At Access Theology, we believe that God is One and Triune in the Persons of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.
For many in church prior to the 1960s and 1970s, God the Holy Spirit was something of a mystery. Unless a person had a not-so-great relationship with their natural father, the reality of God as Father was relatively easier to accept. Similarly, when reading the Gospel accounts, it is not difficult to consider Jesus as the Son of God. But the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, as He was called was another matter. And back in those days it was difficult to find literature on the Holy Spirit.
These days, there is a lot more resources on the Holy Spirit with titles that often reflect a new era of being reacquainted with Him. The title of Francis Chan’s 2009 book “Forgotten God” and subtitled “Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit” is self-explanatory. Likewise, Robert Morris’ excellent book “The God I Never Knew– How Real Friendship with the Holy Spirit Can Change Your Life” tells his experience of growing up in a church environment with little reference to the Holy Spirit and the need to rediscover Him.
The last 60 or so years have seen the Church opening more to the person and activity of the Spirit, initially through new Pentecostal churches in the early 1900s, then renewal across denominations through the charismatic movement in America. And many more resources on who the Holy Spirit is are now available. So, let’s try to understand something of who the Holy Spirit is and why an accurate understanding of who He is really important:
Deity and divine attributes are ascribed to Him.
The Holy Spirit Is Fully God
He is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father and the Son. In the Bible, all three Persons of the Trinity are seen as God equally and yet distinct from one another:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, …
Matthew 28:18-19
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
1 Corinthians 12:4 – 6
14 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
This is important. The Spirit is not simply a power or influence. He is a Person. Personal pronouns are used in reference to the Spirit:
7 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. 8 And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: …
13 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.
John 16:7-8,13 (emphasis mine)
Understanding the reality that Holy Spirit is a person will lead us to worship Him alongside the Father and the Son.
We can develop a relationship with God the Holy Spirit, because of He is a person and has got the characteristics and actions of a person:
Simply put, the Holy Spirit matters because He is God and God matters. And the importance of the Holy Spirit carries theological, personal and corporate implications for believers.
The early believers (at least most of them) had always believed the Holy Spirit was God, but this understanding was not formalised until the Nicene Creed of AD 325 which simply stated, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” This was clarified and expanded in the Nicene – Constantinople Creed of AD 381 which stated, “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.” Orthodox Christianity is both monotheistic (believes in one God) and Trinitarian (one God existing in three persons). So, the belief of the divinity and the personhood of the Holy Spirit is a test of orthodoxy in the Christian faith. Orthodoxy relates to that which is conform to what has been historically and traditionally believed and affirmed usually in creeds by the Church.
Let’s put ourselves in the place of the Disciples when Jesus began to explain that He was going to be put to death, that He was “going away.” Clearly, their hearts were troubled (John 14:1). Thomas asked questions about where Jesus was going (John 14:5). Philip wanted Jesus to show them the Father (John 14:8). Jesus says He will send “another Helper to be with you forever” (John 14:16). The Greek language has two words for “another.” One of these words means another of the “same kind”, and the second means one of a “different kind”. Here in John 14, it is the former – the same kind. So, to the disciples and believers today, the Spirit is everything that Jesus was. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit plays a key role in believers’ lives from start to finish:
We cannot live the Christian life on our own, we need other believers. The Holy Spirit equips individual believers so that the corporate body of believers, the church, can be fully equipped to meet the needs of every member and the outside world. This aspect of the Spirit’s work can easily be overlooked by concentrating on the individual benefits of the Spirit’s filling.
In summary, we have looked at who the Holy Spirit is – He is fully God and He is a Person. He matters because He is God, He leads us to salvation, He empowers us to live lives of service that glorify God both individually and corporately as the body of believers, the Church.