There are religious organizations who believe that the Holy Spirit is not a person like the other persons in the godhead. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination believes that the Holy Spirit is simply “God’s active force” in the world. Their New World Translation of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2) All other translations of the Bible say, “the Spirit of God moved on the face of the water.”
The Holy Spirit is not some glorified “it.” The Holy Spirit is not just an influence or some vague force such as a fog, electricity, or wind. The Holy Spirit is not merely a mode or an aspect, neither is the Spirit the mind, temper or disposition of God or Christ. The Holy Spirit is not the same thing nor synonymous with the Bible or the Word of God. There are many things which both are said to do, but this does not make them the same. There is a difference between the Spirit and “the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). It seems also, because the King James Version uses the word “Ghost,” that it led the thinking of many people in the wrong direction. It may have caused some to think of something “spooky” like the “ghosts” which appear around Halloween.
There may be other reasons that caused people not to realize that the Holy Spirit is a person just like God the Father and God the Son are persons. By saying that the Holy Spirit and other members of the godhead are “persons,” the writer does not mean that they are “persons” as human being. They are spiritual beings.
Evidence that the Holy Spirit Is a Being
First, masculine personal pronouns are used when speaking of the Holy Spirit. “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 said to you” (John 14:26; see also16:13-14). Notice that the pronoun is “He” not “it.”
Second, another proof that the Spirit is a person is that He is capable of speaking. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak” (John 16:13). Inanimate objects cannot speak. The primary work of the Spirit was to guide the apostles and prophets in recording God’s word. He spoke to them as he guided them into all truth.
After the Bible was written, The Spirit no longer speaks to people. It is also interesting to note that even in Bible times, the Holy Spirit never spoke to a sinner. He always spoke to one of God’s prophets or apostles. An example of that is found in Acts 8. When Philip followed the instructions of an angel and arrived at the road that went from Jerusalem to Gaza, he found a man from Ethiopia. “Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot’” (Acts 8:29). Why didn’t the Spirit speak directly to the sinner? That was not God’s plan, even in the days when the Spirit did speak to people. God’s plan was for men and women to teach other men and women (I Corinthians 1:21; Romans 10:14).
Third, another proof that the Holy Spirit is a person is that He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). Inanimate objects cannot grieve. He has all the emotions that we have.
Conclusion
Much more evidence could be given to show that the Holy Spirit is a person and not some “active force of God.” He has been active from the creation of the world (Genesis 1:1-2). Next week, it will be show that He is also part of the godhead, thus God.
Wayne Burger