Is the Holy Spirit a person

[mortehoe]

I had thought of the Holy Spirit as a force, but I have been reading that he was indeed a person.
How would you best describe The Holy Spirit please.

Thank you.

[markedward]

Christ said that after he ascended into heaven, that he would ask the Father to send "another counselor" to his followers, one that was like himself. [John 14.16] This was revealed to be the Holy Spirit. The manner in which Jesus describes the Holy Spirit proves that he is God, yet distinct from the Father and the Son. A mere "force" can't be called a "another counselor" like Jesus.

[John146]

I had thought of the Holy Spirit as a force, but I have been reading that he was indeed a person.
How would you best describe The Holy Spirit please.

Thank you.

The Holy Spirit is God and is a person. The reason we have a personal relationship with God is because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. The following verses show that the Holy Spirit is a person.

John 14
16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16
7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

[Servant89]

You should not let man tell you what to believe. You should read the Bible and get the trutn from the Word of God. The state of your soul in eternity is a serious matter.

All Orthodox Christians believe the Holy Spirit is a person.

All cults (those that pretend to be Christians denominations but are not (Mormons, JWs, etc), deny the Holy Spirit is a person.

Shalom

[theBelovedDisciple]

I had thought of the Holy Spirit as a force, but I have been reading that he was indeed a person.
How would you best describe The Holy Spirit please.

Thank you.

Yes He is God and He is a Person...

Grieve not the Holy Spirit.. by which ye were sealed unto the Day of Redemption..


as a person have you ever been 'grieved'.. or even 'inuslted'... you know what it feels like..

the Same thing with the Holy Spirit... He can be Grieved and insulted and done despite unto...

a 'force' has no feelings or cannot comprehend what its like to 'feel' that way.. but a person can..

And the Holy Spirit is a Person.. fully God.. and Omnipresent....

the world doesnt know Him neither can they perceive Him.. but those who are Born of the Spirit.. 'know' who He is.. for He lives with and Abides in the children of God..

[markedward]

All cults (those that pretend to be Christians denominations but are not (Mormons, JWs, etc), deny the Holy Spirit is a person.

Not that it's relevant, but for the sake of factual accuracy: Mormon's don't deny that the Holy Spirit is a person. They do indeed believe that the Holy Spirit is a person. However, orthodox Christians are monotheists. Mormons are polytheists, in that they believe in three separate gods, instead of One God with a triune nature.

[crossnote]

"(Act 5:3) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?"

We don't lie to 'powers' but to persons.

[Steven3]

Hi Mark Edward
I've always thought that the "another counsellor" doesn't mean someone totally different from Jesus but just Jesus in another form - since John calls Jesus the Advocate/Paraclete in 1John 2:1. Also the "we will come and make our mansion with you" John 14:23 implies Christ coming back in another form, and 2Co3:17 says Jesus is that Spirit.

I'm sure there are other views though. As to "the Holy Spirit" that's another question I think. We would have to go back to earliest use of the term in Psalm 51 then work forward and look at it.

[mortehoe]

You should not let man tell you what to believe. You should read the Bible and get the trutn from the Word of God. The state of your soul in eternity is a serious matter.
Shalom

I am about 3/4 of the way through my first Bible read, but it doesn't all come together on the first read; only after time, and future reads.

Thank you for trying to make it clear up for me. I have a follow up question if I may.
I understand about the Trinity. Jesus as God was human but if the Holy Spirit as God is a man, is he sort of an invisible man or has anyone seen him or do they just feel that he is there?

Sorry if I have worded this badly.

Kind thanks.

[Servant89]

I am about 3/4 of the way through my first Bible read, but it doesn't all come together on the first read; only after time, and future reads.

Thank you for trying to make it clear up for me. I have a follow up question if I may.
I understand about the Trinity. Jesus as God was human but if the Holy Spirit as God is a man, is he sort of an invisible man or has anyone seen him or do they just feel that he is there?

Sorry if I have worded this badly.

Kind thanks.

God is three persons in one being. There is one God and he exists in 3 persons, it is the 3 of HIM, not the three of them. All 3 persons are spirits. God is a spirit.

We were made in his image. Man is 3 in one also, with the exception that man is not 3 persons. We are only one person (our soul). But we have a spirit (our conscience, the light of God in humans) and we have a body, our house.

Our body and spirit are subject to our soul, to us.

God the Holy Spirit is the spirit of God.

God the Father is the soul of God (there are clear scriptures showing that, 2Pet 1:16-20; Mat 12:18; Isa 42:1), that is why both His Spirit (the HS) and his Son Jesus are subject to him.

God the son is to God's soul and God's spirit what our bodies are to our soul and spirit. Both the person of the Father and the person of the Holy Spirit live inside the person of Jesus BODILY.

Col 2:9 For in him (inside the person of Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

The three of HIM appeared to Abraham in Gen 18 as 3 men.

Gen 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My LORD, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

In chapter 19 it says that the angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and in another verse it says the Lord did it. The angels took worship in Gen 19:1 and that tells me they were the two other persons of the trinity (see Rev 19:10 and Rev 22:8-9).

Shalom

[amazzin]

. You are spoeaking new age my friend. It is not a force. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the God head (Trinity)