Question: Do you wonder whether the Holy Spirit is an actual person or just some type of force or power from God?
Let me prove to you that the Holy Spirit is real, that he is indeed a person, and that he is 1/3 of the Trinity.
It is the enlightened power of the Holy Spirit who teaches us, guides us, and instructs us so that we are soon filled not only with understanding, but also with inner peace and joy. The Holy Spirit is the intercessor, he is the voice of warning in times of temptation, and he is the communicator of God's truth to our hearts. Thus, it is the guidance of the Holy Spirit that is going to change your character, your conduct, your personality, yes your entire life. It is the Holy Spirit that is going to make the poor rich, the weak strong, and the lowly exalted. And the Holy Spirit does not come and go from your life. Once you become saved, once you are born again, then he will be with you always.
A long time ago God the Father created a message of hope and salvation for all of mankind. He then gave this message to his Son. His Son, in the human form of Jesus Christ, brought this message down here to earth. It is now the mission of the Holy Spirit to instill that message into each and every one of us and he does this by living and indwelling within us. If we allow the Holy Spirit to do this, then the lifestyle of our daily lives will be one that is both pleasing and acceptable to God the Father.
The Holy Spirit is also called the spirit of the Lord in Isaiah 11:2, and His
attributes are gloriously described in such terminology as: ". . . the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge of the Lord."
He is called the Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of Christ in Romans 8:9, and the Eternal Spirit in Hebrews 9:14. We can see that the Holy Spirit who is so closely identified with the Father and the Son is GOD, the third member of the Trinity. He always was, is, and shall be.
As the Father made our relationship with him dependent on our relationship with the Son, so the Son has made our relationship with him, dependent on our relationship with the Holy Spirit. As the Father shared his glory with the Son, the Son shares his glory with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit being the educator, points the way to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ being the Savior, points the way to God the Father.
THE FOLLOWING VERSES WILL SHOW YOU THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS INDEED A PERSON.
1 John 5:7----For there are three that bear record in heaven, The Father, The Word, and The Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
John 14:26----But the Helper, The Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name,. that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things that I have told you.
John 14:16-17----And I will request the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever. The Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him or knows Him.
Romans 5:5----Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Acts 13:2----As they were publicly ministering to Jehovah and fasting, The Holy Spirit said: Of all persons, set aside Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.
2 Corinthians:13:14----May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of The Holy Spirit be with you all.
John 16:12-14----I have many things yet to say to you, but you are not able to bear them at present, However, when that one arrives, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own impulse, but what things he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things coming. That one will glorify me, because he will receive from what is mine and will declare it to you.
John 15:26----When the Helper arrives that I will send you from the Father, The Spirit of the Truth, which proceeds from the Father, that one will bear witness about me.
John 16:7-8----Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth, it is for your benefit I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will by no means come to you. But if I do go my way, I will send Him to you, and when that one arrives He will give the world convincing evidence concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment.
Titus 3:5----Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8----But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.
Acts 2:4----And they all became filled with the Holy Spirit and started to speak with different tongues, just as the Spirit was granting them to make utterance.
Romans 8:16----The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Acts 20:28----Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own Son.
Matthew 28:19----Go therefore and make disciples of people of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
(Here the Lord declares that these three names, that of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, be recorded in the very act of baptism. It is in this rite of baptism that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit meet the believer; the Father to receive him as a child, the Son to welcome him as a brother, and the Holy Spirit to endow him with the Spirit of God.)
1 Peter 1:2----According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with the sanctification (cleansed from sin) by The Holy Spirit, for the purpose of their being obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.
John 14:16----And I will request the Father and he will give you another Helper, The Holy Spirit to be with you forever.
Romans 14:17----In the kingdom of God, eating and drinking are not important. The important things are living right with God, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Acts 8:29----And the Spirit said to Philip , "Go up and join this chariot."
Luke 11:13----"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Revelation 14:13----"And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!' Yes," says the Spirit , "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."
The Holy Spirit even miraculously conceived Jesus into the womb of Mary.
Matthew 1:18---- "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit".
