The Father Sent His Son so We Can Have Holy Spirit, Part 3

We have seen in Part 1 that the Father is our mighty God Who makes us His children. In Part 2, we saw that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the captain of our salvation. Now we will see that it was through the works of God’s Son that we have the gift of holy spirit. God is Spirit, and we can worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Is God the “Holy Spirit”?

The Hebrew word for “spirit” is used almost four hundred times in the Old Testament. It’s first use describes God, Who is Spirit.

Genesis 1:1,2:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

God is Spirit. He is the Creator. And He is holy. Look at one of the first uses of the Hebrew word for “holy” or “holiness” in the Bible.

Exodus 15:11:
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Jesus Christ knew His Father better than any man. He boldly declared Who God is.

John 4:24:
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Matthew 6:9:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed [hagiazō, to be holy] be thy name.

Jesus Christ taught that God, His Father, is Spirit and Holy. There is only one true God. He is the Creator, Who made man originally with body, soul, and spirit–created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). He makes us holy by His gift of holy spirit.

I Thessalonians 5:23:
And the very God of peace sanctify [hagiazō, to be holy] you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is There a “Person” of the Holy Spirit?

One of the greatest challenges in the early Church was that the truth of God’s Word was attacked by religious teachings that did not agree with Scripture. The gospels were written by holy men of God who received revelation on what to write. (See We Can Trust God’s Word, Part 1 and Part 2.) They record what Jesus Christ said about God, the Holy Spirit. They also show what he taught about the Father’s gift of holy spirit.

John 7:38,39:
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost [holy spirit, God’s gift] was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

After Jesus was raised from the dead and glorified, the gift of holy spirit was first given on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4,38). That is why anyone who makes Jesus their lord and believes that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9,10) is born again of God’s gift of holy spirit.

Jesus spoke about how this gift would help those who would be born again.

John 14:26:
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost [holy spirit, God’s gift] , whom [which] the Father will send in my name, he [it] shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

By the time the King James Version was translated in 1611, the idea that “the Holy Ghost” was a “person” had been taught for almost 1400 years. That is why it uses masculine pronouns (whom, he) in John 14:26.

God is Spirit and has no sex or gender. Jesus called God “the Father.” As a male provides the seed (sperm) for a child to be born, God puts His incorruptible “seed” of holy spirit in us when we are “born” again (I Peter 1:23). Similarly, God’s gift of holy spirit has no “personality” or gender.

The Greek words for “holy” and spirit” are used together almost one hundred times in the New Testament. They always refer to God, Who is Holy Spirit, or refer to His gift of holy spirit. They never talk about a “person” of the Holy Ghost.

How Do We Worship the Holy Spirit?

When teaching the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, Jesus Christ explained about how God, Who is Holy Spirit, should be worshiped.

John 4:23:
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth [truly by the spirit].

On the Day of Pentecost, the apostles received the gift of holy spirit and spoke in tongues. They worshiped the Father “in spirit and in truth,” truly by way of the gift of holy spirit that they received.

Acts 2:1,4:
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit, God’s gift], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit [God, the Holy Spirit] gave them utterance.

When a born-again believer speaks in tongues, God gives the utterance. It is worshiping in the spirit. As the believer speaks in tongues to God, he is edified, built up spiritually. And God receives the praise and honor due Him.

I Corinthians 14:2,4,14,18:
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God….
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself….
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth….
I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all.

Like the Apostle Paul, we can speak in tongues and worship God in the spirit.

Philippians 3:3:
For we…worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

The Father Sent His Son so We Can Have Holy Spirit

In this series we’ve seen that the Father is our mighty God Who makes us His children, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the captain of our salvation, and that God is Holy Spirit Who gives us His gift of holy spirit so that we can worship Him in spirit and in truth. What a joy to live as sons of God and walk in all that His Son accomplished for us!