The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. Equal in attributes and characteristics of God, yet distinct in personhood. Let’s start by looking at when the Holy Spirit comes upon the church in the NT. 

”When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.“ Acts 2:1-4 ESV 

This isn’t the first mention of the Holy Spirit in the NT. We first read about Him at the conception of Jesus in Luke 1:35 when the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and gives her a child. We then see the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus at His baptism in John 1:33, when the Holy Spirit descends like a dove that remained on Him. The Holy Spirit then descends onto the entire church in Acts 2. 

The Holy Spirit is often thought of as a mystical, unseen force that God uses to sovereignly control the universe. Similar to the force in Star Wars. As we’ll see, the Holy Spirit is not a thing but a person. Scripture shows evidence of the Holy Spirit having a mind, a will, and feelings. 

The Holy Spirit is referred to as God 

Let’s start off with identifying biblical evidence for the Holy Spirit as a separate person that is equal to God. The book of Acts describes the early days of the church and their communal living. If you owned land, houses, or goods, it was common to give those to the apostles, who would then distribute based on the needs of the church. Ananias and Sapphira had recently sold some property and lied about giving the full amount to the church. They had kept a portion of the profits for themselves, but didn’t tell anyone. When Peter finds out, he says, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?...You have not lied to man but to God,” (Acts 5:3-4). In Peter’s accusation, he makes the connection that the Holy Spirit is God. 

Any mention of a temple is immediately going to bring up a picture of a place that is reserved for God. The temple was the epicenter of Jewish living, and the Jews went to extensive lengths to keep the temple pure and holy as it was the literal dwelling place of God on earth. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul makes a powerful statement when he says that the Holy Spirit is God and that He dwells in us, the new temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). 

”Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.“ 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 ESV 

A common pattern in the NT epistles is to refer to the Father as God (Gk: Theos, Heb: Elohim), the Son as Lord (Gk: Kyrios, Heb: Yahweh), and the Holy Spirit (Gk: Pneuma). We see an example of three persons, yet a common qualifier of “same.” Same nature, three persons. Furthermore, Paul is showing that the diversity of divine persons within the unity of the Trinity should be reflected in the diversity of gifts within the unity of the body of Christ. 

Personal attributes and actions of the Holy Spirit 

The Holy Spirit comforts us. The Holy Spirit is often referred to as Helper (other translations say Advocate or Counselor). This title indicates the personal relationship we have with the Holy Spirit. Even though we don’t see Him with our eyes, the Holy Spirit is with us, and will be with us forever (John 14:16-17). He has been sent to do the will of the Father and bears witness about Christ to us (John 15:26). While Jesus was on earth, He could only be in one place at one time. The Holy Spirit, however, can carry on Jesus's ministry over the entire world at all times (John 16:7). God’s personal presence is with the whole church at all times. 

The Holy Spirit teaches us. We live in a world where there is a constant battle over our hearts, minds, and soul. The Holy Spirit gives us an important promise–He will teach us all things and help us remember the truth of the scriptures (John 14:26). This becomes important when looking at the disciples’ future role in writing the scriptures. The Holy Spirit will guide them in recalling the teachings of Jesus. This is also important to believers today. It’s the dwelling of the Holy Spirit inside of us that helps us to recall scripture and interpret it within the context of our daily lives. As we’re facing trials or suffering, the Holy Spirit reminds us of scripture in order to comfort us and provide guidance through it. This is different from trying to use human wisdom, which always falls short (1 Corinthians 2:13). The Holy Spirit’s role is to reveal to us the mystery of the cross. That’s why someone can hear the truth of the gospel and not understand it. It requires revelation by the Holy Spirit. Unbelievers do not have the capacity to understand the things of God. 

The Holy Spirit speaks to us. Like any person, there is evidence in scripture that the Holy Spirit audibly speaks to other people. When Philip met an Ethiopian man on his way to Jerusalem who was reading from the prophet Isaiah, the Holy Spirit told Philip to go over and join his chariot (Acts 8:29). While the church in Antioch was worshiping, the Holy Spirit spoke and called Barnabas and Saul to travel to Cyrus to preach the gospel (Acts 13:2). It can be debated whether the Holy Spirit spoke with an audible voice or if He communicated in other ways. The point is the personal communication to the disciples, revealing the will and guidance of the Father. 

The Holy Spirit makes decisions. Scripture shows us evidence for the mind and will of the Holy Spirit. Luke is instructing a group of Gentile believers that they don’t need to be circumcised or keep the full requirements of the Mosaic Law in order to obtain eternal life. He indicates that “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit” to communicate this truth and relieve them of the burden of the Law (Acts 15:28-29). The church was praying for guidance and the Holy Spirit, with His personal capability to make decisions, guided them with instructions. 

