Basic Teachings V (The Holy Spirit)

The Holy Spirit is the most difficult of the three Persons of the godhead to collect information on since He is the Author of the Bible and is too humble to reveal Himself directly (2 Pet. 1:21).  The Bible was written to reveal Jesus, after all (Luke 24:27; John 20:31).  With that difficulty in mind, here’s what I’ve found.

Sometimes we forget the Holy Spirit is a Person just as is Jesus and the Father and like the Father, He is purely Spirit.  He speaks (Ezekiel 2:1; Acts 13:2).  He teaches us (John 14:26), He directs actions (Acts 15:28), He can be lied to (Acts 5:3-4), He intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26-27), He is omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10), omniscient (1 Cor. 2:10-11), omnipotent (Luke 1:35), and He is identified as God (Acts 5:3,4).

So, the Holy Spirit is a Person, God Himself, and third Person of the trinity.  But how does He act in our lives?  Actually much of our relationship with God is dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit.  He seals us the moment we accept Christ as our Savior (Eph. 1:13), and we are sealed until we receive our inheritance in the kingdom of God.  The Holy Spirit is a gift to believers from the Father (Luke 11:13).

Because of this, we live in a wonderful time, we Christians.  In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit could be taken from the believer (Judges 16:20; Ps. 51:11).  Samson saw this as the Lord withdrew His spirit, and Samson fell into the hands of the Philistines.  Today, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and He will not leave us (John 14:16).  At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit enters into us (1 Cor. 6:19) and seals us to Him.

Mary was “found with child from the Holy Spirit.”  So, the Holy Spirit was instrumental in Jesus’ conception.  Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11).  And, of course, we are to make disciples in the name of the Holy Spirit along with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:18). 

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form at His baptism (Luke 3:22).  He was filled with the Holy Spirit while He walked the earth, and it was the Holy Spirit which led Him into the wilderness to be tempted (Luke 4:1).

When we are pressed to explain the gospel, the Holy Spirit will give us the words (Mark 13:11).  This is a comfort for me when I talk with someone who has ideas that differ from my own.  There have been times when the Holy Spirit has given me just the right thing to say, the right passage to share, the right experience to touch the non-believer.

God, including the Holy Spirit, is not willing that any should perish (1 Tim. 2:3-4).  As the Holy Spirit leads us to pray, we can be assured prayers for the lost are heard.  We are certainly praying in God’s will.

There is also such a thing as blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:32; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10; )   which Jesus says those who speak this are guilty of the eternal sin and will not be forgiven.  Blasphemy against the Son will be forgiven but not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.  I’m not sure why that is.  It’s not speaking of believers since Spirit filled believers cannot speak against Jesus (1 Cor. 12:3).

Why is this important?

In a very real sense, we owe the majority of what we know about Jesus and the Father to the Holy Spirit.  He moved the writers of Scripture to record the 66 books of the Bible for us.  Then, when we study it, He is the One Who explains it to us and inspires us by it.

As Christians, it is important to understand Who the Holy Spirit is and how He works with us, in us, and through us.  He is the power of God in us (Acts 1:8).

The God Who spoke and the entire universe we see came into existence lives in us in the Person of the Holy Spirit.  Of whom shall we be afraid?