How would you like to be referred to as an “it” or simply an “influence”? This is how many people refer to the Spirit of God or consider him to be the symbol of God’s power without personality. We should remember that he a person within the Godhead and shares co-equality with God the Father and with God the Son.
The Holy Spirit is intangible and invisible because he is spirit. As the third person of the Trinity, he enjoys the same attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence as God the Father and God the Son. He is eternal and pre-existent. He is given many titles in Scripture; the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Wisdom, Eternal Spirit and others. He is considered the Source of life and the Giver of life. He is also represented in Scripture by the symbols of fire, water and oil.
In the New Testament, we find that the actions of the Holy Spirit are those that pertain to a person. Jesus promised his disciples that once he had returned to the Father, the Holy Spirit would be sent to them and would come upon them. In doing so, he referred to him as a Comforter, a Counselor, and an Advocate, all names or titles that entail a state of being and doing. Jesus always referred to the Holy Spirit as “he.” Talking about the Spirit, Jesus said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”(John 16:13). Thus the Spirit can hear, speak and guide. Jesus went on to say that the Spirit would teach, communicate, lead, convict, and testify to him, the Lord Jesus.
All this is to say that the Holy Spirit is very definitely a person, and we would do well not to allow appreciation of his work to overshadow his personality.
Taken from “Real Faith – What’s at the heart of the Gospel?”
