Who Then Is The Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity. God being 'The Father, The Son and Holy Spirit', all in one. If you liken this to water, water can be ice, liquid and steam. There are three forms of the same water, as with God. God is omnipresent meaning He can be everywhere at one time. The Holy Spirit is God's Spirit Who lives within a believer's spirit when you receive Christ as your Lord and Saviour. This was the promise from Jesus Christ before He went to be with the Father in Heaven. "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 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. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:16-18, NKJV). The Holy Spirit's presence within us helps us to understand and interpret God's Word. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come" (John 16:13, NKJV). The Holy Spirit has many functions, roles and activities. He works in the hearts of all people everywhere to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:7-11, NKJV). The Holy Spirit is also our Helper, Comforter, and Guide. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (Romans 8:9, NKJV). The Holy Spirit also equips us with spiritual gifts so we can become Ambassadors to a fallen world, enabling God to perform supernatural acts through us (His chosen vessels) so we can glorify Him. The 9 gifts of the Spirit include:
Word of Knowledge - Revelations or facts by images or words of past, present or future not previously known through natural knowledge.
Word of Wisdom - A supernatural gift given by God to man to help him understand and act wisely. The gift of wisdom is the application of knowledge that God gives you.
Gift of Prophecy - A special ability God gives to members of his body to receive and communicate a message of God to a group or individual.
Discerning of Spirits - A gift from the Holy Spirit to perceive the source of a situation and determine whether it is of God, the devil, man or of the world.
Gift of Faith - Supernatural ability to believe God without doubt to trust in Gods words and messages.
Gift(s) of Healing(s) - Supernatural healing of one's physical, emotional or spiritual needs through prayer.
Working of Miracles - Supernatural interventions of God that is not natural or normal to us.
Tongues - Supernatural ability to speak to God or others in a Heavenly language.
Interpretation of tongues - A special ability to interpret a tongues message (1 Corinthians 12: 1-11).
The Holy Spirit also produces godly attributes in our lives. When He dwells within us He begins to harvest His fruit in our lives - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-25).
Without the Holy Spirit guiding us and convicting us we would be controlled by our own fleshly thoughts and desires. It would be impossible to be who God created us to be!
By Tania Francis