David Diga Hernandez - Who is the Holy Spirit? - Part 1

This is going to be a two-part lesson that covers a lot of material concerning the Holy Spirit. So, my first point is: Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, number one, is God. I didn’t ask what the Holy Spirit is because the Holy Spirit is not an object. He is not a force; He is not an idea. The Holy Spirit is a personal being. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is just as divine as the Father and the Son. Now, when I say that, to some, that’s a shocking statement. To many believers, that’s not such a shocking statement. But the truth is that the divinity of the Holy Spirit is not as widely accepted in the Christian world as it should be. The Holy Spirit is just as divine as the Father and the Son; He is distinct from the Father and the Son, and He is just as divine. The scriptures I’m going to share with you I’ve shared before in a lesson called «Don’t Grieve the Holy Spirit,» so some of this material is repeated. However, I think it’s so important that we delve into what the scripture has to say about the identity of the Holy Spirit because He is God. He is an equal member of the Trinity; He is not lesser. He is not less divine; He doesn’t have less power; He doesn’t have less say. The Holy Spirit is just as divine as Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is just as divine as the Father.

So, on this first point—the Holy Spirit is God—I want to lay down three simple thoughts for you: number one, the Holy Spirit is personal; number two, the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son; and number three, the Holy Spirit is just as divine as the Father and the Son. In John 15:26, the scripture says, «But I will send you the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.» Now, in that verse, the scripture uses the masculine pronoun «He,» not «It.» It’s not describing an object; the scripture is describing «He,» the Holy Spirit. It is using the masculine pronoun because the Holy Spirit is a person. John 16:13–14 says, «But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me, for He will take of mine and will disclose it to you.»

1 John 5:6-8 says, «And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by His baptism in water and by shedding His blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood—and the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with His testimony. So, we have these three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and all three agree.» The Holy Spirit can fellowship with us, and He cannot fellowship with us if He is not a person. 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, «May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.» The Holy Spirit also has a will, and only personal beings can have a will of their own. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says, «But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.» The Holy Spirit can also speak, and only personal beings can speak. The scripture says in Acts 8:29, «The Holy Spirit said to Philip, 'Go over and walk along beside the carriage.'»

Now, why then is the Holy Spirit called the Holy Spirit? That’s a question that many people ask. They say, «If He’s a person, why do we call Him the Holy Spirit?» Well, it’s a very simple answer, really. The scripture says in Matthew 28:19, «Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.» The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit—the article «the» does not automatically take away from what it is describing regarding personality. Think of this: we say «the doctor,» «the police officer,» «the employee,» «the boss.» All of those words, the articles «the,» are describing pronouns or personal beings, and so the Holy Spirit is a title of a person. Now, if we take away the personality from the Holy Spirit simply because He has the article «the» describing Him, then we must do the same for the Son and the Father because, in that same verse, the scripture describes them using the same word.

So, we see here from scripture that it’s very clear that the Holy Spirit is a personal being. And number two, the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son. The scripture says in Matthew 3:16–17, «After His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on Him. And a voice from Heaven said, 'This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.'» In that portion of scripture in Matthew chapter 3, we saw the Father speaking, «This is my beloved Son,» the Son being baptized, and the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove. All three were present, and all three were distinct from one another. In Matthew 28:19, which we just read, it says, «Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.» The scripture is very clear that these three are distinct from one another. Now, there are no real debates.