Personhood of the Holy Spirit

2022-01-05

The Holy Spirit is a Person, not an impersonal force. An impersonal force is a concept from eastern mysticism and pantheistic religion, not Biblical Christianity. The Spirit has intelligence and a will. Here are examples.

And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. (Ezekiel 11:5)

Here the Holy Spirit is telling Ezekiel what he should be saying to the wicked men at the Temple; the result of the preaching was the death of one of the princes, Pelatiah (Ezekiel 11:13). The words of the Spirit clearly have great power. The Spirit also speaks in Matthew 10:20; Acts 1:16; 8:29; 10:19-20; 11:12; 13:2; 21:4, 11; 28:25; Romans 8:26; Galatians 4:6; 1 Timothy 4:1 and Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; 22:17. This is a lot of speaking if the Spirit were just a blind force!

And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. (1 Kings 18:12)

The Spirit of the Lord was able to carry Elijah away in an instant. Elijah was eventually carried by the Spirit into heaven (2 Kings 2:11, 16). Philip, one of the seven, was also caught away by the Spirit and taken Azotus, a specific location (Acts 8:39-40).

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

Here, the Holy Spirit has emotions; He can be grieved if the believer tries to walk contrary to His leading. This can also be seen in Isaiah 63:10; Acts 5:9; Ephesians 4:30; and 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)

We see here that the Holy Spirit is intelligent; He taught and reminded the disciples of what Jesus taught when He came (see also John 16:13). He has a mind (Romans 8:27). He also gave the ability for the disciples to miraculously speak in foreign languages at Pentecost in Acts 2:4. He is also a Comforter according to this verse, as also seen in John 14:16; 15:26, 16:7; Acts 9:31.

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

The Holy Spirit gives power and boldness to those who submit to Him, as He did here with the disciples. He is synonymous with power for the Christian (Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:14; Acts 10:38; Romans 15:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).

And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. (Acts 5:32)

Here, the Holy Spirit is a witness. An impersonal force cannot be a witness. We see this also in John 15:26; Acts 20:23 and 1 John 5:6-8.

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things (Acts 15:28)

Here, we can see that the Holy Spirit reasons. He also commands believers according to Acts 16:6-7; 20:28.

These are all things that the Holy Spirit does. An impersonal force does not do these things; He is a Person with whom we can commune and someone who leads us:

While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. (Acts 10:19-20)