Before his death, Jesus gave his followers a fantastic promise. "The counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" (John 14:26). What a hope filled promise. Not only would the Holy Spirit lead them into greater depths of spiritual understanding, but he would also reteach them everything that they had heard and learned from the Savior during the three years that they were with him.
Then a little later Jesus tells the apostles something really incredible and something that the apostles did not want to hear. In John 16:5 he tells them, "But now I am going to him that sent me." And in John 16:7, Jesus then tells them something very strange and something that the apostles could not even begin to understand. John 16:7 "It is for your benefit that I am going away."
This information greatly troubled the apostles since the very last thing that they wanted was for Jesus to leave them. They loved Jesus, were dependent on him, and looked to him for guidance and direction. They knew Jesus had all the answers so the apostles had to feel that they would be completely lost if Jesus was not with them. So you have to ask yourself, why would it be beneficial to the apostles for Jesus to leave them? What earthly good would it do the apostles for them to be separated from Jesus? Why would the apostles be better off if Jesus was not with them?
And Jesus gives them a most remarkable answer in the last half of John 16:7, and his answer helps to show the unbelievable importance that the Holy Spirit plays in the lives of all mankind. John 16:7 "For if I do not go away the helper will by no means come to you, but if I do go my way, I will send him to you."
Who else would God the Father entrust with such an important a task as teaching and guiding believers down through the ages. This mission could only be delegated to one of the persons of the Godhead. And so as Jesus is called the Son of God, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God.
So just as the Holy Spirit was with the disciples, comforting and teaching them, he is with you today. Although there will be times when you feel as though God is not at work in your life, he is. You may even fight feelings of discouragement and doubt, but always remember there is never a time when God is not active in your life. He knows the plans he has for you, and he is committed to bringing each one to completion. Whether you can sense it or not, he is leading you into a greater awareness of his spiritual truth. There are a great many tremendous and awesome spiritual gifts just waiting for you as you grow in your spiritual walk with God.
You in him and him in you
It's interesting to wonder why the human Jesus never performed any miracles before he was 30 years old. Why there is absolutely no mention in the Bible of him doing any wondrous or miraculous things before his thirtieth birthday. For it wasn't until that day on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, as Jesus was being baptized, that the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came down from heaven and entered the heart and soul of the human and earthly Jesus Christ. It was only then, with the Holy Spirit residing within the human Jesus, saturating him and filling him completely, that the human Jesus now had incredible Godly strength and power to do anything that was Godly. And along with that extraordinary power and strength came the wisdom to know what was right and true, and an awesome knowledge to know what God expected of him.
Jesus couldn't do miraculous and wondrous and amazing things before he was baptized for the same reason that many of you cannot do them. Because he didn't have the Holy Spirit living within him. The Holy Spirit wasn't fully and completely saturating the heart and soul of the human Jesus.
And in your case, when I say miraculous things, I don't mean raising the dead or causing the blind to see. That's probably not what God would want you to do. But if you think about it, there are probably an incredible number of miraculous things that you could do if only you had the Holy Spirit living within you, guiding and directing you. Things that would have a tremendous impact in your life and in the lives of many others.
And that is because it is the Holy Spirit who empowers and strengthens a believer, who enables a believer to be successful in the trials and tribulation that always seem to be present. It is the Holy Spirit who enables a believer to do truly miraculous things, and it is the Holy Spirit who allows all obstacles that lie in the believer's path to be successfully overcome. The Holy Spirit is the one who strengthens and fine tunes a believers moral compass, and it is the Holy Spirit who works through your conscience allowing you to know when you are doing right or wrong.
It is the Holy Spirit that is constantly trying to impart Godly wisdom into a believers life so the character and the moral fiber of the believer becomes ever more pleasing and acceptable to God. It is the Holy Spirit that is always tugging at a persons heart, making them aware of what is right, what is just, and what is Godly.The great men and women of God, are the great followers of the Holy Spirit.
His mother Mary understood this incredible and awesome power that Jesus had right after he was baptized and was now filled with the Holy Spirit. We see this at his very first miracle; the marriage at Cana. John 2:5 describes Mary telling those officiating at the wedding, "Whatever He says for you to do, do it".
