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The Personhood of The Holy Spirit
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The Personhood and Deity of The Holy Spirit

God's Holy Spirit is someone all Christians should get to know well.  Many Christians, however, have wrong ideas about who the Holy Spirit is. What is the Holy Spirit and what do we mean when we say: The Holy Spirit?

The Personhood of The Holy Spirit

First of all it is a fundamental revelation that the Holy Spirit is a Person, in the sense that the Father is a Person,the Son is a Person and the Holy Spirit is a person. The Bible teaches that there is one true and living God. God subsists in three distinct yet inseparable persons. The members of the Godhead fully indwell one another, and together They are the one true and living God.

The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, and He is a personal being rather than an impersonal force. He is the same in substance and equal in power and glory with God the Father and God the Son. He is equal with the Father and Son in essence. Since one of the major aspects of God’s nature is that he is a person, it follows that also the Holy Spirit is a person.

Scripture teaches the personhood of the Holy Spirit in a variety of ways. The apostle Paul noted the intellectual ability of the Holy Spirit when he asked, “What man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). The rational capacity of the Holy Spirit was expanded to include wisdom and communication when Paul’s prayer request for the Ephesians included “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17). The emotional ability of the Holy Spirit is evident in the word of the apostle, “the love of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:30).

Scripture teaches the personhood of the Holy Spirit in a variety of ways.The Spirit has attributes that only a person could have:

  1.  He has intelligence (1 Cor 2:10-13),
  2.  He has feelings (Eph 4:30), and
  3.  He has a will (1 Cor 12:11; Acts 16:6-12).
  4. He speaks – (1 Cor. 2:13)
  5. He prays (Rom 8:26)
  6. He does miracles (Acts 8:39).
  7. He can be lied to (Acts 5:3).
  8. He can be insulted (Heb 10:29).
  9. He teaches and directs (John 14:26; Acts 8:29; Rom 8:14).

The Deity of the Holy Spirit

“Procession” or “spiration” is the personal property of the Spirit that distinguishes Him from the Father and the Son. Scripture refers to the Spirit by a variety of names—“the Spirit,” “the Spirit of God,” “The Spirit of the LORD,” “the Holy Spirit,” “the Spirit of holiness,” and “the Spirit of Christ” (Gen. 1:2; Ex. 31:3; Judg. 3:10; Matt. 1:18; Rom. 1:4; Eph. 4:30; 1 Peter 1:11).

  1. Triadic formulas- (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Paul closes a letter with a three-part prayer: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Peter begins with a three-part formula: “chosen according to the fore­knowl­edge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood” (1 Peter 1:2).
  2. Omniscience: “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Spirit of God “knows the thoughts of God” (verse 11). The Spirit therefore knows all things, and is able to teach all things (John 14:26).
  3. Attributes of God-Holiness: In more than 90 places, the Bible calls the Spirit of God “the Holy Spirit
  4. Omnipresence: David, praising God’s greatness, asked, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).
  5. Creating: The Holy Spirit does work that only God can do, such as creating (Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30) and expelling demons (Matthew 12:28).