Before embarking on an in-depth study of the Holy Spirit’s role in the New Testament church, it is necessary to identify who – not what – he is. He is, in fact, God. Rather than being some abstract power or force, he is an intelligent being. While I realize the English word “person” is somewhat inadequate in describing God, for lack of a better word, the Holy Spirit is a person in that he possesses the attributes of personality. Understanding the personality of the Spirit is key to comprehending his role in the church. If we fail to acknowledge him as a person, and instead view him simply as God’s power, we will never be able to understand his present-day function in the Body of Christ. Consider what Jesus said in John 14:
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the 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. (NIV)
Notice his usage of the personal pronouns he and him. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that the Holy Spirit is not an it. In verse 16 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is “another Counselor”. Some Greek scholars have said that the original language carries the connotation of a counselor of the same sort as Jesus. That would make perfect sense because Jesus was communicating this to his disciples just before he was to be crucified, resurrected from the dead, and ascend to heaven – a truth Jesus later expounded on in John 16.
5″Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Again, I want to reemphasize Jesus’ usage of the personal pronoun he in this passage. Here he tells his disciples that he would go away, but they would be visited by the Holy Spirit – the other counselor.
The Holy Spirit Thinks
One basic attribute of personality is the capacity to think. The Holy Spirit does exhibit this characteristic.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:27)
The Holy Spirit Hears and Speaks
There is no such thing as a counselor who does not speak. Jesus spoke about the Spirit’s ability to communicate in John 16:13.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
In Acts 13:2 we see an example of the Holy Spirit speaking.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Here the Holy Spirit is speaking on behalf of Jesus, revealing his calling of Paul and Barnabas.
The Holy Spirit can Experience Grief
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
What grieves the Holy Spirit? If we read the following verse, Ephesians 4:41, we get our answer.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.
The Holy Spirit can be Lied to
In the fifth chapter of Acts when Ananias and Sapphira sold land, and lied about giving all the money to the apostles, Peter said they lied to the Holy Spirit.
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?”
The Holy Spirit can Fellowship with Believers
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose (Philippians 2:1, 2).
Sorry, this is not a comment on your article, but I’m just telling all the brains of this outfit that it appears the forums are broken this morning.
It’s not just the forum. On the lower right hand side of the main blog page says:
WordPress database error: [Out of memory (Needed 1042440 bytes)]
SELECT DISTINCT DAYOFMONTH(post_date) FROM wp_posts WHERE MONTH(post_date) = ‘06′ AND YEAR(post_date) = ‘2008′ AND post_type = ‘post’ AND post_status = ‘publish’ AND post_date
Chris A, I’m looking forward to your series and I think it will be of personal benefit to me. I’ll be paying special attention when you get to the part about how one knows they are being “led by the Spirit” since that seems like a fuzzy area to me.
“I’ll be paying special attention when you get to the part about how one knows they are being “led by the Spirit” since that seems like a fuzzy area to me.”
I hadn’t really planned on going into that, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. I only have a few things planned, but I am playing it by ear. That’s really why I value your feedback. If I see there is a need to explore another aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry, I will pay attention to that. However, if I don’t feel I can do a certain topic justice, I may not bring it up.
For instance, I am considering exploring the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. I know there are some things I can contribute on the subject, but I am still learning. Plus, some things are better caught than taught. It is difficult to articulate the operations of the Spirit in away that is comprehended intellectually; in fact, it is impossible. The best one can hope to do is pique the interest of the hearer such that the desire for such experience creates the opportunity for the Holy Ghost to demonstrate it.
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.”
- 1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)
Without the “eager desire” there won’t be any demonstrable manifestation.