What we call “the great commission” tells us to go out into all the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) While we have no difficulty identifying and discussing the Father and the Son, we often give little attention to the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, or in Hebrew, Ruach HaKodesh. I find this odd, considering Jesus Himself said He would send us a Helper, that He may abide with you forever-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. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)
Upon repentance and baptism, we are given the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) Read that again.
We are given the Holy Spirit….God’s Holy Spirit….to dwell with us and within us!
I was blessed to have been raised in a Christian home. While still in the womb, I was taken to church. I come from a family of ministers, missionaries and elders. Furthermore, God placed within me a natural desire to seek truth. I would not call myself naturally curious. I do not need to know the ins-and-outs of most things, but I have always sought the deeper things of God. I find it surprising, if not down-right odd, that it took me nearly 43 years to be curious about this Divine Helper Jesus promised to send us, and Who has been with me since I was first baptized at the age of eleven. It has only been within the last year that I began to be curious about the third person of the Trinity. In fact, I do not think I even thought of Him as a person. I am unsure how I considered Him. He was more of an “it”, I think, in my mind. A kind of ethereal, divine state of consciousness. The Holy Spirit is what replaced our conscience upon the new birth, or so I thought. I had heard all the verses about the Holy Spirit hundreds, if not thousands, of times, yet the idea that He is a Person as God the Father and Jesus are persons, did not click with me somehow. I definitely thought it was wrong to give Him much thought. I was afraid giving the Holy Spirit any lingering consideration was disrespectful to Jesus, my Savior. Yet I knew He was “part” of God. I was concerned God would be angry if I thought about anyone but Jesus. It’s complicated, how my brain works. Nevertheless, God is full of grace, and mercy, and patiently guides us along our journey of faith and He will complete the good work He begins in us…. By way of the Holy Spirit…and it is through getting to know the third person of the Trinity that I learn even more about the character and heart of Jesus! He draws me closer to Jesus, not away! The Holy Spirit is as much God as God the Father and God the Son.
The Lord our God, the Lord is One! (Deuteronomy 6:4)
So, who is the Person of the Holy Spirit of God? The Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit I might add (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16), has quite a bit to say about the character and nature of the One whom Jesus sent to His followers, let’s take a look at just a few of the verses.
- The most direct way we can learn about the nature of the Holy Spirit is by His fruit. Just as Jesus directed us that by their fruits you shall know them (Matthew 7:16), we get a glimpse of God’s character by the fruit which is produced by His Holy Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Not only will these attributes be evident in the life of a believer, but they also reflect the nature of God.
- The Holy Spirit directs us to Jesus and all righteousness and truth!
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take off what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-15)
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. (John 15:26)
- He gifts believers with special functions in which to operate, and to edify the Body of Christ, the church.
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
(I Corinthians 12:4-11)
Some say the church no longer operates within the gifts. They claim the gifts ended upon the completion of the Bible, perhaps with the death of John. Such assumptions are not biblical and we must be cautious making such claims. After all, Jesus said:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
(John 14:12-14)
There is not a single verse which says the gifts will end at such and such time. I choose to believe Him when He said he who believes in Me and when He said He will never leave nor forsake us. If we are not seeing the manifestations of the gifts, perhaps it is because we have pushed Him aside or are somehow suppressing/hindering Him from working through us. We do, after all, keep our free will.
And Finally,
- In Him, there is freedom. In the above quote of John 16, we see the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. The Truth sets us free!
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8: 31-32)
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin.c He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:2-4)
When I began this article, I became overwhelmed. I do not know if anyone has ever written a dissertation on the Holy Spirit, but I quickly felt like this article could become one. I have shortened it immensely. We are, after all, talking about the Great I AM. We cannot possibly run out of things to say. We cannot even scratch the surface! How immeasurable are His ways! How unfathomable His Goodness and Glory!
I will end with this thought; this humbling and miraculous thought:
And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)
That, my dear brothers and sisters, is our Friend the Holy Spirit.
-Marcia Settles lives in Parksville, KY and is a member of Parksville Christian Church