Now, let’s talk about the Holy spirit of God. What is the Holy spirit of God? We have already in a previous lesson seen that God is almighty and that he is the creator of all things. before we look at what really the holy spirit of God is, we must first examine where it comes from.
What is the source of the Holy spirit? God!
So, when the scriptures say the holy spirit of God, ‘of’ in that sentence is a preposition that show this holy spirit flows from God. That is that the almighty God is the source of the holy spirit of God. Jesus Christ said:
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:13
You can see that it is the Father that gives His holy spirit to us. Another equally important passage is from another authoritative words of our Lord Jesus Christ too:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.26 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 have said to you.
John 14:15-17,26
So it is conclusive not just from the scriptures but from the mouth of Jesus Christ that the holy spirit of God can only come from God. We can ask for it from God in the name of Jesus Christ too.
What then is the Holy spirit of God?
In the Hebrew and Greek, the word Holy means something that is sacred or separated and holy. It describes the Spirit of God. So basically, the Spirit of god describes the spirit (which is invisible) that flows from God. We can only understand better using the scriptures. Let’s consider this verse:
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16 compare Romans 8:9; John 14:17
Here we learn that the body of the believer is where God dwells. But how can the almighty God leave his heavenly dwelling to live in the body of thousands of thousands of believers at the same time? The Bible answers that God can achieve this by His spirit!
Since the holy spirit comes from God, you can see the holy spirit as the extension of the essence of God in every where.
God is everywhere! How?
The Bible teaches that God is everywhere. He lives in the hearts of believers and not just that, there is no place that He can not see or His presence can not be felt! How can the Almighty God who sits in His throne in heaven also be everywhere at the same time! By His spirit! Please read:
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
Psalm 139:7-12
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
Psalm 139:7 is clear enough that the spirit of God is the extension of God’s presence in everywhere even in the dark and in the light because every thing is bare to Him! Sometime, the Bible describe this omnipresent nature of God as the eye of the LORD.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrew 4:13 compare 1 Peter 3:12
The Holy spirit of God manifests itself as the creative power of God
Since the spirit of God is the extension of the presence or glory of God in every corner, the holy spirit of God can manifest itself as the power of God. The angel of God told Mary that she would become pregnant despite being a virgin. Remember that Mary found this hard to believe and she asked the angel how this thing could be? The angel replied:
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Luke 1:35
The angel explained that the Holy spirit which is the power of the Most High would cause Mary to miraculously conceive a human child in her womb.
Now you can understand why the early Christians were able to act like God by performing miracles or speaking into existence the things that never existed. Let me show you just 2 miracles performed by them:
6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Acts 3:6-8
7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Here Peter raised a dead woman because he had the spirit of God:
40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
Acts 9:40
There is so much we can say about the holy spirit of God. But let’s look at what the holy spirit of God is not
The Holy spirit of God is not a person
The Bible never teaches that the spirit of God is a person. Only the almighty God and Jesus Christ are described as persons. The Hebrew and Greek for the word spirit denotes that it is invincible and can also be described as breadth or wind.
Since the spirit of God flows from God, it is very wrong and erroneous to imagine in your mind that the holy spirit is a person that sits in heaven like God and has eyes, legs and immortal body. This is a false doctrine that must be rejected.
In some cases, the holy spirit of God is personified according to the work God wants it to achieve. For example, the spirit is called a comforter in John 14:16,17 because the apostles would feel very lonely, sad and terrified after their Lord ascended to heaven. This does not mean that the holy spirit of God is a personal being that would come down from heaven and sit next to the disciples comforting them. No! The spirit of God dwells in us and it’s not a person.
The Holy spirit of God is not trinity
Trinity teaches that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy spirits are all individual distinct persons that are coequal and co-eternal. This theory is heretical as we have already seen in the previous study.
The holy spirit of God is not different from God because it flows from God. The Holy spirit of God is God. The Holy spirit of God is not another person that is God, but it is the spirit that flows out from God and therefore God.
The believer and the Holy spirit of God
God loves you so much that He is willing to dwell in you once you believe in His son Jesus Christ and you are baptised into him. The holy spirit of God seals the believer and marks him as a son or daughter of God. It guides the believer and helps him to choose right from evil.
Because the spirit of God dwells in the believers, you must understand that God can not continue to stay in a vessel that is defiled. This means that the believer must seek and do righteousness at all times. Even when he sins, he must genuinely repent and seek for forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ. Any thing other than this will grieve the spirit and you must know that those who willfully and do not genuinely repent will not inherit the kingdom of God. See Hebrews 10:26 and 1 Corinthians 6:9,10
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Ephesian 4:30-32
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Fruits of the Spirit: Characters of the believer
As a believer, you must repent from all your sins and pursue HOLINESS. We will end our lesson today by looking at the fruits or characters you have to exhibit if you are truly a child of God:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:22-25
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Click to download free Pamphlet on: God’s holy spirit
Click to complete our free preparing for baptism lessons on the gospel here and we will personally keep in touch with you as you grow in faith.