Who is the Holy Spirit?
Forty days after Jesus was resurrected following His crucifixion, he left
the earth
and ascended back into heaven. He told His disciples He would send a
replacement
in the form of a comforter that would allow them to continue on with the
works they
saw Him do. He sent the Holy Spirit ten days later at Pentecost. The Holy
Spirit
(Acts 2:4) is that essence or power of God which Christ promised to send to
the
elect. The Holy Spirit is the extension of the living power of God.
It is the means
whereby we become partakers of the Divine Nature, being filled with the Holy
Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is given by God to those who ask and obey him, dwelling in
those
who keep God's commandments . The Holy Spirit is the comforter that leads
God's
servants into all truth. The Holy Spirit confers the power to witness (Acts
1:8).
It administers gifts as recorded in 1Corinthians 12:7-11 and has fruits as
described
in Galatians 5:22-23. It is the means by which God can finally become all, in
all.
When we are born again we continue to grow in the Spirit daily in Christ
Jesus until
we come into the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and
by speaking
the Truth in all things we grow into Christ, our head, in all respects . The
Holy Spirit
is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of faith which searches all
things and knows all
things. The Spirit conveys to God
an understanding of our thoughts and very being.
The Holy Spirit enables Christ to help, teach and comfort us and to enable
us to
exercise the power of God. The Spirit gives to each person the attributes God
desires in order to benefit the body as outlined in 1Corinthians 12:7-11.
The Spirit
can be quenched if you shun and ignore Him (1Thes. 5:19) by being neglected or
grieved (Eph. 4:30) and thus allows gains and losses in the individual. The
fruit of
the Holy Spirit is love from Galatians 5:22. Therefore, if we do not love
each other
the Holy Spirit is not evident in us. The
Spirit is the means by which we worship God.
It is a force which empowers Christ in us. The Holy Spirit's anointing in
us empowers
us to reach others.
Who
are we, as humans?
1Thessolonians
5:23 tells us we are a spirit being, made in the image of God,
living in a flesh and bones body and we have a soul. We
are made up of body,
soul, and spirit - a trichotomy; just as God has a triune nature of God the
Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Our body is only elements of the earth.
Dust to dust. Our soul is not our spirit and our spirit is not just our
breath of life.
Our soul is our mind with which we think, our psyche, our emotions with
which we
act or respond, our will with which we decide - it constitutes our personality, our
individual self. The soul communicates with the body to tell the body how to
move
and what to do. But our
spirit communicates with our soul to tell it what is right and
what is wrong. Our spirit is our conscience, our intuition. It is that
little voice inside
us that tells us , "Uh-uh", when we are about to do something we know
isn't right.
When people continually do things we all know is wrong we say they have no
conscience. Better terminology is that they have a "seared"
conscience. When
our conscience is "seared" there is no little voice inside that
reminds us what is
right and what is wrong because our conscience is a spirit of human sin
nature
inherited from Adam. God created Adam and Eve perfect including a spirit that
was of God when He made them. They lost that spirit when they disobeyed God
in the Garden of Eden. Eating the forbidden fruit might have been the physical
act but disobedience was the sin they committed. When they did that, the spirit
of God in them died and was replaced by a spirit of human sin nature.
We
inherit this nature of Adam, this human sin nature, when we are born. It is why
we need to be born again so this spirit of human sin nature can be replaced by
God's nature again. God restores our spirit to each who believe. Let's
say you
have a three year old child which is considered unaccountable yet in God's
eyes.
If that child dies, he goes to heaven. There are no children in hell. But your
child
understands your words. You tell him NOT to touch your computer in your office
but while you are in the other room you hear a crash and when you go into
your
office you see your computer on the floor and your three year old child standing
there with a guilty look on his face. You ask him if he touched your
computer.
He shakes his head and says no. You know he is lying. Did you teach him to
lie?
Where did he get if from then? From Adam. He was born with Adam's human
sin
nature. He has no conscience in him yet that is from God which tells him
lying is
a no-no. Your spirit or conscience is a very important part of your being.
It
is our
spirit that is capable of communicating with God.
and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
came to earth in human carnate form, but God the Father has no earthly
form,
He is spirit only. When the Bible says we are made in the image of God, it
is not
bodily form it is talking about, it is in spirit. It is why we need to be
born again, so the
spirit that is in us that is dead at birth from Adam and Eve's sin, can become
alive
again so we can commune with God. Our spirit leaves our body at physical death
James 2:26; Ecclesiastes 12:7. Spiritual
death is the result of a person being
separated from God by sin,
Ephesians 2:1; 1Timothy 5:6; Isaiah 59:2. At physical
death our spirit and soul leave the body behind and make a journey to either
heaven
or hell. We will discuss more about that journey later. It is
important to know though,
that your final spiritual journey is determined while still alive on earth.
Once you die,
there is no recourse, no changing destinations; ever. You have to get this
figured
out while yet alive, even right up to the moment of your last breath. Read the
parable
of the vineyard owner in Mathew 20. The men he hired in late afternoon
received
the same wages as those he hired early in the morning. You can be saved in
your
last dying breath, just as if you had been with Jesus your whole life.
Downside is;
death is unexpected and quite immediate for many. Many won't have the time to
finally come to Jesus, and make the final plea for salvation, even if they
had planned
to so so. Saying to yourself, "I still have tomorrow to do
it" is unwise thinking. The only
smart approach is to keep your parachute on all the time, every day, 24/7, 365 days
a year. Put DWJWD (do what Jesus would do) into practice with every
decision
you make. Eternity is forever.