What is the Holy Spirit?
Sadly, there are many misconceptions about the Holy Spirit.
How God introduce His Spirit
...
- And that I am the LORD your God, and none else,
- And my people shall never be ashamed,
- And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh;
- And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
- Your old men shall dream dreams,
- Your young men shall see visions.
- And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. ...
-- Joel 2:27-29 (KJV), Acts 2:17
The Holy Spirit is the source of life
God is the source of life:
Thus says God, the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it... -- Isaiah 42:5 (ESV)
Yet, Elihu (and possibly Job too, since he did not correct him on this matter) stated:
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath (spirit) of the Almighty gives me life. -- Job 33:4 (ESV)
If I pick up my child with my hands, you can "I carry my child with my hands" or "I carry my child myself". Both statements are correct, because my hands are part of me. There are many examples like these in the Bible where the Holy Spirit is acting, saying, expressing or doing things as the Almighty God Himself.
For example:
The Holy Spirit made Mary pregnant
If the Holy Spirit was anyone or anything else, then Jesus' father would not be the LORD God.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. -- Matthew 1:18 (ESV)
and
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. -- Luke 1:35
Jesus taught the Holy Spirit comes from the Father
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them... For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. -- Matthew 10:5,20 (ESV)
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father (originates from the Father), he will bear witness about me. -- John 15:26 (ESV)
And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. -- Luke 24:49
Peter implied the Holy Spirit is God
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” -- Acts 5:3-4 (ESV)
The Holy Spirit talks on behalf of God
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put Me to the test and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known My ways.’ As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” (Psalm 95:7-11)
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
-- Hebrews 3:7-12 (ESV)
Only the one's spirit knows one
For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
“For who has understood the mind of the LORD (Isaiah 40:13) so as to instruct him?”
-- 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 (ESV)
Paul implies that the LORD (YHVH) is the Spirit
Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the LORD (Deuteronomy 30:10; Psalm 22:27), the veil is removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. -- 2 Corinthians 3:15-18
John implies that the Spirit is God
For there are three that testify:
- the Spirit and
- the water and
- the blood;
and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater.
-- 1 John 5:7-9 (ESV)
God is not water or blood, so this implies that the Spirit is God.
Raised Jesus from the dead
Paul stated that it was God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead:
Paul, an apostle - not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead... -- Galatians 1:1 (ESV)
Peter stated that it was the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit... -- 1 Peter 3:18 (ESV)
Unless the apostles contradict each other, it would mean that the Spirit is God the Father's Spirit.
Jesus received the authority to send the Holy Spirit on his behalf
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
- concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
- concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
- concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. -- John 16:7-15 (ESV)
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. -- Romans 8:9-10 (ESV)
This may explain why the Spirit behave and acts like Jesus and is also referred to as "the mind of Christ" or "the Spirit of Christ".
However, this brings up an interesting conundrum: Who is under whose authority?
Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
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 (ESV)
It might be no coincidence that Paul named God's love and the Holy Spirit's fellowship next to each other. God love the believers, however because we do not have direct access to God, we cannot directly have fellowship with God. Therefore, we need God's Spirit to fellowship with Him. Note that it is fellowship of the Holy Spirit and not fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
According to Jesus we ought to enjoy fellowship with both the Father and His Son.
That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. -- 1 John 1:3
Note that Jesus did not mention the Holy Spirit in his prayer, because our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. Unlike Paul, Jesus was praying to his Father, who already understood how the fellowship will be possible, so it was not necessary for Jesus to mention that this "fellowship" will become possible "of" the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit enable Jesus to be omnipresent
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ... Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. -- Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)
This implies that during the lifetime of his disciples on earth he will "always" be with them.
Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. -- Matthew 18:20 (ESV)
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you..." -- Acts 18:9-10 (ESV)
In Revelation John saw:
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders
I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. -- Revelation 5:5-6 (ESV)
Note that the "Lamb" that "had been slain" which are understood to be Jesus, has "horns which are the seven spirits of God" is part of the Lamb. This might be understood as the authority that the Lamb had received by the "seven spirits of God".
Zechariah 3:6 - 4:14 also mentions a rock with seven eyes that sees everything. We also know that Paul called Jesus the "cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). This could be understood that Jesus received the ability to see everything when he returned to his Father or perhaps the Holy Spirit (7 eyes) enable Jesus to see everything.