What do you know about God? Consider these statements about God.
- God is three persons: God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Spirit.
- God is three in one, meaning there is only one God.
- All three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit, are distinct.
- Each person of God—Father, Son, and Spirit—is functionally different. Yet, each person is fully God.
A biblical belief is that God is and has always been three persons in one. God does not change modes or appear in different forms. God, the Father exists. God, the Son exists and God, the Spirit exists—all three persons exist at the same time as fully God.
What is recorded in the Bible about God the Spirit?
For instance, who is God, the Spirit and what does God, the Spirit do? God, the Spirit is a person not a force; He is the third person of the Triune God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Spirit (Genesis 1:26; John 14:16, 26; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
In the creation account of the Old Testament, God, the Spirit hovers over the darkness during creation (Genesis 1:2). In the New Testament, God, the Spirit is said to indwell the believers in Jesus (Acts 2:4, 33, 38) and to empower those believers to witness or share about God with others (Acts 1:8).
Additionally, God, the Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer in Jesus to serve God (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) while also helping believers pray for themselves and others (Romans 8:26). God, the Spirit teaches believers the truth about God and themselves as well as provides insights for living life with God (John 14:16, 26).
God, the Spirit indwells all believers in Jesus and pours out the love of God in their hearts (Romans 5:5), aids them to understand the Bible as God revealed it (1 Corinthians 2:11), and helps them recall or remember the truth (John 16:26). This includes God, the Spirit moving upon and within the writers who recorded the Bible (2 Peter 1:20-21), making God, the Spirit the author of the Bible.
When God, the Son (Jesus) was in a human body on earth, He taught His disciples by explaining who God, the Spirit was and makes a promise that after He returns to God, the Father He would send God, the Spirit to be with them. God, the Spirit would be present not only with them, but also with every future believer in Jesus (John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15). God, the Spirit would not come and go—in and out of their lives—God, the Spirit would come and take up permanent residency, indwell them.
Jesus’ disciples did not ask for God, the Spirit to come. Jesus asked God, the Father to send God, the Spirit to His disciples as a helper to them when Jesus was no longer physically present in human form with them on earth (John 14:16). But why would Jesus make this request to send God, the Spirit to His disciples? Because Jesus told His disciples that He was returning to God, the Father, but promised not to abandon His disciples or leave them as orphans in the world (John 14:18).
What will God the Spirit help Jesus’ disciples do?
God, the Spirit helped Jesus’ disciples to remember all Jesus taught them and to teach them all things about God (John 14:26). God, the Spirit was present in the lives of Jesus’ disciples to help them know God, understand and obey God’s teaching, and embrace life with God (Acts 8:39).
Was God the Spirit only promised and sent to the disciples of Jesus at that time in history?
The book of Acts is the recorded account of God, the Spirit working in and through the believers in Jesus after Jesus resurrected from the dead and returned to be with God, the Father. After Jesus’ ascension, He would no longer be physically present in human form with His disciples and others. God, the Spirit is promised to everyone who believes in Jesus, not just these early disciples. Jesus promised to send God, the Spirit to all who repent and receive forgiveness of sins through Jesus. God, the Spirit is present and working among all believers in Jesus to provide strength, encouragement, comfort, and help to reflect who God is to others (Acts 2:1-4; Romans 8:26; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 5:18).
You may have never heard or understood that God, the Spirit is only indwelling those who believe in Jesus through repentance and forgiveness. Yet, Jesus made this promise to you—your sins can be forgiven if you agree with God that Jesus is God and that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection provides the way for you to be in relationship with God. God, the Spirit enters your life to give you a new life and serves as a helper to support your growth and maturity in your relationship with God (John 3:1-16; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
Consider the following questions:
- Which statements about God help you understand who God is?
- The Bible has many descriptions about who God, the Spirit is and what God, the Spirit does. How might greater understanding about God, the Spirit help you grow and mature spiritually?
- If you have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus, how engaged are you with God, the Spirit working in your life to do what God has promised to do in you, for you, and through you?
You have not been abandoned or left as an orphan in this world to navigate life alone. God, the Spirit is promised to all who believe in Jesus— He is available to provide strength, encouragement, comfort, and help to live the life God intended for you!
