In Touch Daily Devotional 
by Dr. Charles Stanley

Monday August 14, 2006

The Person of the Holy Spirit

John 16:5-15

 

Christians vary widely in their opinions about the Holy Spirit. Some churches make Him their main focus, and others ignore Him. Many individuals view Him as a power to draw on or a source of controversy to be avoided. We should turn to Scripture for an accurate and truthful description of Him.

 

First, the Holy Spirit is a person. We know this because the Scriptures tell us He has four important qualities of a person—knowledge, will, emotion, and activity: the Spirit knows God’s thoughts and reveals them to Christians (1 Corinthians 2:10-11); He exercises His will in the distribution of spiritual gifts to believers. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11); He is also full of love (Romans 15:30) and acts as our comforter, helper, teacher, and guide.

 

Secondly, God the Spirit is co-equal to God the Father and God the Son. The attributes of each member of the Trinity are true of all three. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is both omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful). To accomplish man’s redemption, the Father sent His Son Jesus to earth to take on human form and become our Savior. After returning to heaven, Jesus dispatched the Holy Spirit to live within believers. The Helper’s indwelling presence identifies us as God’s own, separates us from the unbelieving world, and serves as a divine guarantee that we belong to Him forever. The Spirit’s work is to conform us to Christ’s image (Galatians 5:16) and to live Jesus’ life through us. (John 15:5)

 

What do you believe about the Holy Spirit’s nature and character? Do your beliefs match the truth of Scripture?

 

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