WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

By: Jack Guyler

Actually, the Holy Spirit isn’t a “what”, a “force” or an “it” but rather a Person – a person of God’s Tri-unity. There is God the Father (referred to as Yahweh in the Old Testament), God the Son, Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the literal and actual presence of God in our lives.

Jesus said in John 14 that the Father would give the Spirit to all followers to not only live with them, but in them. This is as personal as it gets! God living within us. This is why our bodies have become the new temple where God resides rather than buildings.

The Holy Spirit is described by Jesus as:

• Comforter (Paraclete) – in Romans 8 it tells us the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and the Spirit intercedes for us in prayer to bring us comfort in times of our pain, suffering and confusion

• Counselor – the Spirit counselors us in the ways of God. Scripture reminds us that God’s ways aren’t our ways and His ways are beyond our understanding. Therefore, if we are going to follow God, then we need the guidance and counselor of His Spirit to do so

• Truth – Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Truth.” For God’s revealed truth to become real to us, we need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and ears. We can’t see our sin, the separation that sin causes in our lives and our need for Christ, without the Holy Spirit revealing these things to us. And in order to live in God’s truth daily, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is God who resides in us for the purpose of living a holy life…to worship God alone…and to witness to the world who Jesus Christ really is!