The Person of the Holy Spirit
The Holy
Spirit is not an impersonal force rather He is a member of the Godhead. The
scriptures declare He has a will, emotions, and personal actions.
Key Verses
Eph4:30 Grieve not the Holy Spirit by
whom you have been sealed.
1Cor12:11 The Spirit gives gifts as He
wills.
Jn14:26 When the Spirit comes from the
Father, He will teach you all things.
Key
Questions
1.
Is
the Holy Spirit a force or a Person?
2.
What
is the Christians relationship to the Holy Spirit?
Our belief
on the Person of the Holy Spirit
There are
several attributes of personhood. It is not just growth, movement and
reproduction that qualify one for person. But a tree has the attributes and yet is not a
person. What makes us different from all other characters in creation? It is
that we have a will, emotions, the ability to communicate and act
independently. The scripture reveals all these attributes to the Holy Spirit.
It is the
Holy Spirit who “chose” Paul for the ministry. The Holy Spirit gives gifts as
He “wills.” He knows the mind of God and searches the deep things.
The Holy Spirit
can be grieved, or quenched or even vexed. We often feel the joy of the Spirit.
Think of His fruits, are they not emotional? Joy, peace, and love.
The Bible
is what the Holy Spirit spoke to its authors. He is the inspiration. Jesus
taught; “to he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is speaking.” Look
through the book of Acts and see the Holy Spirit communicating clearly with
those that seek God.
The Holy
Spirit empowers believers. It is He who teaches and testifies of Jesus. He
convicts the world. He teaches us all things. He acts. From creation to the
resurrection of Jesus to His outpouring on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit
has always been busy.
Jesus
rightly referred to the Spirit with the personal pronoun “He.” When Jesus said;
“I will pray to the Father and He will send Another…” the word “Another” means
of the same essence and substance. Jesus comes to us through the person of the
Holy Spirit, that will how Jesus will be “with us always” and “never leave us
or forsake us.”
What great
news that the Being who inspired the scriptures is our tutor! What comfort
there is in knowing I am never alone, because a Someone is always with me!
The Dangers
in Not attributing personhood to the Holy Spirit
It is
insulting and quenching to speak as though the Holy Spirit does not have
personhood. He hears.
It is bad
theology to ignore His personhood. Seeing Him as but a force or wind or breath
is to de-personalize God. It takes out Gods active hand in the world. For the
Holy Spirit is Gods prime active agent. Claiming the Holy Spirit is not a
person is saying God is not in the room. He does not hear, He does not see, He
will not act.
Further it
goes against “born again” theology. For we are born of His Spirit. We are led
by the Spirit. There is quite a difference in being led by an intelligent
person or simple breath.
In
Conclusion
The Christian
enjoys a wonderfully close relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes
into our spirit and we know that we are children of God. He leads us and guides
us in all truth. He empowers us and gifts us. He fills us. The Spirits fruits,
His personality overflows through us. He convicts us. He is like a best friend,
our Advocate, our Comforter. He is the part of God that comes into us. He
understands us and He understands God.
Seeing the
Holy Spirit as a person will help us talk to God. It will strengthen us to know
that we can understand the things of God. It will greatly aid us in not grieving
Him but rather having ears to hear what He is saying.
Take a few
minutes and see if you can give a reasonable answer to the questions we started
with;
1.
Is
the Holy Spirit a force or a Person?
2.
What
is the Christians relationship to the Holy Spirit?
If you
can’t answer these questions, what further information is needed?
No comments:
Post a Comment