The Holy Spirit: Who is He?

A few years ago, a well-known evangelical preacher, Francis Chan, wrote a book by the name of Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. In it, Chan wrote extensively about how much of the church today doesn't address the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, with respect, and he points out that sometimes He is not even addressed at all. This is a timely book. A few weeks ago, I met with a mentor of mine, and we stumbled upon this topic, both agreeing with Chan that the Holy Spirit is hardly seen by much of the Church (at least the American church) as crucial to include in the day-to-day life of the believer, a fact that seems blasphemous at best. Upon immediate inspection of many Christians' attitude towards Him, one can easily see two popular stances. The first is the one that, in fear of being too charismatic (which, by the way, is a healthy fear to have), many Christians have neglected His Presence altogether, cutting themselves off from His daily intervention. The other is the stance that the first group fears to hold, one that is overly spiritual and rather superstitious. This second group tends to be less doctrinal, more experience-oriented and prone to base much of "worship" off inner feelings and intuition. What stance should you hold towards Him? One of these, or another? As with everything, let's be Berean-minded and look to the Scriptures.

To start, let's explore the question: who is the Holy Spirit?

Seen first in the earliest pages of Scripture, the Holy Spirit is Who was "hovering over the face of the waters" when God decided to bring all of creation into existence, showing us that He is the Creator (Gen. 1:2). He is mentioned in Isaiah and Ephesians as One Who was and is grieved by the sin of mankind (Isa. 63:10, Eph. 4:30). The New Testament alludes to Him many times, revealing His Character as one of a Comforter (John 16:7), Teacher (Luke 12:12), Judge (Acts 2:4), Giver (Acts 8:29), Commander (Acts 10:9), Distributor of Life (Romans 8:11), Intercessor (Romans 8:26), and Provider of Spiritual Gifts (1 Cor. 12:8-11).

Jesus alluded to Him as the "Helper Who will be with you forever" and Who will "live with you and be in you" (Jn. 14:16-17). In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus famously said that "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God," signifying that the Holy Spirit is responsible for the spiritual regeneration of the sinner (Jn. 3:5). On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is shown mightily rushing into the place the believers were gathered, filling each of them, and working through them in miraculous ways (Acts 2:1-4).

An article was written by Alistair Begg of Ligonier Ministries by the title of Five Truths About the Holy Spirit. It lays out five essential truths that need to be known about the Holy Spirit. They are: 1) "that the Holy Spirit is a Person", not a nonsentient force, 2) "that the Holy Spirit is one both with the Father and with the Son," 3) that "the Holy Spirit was the agent of creation," 4) that the Holy Spirit is also the agent of "God's new creation in Christ," and 5) that "the Spirit is the author of the Scriptures."

In essence, the Holy Spirit is God. As mentioned earlier, He is the third Person in the Godhead, and therefore worthy of worship and adoration (not to mention recognition!). He lives within believers, convicts them, encourages them, and shapes them. He is grieved when believers disobey His Word, He can be "quenched" by believers when He charges them to do something and they refuse (1 Thess. 5:19). He is intimately involved with His disciples and gives them the power to battle the spiritual forces that surround them (Acts 1:8, Eph. 6:11-12, 17-18).

The Daily Activity of the Spirit in the Believer

Jesus, both when He was in the thick of His earthly ministry as well as before He ascended to Heaven, spoke about how the Spirit coming would be "better" (Jn. 16:7). Why would it be better for the Spirit to come instead of having Jesus physically present? Well, the fact that because Jesus had a physical body, He was limited (I speak in a human way here) to being in one place at one time. With the Holy Spirit, however, Who would inhabit believers, it didn't matter where they went, God would always be with them, communing and encouraging them in a deeper, more intimate way than a single Man could.

The Scriptures are clear that if someone has put their trust in Christ, been born-again, and been given a new nature in Christ, they receive God into their inner being (Eph. 3:16). For the Christian, this is an amazing reality. For the God of the Universe to live inside me is something I will continually marvel and rejoice at. This isn't a static truth, though. The Holy Spirit, as the first half of this article attests to, is always working in the lives of believers. On a moment by moment basis, the Spirit guides the conscience of the Christian in approving what is right and convicting the soul when an action is wrong. The responsibility of the Christian is to submit to the Spirit's constant will because, without submission, the life of the believer will be devoid of peace, joy, and holiness.

John Macarthur, in His sermon series Living in the Spirit, explains further that without a heart that is consistently compliant with the Holy Spirit's bidding, there can be no fruit for the kingdom. Where there is no submission, there is no Gospel effectiveness. We cut ourselves off from the Power Source when we decide not to follow the Spirit's leading. We unplug ourselves and become dead batteries, unable to shine as the light of the world as we were commanded (Matt. 5:14-16).

Final Questions

So, have you cut yourself off from doing what you know the Spirit is calling you to? Even if it is oddly specific and may not make sense? It is clear, by the Scriptures, that the attitude of the believer towards the Holy Spirit of God shouldn't be one of lopsided, over the top, superstitious spirituality, and neither should it be one of complete ignorance, hardly recognizing Him at all. Rather, the attitude of the Christian towards the Spirit should be one of simple, childlike dependence and reliance on a minute-by-minute basis, doing what He tells you with joyful abandon, and within the bounds that Scripture allows. How have you quenched the Spirit? Have you repented of that, and allowed Him to have His way? Don't you know that doing His will gives you an endless stream of unspeakable joy?

May the Holy Spirit, Who is Himself God, bless you as you read these wonderful truths.

-AJR (1/20/20)

Chan, Francis, and Danae Yankoski. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. David C Cook, 2015.

Macarthur, John. “Be Filled with the Spirit, Part 1.” Grace to You, 3 Dec. 1978, www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1939/be-filled-with-the-spirit-part-1.

Begg, Alistair. “Five Truths About the Holy Spirit.” Ligonier Ministries, 1 Feb. 2019, www.ligonier.org/blog/five-truths-about-holy-spirit/.