God and Jesus
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. He is not an impersonal force. He comes to live in everyone who trusts Jesus, giving them new life and helping them to follow him.
A person, not a power
The Bible speaks of the Spirit as “he” and not “it”. He teaches, guides and comforts, and he can be grieved. He is as fully God as the Father and the Son.
Promised by Jesus
On the night before he died, Jesus told his disciples that when he left them he would not leave them alone.
I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,— the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
The word translated “Counselor” means someone called alongside to help. Other translations say Helper, Advocate or Comforter.
Given at Pentecost
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
That promise was kept a few weeks after the resurrection, on the Jewish festival of Pentecost. The Spirit came on the disciples in Jerusalem, and the frightened group became a bold one (Acts 2). Churches celebrate the event each year on Pentecost Sunday, known in Britain traditionally as Whitsun.
What the Spirit does
- He brings people to faith and gives them new life.
- He assures Christians that they belong to God.
- He helps them understand the Bible.
- He helps them pray, especially when they don’t know what to say.
- He changes their character to become more like Jesus.
- He gives each Christian abilities to serve the church and others.
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.
In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
The fruit of the Spirit
The clearest sign of the Spirit at work in someone is not a dramatic experience. It is a slowly changing character.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Do I have the Holy Spirit?
If you have put your trust in Jesus, yes. The New Testament says that everyone who belongs to Christ has his Spirit (Romans 8:9). You may or may not have felt anything, but he is at work in you.
Churches differ in what they expect of the Spirit. Pentecostal and charismatic churches emphasise experiences and gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing. Others put less weight on these. All agree that every Christian has the Spirit and should go on asking God to fill them.