Lesson 14 - God the Holy Spirit: His Personality

The Personality of the Holy Spirit in Scripture

"The Spirit is said to do that which is possible only for a person to do. a) He reproves the world (John 16:8), b) He teaches (John 14:26), c) the Spirit speaks (Gal. 4:6), d) the Spirit intercedes (Rom. 8:26), e) the Spirit leads (Gal. 5:18), f) the Spirit appoints men to specific service (Acts 13:2; cf. Acts 20:28), g) the Spirit is Himself subject to appointment (John 15:26), h) the Spirit ministers: He regenerates (John 3:6), He seals (Eph. 4:30), He baptizes (1 Cor. 12:13), He fills (Eph. 5:18). He is affected as a person by other beings. a) The Father sends Him into the world (John 14:16, 26), and the Son sends Him into the world (John 16:7). b) Men may vex the Spirit (Isa. 63:10), they may grieve Him (Eph. 4:30), they may quench (resist) Him (1 Thess. 5:19), they may blaspheme Him (Matt. 12:31), they may lie to Him (Acts 5:3), they may disrespect Him (Heb. 10:29), they may speak against Him (Matt. 12:32). All Bible terms related to the Spirit imply His personality. a) He is called “another Comforter” (Advocate), which indicates that He is as much a person as Christ (John 14:16-17; 26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1-2), b) He is called a Spirit in the same personal sense as God is called a Spirit (John 4:24), c) the pronouns used of the Spirit imply His personality. In the Greek language the word “spirit” is a neuter noun which would naturally call for a neuter pronoun, and in a few instances the neuter pronoun is used (Rom. 8:16, 26); but often the masculine form of the pronoun is used, thus emphasizing the fact of the personality of the Spirit (John 14:16-17; 16:7-15)."[1]

God the Holy Spirit Is Co-equal with the Father and the Son

1. He is called God. This fact will be seen by comparing Isaiah 6:8-9 with Acts 28:25-26; Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17. (Note also 2 Cor. 3:18 ASV, and Acts 5:3, 4—“Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?… thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God”.)
2. He has the attributes of God (Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; 1 Cor. 2:9-11; Heb. 9:14).
3. The Holy Spirit performs the works of God (Ps. 104:30; Luke 12:11-12; Acts 1:5; 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:11; 2:8-11; 2 Pet. 1:21).
4. The Holy Spirit is presented in Scripture as a personal object of faith (Ps. 51:11; Matt. 28:19; Acts 10:19-21). As an object of faith, He is also One to be obeyed. The believer in Christ, walking in fellowship with the Spirit, experiences His power, His guidance, His instruction, and His sufficiency, and confirms experientially the great doctrines concerning the personality of the Spirit which are revealed in Scripture.[2]

[1] Lewis Sperry Chafer; John F. Walvoord; Major Bible Themes (Grand Rapids, Mich. Zondervan Publishing, 2010), 88-89.

[2] Ibid., 89-90.