You’ve probably heard the story about the young dad grocery shopping with his fussy two-year-old sitting in the grocery cart. A woman heard the dad saying, “Be patient, Billy. It’ll be okay, Billy. Stay calm, Billy.” She finally told the dad, “I don’t mean to interrupt your shopping, but I just had to tell you how thrilled I am to see how loving and patient you are with little Billy.” To which the man replied, “My son’s name is Andrew. My name is Billy.”
Sometimes we need to hear more than our own whispers of encouragement to ourselves. Fortunately, Christians have a Holy Spirit who constantly whispers words of encouragement to us when we need them. This Holy Spirit was promised to us by Jesus:
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)
Jesus said he would send us a Helper, or Comforter, to help us navigate life. John used the same word, translated Helper in the verse above, in 1 John 2:1, where it’s usually translated as Advocate. John also shared this story about Jesus:
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)
Jesus was talking here about the Holy Spirit. He said, “If there’s anyone here who is not content with life the way it is, who knows there’s a different way to do life, come to me. When you do, the Holy Spirit will flow in you to do great things in you and through you to impact people around you.” The Holy Spirit, then, is here to help believers and help us to help others.
In this blog, we’ve talked about God the Father and God the Son (who he is and what he does). Let’s turn our attention to God the Holy Spirit. And let’s first ask the question, “Who is he?”
First, let’s settle this now. The Holy Spirit is a person.
In John 14:16, Jesus said he would send “another Helper,” meaning that the Holy Spirit would be another like Jesus. Jesus is the first Helper, and he said he would send another just like himself, a person who would be a Helper or Comforter or Advocate the same way Jesus was. Only a person, not a thing, can be a Helper or Comforter or Advocate.
In John 16, Jesus says this:
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)
Notice the pronouns here – “he will guide,” “he will not speak,” “he hears,” “he will speak,” “he will declare.” Jesus is letting us know in no uncertain terms that the Holy Spirit is not a thing but a person.
Since he’s a person, the Holy Spirit is not some unseen force. He’s not a power to harness, and his effectiveness in our lives isn’t measured by our midi-chlorians. The Holy Spirit is a “who,” a “he,” a person in the same way that God the Father and Jesus the Son are persons.
Not only is the Holy Spirit a person, but he’s also God.
The Holy Spirit is fully divine and worthy of the same worship and honor we give the Father and the Son. He’s not some lesser God or different God. He’s truly God, God the Spirit. How do we know this?
First, he has qualities that only belong to God. For example, he’s all-knowing (1 Corinthians 2:10-11; John 16:13) and eternal (Hebrews 9:14), and only God is eternal (Hebrews 1:10-12).
Second, the Holy Spirit does things that only God can do. He was involved in Creation (Genesis 1:2). He raised Jesus on that first Easter (Romans 8:11). He also gave us the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16)
The Holy Spirit is a person, and that person is God. The Holy Spirit who works in our lives is Deity. That should make a profound difference in how we go through life.
One question people sometimes ask is, “Since the Holy Spirit is God, can we pray to him?” That isn’t how Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Matthew 6:9), but there’s no place in the Bible where it says not to pray to him. He is God, after all. As God, he is worthy of all our praise and prayers. Our normal pattern should be to pray to the Father, but prayers to Jesus and the Holy Spirit are definitely not against any rule.
The Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. That person is God. He is just as much God as the Father is God and the Son is God. That’s who the Holy Spirit is.
Jesus promised to send God the Spirit as our Comforter, our Helper. That means he, the Holy Spirit, is with us. He’s with us in the good times and the tough times. He’s here when we face difficulties, like pushing little Andrew around the grocery store, and he’s here to help us celebrate our victories. Jesus kept his promise.
So let me ask you: If it’s true God the Spirit is with us, shouldn’t there be a difference between someone who has the Holy Spirit and someone who doesn’t? Shouldn’t someone with the Holy Spirit be free from fear or worry or struggles with sin? Those are good questions to ponder.
For now, spend time this week praising God for the gift of his Spirit. No matter what you’re facing, as a believer you are never alone, you’re never weak, you’re never helpless. You have God with you, and that should make all the difference in the world.