Through out my thirty years of ministry one of the topics Christians seem most interested in and the most confused by is What or Who is the Holy Spirit? I think we see the Spirit as mysterious because of the term Holy GHOST in older translations and Holy SPIRIT in newer translations. GHOST and SPIRIT seem other worldly. Maybe understanding that the word translated as ghost or spirit is pnuema which can also be “breath” or “wind.”  That alone helps me understand the Spirit is God’s breath.

Who is the Spirit?

All we can know about the Spirit is what God tells us about His Spirit. Someone else counted 352 times that the Bible refers to or calls the Spirit by name.  That is a good bit of material. Any other source of information outside of the Bible is pure speculation. With that in mind I want to share some of what the Bible says about the Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit was an agent in Creation – Gen 1:2
2. The Spirit was an agent in the birth of the Christ – Mat 1:18
3. The Holy Spirit had a role in Christ’s resurrection – 1Pe 3:18
4. The Spirit breathed out Scripture – 1Co 2:9-11
5. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin – Joh 16:8-11
6. The Spirit dwells in every Christian – 1Co 3:16
7. The Holy Spirit searches hearts – 1Co 2:10-11
8. The Spirit invites sinners to come to Christ – Rev 22:17
9. The Holy Spirit intercedes – Rom 8:26-27
10. God’s Spirit gives hope – Rom 15:30
11. The Spirit of Christ provides joy and peace – Rom 14:17
12. The Spirit provides comfort – Act 9:31
13. The Holy Spirit provides confidence – Rom 8:16
14. The Spirit produces fruit in the life of the Christian – Gal 5:22-23

One more passage and a concluding thought: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9-11)

The Holy Spirit in my life is my life in Christ.

-Scott