He knows the Father’s thoughts and communicates those thoughts to them. The Holy Spirit thinks about believers in Christ and responds to them. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” (John 14:16). “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own you were bought at a price. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. “‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ - the things God has prepared for those who love Him - these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). The following verses from the Bible help us see the truth about the individual nature of the Holy Spirit: But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But He can also be pleased as we rely on Him to give us the strength to live in a way that’s consistent with God’s plan for us. The Holy Spirit can be grieved and even insulted. Often, people describe the Holy Spirit as a presence or an 'it.' But the Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. The Bible helps us to break down the mysteries of the Holy Spirit into ideas we can grasp. God is unique in this way, so it’s not surprising that it takes some work to come to terms with this truth. God is three distinct persons who somehow are one in substance. But this does not mean God separates Himself into three separate parts. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in the life of a believer. God transforms you from within so that you become more like Jesus. You no longer just relate to God as a higher power outside of yourself. So just as you need oxygen to live in your human body, if you trust in Christ, you are born again in a spiritual sense and the Holy Spirit becomes the source of new life God places within you. The Bible describes the Spirit as the “breath” of God.Īgain Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.' And with that He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' When Christians talk about God coming to live in their hearts, it’s the Holy Spirit they are describing. Here are some shortcuts to specific sections of content if you’re in a hurry: So let’s take a deep dive into this topic and see how He can transform you.

Knowing the Holy Spirit will radically change your life because He is the way you will experience the life of God within you. Understanding who the Holy Spirit is, the place He holds within the Holy Trinity and the role He plays in individual lives is vital to anyone exploring what it means to become a Christian and anyone trying to follow Jesus. When theologians speak of the three-in-oneness of God, they refer to Him as “the Trinity.” The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. That’s not a simple idea to get to grips with. But many struggle to grasp who the Holy Spirit is in a way they could explain clearly to someone else. Getting your head around the difference between God the Father and Jesus is one thing. If you want to understand who God is, you need to understand all of who God is.

Spiritual growth bible study guide