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There are many misconceptions about the identity of the Holy Spirit. Some view the Holy Spirit as a mystical force. Others understand the Holy Spirit as the impersonal power that God makes availabl...
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God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, chose to reveal Himself throughout the Hebrew Bible, and through the Abrahamic Covenant, Land Covenant, Davidic Covenant, et al. He chose to reveal Himself as Jesus, our Savior, in the New Testament or Covenant. Once Jesus had completed His ministry on earth, including the payment on the Cross for original sin and subsequent sins, He returned to the "Place of Honor" in the Heavenlies. The "Place of Honor" is within the Godhead. Jesus subsequently dispatched the Holy Spirit to work with all of us, Spiritually. Was the Holy Spirit now absent from the Godhead? No. Was Jesus absent from the Godhead? No. God is ONE. HE is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. His physical manifestation on earth was as Jesus, Emmanuel, "God with us." His Spiritual manifestation among us was as the Holy Spirit. Once one becomes a Christian, He receives the Holy Spirit and the capacity through a new Spiritual Nature to overcome sin.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. God is love, and God said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness". So here we can imagine the image of God as Lover, Beloved and the Shared-Love between the two. The Father pours out his love for the Son, and the Son reciprocates, and the shared-love between the two is so real that it becomes another person - the Holy Spirit. From the creed, we confess, "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, which proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets." He was there in the beginning, moving across the waters. He breathe life into Adam. He lead the animals to the ark. He confused the languages of the people. He spoke to Moses and wrote the Ten Commandments. He overshadowed the ark and lead the Israelites across the wilderness and the Red Sea. He overshadowed Mary and descended upon Jesus. He was moving in the upper room, giving the disciples the ability to speak in different languages. He is still moving with us today.
The Holy Spirit is a Person, not an "it." He has a mind as Michael said (1Co 2:11 HHe knows). He has intellect (1 Co 2:10-11). He has emotions (feelings--The Spirit can experience emotion and pain Eph 4:30 See also Isa 63:10; Heb 10:29). Besides mind and feelings, Michael wrote that He has a will (1 Cor. 12:11). The divinity (deity) of the Holy Spirit is seen or proved as Michael said by his being equally associated with other Persons of the Trinity (Acts 5:3-4 -- “Holy Spirit” and “God” are used interchangeably Ac 5:3-4 See also 1Co 3:16; Mt 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). He is present everywhere. Ps 139:7-8 See also Jn 14:17 He knows all things. Isa 40:13 NIV footnote. See also Jn 16:13; 1Co 2:10-11. In application to today to our lives, He can be obeyed (or disobeyed, Ac 10:19-21). He can be lied to today still, so don't do it (Acts 5:3). He can be resisted (Ac 7:51), but don't do this. He can be reverenced (Ps. 51:11). -- this too shows His personality. He can be grieved but don't do so (Eph 4:30). And He can be outraged (Heb. 10:29 so avoid doing this.
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