The Personality of the Holy Spirit

In the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, a reporter discovered one house standing firm on its foundation amid the devastation and debris. Curious, the reporter approached the owner of the solitary structure as he was cleaning up his yard. "Sir," asked the reporter, "why is your house the only one still standing?"

"Well sir," the man replied, "I built this house by myself. I built it according to the Florida State building code. When the code called for: 2 x 6 trusses, I used 2 x 6 trusses. I was told that a house built according to code could withstand a hurricane, so I did, and it did! I suppose no one else around here followed the code."

The Importance of Following "God's Code"

Tragically, many people today are not "following the code" as laid out in God's Word, the Bible. Yes, we may be braced for the more obvious sins of life. Yet we may be completely oblivious to the more subtle sins of deception and false teaching that are so prevalent in the so-called "new spirituality" in America today—and even in many of our churches.

In The People's Religion: American Faith in the 90's, pollster George Gallup Jr. finds that most people who consider themselves religious "do not see truth as a high priority." He writes, "While religion is highly popular in America, it is to a large extent superficial. There is a knowledge gap between America's stated faith and the lack of the most basic knowledge about that faith."

This is why we are looking at the foundations of our Christian faith in this study. We are, for all practical purposes, studying theology! The Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, gave this warning years ago: "If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones."

If you have the wrong theology, you may be loving the wrong Jesus.

The Apostle Paul reminded young Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16).

When it comes to building a strong foundation in our spiritual lives, there is no better place to start than with God Himself. According to Scripture, there is a single God who manifests Himself in three distinct persons. We have already looked at the Father and the Son. Now we will look at the most mysterious and misunderstood person of the Holy Trinity: the Holy Spirit.

Read John 16:7-11

During the days that Jesus walked on the earth, His disciples could talk and listen to Him, gaze upon Him, and even reach out and touch Him. But on the day Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His disciples that He would lead and guide them in an entirely new way—through the Holy Spirit.

The Person and Nature of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete in the original Greek, which literally means, "one called alongside to help." He is here for you—and He wants to do a wonderful work in your life (see John l 4:l 6-l8). He wants to seal, guide, empower and fill you time and time again. Yet, there is a great deal of misunderstanding concerning His role and working in the lives of both believers and nonbelievers.

What Makes the Holy Spirit a Person?

Some have wrongly assumed that the Spirit is more of an "It" than a "Him." That is probably due in part to descriptions of Him in Scripture that refer to Him as being like the wind or a fire, or as coming on Jesus in the form of a dove. Yet, this must be balanced with the rest of Scripture.

In the New Testament, Jesus referred to Himself as "the Bread of Life" and "the Door." The Bible aslo refers to God as "a Refuge" and "a Consuming Fire," as well as One who will protect us "under His wings." Does that mean that Jesus is a loaf of bread or a door? Does that imply that God the Father is a pile of rocks or a blast furnace, as well as some sort of "giant bird" in heaven? Of course not! In the same way, those descriptions of the Holy Spirit do not mean that He is simply some sort of "force" or power." In order for a being to be considered a person, he or she must possess three characteristics: intelligence, will, and emotion. The Holy Spirit displays all three.

1. The Holy Spirit has intelligence.

"But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God " (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Paul tells us that the Spirit "knows the thoughts of God." Only a person with intelligence can actually know things. A fire does not "know" things, nor does a plant or a tree. But the Holy Spirit does.

2. The Holy Spirit has a will.

"But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing [gifts] to each one . . . as He wills." (I Corinthians 12:11 )

It is the Holy Spirit who decides what kind of spiritual gifts each believer should receive. Other evidences of the Holy Spirit's will include Acts 15:28, when the Apostles prefaced their judgment on a question of Church doctrine by saying, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit. " In addition, the Holy Spirit has shown His will in setting apart people for the Lord's service (Acts l 3:2). Only persons with a will are able to communicate this way.

3. The Holy Spirit has emotion.

"Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit... You have not lied to men, but to God'" (Acts 5:3a-4b).

Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit can be grieved, quenched, resisted, blasphemed, and—as this passage attests—even lied to. This passage, found in the account of Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5:1-11, also clearly states that the Holy Spirit is God.

How Can the Holy Spirit Be Sinned against?

The Bible warns of six sins one can commit against the Holy Spirit. Some of them can only be committed by nonbelievers, while others could be committed by believers.

1) Lying to the Spirit.

"These people draw near to me with their mouth...but their hearts are far from me" (Isaiah 29:13).

Lying to the Holy Spirit means to pretend to be something you are not—to go through the motions of the Christian life without really meaning it in your heart of hearts.

2) A believer can grieve the Holy Spirit.

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice" (Ephesions 4:30,31).

Grieving the Holy Spirit means to make sad or sorrowful. When we allow bitterness to poison our lives or we slander others, we are grieving the Holy Spirit.

3) A believer can quench the Holy Spirit.

"Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5: 19).

Quenching suggests extinguishing a fire. Unbelief can certainly hinder the working and moving of God's Holy Spirit (see Mark 6:4-5). This sin is also committed when the Holy Spirit leads you to do a certain thing (share your faith, pray more, take a step of faith) and you flatly refuse.

4) A nonbeliever can resist the Holy Spirit.

"You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (Acts 7:51 ).

These words were spoken by the early Christian martyr Stephen, as he spoke to the unbelieving Sanhedrin shortly before his death. The Holy Spirit seeks to speak to the heart of the unbeliever and lead him to God. This speaks of those who are convinced of the truth of the gospel, yet who refuse to yield their hearts to God.

5) A nonbeliever can insult the Holy Spirit.

"How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29).

It is the office of the Holy Spirit to present the saving work of Jesus Christ to the unsaved. A person insults the love of God by saying that he does not really need God's gift of salvation, or by insisting that Christ's death on the cross was unnecessary or unable to save him. To resist the Spirit's appeal is to insult God and to cut off all hope of salvation.

6) A nonbeliever can blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

"And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).

This is the most serious offense against the Holy Spirit, for there is no forgiveness for the person who commits it. The work of the Spirit is to convict us of sin and bring us to Jesus Christ. To blaspheme Him is similar to insulting, in that we resist His work altogether. This should not be the concern of any Christian, for this is not a sin he can or will commit.

The Holy Spirit's plan (purpose) for your life is to lead you in the will of God.

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:5-6).

Instead of lying to, grieving, quenching, or insulting and resisting the Holy Spirit, we should allow Him to freely work in our lives.

Part II