For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is both familiar and strangely unfamiliar. We hear His name when we read the Bible. We sing about Him. We speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yet if someone asks a simple question—“Who exactly is the Holy Spirit?”—the answer may not come quite so easily.
Is the Holy Spirit a mysterious power from God? Is He the presence of God? Is He another name for Jesus? Is He the Bible working within us? Is He someone we can actually know? And perhaps the biggest question of all: What does the Holy Spirit actually do in the life of a Christian today?
Those questions are the reason for this series. There are widely differing views about the Holy Spirit. In some Christian circles, nearly every feeling, impression, or unusual event may be attributed to Him. In others, He is rarely discussed at all. We can become so concerned about emotionalism or excess that we push the Spirit’s work to the margins. Neither approach is particularly satisfying.
Rather than beginning with traditions, experiences, or assumptions, let’s begin with Scripture and ask the most basic question first: Who is the Holy Spirit?
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
Notice that the question is who, not what. The Bible does not describe the Holy Spirit as merely an impersonal force, influence, feeling, or abstract power. He is a living spiritual being with personality and identity.
Jesus told His apostles:
“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)
Look carefully at Jesus’ language. The Father sends Him. The Holy Spirit teaches. He brings things to remembrance. Jesus doesn’t speak of the Spirit as an “it.” He speaks of Him as “He.”
And this is hardly an isolated example. Throughout Scripture, the Holy Spirit does things that an impersonal force simply cannot do. He teaches (John 14:26). He guides (John 16:13). He speaks (Acts 8:29; 13:2). He bears witness (Acts 5:32; Romans 8:16). He makes judgments (Acts 15:28). He has a mind (Romans 8:27). He can even be grieved (Ephesians 4:30).
You can use electricity, but you cannot grieve electricity. A force doesn’t possess a mind. An abstract idea doesn’t teach, speak, make decisions, or bear witness. The Holy Spirit does.
The Holy Spirit is not simply God’s power. He is a Person.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS DISTINCT
Scripture also makes another important distinction: the Holy Spirit is not simply another name for the Father or Jesus. God said through Ezekiel:
“I will put My Spirit within you.” (Ezekiel 36:27)
Notice the distinction. God speaks of His Spirit, whom He will put within His people. Jesus makes the distinction even clearer when He tells the apostles:
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name…” (John 14:26)
All three are present in that one statement: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We see the same distinction when Jesus commands His followers to make disciples:
“…baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)
The Holy Spirit is not the Father. He is not Jesus. And although He gave us the inspired Word of God, He is not simply another name for the Bible. He possesses His own personal identity within the Godhead.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD
This brings us to something even more important. The Holy Spirit isn’t merely a heavenly messenger or another spiritual being like an angel. The Holy Spirit is divine.
One of the clearest examples occurs in Acts 5. Ananias and Sapphira had sold a piece of property and lied about the money. Peter confronted Ananias:
“Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit…?” (Acts 5:3)
Then Peter explains exactly what Ananias has done:
“You have not lied to men, but to God.” (Acts 5:4)
Peter first says Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and then says he lied to God. Scripture also attributes divine characteristics to the Spirit. He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14). He searches even the depths of God (1 Corinthians 2:10). He was present and active in creation (Genesis 1:2). And David asks:
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7)
The biblical picture becomes increasingly clear: the Holy Spirit is a Person, He is distinct from the Father and the Son, and He is fully divine.
FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
This brings us to the mystery Christians commonly call the Trinity. Scripture teaches that there is one God. Yet Scripture also reveals the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct and divine.
Trying to fully explain that reality in human terms is difficult. Every analogy eventually falls short because we’re attempting to describe the nature of an infinite God with finite human minds. We don’t need to pretend the mystery isn’t there. Instead, we can affirm what Scripture reveals. God is Spirit (John 4:24). God came among us in the person of Jesus Christ. And God dwells within His people through the Holy Spirit. The Father, Son, and Spirit are fully divine, yet Scripture reveals distinct roles in God’s relationship with creation and with us.
That is part of the mystery—and majesty—of the Holy Trinity.
WHY DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT SEEM SO MYSTERIOUS?
Perhaps there is a reason we sometimes struggle to understand the Spirit. Jesus Himself compared the Spirit’s work to the wind:
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
We cannot see the wind itself. We recognize it by what it does. There is something similar about the Holy Spirit. We cannot put God under a microscope. We cannot reduce the Spirit to a formula or expect to understand everything about an infinite God. But that does not mean we cannot know anything about Him.
God has revealed the Spirit to us through Scripture. We can learn who He is, what He has done, how He works, what it means for Him to dwell within us, what it means to walk by the Spirit, what spiritual gifts are, and what a Spirit-filled life actually looks like. Those are some of the questions we’ll explore throughout this series.
But there is one more truth we need to establish at the beginning.
THE HOLY SPIRIT POINTS US TO JESUS
This may be the most important principle for understanding the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His apostles:
“He will glorify Me.” (John 16:14)
Those four words provide an important lens through which to understand everything else Scripture teaches about the Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not compete with Jesus for attention. He points us toward Him.
He was involved in the incarnation of Christ (Luke 1:35). He descended at Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16). He empowered His ministry (Matthew 12:28). He was involved when Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9:14). He raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). He inspired the Scriptures that testify about Him (2 Peter 1:21). And He works in the lives of Christians to make us increasingly like Christ.
This gives us an important safeguard as we begin exploring the Holy Spirit. If our understanding of the Spirit ultimately moves the spotlight away from Jesus, something has gone wrong. The Spirit’s work points in the opposite direction.
Paul put it beautifully:
“…no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)
Those three words—Jesus is Lord—capture the heartbeat of the Spirit’s work.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Knowing who the Holy Spirit is gives us the foundation, but it also opens the door to much bigger questions. What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit? What happened at Pentecost? When does the Spirit begin to dwell within a Christian? How does He work in our lives? What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Are spiritual gifts still given today? And how can we know what our spiritual gifts are?
We’ll examine those questions one at a time. And throughout the process, we’ll come back to the same principle: Follow Scripture, seek to understand the Spirit faithfully, and never lose sight of the One the Spirit came to glorify—Jesus Christ. For now, let’s go deeper in Who the Holy Spirit is.
WANT TO GO DEEPER?
This article is adapted from my book, Understanding the Holy Spirit: A Scriptural Study Guide. If you’d like to explore the Holy Spirit in greater depth—including His indwelling presence, His work in our lives, the fruit of the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, spiritual gifts, and much more—the complete study is available on Amazon.
Get Understanding the Holy Spirit on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H613J4G2