The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is undoubtedly the most mysterious person in the Trinity. They aren’t as many teachings, books, or songs about Him as with the Father and the Son. J.I Packer even said, “the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the Cinderella of Christian doctrines. Comparatively, few seem to be interested in it.” This ignorance of the person and work of the Holy Spirit has contributed to His abuse and neglect.
On the one hand, we have people who abuse the Holy Spirit by wrongly attributing all kinds of sensuality and mysticism to Him. And on the other hand, people neglect Him by not recognizing His work or even deity.
I stand among the guilty.
For most of my life, I thought the Holy Spirit was a force, an “it,” not a “He.” It’s only a few years ago that I realized He is God. This revelation made me highly intrigued by the marvelously complex doctrine of the Trinity. So, I decided to study the specific roles of each person of the Godhead.
However, much to my shame, I only studied the Father and the Son before worldly things distracted me. Consequently, the person and work of the Holy Spirit continued to be a mystery.
Until now.
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son, and He deserves to be known. So here is an introduction to the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
The person of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune God. He is not a force or a genie; He is fully God. Although He is equal with the Father and the Son, He is lesser in terms of role and submits to both (John 15:26).
As with the other persons of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit has been active from the beginning. His first appearance is in Genesis 1:2, which says, “the earth was without form and void, and the darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
The Hebrew word for Spirit is ruach (roo’-akh), and it means breath, wind, or spirit. It is often used in Hebrew literature to represent life or energy. So whereas Jesus is the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is the breath of God. He is the one who gives new life and maintains it. (Genesis 2:7, John 6:63)
The Holy Spirit also descended on specific people to empower them in their callings. For example, the Spirit of God came upon Joseph to help him decipher Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41:38), He came upon the judges to judge Israel (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29), upon David to anoint him as king (1 Samuel 16:13), and He dwelled with all the prophets and taught them the oracles of God.
The Holy Spirit also played a significant role in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
He participated in the incarnation of Jesus (Luke 1:35); He descended on Jesus during His baptism and empowered Him throughout His ministry (Matthew 3:16-17), and lastly, the Holy Spirit helped raised Jesus from the dead. (Romans 8:11, 1 Peter 3:18)
The Work of the Holy Spirit
The ministry of the Holy Spirit began where Jesus’s ministry ended (John 7:39). Jesus was the helper and comforter of the disciples, but His time on earth was drawing to an end. Therefore, He promised to send another helper to continue His work.
He said in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came with a sound like a mighty rushing wind and appeared as tongues of fires to the apostles (Acts 2:1-4). It also marked the beginning of His ministry as our helper.
The word helper comes from the Greek word paraklétos (par-ak’-lay-tos), and it’s sometimes translated as advocate or comforter. It means to come alongside someone or called to one’s aid.
The Holy Spirit came alongside the apostles by empowering them to preach the Gospel and bear witness to Christ (Acts 1:8), perform signs and wonders (Acts 5:12), and write the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16).
Today, the Holy Spirit also permanently indwells every believer and seals us until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). Here are ten ways He comes alongside us.
1. He draws us to Christ for salvation
“Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 12:3
The first work of the Holy Spirit occurs before our salvation. Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” The Holy Spirit bears witness of Jesus Christ and draws us to Him so that we can accept Him as our Lord and Savior (John 15:26)
2. He convicts the world
“And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.” – John 16:8-11.
The Holy Spirit convicts both believers and unbelievers regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment. He convicts unbelievers so they can realize their depravity and see their need for Christ, their savior. And He convicts believers when they sin so they can repent and ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
3. He gives us a new life
“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” – John 3:5-6
After convicting us and drawing us to Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit regenerates us and gives us a new nature. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Without the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be truly born again and saved.
4. He sanctifies us
“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:13
The Holy Spirit participates in our sanctification, that is, making us more like Christ. He guides us so we can live according to God’s Word, and He empowers us to fight the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-17).
5. He intercedes for us in prayer
“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” – Romans 8:26-27
The Holy Spirit helps in prayer. We do not always know what to pray or how to pray. But when we are weak, the Holy Spirit takes over and intercedes to the Father on our behalf. He searches our hearts and communicates our needs to God in perfect accordance with His will.
6. He guides us
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” – John 16:13
The Holy Spirit is our counselor who leads us in life and stirs us away from error. He provides us with wisdom and insights to make important life decisions such as marriage, career, calling, etc. He also guides us daily in telling us things to say or not say, things to do or not do, etc.
7. He instructs us
“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” 2 Corinthians 2:12-13.
The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom to understand the things of God. He reveals the truth in God’s Word and provides us with the intelligence to apply it (Ephesians 1:17-18). The apostle John even said we do not need anyone to instruct us because He teaches us about everything (1 John 2:27). Therefore we must always ask the Holy Spirit’s help before we read Scriptures.
8. He reminds us of the Word of God
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” – John 14:26
Not only does the Holy Spirit teach us Scriptures, but He also helps us remember it. And since the Word of God is the weapon against evil forces (Ephesians 6:17), we must have it handy. Do note that the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance; this means we must first diligently study Scripture and hide it in our hearts before the Holy Spirit can pull them out as needed.
9. He harvests and produces fruit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23
The Holy Spirit will make us produce His fruit in our lives. His fruit will sanctify us, prove we are disciples of Christ, and glorify the Father (John 15:8).
10. He gives us spiritual gifts
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” – 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
Lastly, the Holy Spirit generously gives us individual gifts to exercise our unique calling from God and to build and edify the church. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
But is the work of the Holy Spirit really important? Important! Why, were it not for the work of the Holy Spirit there would be no gospel, no faith, no church, no Christianity in the world at all.
J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 69
The Holy Spirit is our God, and we must honor Him by knowing Him and recognize His work in us and for us. As J.I Packer said in bestselling book Knowing God, ignoring the Holy Spirit doesn’t only slight and dishonor Him, it also dishonors to the Lord who sent Him.
Wow, I really enjoyed reading this. I am currently doing my own research and agree with everything you said. There are a few great points that I can use in my research and teachings.
Hi Naomi, I thank God my post was useful to you!