Other examples of the awesome importance of the Holy Spirit
Look for just a moment at the power and the importance of the Holy Spirit in the work of the creation, the virgin birth, one's own physical body, the resurrection, Bible prophecy, and spiritual warfare
.
Creation
At the creation, the Holy Spirit was very active because the Spirit of God was moving to and fro' over the surface of the waters (Genesis 1:2).
Job 26:13 states: By his Spirit God hath adorned the heavens.
Psalm 104:30 declares that mankind, animals, birds of the air, fish of the sea and all other created objects came because thou sendest forth thy Spirit, and they are created.
The virgin birth
When Mary was told that she was gong to be bringing the long awaited Messiah into the world, she asked in Luke 1:34, "How shall I have a child when I have never known a man intimately?" The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.
Therefore that blessed thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
This wonder-working, omnipotent Holy Spirit, took the body and blood prepared by the Father, and placed the Christ - the sent One - into the womb of the pure virgin.
One's own physical body
Paul said something very interesting to a group of believers concerning a person's own physical body in relationship to the Holy Spirit. The verse talks of that moment in time when one becomes a believer and decides to surrender their body and soul to the Lord. It is at this time when the Holy Spirit takes up residence and indwells within the believer. And suddenly the believer's body becomes a temple to God. A temple being guided and directed by the Holy Spirit and having as its purpose, the proclaiming of the glory and greatness of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"
Resurrection
1 Peter 3:18 declares: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.
Romans 8:11 states, "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies."
Bible prophecy
Much of the Word of God deals with Bible Prophecy, and it was the Holy Spirit that inspired those Biblical writers to write those prophetic verses.
2 Peter 1:20-21 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."
Spiritual warfare
There is a raging war going on over you, around you, for you. You are the prize. And the forces of evil have a great many followers and converts that seem to be everywhere. That is true today just as it was in the days of the apostles.
Ephesians 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places"
Jesus did not expect his apostles to be able to be successful against all that evil all by themselves. He told his apostles to wait patiently until the helper arrives.
Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth".
John 14:17 "The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you".
But what is this seal?
Look at the following verses and I think that the only conclusion that can be made, is that this seal of God is indeed the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."
Ephesians 4:30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
2 Corinthians 1:22 "Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
When one becomes born again and surrenders their life over to Jesus Christ, they are sealed with the Holy Spirit and become a child of God. And this appears to be the same seal that that the Book of Revelation is talking about.
How important is the Holy Spirit?
He is so important that the only unforgivable sin in the entire Bible concerns the Holy Spirit. You can do and commit any sin that you can think of, and if you confess and repent of that sin, you will be forgiven, except for one sin, that if you commit will never be forgiven. This unforgivable sin is found in several different places in the Bible.
The definition of Blasphemy is expressing a lack of reverence. It is the showing of disrespect toward something sacred. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit occurs when a person who knows better rejects the Word of God which the Holy Spirit is attempting to bring into the heart of that person. Hence this rejection or this refusal is telling the Holy Spirit that what he is trying to bring into the person's heart is not being believed, that it's not worth the effort or the time to even look into it or study it, that the very Word of God is not important, and that the beliefs and teachings of Jesus Christ are being rejected.
God has given us all free will and whether we accept Jesus Christ is eventually left up to us. But the Holy Spirit spends your entire life trying to bring Jesus Christ into your life, and if you die still rejecting his efforts, then you have committed the unforgivable sin. If you leave this world still having a unrepentant heart, then you have committed the unforgivable sin. And God will not want those in heaven with him who have been so contemptuous and rebellious. Ask yourself this one simple question. Would you want to spend eternity with people who are not sorry, are not repentant, who give no importance to God, and who don't want to stop participating in things like thievery, adultery, murder, and hate?
When you die still rejecting Jesus Christ, it is telling the Holy Spirit that you have ended your life still rejecting the light and the truth that the Holy Spirit has been trying your whole life to bring into your heart. That because of your harden heart and closed eyes and ears, you have turned your back on the Son of God and instead have decided that your life will end still on the side of satan and the world. This is a classic example of having a lack of reverence, a lack of respect, and a complete rejection of what the Holy Spirit has been trying to bring into your life. To die without Christ is truly blasphemy aimed directly at the Holy Spirit.
