TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Part 1
May 20, 2018
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity and is just as much God as God The Father and God The Son. MAT 28:19 says it beautifully: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shares equally, infinitely, and eternally all of the same essence and attributes that the Father and Son share. The Holy Spirit is ONE with The Father and Son as God, but is a separate person with a separate personality.
This third person of the Trinity is given the title “Spirit” primarily, which is the Hebrew noun RUACH (roo’-akh) and the Greek noun PNEUMA (pnyoo’-mah) which are each translated, “wind, breath, spirit, soul, or life.” Yet, many times, it is accompanied by the term “Holy.” Interestingly, only three times in the Hebrew Old Testament, do we have the title “Holy Spirit,” but in the Greek New Testament, we have it over 90 times!
“Holy” is the Hebrew noun QODESH – (ko’-desh) meaning “apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness” and the Greek noun HAGIOS (hag’-ee-os) meaning, “holy, consecrated, unapproachable, perfect, pure, upright.” The term “Holy” indicates for us things pertaining to the third person of Trinity, as He is a separate person within the Godhead, who reflects the attributes of God and enables them in man. By enabling God’s attributes in man, we mean The Holy Spirit enables us to have Divine Power, for example. He also allows us to share in God’s Righteousness. (Each, by Rebound,)
There are many misconceptions about The Holy Spirit. Some falsely state that The Holy Spirit is just an impersonal influence, power, or energy emanating from God. In other words, they do not think He is a separate entity or personality that works personally within our lives. NOT TRUE! Others believe The Spirit is just a manifestation of God The Son or God The Father and is not an individual or a unique person of the Godhead. Some of these misunderstandings have existed during the Church-Age because of the title given to Him in the King James Bible – Holy Ghost. He is not a ghost or the ghost of God, but is a “spirit,” as RUACH and PNEUMA indicate. He is a separate entity. Likewise, due to the Israelites’ resistance and rejection of Jesus Christ as a member of The Trinity, they account for The Holy Spirit found throughout the Old Testament as just a manifestation of God.
Scripture is quite clear that The Holy Spirit is a separate and unique part of the Trinity. He possesses and exhibits the attributes of a person in that He has intelligence. He knows and searches the things of God according to 1COR 2:10-11: For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit possesses a mind as we learn in ROM 8:27: and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit is also able to teach people according to 1COR 2:13: which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
The Holy Spirit also shows feelings because He can be grieved by the sinful actions of believers: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (EPH 4:30) And He has a Will, as seen in the distribution of Spiritual Gifts to the body of Christ: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the [i]distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. (1CO 12:4-11) He also directs the activities of Christians as we see in ACTS 16:6-11: They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis…
Since genuine personality possesses intelligence, feelings, and will, and since we see in Scripture that The Holy Spirit has these attributes, we can easily conclude that He is a Person. In addition, He exhibits the actions of a person as He guides us into Truth by hearing, speaking, and showing: But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (JOH 16:13)
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin according to JOH 16:8: And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment… He also performs miracles: When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. (ACTS 8:39). The Holy Spirit also intercedes on our behalf as we learn in ROM 8:26: In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words… These are actions which an influence or personification could not do, but which Scripture shows The Holy Spirit can do.
The Holy Spirit is someone to be obeyed: While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” (ACTS 10:19-21) He can be resisted as we learn in ACTS 7.51: “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.”
The Holy Spirit can be insulted as we learn in HEB 10.29: How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? To think of acting and reacting to an influence in these ways is quite odd. These are reactions from a person, not a ghost or energy. As a person, The Holy Spirit relates to the other members of the Trinity as equal to them. This is taught in MAT 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… The Holy Spirit, even though a spirit being, is as real a Person as the Father, or the Son, or as we are.
{to be continued}