The Holy Spirit
(Photo by 广博 郝 on Unsplash)
And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba Father."
Galatians 4:6
The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity. He is a person in that He has a mind (Rom 8:27), emotions (Eph 4:30) and a will (1 Cor 12:11). He was present at creation, hovering over the surface of the waters (Gen 1:2), and He is there in the end when Jesus returns (Rev 22:17). The Holy Spirit is active throughout Scripture as well.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ACTIVE IN SCRIPTURE
Exodus 31:1-5: When it came time to build the Tabernacle, the Lord chose Bezalel to supervise the building project, and He filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him "great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts." Bezalel was now an expert craftsman, skilled in working with gold, in engraving and mounting gemstones, and in carving wood. The Holy Spirit enabled Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the appointed builders to do everything that was needed to build the Tabernacle to the precise specifications given by God. (supernatural ability and skill)
Judges 6:34: The Lord had commissioned Gideon to rescue the Israelites from the Midianites. Gideon didn't know how he could do it as his clan was the weakest and smallest. It seemed overwhelming, and he questioned God. "Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he went into action. Another meaning you could give to "came upon" is "clothed himself with." The Spirit of God "put on Gideon" and took a weak, hesitant man and enabled him to move into decisive action. Gideon defeated the Midianites with only 300 men as they did everything the Lord commanded. Everyone knew the victory belonged to the Lord. (supernatural change)
Judges 14:6: Samson was on his way to marry Timnah when a young lion attacked him. "At that moment, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion's jaws apart with his bare hands." Samson had been set apart from birth for God's purposes to defeat the Philistines. As long as he didn't cut his hair, he had tremendous strength. At times the Spirit of God isn't mentioned when Samson used his strength, and other times the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson powerfully to enable him to do something that required extraordinary strength (14:19; 15:14-15). (supernatural strength)
Luke 1:35: An angel of the Lord visited Mary to tell her she would give birth to a baby boy. She was to name Him Jesus, and He would be the Son of the Most High and the Savior of the world. Mary didn't understand how this could happen since she wasn't married. The angel told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." And a few verses later (v.41), Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, was greeted by Mary. At the sound of the greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth immediately knew Mary was blessed, and so was the baby and it was cause for great joy! (supernatural pregnancy)
Acts 2:1-13: On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were gathered in one place awaiting the promise of the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit had come on or filled an individual for a particular reason in the past, Jesus had promised that soon they would all be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Earlier, in John 20:22, Jesus had breathed on ten of the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit..." And in Luke 24:49, He told them to stay in the city until they had been clothed with power from on high. In Acts 1:4-5, Jesus commanded the apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit, and there is no mention of baptism. There was a sound like a mighty wind and tongues of fire appeared to be resting on their heads. They all began to speak in tongues, and when a crowd gathered to see what was going on, the people were amazed, "We hear them in our own tongue speaking of the mighty deeds of God" (v.11). But others were skeptical thinking they must be drunk. (supernatural manifestations)
Acts 8:15-17: When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people in Samaria had accepted the gospel, Peter and John were sent there. Apparently, the Samaritans had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and not the Holy Spirit. When Peter and John arrived, they prayed and laid hands on the new believers, and they received the Holy Spirit. (supernatural gift)
Acts 10:44-48: The Jews were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and now the gospel had come to the Gentiles through the ministry of Peter. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening, and they started speaking in tongues and praising God. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed at what they saw. They knew salvation was now for both Jews and Gentiles. (supernatural manifestation and inclusiveness)
Acts 19: 1-6: When Paul arrived in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, he found several believers and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They said "No" because they didn't know anything about the Holy Spirit. When Paul asked them what baptism they had received, they told him the baptism of John. Paul explained that John's baptism was for repentance, but they needed to believe in Jesus. "And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Paul then laid his hands on them, and they began to speak in tongues and prophesy. (supernatural manifestations)
NAMES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Helper/ Advocate/Comforter/ Counselor (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) He will be with you forever; He will teach you and remind you of truth; He will bear witness of Jesus; He came after Jesus returned to the Father
Spirit of Truth (Jn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13) Only believers receive Him; He will guide you into all truth and speak only what He hears
Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29) He brings God's mercy to us
Spirit of Glory (1 Pet 4:14) When you are insulted or criticized for your faith, know that the Spirit of Glory rests on you
Spirit of God (Matt 3:16; 12:28; Rom 8:9) He descended in the form of a dove at Jesus' baptism; the One in whom we cast out demons; if you belong to Christ, you have the Spirit of God living in you; He interprets God to us
Spirit of the Living God (2 Cor 3:3) The Corinthians were a "letter" from Christ written with the Spirit of the Living God
Spirit of Wisdom/Revelation (Eph 1:17) Only the Spirit can give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation to truly know God
Spirit of Christ (1 Pet 1:11) The Spirit of Christ was in the OT prophets confirming the Messiah, but they didn't know who it would be
Spirit of the Lord (Luke 4:18; cp Is 61:1) The Spirit of the Lord was on Jesus to fulfill the Isaiah 61:1 and bring salvation to the world
The Spirit (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor 2:4; 2 Cor 1:22) The Spirit enabled the believers to speak in tongues, demonstrated the power of God in Paul's unimpressive preaching, and sealed the believer's salvation as a pledge
Eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14) Christ offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice through the power of the eternal Spirit
Holy Spirit of Promise (Eph 1:13) You are sealed and guaranteed the inheritance God promised
Spirit of Life (Rom 8:2) You belong to Jesus, and the power of the Spirit of Life has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death
We will continue looking at the Holy Spirit in the next post. We have barely begun to scratch the surface for all there is to know (obviously we will not be able to cover everything). As I was researching the names, I was amazed at how many I found, and there are probably more of them than I wrote. Do you know another name you would like to share or what name mentioned is significant to you?
Sources:
Ernest Pickering, Spirit of the Living God (Schaumburg, Il; Regular Baptist Press, 1997)
Northwoods Community Church, Doing What Jesus Did Lesson 4: Leading Christians Into the Fulness of the Holy Spirit
Nicky Gumbel, Alpha Course Session 8: Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Wikipedia: Holy Spirit in Christianity