I'm glad you're interested in the Holy Spirit, because
it's impossible to follow God unless we are led by the Spirit. And the
only way to be led by the Spirit is to follow God's command to be filled
by the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Interestingly, God contrasts being
filled with the Spirit with being drunk. Somebody who is drunk with wine
or alcohol is controlled by and consumed by alcohol. But somebody who
is "drunk in the Spirit" is controlled and consumed by the Spirit, who
helps us live holy lives.
How are we filled with the Spirit? The Holy Spirit
entered you when you decided to give your life to Christ, to become a
Christian. But we need to continually ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, to
guide us, to help us do the things God wants us to do. When we're
growing as Christians, we should allow the Spirit to take control over
more and more areas of our lives.
The Holy Spirit plays many roles. You can read about
some of them in these passages: John 14:15-27, John 16:5-15, Romans
8:1-17, Galatians 5:16-26.
In John 14, for example, Jesus says the Holy Spirit will
comfort us when we're hurting. "I will not leave you as orphans," Jesus
says (14:18), promising that the Spirit will bring us peace (14:27).
Jesus also says the Spirit will help us recall the
things we've learned about God (14:26)—which also means the Spirit will
help us when we tell others about our faith.
In John 16, Jesus refers to the Spirit as a "Counselor"
who will guide us in our everyday lives. One way he'll guide us is by
convicting us of sin (16:8). And this is really a good thing: God wants
us to get rid of the things that displease him, and the only way to
identify those things is to be convicted by the Spirit. The Spirit works
through our conscience to make us aware of sin in our lives.
Romans 8 tells us the Spirit will help us stop sinning
and do the things that please God. A verse later in that chapter also
tells us that the Spirit helps us pray (8:26). We've all gone to God and
said, "Lord, I'm just not sure how to pray or what to say." The Holy
Spirit helps us in those times, and actually intercedes for us, saying
the prayers for us.
Now, the Holy Spirit can't do all the work for
us. We're still responsible to do our part—especially to consistently
read our Bibles and pray, asking the Spirit to show us the truth and
teach us how to live.
It's important to remember that the Spirit will not
prompt us to do anything that goes against Scripture. People sometimes
justify their actions by saying, "My conscience told me … " We need to
make sure we're listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, not the voice
of our own desires. And we know which is which by checking this voice
against the truth of God's Word.
How can you tell if you're being led by the Spirit? By
the "fruit" of your life—your attitudes and actions. Galatians 5:22-23
says, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Are these things
evident in your life? Two verses later, it says, "Since we live by the
Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For many of us, this is a difficult concept to grasp. The Bible declares that there is only one living God, yet we learn from scripture that He comprises three separate personages. One way to partially visualize this concept is to examine the nature of water (H2O). Water is a single compound that can exist in three states – liquid, ice and vapor. An egg is another picture. It is comprised of the white, the yoke and the shell, yet it is still one egg. Of course, by no means do these examples paint a complete picture of our God, but they are illustrative of the fact that His three “persons” in no way invalidate His oneness.
Holy Spirit: Much More that an Ethereal Life Force
The Holy Spirit is not a vague, ethereal life force. He is not impersonal or unthinking. The Holy Spirit is a “person” equal in every way with God, the Father, and God, the Son. The Bible tells us that all the characteristics of God apparent in the Father and the Son are equally apparent in the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is composed of intellect, emotions and will. In 1 Corinthians 2:11, we see an example of the Holy Spirit’s intellect and will: “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”
In Romans 15:30, we see the Holy Spirit has emotion, as represented by the capacity to love:“Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;”
Although the Holy Spirit has all the characteristics of God, He has specific roles and functions in our lives. In John 16:13, we see the Spirit of Truth as our guide: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.”
In John 14:26, we learn that the Holy Spirit is our Counselor and teacher: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
In 1 Corinthians 3:16, we see that the Holy Spirit lives inside us: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
In Acts 1:8, we understand where our power comes from: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you."
In Romans 8:14, we understand where our direction comes from: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
In Romans 8:26, we learn that the Holy Spirit is there for us in times of weakness and prayer: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
In Hebrews 9:14, we see that the Holy Spirit is eternal. In 1 Corinthians 2:11, we see that the Holy Spirit is all-knowing. In Psalm 139; we see that the Holy Spirit is everywhere.
Holy Spirit: Attributes of God
The Holy Spirit, Father and Son all comprise a unified Godhead known in Christianity as the “Trinity.” A common misconception is that Christians believe in three different gods. This isn’t correct. While each “personage” is distinct in function, each shares together in the same deity and each reflects the divine attributes of the one living God.
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