The Spirit is involved in everything needed for creation, salvation, growth, and the renewal of all things. But in all these activities, one thing is at the center of his essence and activity. The Spirit is God’s empowering presence. He isn’t merely omnipresent in a general sense; he’s present with us. The Spirit’s presence means not simply that “God is there” but that “God is here.”
I was preparing to begin a four-month series on the Holy Spirit and one of my older pastor friends said, “That’s great. How many people do you think you’ll lose?” He wasn’t entirely joking, and I knew we had important but challenging conversations ahead.
It’s an unfortunate reality that division, confusion, and disunity exist around our views on the Spirit. But one of the Spirit’s primary roles is to bring unity to believers and churches. Over and over in Scripture, there’s a direct connection between the Spirit and unity.
Learning to walk in the Spirit is essential for the individual Christian and for the local church. As J. I. Packer wrote in Keeping in Step with the Spirit, “Apart from [the Spirit], not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all. But in fact the church continues to live and grow, for the Spirit’s ministry has not failed, nor ever will, with the passage of time.”
We need to be willing to engage the Bible and see its vision for a truly supernatural lifestyle—a “walk by the Spirit” kind of life (see Gal. 5:25).
Introducing the Spirit of God
On the night of his arrest, Jesus said these words to prepare his followers for his death:
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (John 14:15–20)
Put yourself in the disciples’ sandals. Imagine you’ve been walking with Jesus for three years. What have you seen? Miracles. His teachings. Healings—so many incredible healings. This man, you’re sure of it now, is the true Son of God. But now, he looks around the table and essentially says, “I’m going away. I’m leaving. I’m going back to the Father.”
Imagine the confusion. Imagine the immensity of your grief. What do you mean you’re leaving us? Later, he says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (16:7).
Trinitarian Identity
Who is the Holy Spirit? He is God. He is the third member of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Spirit. Gregg Allison in The Holy Spirit writes,
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, equal in terms of nature, power, and glory with the Father (the first person) and the Son (the second person). Thus, whatever we may affirm of the Father, we may equally affirm of the Son, and we may equally affirm of the Holy Spirit: he is all-powerful, everywhere present, all-knowing, eternal, independent, loving, just, unchanging, truthful, faithful, wise, holy, good, and more.
Consider how the Scriptures describe the Spirit of God:
Further, the Spirit is called “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 33:4), “the power of the Most High” (Luke 1:35), “the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2), “the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29), “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17), “the Spirit of wisdom” (Eph. 1:17), “the Spirit of holiness” (Rom. 1:4), and “the Spirit of glory” (1 Pet. 4:14).
Holy Spirit’s Work
Too often, we think of the Spirit as an impersonal force, not a person.