The Trinity, The Holy Spirit is Personal

EXPLORING CHRISTIANITY - THE TRINITY

THE BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?

EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?

GOD - MAN
Is Jesus really God?

RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?

SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?

TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.

SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.

FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?

GUIDANCE
How does God guide?

REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.

BORN AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?

SAVING FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven

ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?

TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?

MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.

THE CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the new millennium.

PURPOSE
How can I find a great purpose for living?

IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of God.

SELF-ESTEEM
How can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.

LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.

THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.

Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.

The Holy Spirit is Personal

By "personal" we understand that the Holy Spirit has all the qualities that we usually associate with persons. We can enter into a relationship with him in a similar manner to the way we have relationships with other people. He is not just a blind, unfeeling, unintelligent force. This presents us with a problem, because in our thinking persons usually live in bodies, and the Holy Spirit is spirit, as is God the Father, and doesn't have a material body. He lives in a different dimension to that with which we are familiar.

"We can enter into a relationship with him in a similar manner to the way we have relationships with other people"

Jesus is easier to understand, as he entered into our human experience, which involved sharing human nature and a human body. Obviously he was a person. However, when we explore the New Testament we find that the Holy Spirit is constantly spoken of in personal terms. The most obvious example of this is found in the use of the verbs that describe his activities.

Take the following examples:

The Spirit convicts people of guilt and judgement (John 16:8)

guides God's people (John 16:13)

tells things that are to come (John 16:13)

brings glory to Jesus (John 16:14)

hears God's truths and makes them known (John 16:13,15)

appoints pastors over God's people (Acts 20:28)

speaks God's message (Acts 28:25, etc.)

bears witness together with our own spirits (Romans 8:16)

helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26)

intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:26, 27)

searches all things (1 Corinthians 2:10)

knows the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:11)

teaches the content of the gospel to believers (1 Corinthians 2:13)

lives among and within believers (1 Corinthians 3:16, etc.)

washes, sanctifies and justifies God's people (1 Corinthians 6:11)

gives gifts to his people as he determines (1 Corinthians 12:11)

gives life to those who believe (2 Corinthians 3:6)

cries out from within our hearts (Galatians 4:6)

leads us in the ways of God (Galatians 5:18)

has desires that are in opposition to the flesh (Galatians 5:17)

strengthens believers (Ephesians 3:16)

is grieved by our sinfulness (Ephesians 4:30)

can be blasphemed (Luke 12:10) and lied to (Acts 5:3)

The Bible is more concerned to describe the Spirit's activity, what he does, than to deal directly with the question of his person, who he is. However, it is obvious that all these activities are those we associate with persons. They imply:

Intelligence - most of the verbs used above imply intelligence. The Bible speaks of "the mind of the Spirit" (Romans 8:27)

Feelings - he can be grieved or made sad. Joy is a quality often associated with the Holy Spirit

Will - he decides the gifts he gives to his people (1 Corinthians 12:11)

These are the three main characteristics which make up personality.

Several significant passages that emphasise the personal nature of the Holy Spirit:

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). If our own inner spirit has personal qualities, then so also must the Holy Spirit. Both "testify".

"...you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). If Jesus is personal, then the Holy Spirit must be also.

In Romans 8 the Spirit in our hearts prays for us on earth (verse 27), while Jesus prays for us in heaven (verse 34). This again suggests that as Jesus is a person, so is the Spirit.

"I speak the truth in Christ - I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 9:1). Paul here appeals to his relationship with both Christ and the Holy Spirit for his honesty, implying that as Christ is personal, so must the Spirit also be. Another verse with similar implications is Romans 15:30.

Jesus said the disciples would be better off with the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives than they were with his company and friendship while he was with them on earth (John 16:7). That means the Spirit must at least have the personal qualities that Jesus possessed.

It is significant that the "fruit" that the Spirit produces in believers' lives, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22,23), are chiefly personal qualities, having to do with our relationships. They are also qualities often attributed to God in his relationship with us. A blind "force" or "influence" does not produce love! The Bible also speaks of the "fellowship of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 13:14; Philippians 2:1). We may enjoy friendship with him and he creates friendship between believers.

It is true that to describe the effect of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the Bible does use impersonal metaphors such as fire, breath, wind and water. However, it is significant that Paul, who probably has more to say about the relationships that exist between the persons of the Trinity than any other writer, tends to avoid such images. Instead he uses verbs of personal action that are used elsewhere of God and Christ.

If the Holy Spirit is personal, as all the evidence indicates, then the next question to ask is: Is he a distinct person, in a very real sense separate from the Father?