THE DIVINITY AND PERSONHOOD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
While less the direct subject within scripture, the person of the Holy Spirit is described in both Testaments as powerfully working to connect God and his people for the advancement of God's plan. An understanding of the third person of the Trinity, or Godhead, gives us a deeper appreciation for the personal connection that all believers have with God. It is unfortunate that the most accessible person of the trinity is often the least understood. This is partly due to fewer direct scripture references to the Holy Spirit as well as the difficulty in conceptualizing the idea of a 'Holy Spirit' or as the older translations described him, the 'Holy Ghost'. God the Father is easier to grasp because we have human fathers to help connect the transcendent to our everyday life. God the Son is easiest because we have the testament to his ministry as he lived, taught, and died here on earth. The Holy spirt seems distant but is our most direct and personal connection to God.
To come to a deeper understanding of who the Holy Spirit is and the importance to our doctrine and spiritual lives we will be looking at his ministry in three broad categories: The Person of the Holy Spirit, The Work of the Holy Spirit in the world and the Work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
The Person of the Holy Spirit: Broadly speaking, the Holy Spirit is synonymous with God throughout scripture. Whether in the Old Testament or the New, the Bible clearly shows that we are not dealing with some impersonal force but an active personality that is working in the world and through God's people.
Read Genesis 1:1-2. From the very beginning of creation, we see that the Spirit was an active member of the Godhead. In creation we read that God's Spirit, or "ru'ach" the Hebrew word for breath, was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Numerous times in the Old Testament we see that the Spirit of God and God are synonymous. I’d encourage you to take some time and read through the scripture references below.
When we get to the New Testament we see the Spirit described more personally and in terms that give us a deeper understanding of his personhood and identity. The word for Spirit in New Testament Greek is "Pneuma" meaning wind or breath; similar to the Old Testament Hebrew term. Similar to the Old Testament, In Acts 5 we see that lying to the Holy Spirit and lying to God are the same thing
It is in Jesus’ descriptions of the Holy Sprit that we see the most personhood. Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as a counselor or advocate in John 14:26, 15:16, and 16:7. Jesus clearly describes the Holy Spirit with the same kind of terms and ideas that you would any other person providing the strongest support that the Holy Spirit is not some kind of mystical idea but a person
So why does it matter that the Holy Spirit is both God and a person?
First, It is because the Holy Spirit is a person that we can have confidence in a personal relationship with someone we can depend on for prayer, support, guidance, and empowerment. The Spirit is not some force we can hope to feel but a person we can have confidence in knowing.
Second, When we have an understanding of the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity it gives us an even more personal connection to God. It is in the Holy Spirit that the seemingly distant and transcendent creator God comes close to our personal lives.
Finally, The Spirit is fully God just as the Father and the Son. It is appropriate to worship and pray to the Spirit as we would any of the other members of the trinity.