Question: Who or what is the Holy Spirit?
Answer: The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of God”, “Holy Ghost”, and “The Spirit”. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit is a person, one of the three parts of God: Father (God), Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. Unlike Jesus Christ, neither God nor this Spirit have never lived as humans on earth. It has only been Jesus’ particular role among this “Trinity” to accomplish that. As Jesus taught His own followers about the Spirit, He explained:
“…if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when the Holy Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…He will guide you to all truth…He will tell you of things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you…” John 16:8-14
The Holy Spirit still does all of this and even more for each of us!
Before you decide to follow God’s direction for your life, the Holy Spirit communicates to you that you need to change and shows you the wrongs you are committing. When you become a Christian, Jesus immediately sends the Holy Spirit into your heart and mind to live in you or “indwell” you. The Bible also describes this one-time event as being like a “baptism” or complete immersion into the Holy Spirit. You may or may not feel different right way. There is no work or act that you must perform to receive the Spirit, other than asking God and believing His Son Jesus died to pay to save you from the penalty of your sins. It is a gift from God that you never earned, and you accept that free gift.
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you will be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
“For just as the human has many parts, the parts make up one body. So, it’s the same with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, Greeks, slaves, or free persons. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we share this same Spirit.” I Corinthians 12:12-13
At this beginning point of confessing belief to God, The Holy Spirit “seals” the new believer for eternity so that your future with God is secure! (Ephesians 1:13) This Spirit stays with you throughout the entire earthly life to support and help you in every way, transforming you into the person He has destined you to be. There are so many other benefits of the Spirit’s constant, 24/7 presence. For example, He:
Prays with you and for you
Shows you right from wrong and truth from lies
Helps you grow closer to God
Allows you to feel God’s love and peace in your heart and mind
Enables you to love for others, showing sincere kindness and concern
Directs you to make good choices that aid and grow you and other people
Cautions you about danger and redirects your path away from it
Increases your understanding of God, the Bible’s teachings, and spiritual matters
Reveals new ideas and information to your mind
Prompts us to come together with people who we need and who need us
Sends you the right words to say to others
Gives you comfort, courage, strength, patience, self-control, and His power
Brings back memories from the past and helps you recall information
Grants you special gifts, abilities, and skills to serve others
Develops new artistic and intellectual abilities
Allows you a miraculous ability for a specific task
The Bible shows that this Spirit was present when the world was created (Genesis 1:2). Crucially, the Holy Spirit of God inspired men to write down all of what we know as the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21). And He has also kept the Bible’s scriptures from errors ever since. Because of this shield of protection of God’s truths, we can know that we have all that God chose for us to know about Him.
The greatest benefit of having God’s Spirit in your daily life is the peace in relying on His perfect power, on His perfect path, and moving closer to His perfect conclusion of our life’s race to the finish line – heaven!
Is God’s Spirit living in you?
If you have asked Jesus to be the leader of your life, then the Holy Spirit is already living in you. If you have never asked Jesus to enter your life, you can pray, or say this now:
Jesus, I am sorry for the wrong things I have done. I want to totally change, and I just can’t do this by myself because I have already tried and failed. Thank you for taking the punishment for my sins by dying on a cross. I understand that your own blood paid the price to God to erase my sin record so I could be clean. I need you to come into my life and be my Master, my Lord, forever. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to remain with me from now on! I want to experience the ultimate joy, peace, and contentment that others enjoy because they have been adopted into your family. – Amen!
