Lesson Ten
The Holy Spirit: His Personality and Ministry

Of the three persons in the Godhead, the Son is the One whose deity has been most attacked while the Holy Spirit is the One whose personality has been most doubted. It has been a hallmark of several cults through the ages to refer to the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force. Even among some otherwise doctrinally sound Christian groups, there is a tendency to refer to Him, the blessed Holy Spirit of redemption, as an “It”, or to marginalize His personality by the overuse of such symbols as “fire” or “dove”. To conjure any type of visible image in helping us draw close to God, whether Son, Spirit or Father, is not according to Scripture. To understand the God of the Word we must go to the Word of God.

What does the Word of God teach about the Holy Spirit? These next two lessons will examine just that.

I. The Personality of the Holy Spirit :
A. Proof of His Personality
1. He is God: He does what only God can do & has God’s attributes:
a. Creates - Gen. 1:2- 3; Psa. 104:3; Job 26:13.
b. Re-Creates (ie. Regenerates) - John 3:3- 5; Titus 3:5 (These two passages explain each other). Eph. 3:16.
c. Inspires - 2nd Cor. 3:6; 1 Thess 1:5; Jer. 5:14.
d. Testifies - Luke 4:16- 21; Isa. 61:1; Zech. 4:6.
e. Resurrects - Rom. 1:4; 1 Pet. 3:18.
f. Holiness - “Holy Spirit” (called such six times in the Bible. More often “Spirit of holiness”, “... of wisdom”, etc.).
g. Eternity - Heb. 9:14.
h. Omnipresence - Psa. 139: 7- 10.
i. Omnipotence - Acts 4:31- 33.
j. Omniscience - 1 Cor. 2:1- 11.

2. He is referred to as a Person. - Acts 5:3- 4.

3. He has personal attributes.
a. Intellect - Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 2:10- 11.
b. Emotion - Rom. 15:30.
c. Will - 1 Cor. 12:11; Acts 16:6- 7.

4. He interacts personally
a. Forbids - Acts 16:6
b. Grieved - Eph. 4:30.
c. Resisted - Acts 7:51.
d. Lied to - Acts 5:3- 4.

These are just a few. Other interactions are _____________________________________________

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B. Importance of His personality: Our salvation is personal. “Salvation is of the Lord”. SInce we are saved by the Spirit (as well as the Son and Father), the Spirit must be a person as well.
What are some other implications of the personality of the Holy Spirit?

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C. Indications of minimizing His personality:
1. Impersonal symbolism overemphasized (fire, dove, force, etc.). Does the Bible use this symbolism to the same extent? No.
Fire: This image is more often use otherwise: Rev. 1:14, 2nd Thess 1:8, Jer. 23:29 (the Son, the Word), Heb. 12:29 (the Father), Heb. 1:7 (God’s Ministers).

Dove: Only used for one incident of the Holy Spirit (in the Gospels).

2. Neutral referencing (The divine “It”, etc.). Though the Greek word “spirit” (pneuma)
is in the neuter, the Bible refers twelve times to the Spirit in the masculine gender.

Ironically, some (certainly not all) charismatic groups both magnify and downgrade the Holy Spirit. At the same time that they speak much and favorably of the Holy Spirit, they also obscure the personality and sovereign power of Him. Some are seeking a second blessing because they have misunderstood the Holy Spirit’s first work in their hearts.

II. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit: This will be continued next week in greater detail.

A. Testimony: He testifies of the truthfulness of God’s Word and underscores the urgency for repentance. John 15:13; Acts 5:32; 15:28; Rom. 8:16; Gal. 5:16- 18.

B. Illumination: He assists us (Christians) to understand the Bible, and to apply it correctly. John 16:12- 15 * ; 1 Cor. 2:9- 16; 2 Pet. 1:21.
Note: Illumination should not be confused with revelation. What is the difference?

C. Baptism: He endows believers with gifts for ministry. Joel 2:28- 29 (comp. with Acts 2:1- 11); John 7:37- 39; 1 Cor. 12 (entire chapter); 1 Cor 14: 26- 33.

D. Comfort: Paraclete. “One called alongside to help”. Jesus is our Comforter in His role as of Advocate before the Father” (Sproul). The Holy Spirit is the other Comforter sent after the ascension. John 14:16- 18; Acts 19:1- 7; Rom. 8:26- 27; Gal. 4:6.

E. Sanctification: He enables us in the lifelong process of putting on Christ. Phil. 3:10; 2:12- 13; John 15:26; 2 Cor. 3:17- 18; 1 Pet. 1:15- 16.

Important: In a word, and with no disrespecting pun intended, the Holy Spirit applies the Cross-reference to our lives: The benefits of Christ’s death on the Cross are made viable and dynamic by His ministry. Christ’s death on the Cross brought us much more than forgiveness, though it all had forgiveness as the foundation. His death is foundational to all of our blessings. This is why Paul determined to know nothing among the Corinthians “but Christ, and Him crucified”. This does not mean that he only preached from the last few chapters of the Gospel. it means that He recognized and taught the connection of Christ and the Cross with all Scripture. He applied the Cross to his Corinthian hearers in the same way that Christ, going through all the Law and Prophets, taught concerning Himself, and explained to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25- 27) why He had to suffer.


Due Next Week:
Read chapter 12. The Holy Spirit and the Believer.

Answer:
1. Name four divine attributes of the Holy Spirit.
2. Name three personal attributes of the Holy Spirit.
3. What did Christ mean by saying that we would do “greater works” than He had done? (See John 14:12)
4. Knowing that the Holy Spirit inspired God’s Word, how should that effect our teaching of the Word to other - and to ourselves?

Digging Deeper:
* He takes of the Son and gives to us. This is a rich study in itself, and has to do sanctification as well as illumination A good cross-reference here is Paul’s saying “All things are yours”. 1 Cor. 3:21.