BY BRITNEY JENINE
Many believers in Christ get confused about the Holy Spirit. Some say that the Holy Spirit is the “Power of God”, while others say that the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit. So then, who is the Holy Spirit really?
Jesus said in John 14:15-16 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.” According to Jesus, The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth”. In the previous verses John 14:6-7 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.” Jesus is the “Truth” and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth which makes Him Jesus’ Spirit.
Jesus said in John 14:20 “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” So then, does this mean that Jesus and God the Father is one person? Yes and No. Jesus is God in the flesh connected by the Holy Spirit. In John 1:1 we read “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” and John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” We can now safely say that since Jesus is God in the flesh, and the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ Spirit that Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit.
We have established that the Holy Spirit is God’s very own Spirit, we can also say that the Holy Spirit is God in the Spirit. Referring to the Holy Spirit as “it” is incorrect because He is a person. He is God! John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me.” In this verse Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “he” proving to us that “He is a person”.
Now is the Holy Spirit also the “Power of God”? Yes. John 1:2-4 “He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” We know that the Holy Spirit is a person and He was with God in the creation of the world. He was the one who did as God instructed in the creation of the world and He still does as God instructs. Scripture says that “in Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind”. Genesis 2:7 “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” In the beginning when God created mankind He breathed His Spirit in us to give us life. His Spirit who is the Holy Spirit was the “Power” that created us. So yes, the Holy Spirit is the “Power of God”.
Matthew 1:18 “she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” and Matthew 1:20-21 “… because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” From the beginning of time and the creation of mankind, man has drifted from God and sinned therefore grieving the Holy Spirit who was in them. God then sent Jesus, His son through the Holy Spirit who brought to life Himself in the flesh in the womb of Mary. Jesus came to teach us about the right ways of God so that we could once again live our lives as once ordained by Him. As we read above “in Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” Through Jesus’ teachings, mankind was and still is able to accept and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to live our lives according to the will of God. When Jesus left to go back to the Father, He reminded us of the Holy Spirit who was always with us. John 14:17 “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” And John 14:26 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit is here to remind us of God’s love and to give us the power and authority to live as God has called us.