Holiness Is The Glory Of God-Therefore The Spirit Of God Is Holy

But let all those rejoice

who put their trust in You;

let them ever shout for joy,

because You defend them;

let those also who love 

Your name be joyful in You.

For You, O LORD, 

will bless the righteous;

with favor You will 

surround him

as with a shield.

Psalm 5:11-12

     When we speak of the Holy Spirit we often see Him as separate from God inasmuch as He is Spirit, you cannot see Him, you cannot feel Him; He seems out of reach and hard to explain. The Spirit of God is Holy, therefore we say the Holy Spirit. He is holy because He is God, God in the third Person. God is holiness, not just an adjective describing Him, this is what God is, He is Holy. When we think of the Holy Spirit other than He is God, all then that has been done is to trample under foot the blood of Jesus. What One Person of the Godhead has done, the others have done. What the One Person thinks, the others think. Not is some sequential time, but as One they all are omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, every moment as being eternal. The Holy Spirit is a Person because He is God. Yet, as the third Person of God He is different in substance, that is in His outward work upon the children of God. Jesus Christ died upon the cross and is the propitiation for the sins of all those God the Father gives to the Son. As a person the Holy Spirit intercedes for the children of God: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknessess. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). There are those who complain and object to the use of the personal pronoun, "himself" when the pronoun is neuter; they are misinformed, in English we have gender, for instance a house is neuter, a girl is feminine, a man is masculine, but in Greek we have grammatical gender, that is, the pronoun must be in the same gender as the noun and the noun is whatever gender it is and is not to be confused so that it is to be defined other than what it is: an example is the word for church, ekklesia, it is feminine but we will not confuse its gender making the church to be a girl, or feminine, it is neutral. We use the pronoun "Himself" because as God, the word God being masculine, and the Holy Spirit having all the attributes of God, then we translate the word in the masculine; Himself. It is the context that determines the use of the noun and the use of the pronoun and when the word for Spirit is used, which is neuter, then we examine the context for the correct understanding. It is clear in context that the Spirit of God is a Person and has Personhood. He not only intercedes, He testifies: But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me" (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit leads (Acts 8:29, Romans 8:14); He commands (Acts 16:6-7); He guides (John 16:13; and He appoints (Acts 20:28). A simple power cannot be thought of as a person but the Holy Spirit is not a power and can be lied to (Acts 5:3-4); He can be insulted (Hebrews 10:29); He can be blasphemed (Matthew 12:31-32). He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). 

     Each of the emotions and acts that have been listed are characteristics of a person. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force; He is a Person with all the attributes of personality. Do not forget that as a Person He is also God, He is divine. I shall outline that fact in the next blog.

You are My friends

     if you do whatever

I command you.

             John 15:14

Today, Bear Witness To God

Richard L. Crumb