The Person of the Holy Spirit

It would be impossible to talk about faith without talking about the person of the Holy Spirit. You may have heard of Him before, but do you really know who He is?

John 16:7 “Nevertheless I have told you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

Who is the Holy Spirit? 

The Holy Spirit is the most precious gift that Christ has left us, the Holy Spirit is a person. As true as you exist, as true as the phone that is in your hand right now exists, so true is the existence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ in leaving promises the disciples to send them a new traveling companion, a person who will teach them all things as well as He does.

John 16:13 “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

The role of the Holy Spirit is to lead us. When we take public transportation such as buses or taxis, we trust a driver to take us to our destination; likewise the Holy One is that driver in whom we must place our trust if we want to reach the destination called: Kingdom of God. This is why after having given your life to Christ, you must make the person of the Holy Spirit your greatest ally. To reach God, one must go through Christ; however, to know God, one must go through the Holy Spirit. The Bible declares that the Holy Spirit searches the depths of God; in other words, it is impossible to know God without the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ presents the Holy Spirit in verse 13 of chapter 16 of John, as the Spirit of truth. Now Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. This is why, in verse 14, Jesus Christ will say that the Holy Spirit will glorify Him. It is the Holy Spirit who made Jesus Christ known to the world through Mary, and it is also He who raised Him from the dead. Indeed, the Holy Spirit glorifies the person of Christ and allows us to have a relationship with Him. It is He who draws us to Christ. Benny HINN in his book "Hello Holy Spirit" (which I strongly encourage you to read) could say that: "Knowing the Holy Spirit is simply the means of knowing Christ in a deeper way."

However, a question may be nagging at your mind. You may be wondering how to have the Holy Spirit? Luke 11:13 answers your question: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
The Holy Spirit is not a person who comes into your life without your consent. He is a person who wants you to want His presence. If you want the Holy Spirit in your life, then ask the Father. You may be a Christian and still be unaware of the Holy Spirit; if that is the case for you right now, you need to change that very quickly. To live without the Holy Spirit is to live like a blind man with his eyes open. If it were possible for us to live without the Holy Spirit, then Christ would not send Him to us. Having the Holy Spirit in our lives is just as important as having Christ. It would be a real mistake to want to be a Christian without knowing the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit comes to complete the work of Christ and make it perfect in us.

Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption.”

I couldn’t end this article without telling you this: having the Holy Spirit in your life also involves listening to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person, therefore, He can be grieved. As His name implies, He is Holy. So what could grieve Him? You guessed it: it’s sin (Look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5). But sin is not the only thing that could grieve the Holy Spirit. As I told you above, the Holy Spirit is a person who desires us to desire Him, therefore He desires us to desire to listen to His instructions. As we saw in John 16, the Holy Spirit is the one who is supposed to teach us all things. All things do not only include the Word of God but everything that concerns your life. When the Holy Spirit warns you about something, He expects you to listen to Him and not ignore Him. To ignore the Holy Spirit is to grieve Him, but even more, it is to limit His action in your life and if that is the case, you will be the one who will suffer the most, because the Holy Spirit is never wrong.

You can well imagine that this portion of the text does not contain all the data on the person of the Holy Spirit and on what our relationship with it implies. This is why I invite you to consult the document that Campus for Christ has detailed on this subject, which will give you more detail concerning our relationship with the Holy Spirit.