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Personhood of the Holy Spirit
He Is Not an “It”
by Pastor John Hamel
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew
you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of
mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (John
16:13-14)
Notice how Jesus
referred to the Holy Spirit as “He” or “Himself” nine times in these two
verses of Scripture. This is because the Holy Spirit is a Person and
not just a Power to grab hold of. Every Born Again person needs to
become acquainted with the Holy Spirit as a Person if they desire to see
His manifestations in their lives.
Some have asked,
“Well, how can you be a person and a spirit at the same time?” Easy.
First, you must
understand the difference between a personality and a corporeity.
You do not need a
physical body to be a personality. Angels and demons
have no physical bodies. They have spiritual bodies.
Nonetheless, they are personalities.
To be a corporeity
means to be a spirit personality living within a physical body. A human being is a corporeity.
It is not necessary
to have a physical body to be a person. God, Angels and demons do not
possess physical bodies but they are all personalities. Each one of
them possesses all the attributes of personhood; a mind, a will, intellect
and emotions. Therefore, they are persons. They do not qualify
for corporeity status, granted, but they are still persons.
The same is true of
the Holy Spirit. Check out these facts in your own Bible. You
will become convinced of His Personhood. The Holy Spirit has His own
mind. (Romans 8:27) He has His own will. (1Corinthians 12:11) He has feelings and real live
emotions. (Isaiah 63:9,10; Romans 15:30; Ephesians 4:30) He possesses
super intellect, knowing all there is to know even about Almighty God
Himself. (1Corinthians 2:9-11)
The Holy Spirit
knows supernaturally when someone in the world releases faith in God’s Word. He responds by
performing miracles and healings. (Romans 15:19) The
Holy Spirit has His own voice. He
uses it to speak to humanity on God’s behalf. (Acts 13:2; Revelation
2:7,11,17,29)
In our opening
verses, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide us, talk to us and even show us
some future events. Jesus also referred to Him as our Comforter and
Teacher. Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit is still in business
today to glorify Him. (John 15:26)
The Holy Spirit can
be lied to (Acts 5:1-11), resisted (Acts 7:51), quenched
(1Thessalonians 5:18-21), cursed and
slandered. (Matthew 12:31,32; Hebrews 6:4-9; 10:26-31) Of
course, all of these are a really bad idea. However, they do prove
that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not a wispy impersonal force or power
mindlessly floating around.
Hook up,
respectfully, with the Person of the Holy Spirit. With His help,
you’ll crack a home run in prayer every time. When He is praying through you, your
prayers will never go unanswered. (Romans 8:26) He’s the only One who
can get you on track and keep you on track.
Say, “Jesus, I choose You as my Savior. Holy Spirit, I choose You as my Comforter,
Teacher and Intercessor.”
You’ll experience greater victories every time!
Be Blessed … John and Barbara Hamel
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