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“Don, what is the Holy Spirit? I’ve always wanted to ask someone that.”
“What have you heard about the Holy Spirit?”
“I’ve just heard it mentioned in church throughout my life…is it like the energy of God in us?”
“Well, not exactly…fortunately the Bible says a lot about the Holy Spirit.”
“Okay, good. What does it say?”
“First, the Holy Spirit is God. As the Bible says the Father is God, and the Son is God, so it also says the Holy Spirit is God. For instance, the Bible says in some places that the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, other times it says God inspired the Scriptures. That’s because the Holy Spirit is God. Okay so far?”
“Yes. The Holy Spirit is God…like Jesus is God.”
“Exactly, and though the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, the Son is not the Holy Spirit. Nor is the Holy Spirit the Father. The Holy Spirit is a distinct Person Himself, and fully God. Jesus says that He will ask of the Father, and He will send another Comforter (the Spirit). That’s why Christians talk about three distinct persons, but only one God. So that’s all part of the mystery of the Trinity, right?”
“Yes. I’ve never really understood it.”
“Join the club. I think we can understand some but can’t ever understand completely. It makes sense that if the infinite God reveals Himself, two things are true: 1. We will be able to understand some. 2. We will not understand all. If you ever want to read some of the best summaries of these difficult issues, go online and look up and read the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. I think they brilliantly summarize what is clearly true in the Bible about the nature of God, and adeptly avoid what is unknown or false. So back to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. And, the Holy Spirit is a Person, meaning that the Holy Spirit is ‘He’ not ‘It’.”
“Ohhhh…interesting. I never caught that before.”
“I know…even Christians say for instance ‘You asked me about the Holy Spirit? I can tell you what It is.’”
“Right. I think that’s how I thought about the Holy Spirit…that ‘It’ was like energy!”
“That’s why it’s good you asked the question! God’s Holy Spirit in the Bible can be lied to, grieved, and can speak, and comfort, and convict.”
“Okay…that’s clear. And where is the Holy Spirit?”
“Because the Holy Spirit is God, so the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, present everywhere.”
“So the Holy Spirit is in everybody?”
“No, there is a difference between where the Holy Spirit can be and where He chooses to reside. Proximity is not intimacy. I can be rubbing shoulders next to a stranger in an airline seat but not have a relationship with him. But according to the Bible, all believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit in them. Ever since the day of Pentecost—50 days after Jesus rose from the dead—we believers are what the New Testament calls ‘the temple of God.’ That day of Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit came with multimedia drama—the noisy roar like a rushing wind, fiery pillars resting on each believer, and miraculous foreign language speaking. This dramatic indwelling was validated by the miraculous sights, sounds, and spoken message.”
“Ha. That’s fabulous! I mean, ‘He is fabulous’!”
“Yes. He is!”
Scriptural Foundation
Ps. 139: 7-8 – I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
Acts 5:1-6 – But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
Athanasian Creed: So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before, or after another; none is greater, or less than another. But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal. So that in all things, as aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.
Prayer
Righteous, Holy God, You know everything there is to know. Every knee will someday kneel before You, acknowledging You as both Eternal Enforcer and Constant Comfort since there is nowhere that You are not. I bow to You.
I too need to be terrified about attempting to lie to You, the Holy Spirit. My mind knows that there is nothing unknown to You, but my sin nature actually lies to myself as though I could be god. I am forgiven but morally deluded when I try to ‘look good’, especially to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please teach me, Holy Spirit.
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