers God’s people. Zechariah 4:6 reads, “Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, “This is the word of the Lord... ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ saith the Lord of hosts.”

1 John 5:7 says: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Godhead, and as such has many roles and purposes. So, let me share a few facts that you may or may not have known.

We need to recognize that the Holy Spirit can blend into any form, even an actual person whenever He wished to do so. Although the Holy Spirit has apparently never appeared on earth as a human, on three occasions the Spirit has entered an existing human body to speak and act to bring deliverance, affirmation, or judgment to bear in specific situations. The Bible mentions the apostles were spoken to by the Holy Spirit. Once, He spoke to separate Saul and Barnabas for the continuation of the ministry. There is also the account of the Holy Spirit forbidding Paul to go to Asia to preach the gospel. Paul also stated “the Holy Spirit was continually telling him, in city after city, what would happen if he traveled to Jerusalem. The Bible does not state exactly how that occurred.

That leads me to wonder about Balaam's donkey whom he struck three times and the animal spoke back. We can read in Numbers 22, how an angel armed with a sword blocked the path of that pagan prophet. We can read how an angel of the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, but it seems to me that the actual rebuttal from the jackass may have been spoken by the Holy Spirit. However, I admit, that there is no Scripture supporting that position, so we must leave it at that.

Do you think of the Holy Spirit as a person? Many people mistakenly believe the Holy Spirit is just a kind of unseen power or an invisible force. But the Bible tells us that he is a person, and not just any person—but God Himself. The Personhood/Godhood of the Holy Spirit is affirmed by His many works. We know this because we can label a being as a person once the attributes of a person are unmistakably demonstrated. Here are some evidentiary examples. The Holy Spirit has an intellectual mind, “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27). The Holy Spirit reasons with His mind and set his mind to perform God's missions. The Holy Spirit reveals He has a will. The Bible says, “One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things. The Spirit decides what (blessing) each person will receive” (1Cor 12:11). The Spirit decides and does what He chooses to do, just like any other person. The Holy Spirit speaks as most people do. There are several biblical references to His having spoken. One example is, Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot” (Acts 8:29).