Pledge of God's Presence

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, equal with God the Father and God the Son in nature, but separate in personality from them.

Is the Holy Spirit a person?

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, and as such, He has personality. The Holy Spirit has intellectual ability to know things (1 Cor. 2:11), emotional capacity to feel things (Rom. 15:30), and volitional power to make choices (1 Cor. 12:11).

Why is there so much more attention given to the Holy Spirit today than in the past?

Some have called the Holy Spirit the forgotten Member of the Trinity. However, with the publication and distribution of millions of copies of the Scofield Bible in the last century, those who read the Scofield Bible have talked about the amplified ministry of the Holy Spirit in this present dispensation. Also, many dispensational teachers have pointed out that we are living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, that is, the church age. With the arrival of the gift of tongues at Azusa Street in 1907, and the subsequent planting and growth of many pentecostal denominations, there has been a growing emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Then in the late 1950s when Roman Catholics and non-pentecostals began speaking in tongues, there arose a second wave, the charismatic movement, again giving attention to the Holy Spirit. In the past twenty years, the growing attention to practical service in the church connected to spiritual giftedness again has brought attention to the Holy Spirit.

In recent days other manifestations of the Spirit, such as being “slain in the Spirit,” the apostolic church movement, and others have brought more attention to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Why is the Holy Spirit referred to as “It” several times in Scripture?

The Greek word for “spirit,” which is pneuma, is neuter in the Greek language (All Greek words are classified as either male, female, or neuter); therefore, a neuter pronoun would normally be used for “spirit.” Yet in other places in Scripture, masculine pronouns he or him are used for the Holy Spirit and are properly translated He. Also, the masculine pronoun ekeinos is used in the same passage where we find the neuter pneuma, as in John 14:17 and 16:13. While the Holy Spirit is referred to as “it” in some translations, “it” should have been rendered “He,” because of the context.

How is the Holy Spirit treated as a person?

The Holy Spirit can be obeyed (Acts 10:19), lied to (Acts 5:3), resisted (Acts 7:51), grieved (Eph. 4:30), reverenced (Ps. 51:11), blasphemed (Matt. 12:31), and spited (Heb. 10:29).

What proofs are there that the Holy Spirit is God?

First, the Holy Spirit does the work of God (Gen. 1:2; John 3:5). Second, He receives the honor only due to God. Third, He has the title of deity. Fourth, in the baptismal formula, He is identified with God (Matt. 28:19). And the words He speaks are ascribed to God (Ex. 16:4; Ps. 95:6–7; Heb. 3:7; Isa. 6:8; Acts 28:25).

Elmer Towns, Bible Answers for Almost All Your Questions (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003).