So we've briefly discussed the Father and the Son, so now we naturally come to the Holy Spirit. Now as people, we have a tendency towards imbalance. Our inability to be completely measured means that we often move from one extreme to another. Throughout the modern Church history, this imbalance, at least when considering God, has often been centred around the Spirit, sometimes flocking to the excesses that prioritise experience, and other times to the poverties that ignore or are oblivious to his role.
The Holy Spirit is personal. That is to say that he is not an 'it' but a 'he' (Jn. 16:13). He thinks and knows and can be grieved (1 Cor. 2:10; Eph. 4:30). Furthermore he is divine, being described as God's own Spirit and equally with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:18; 2 Cor. 3:17-18). He is said to be sent by the Father and the Son, (Jn. 14:26, 16:5-7) and thus has a special function in the time between Christ's incarnation and return. The Spirit is thought of in connection with the giving of life. This includes not just the creation but people as well (Gen 1:2; Job 27:3, 33:4; Ps. 104:27-30)[1]. He is also responsible for revealing God and his Word to us such that we can respond to the gospel (Jn. 16:7-11; 1 Cor. 2:12-16, 12:3; 2 Pet. 1:21). Thus the Spirit plays an important part of our salvation, being the inspiration and source of the Scriptures as well as our ability to understand and accept as truth. The Spirit was promised in the Old Testament as well as by Christ to dwell in our hearts (Ezek. 36:25-29; Rom. 8:9-11; Eph. 2:21-22). This is a promise which conforms us to the righteous image of Christ (Rom. 8:1-11; Gal. 5:16-25). It is important to recognise therefore that all Christians have the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9-11; Eph. 4:4-6). This indwelling of the Spirit means he is our helper or counsellor and advocate, the one who aids us in every aspect of Christian life (Jn. 14:15-17, 26). The Spirit enables our perseverance as he intercedes for us, giving us hope and assurance in God's promises (Rom. 8:16, 26-30; Heb. 10:15-18). Indeed he is the seal or guarantee that the promises of God are certain to be given to us (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13-14). The Spirit was thus given essentially to enable God's people to do his will. This includes our faith and character, but also the ministry and service that we do in response to the gospel. In this vein, the Spirit is also the giver of gifts that are to be used in service of the Kingdom, and he is the one who is at work to make them effective (1 Cor. 12:4-11).
In short, and in general, the Spirit is the one who makes the Christian faith real in our lives. It is his work that teaches us to put faith in Jesus and God's promises and his work which produces the fruits of our faith. We need him to be at work in us because without him, there is simply no work. This may sound like a debilitating weakness on our part, however really it is a testament to his power. Our frailties are superseded by his strength. Indeed, the Scriptures speak of the Spirit as our guarantor, and so we ought to trust not only that he is at work in us and others, but also that because he is working, we can know with certainty that the future promises that are yet to come will indeed be given.
As we think of the Spirit then, be sure to recognise that he's there - that as we grow in faith and maturity, as we see God working in us, we are seeing the Holy Spirit at work. Give God thanks for him because without him we really would be nowhere. Pray also that we would learn to trust him, that we would be trusting God to work through his Spirit rather than trusting in whatever strength and skill we think we have.
Next time we'll have a look at the doctrine of the Trinity, and what it means that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God, one and yet three.
[1] In the original Hebrew, the same word that denotes "breath/wind" also denotes "Spirit". In context then, the use of terms such as "breath" or "wind" in the Hebrew are often connotative the Spirit in theme.