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The Holy Spirit - His Personality


Without a doubt the Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood member of the Trinity. Often, because of such misunderstandings, false teachings will arise concerning Him. The Bible though, is quite clear in what it teaches concerning the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is neither an “it,” a “thing,” or a mere “influence.” The Bible teaches that the Spirit is a Person having the characteristics of personality, not some impersonal force.
Paul Enns defines personality “as possessing intellect, emotion, and will.”[1] The distinguishing marks of personality are self-consciousness and freedom. Arius was one who denied the personality of the Holy Spirit and his teachings have continued even to the present day through the teachings and beliefs of pseudo-Christian cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What is some of the evidence we have that demonstrates that the Holy Spirit has personality?
(1) His attributes – intellect (1 Cor.2:10-11), knowledge (1 Cor. 2:11), mind (Rom. 8:27; Eph. 1:17), Emotions (Eph. 4:30), will (Acts 16:6).
(2) His works – He teaches (John 14:26), He testifies (John 15:26), He convicts (John 16:8), He regenerates (cf. Ezek. 36:25-27; Titus 3:5), He commands (Acts 13:2).
(3) His ascriptions – His to be obeyed (Acts 10:19-21), He can be insulted (Heb. 10:29), He can be grieved (Eph. 4:30), He can be resisted (Acts 7:51).
(4) His designation – Charles Ryrie states, The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma…and it is a neuter gender word. Proper grammar teaches us that when a pronoun is substituted for a noun it must be of the same gender as the noun, but this is not always the case when pronouns are substituted for the word Spirit. In John 16:13-14, for instance, the pronoun ‘he’…is masculine. The same happens in Ephesians 1:14 where the word translated which is actually a masculine pronoun who. These are instances of bad grammar but excellent theology, for they show that the Spirit is not a neuter thing but a definite person.”[2]

[1] Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody, 1989), p. 245.
[2] Charles C. Ryrie, A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody, 1972), pp. 68-69.

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