Who is the Holy Spirit?

The God of the universe is infinite. We know that although we have many words used to describe him, they don’t encompass him, he is in fact beyond description and comprehension. Because he is infinite in all his character there is no end to him, we cannot fully know him. But that doesn’t mean we can’t know him at all. The opposite is true, we can know him and he wants to be known by us! So we are given insight into his being and character. Often we are given pictures, metaphors or analogies, that we can piece together to fill out a picture of Him. As part of the Holy Trinity, the same is true for the Holy Spirit. We cannot completely understand him, but we should still try.

The Holy Spirit is compared to several things. In the original texts of the Bible, the word Ancient Hebrew Ruach is often used to identify the Holy Spirit. This means both ‘spirit’ and ‘wind’. The wind is therefore a good comparison to explain the Holy Spirit.

You cannot see, touch or catch the wind. You have no control over it and you cannot own it. The same goes for the Holy Spirit. Yet you can experience the presence of both of them. Not by seeing them, but because you can see what they do. You notice the presence of the wind, for example, because the trees are moving or because the clouds are moving. Another description of the Holy Spirit is “God in action.” Christians often refer to the actions that God does on this earth as the Holy Spirit or “the work of the Holy Spirit.”

Though he is called the Holy Spirit, scripture makes it clear that he his is own unique person within the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is often attributed characteristics that you would give to a person, such as being called “Helper” or “Comforter”. Not only that but he is equal to God the Father and the Son, and shares their fullness of godly attributes. Unique , yet existing in perfect unity, being three in one.

We read about God from the beginning of the Bible. We read hints about Jesus in the Old Testament and we get to know him better in the New Testament. Now the question is, where in the Bible do we read about the Holy Spirit? Well, the answer is immediately; in the 2nd verse of the first chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. At the very beginning, after God is introduced as creator, we read about the Holy Spirit. He is here referred to as “the Spirit of God” hovering over the water. In addition the Holy Spirit appears a many times in the Old Testament and even more in the New Testament.

The next section of this article explains the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. So this is a good moment to explain the difference between these things! The fruit of the Spirit consists of seven aspects that are focused on your personal life of faith. Primarily, The gifts of the Spirit are aimed at building up churches and communities.

The Holy Spirit is not there to make life easy. His job is not to remove all obstacles so that you never have to put in the effort again. In fact, living with the Holy Spirit can sometimes be uncomfortable. The Spirit challenges people to become a better person and that is not always easy. It also sounds quite vague now, how is he going to do that? Does he have a manual somewhere? But it really isn’t that vague.

Besides the Bible being a good manual for improving your life, the Spirit has properties that it gives to you as a kind of bonus. We call these qualities the fruit of the Spirit. It is a fruit that consists of several aspects; like a tangerine. One fruit with several segments. When you live close to God, the fruit of the Spirit, through trial and error, becomes more and more visible in your life.

When you receive the Holy Spirit, you receive special gifts, a bit like talents. They can be gifts that are an extension of talents you already have, but they can also be completely new gifts. These gifts are intended to help the Church work together in the best possible way. The church, or congregation, is sometimes compared in the Bible to a body. Every part is useful and to make the best use of the body, limbs have to work together. Ears can’t talk and hands can’t see, each member has their own talents, as it were. When everyone grows in their talents, you achieve the most together.

The moment you decide to choose Jesus, there are a few steps you still have to take. The first is that you must repent. That means you choose to follow Jesus. The next step you can take is to be baptized. By taking this step, you will receive forgiveness of your sins and begin a new life with Jesus. Anyone who does this receives the Holy Spirit. You can read this in Acts 2:38. Would you like us to pray for you? Send us a request here.

It is good to know that this is not about having a certain feeling. You can lose motivation because you expect a special feeling and focus on that, but it’s not about a feeling. It is about the certainty that you have because of what you have read in the Bible. Feelings sometimes come later and it is good not to rely on it too much.

You now know how to receive the Spirit, but how do you notice more of him in your life? The Holy Spirit does not force himself into your life, you have to give him space. The most important thing, therefore, is to pray. Ask him to come into your life and work in prayer. Ask for His help, wisdom, peace and fulfillment. He will always accept your invitation, whether you notice it or not. In some people there are sudden, big changes. Others don’t see what the Spirit did until they look back on certain periods of their lives after a long time.

Another way is to use your gifts. Try some things out, test what gives you energy, what you get a positive reaction to, what you like to do. Quite a chance that you will encounter your gift that way. Then you can start working on that gift.

As mentioned before, living with the Holy Spirit is not always comfortable. The Spirit is going to clear up in your life, as it were. If you invite him to do that, he will heal old wounds and make things better. That can be uncomfortable at first, but in the end it causes much less trouble, a real relief. This does not always happen super fast, it can take years and memories of bad things may remain. But with God there, you can increasingly give this pain and these thoughts a place. The Holy Spirit has big plans for you, better than you can imagine right now.