Looking at this in a little different perspective, ask yourself what are the very first two commandments of God? What two commandments did God put before all others? They are:
1--"You shall have no other gods before me."
2--"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. "
When you look to the world for your answers, when you put sin first, when you do the things that God says not to do, when money and power become the driving forces in your life, when all you can think about is alcohol, sex, or drugs, then you are putting other gods before Almighty God. And when you put these worldly things before God, they not only become more important than God, they become idols; idols that your life centers around. And they also become your spiritual death sentence if you should die still cherishing those idols .
If you still doubt this then let Jesus tell you himself.
Mark 12:28-30 "One of the teachers of the law came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, "Which of the commands is most important?" Jesus answered, "The most important command is this. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength."
When you put money, power, sex, drugs, or any other earthly thing before God, then you do indeed place idols ahead of God. If you should die and not have Jesus Christ as the most important thing in your heart, then that simply means that other, more worldly things are more important to you then God. And if you die still treasuring those idols then that is unforgivable in the eyes of God. Dying without God as the most important thing in your heart, is unpardonable. Dying without being in a Godly relationship with Jesus Christ is the height of disrespect towards the Holy Spirit, and is truly unforgivable.
So the three verses regarding the unforgivable sin that are listed above, can be seen to show that the unforgivable sin is not only a sin, it is a way of life. It is a lifestyle that is telling God that he is not wanted at all in a person's life. That his beliefs and teachings are nothing but unimportant trash. That the person would prefer to follow the teachings of the world and satan rather than the teachings of the Son of God, and most importantly, that the person wants to die holding on to these beliefs.
Committing this unforgivable sin is generally accomplished in two different ways with both of these ways going on at the same time. First, there is a deliberate choice taking place. That is in the sense that the person has harden their heart to God, and instead offers up his heart to satan and to the world. The lost person seals his conscience to repentance, and prefers to completely shut God out of their lives. The ways of God in this person's life are completely unwanted. The second way for one to commit the unforgivable sin is to simply stay in a state of continual neglect. Here a person fails to pray, or read the word of God, or have fellowship with Christian believers. They ignore God and completely block him from their thoughts and thus successfully prevent the Holy Spirit from making any headway into their lives. This person will soon find themselves drifting further and further from Jesus Christ. They will also find that their heart is becoming harder and harder.
There are two very good verses in the tenth chapter of the book of Hebrews which help explain this fatal refusal of the Holy Spirit, who is attempting to come into a person's life.
Hebrews 10:26-27 "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries."
Hebrews 10:29 "How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit?"
Forgiveness can only be given to those who seek it and then repent, not to those who knowingly trample upon the truths and desires of God. The intentional contempt of the Holy Spirit, who is trying to bring Jesus Christ into a person's life, is a potentially fatal attitude to have.
Please remember that it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us, guides us, and instructs us. It is the Holy Spirit who is our helper and our educator. He is the one who opens up and talks to our hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit is responsible for urging and directing us. It is this guidance by the Holy Spirit that is going to bring Jesus Christ into your life and keep him there. The Holy Spirit is the one who educates and instructs a person in how to lead a life which is pleasing and approving to God The Father, and it is The Holy Spirit who tells the world about Jesus Christ.
So the Holy Spirit is a person and he is considered by God The Father and Jesus to be very, very important. If you let him he can easily become a very valuable friend, a friend who will always be with you, always guide you correctly, always be true to you. He is right next to you this very second. All you have to do is reach out, take his hand in yours, and ask him to be your friend. If you do, then suddenly you will have the most powerful friend you can imagine right by your side day and night. A faithful and trusted friend who is always ready to help, a friend always ready to protect and defend, a friend who wants desperately to lead you to Jesus, and a friend who will very willingly guide you, step by step, right into eternal salvation.
The real reason why pain, death, and evil exist in the world
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