Is the Holy Spirit a person?


Is the Holy Spirit a person or an active force or something else? This is an important question regarding the true identity of the Holy Spirit, and am positive that by the end of this article, your enquiry will be satisfied.

The Holy Spirit is a person and not an active force or something else 

It is quite unfortunate, that many people read the scriptures which speaks about the Holy Spirit and yet refers to him as an impersonal active force, instead of a true divine person. There are conspicuous and irrefutable evidence in the scriptures, which argues extensively for the case of the personhood of the Holy Spirit, other than a mere active force.

Let us dive deeper into what the holy writ has to say about our subject matter 

Hebrews 3:7-8

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you hear His voice. Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness

From the text, we can see that the words were uttered by the Holy Spirit himself. How can the Spirit speak, if he is not a person? See also (1 Timothy 4; 1, Acts 8; 2). How can an active force be said to speak? It is highly preposterous, but the Spirit being a divine person can speak 

Ephesians 4:30

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption

If the Holy Spirit is an active force or power or something else, then how is it possible for him to be grieved? Since the Holy Spirit can be grieved, it means that he is a person with emotions, and not an impersonal active force 

Hebrews 9:14

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Holy Spirit is described as an eternal Spirit, which means that he has no beginning nor an end, he is eternal. Can an impersonal active force be described in such language?

Romans 8:26

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words

The Holy Spirit helps our weakness, by making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. This is a proof that the Holy Spirit is a person, for how can an active force intercede on behalf of others?

2 Peter 1: 20-21

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

From this text, we can see that it was the person of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Holy Trinity, who inspired the authors to write down what we consider as the Holy scriptures. This tells us that the scriptures, both the old and new testament is not of any human origin, but of divine origin.

John 14:16

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever

The Holy Spirit is the helper or comforter who will abide with us forever. Can an active force or power be an helper or a comforter? Certainly not. The Holy Spirit being a divine figure is our helper, and our comforter, the one who comforts us in our difficult times 

1 Corinthians 12:11

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

The Holy Spirit is a divine person who possesses his own will, and endows believers with spiritual gifts as he deems fit. He distributes gifts to the body of Christ as he wills, so they can serve with their gifts. Can an impersonal active force do such a thing?

Acts 5: 3-4

But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

You can see from the passage that, lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God himself. This means that the Holy Spirit is God. Can an active impersonal force be lied to? Of course not, so the fact that the Holy Spirit was lied to, is an irrefutable proof that He is a real divine person, he is God.

Personal pronouns are often used in relation to the Holy Spirit. Scripture uses, "He or Him" in reference to the Spirit.

John 14:16

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever

John 15:26

When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,

I just want you to take a close look at the pronoun "He" in relation to the Holy Spirit in both text: "He may be with you forever",  ''He will testify about Me,". Both texts did not use, "it" to apply to the Spirit, but uses, "He" which signifies that the Holy Spirit is a person and not an impersonal force.

The above verses and exposition are enough to affirm that the Holy Spirit is a real person, and not an impersonal active force, as many people falsely teaches our there. God bless you 

A thought to ponder 🤔 

Both the old and new testament is not of any human origin, but of divine origin

We defend and exposit the truth of the gospel

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