The Person of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

If asked who the Holy Spirit is, would you say He is a ghost, a power, or a person? The Bible provides many details about Him that point to His personhood, yet many of us do not think of the Spirit as someone we can know. Perhaps we have received incomplete teaching about Him or have misunderstood translations that call Him the Holy Ghost. Maybe when we read about His power, we assumed He was merely a force. It could even be that we have focused on the Father or Son to the exclusion of the Spirit. But the personhood of God’s Spirit is clearly revealed by the Bible’s descriptions of Him:

He acts as a person—living, teaching, testifying, convicting, guiding, and speaking.

He has a personality, as shown by His will, thoughts, and knowledge.

He is called by many names, including Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, and Spirit of Holiness—all of which represent His divine nature.

He can be treated like a person: He can be lied to, resisted, obeyed, and called on.

Believing anything less than what Scripture teaches about the Holy Spirit robs Him of His glory and diminishes our understanding of the Trinity. Furthermore, a faulty perception of the Spirit hampers our Christian life because we won’t recognize the magnitude of His transforming power, which allows us to triumph over sin and obey God.

But there is a solution. Ask the Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures so you can know Him in all His fullness. He is the one who helps you find in Christ a life that is joyful, peace-filled, wise, discerning, and submissive.