The Holy Spirit grieves over sin. I think this is one of the more powerful scriptures to support the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Paul indicates that the Holy Spirit feels great sorrow or distress when believers fall into sinful habits (Ephesians 4:30). Grief is an emotion inherently tied to a person. Paul’s words are also a powerful statement about the confidence that we can have in our salvation. Our salvation is sealed until the day of redemption. 

The Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God. Jesus knew the thoughts of the Father because of His communion with the Holy Spirit. Remember, Philippians 2 says Jesus cast aside His divine nature and came as fully human, taking on the form of a servant. But His perfect relationship with the Holy Spirit allowed Him to intimately understand the will of the Father. In similar fashion, the only way we can understand scripture or see what God is doing in our lives and in the world is through the Holy Spirit who reveals truth to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). 

The Holy Spirit determines the distribution of spiritual gifts. Paul writes about how each person in the church is given a “manifestation of the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:7) or spiritual gift for the common good of the church. This includes wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, tongues, discernment of spirits, and more. There is not an assumption that believers will receive all of these gifts. Instead, the Holy Spirit has the will and authority to distribute as He pleases, in order to accomplish the will of the Father (1 Corinthians 12:11). 

The Holy Spirit interprets and brings human prayer before the throne of the Father. To intercede is to mediate between two parties. You need an intercessor when two parties are having trouble communicating. An intercessor is part translator, part interpreter. A translator helps communicate between two different languages. An interpreter helps bring understanding to the communication, even when the same language is spoken. The Holy Spirit knows the heart and will of the Father and knows the depths of our hearts. He alone can bring our prayers to the Father in a holy and righteous way (Romans 8:26-27). 

The Holy Spirit bears witness to and glorifies Christ. The Holy Spirit is coming into the world in obedience to the Son, but also in obedience to the Father. Jesus reminds believers that when they bear witness to Christ, the Holy Spirit is working silently and invisibly through their words (John 16:13-14). The Holy Spirit’s ministry of guiding Jesus’s followers into all truth is a promise especially directed toward the 11 disciples. And it finds particular fulfillment in their work in personally writing and overseeing the writing of the books of the New Testament. The promise then has broader application to all believers as the Holy Spirit leads and guides us. The activity of the Holy Spirit declaring “things that are to come” suggests that He knows the future, which is something only true of God. 

Evidence in the OT 

The triune God does not just show up in the New Testament, but is present throughout the entirety of scripture. Let’s look at the first couple pages of the Bible with the story of creation. When the earth was formed and without shape, the Holy Spirit hovered over the darkness of the waters (Genesis 1:1-2). He was an active part of the process of creating heaven and earth. 

As man’s corruption and sin continues to increase on earth, the Lord decrees that His Spirit won’t abide in man forever and that “his days shall be 120 years” (Genesis 6:3). This is an interesting statement that may have one of two interpretations. At this point, God is getting fed up with the increasing evil and corruption in His creation (and we’re only 6 chapters into the whole Bible!). God's announcement could mean 1) humans will no longer live longer than 120 years, or 2) the coming flood is anticipated in 120 years. In either case, we see a critical connection between the Holy Spirit and our lives in this world. 

So how does the Holy Spirit relate to humans in the Old Testament? We often think about the Holy Spirit living inside of us as a result of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. After which He sends the Holy Spirit to us at Pentecost. However, we actually see evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in God’s people in the Old Testament too. When Moses is nearing the end of his life, God calls him to appoint Joshua, “a man in whom is the Spirit” (Numbers 27:18), as his successor. When David was anointed king by Samuel, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him from that day forward (1 Samuel 16:12-13). The phrase “the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon” always speaks of the Holy Spirit coming suddenly on someone to equip and empower that person to serve the interests of God’s people. 

However, the Holy Spirit acts differently in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament. In the New Testament, believers are filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of justification and are permanently sealed as part of the body of Christ. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit seems to come and go based on a specific task. As soon as David is appointed king by Samuel, the Spirit of the Lord departed Saul and a harmful spirit tormented him (1 Samuel 16:14). Wait, does this mean I can lose my salvation? 

No. We need to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. The Spirit came upon certain individuals for a specific task, irrespective of their spiritual condition. Once the task was completed, the Spirit presumably departed from that person. That is why the seal of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is so significant. Because of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection, when the Holy Spirit dwells inside of the believer, they become a new creation with a permanent assurance of salvation. 

One of my favorite Old Testament stories about the Holy Spirit comes in Exodus. God specifically calls out an artist and craftsman named Bezalel to design the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. God fills him with the Spirit of God, “with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft,” (Exodus 31:2-5). The Father sent the Holy Spirit to empower an artist to build the very dwelling place of God on earth. 

The Holy Spirit is a unique person, yet fully God in nature. We see evidence of the Holy Spirit throughout the Old and New Testaments, showing His eternal existence and work in the world. His role is to carry out the will of the Father and the Son through creation, regeneration, and empowerment for service.