Who Is the Holy Spirit?

For a hot but happy week in July, Old Union hosted a “Fruit of the Spirit” Vacation Bible School, where we learned about the blessings that come from the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Because there are nine fruits, but only five days of Bible School, we had to leave the last four fruits for everyone to learn about on their own!

Something else that we didn’t talk about at Bible School was the Spirit that provides these fruits in our lives. As it happens, we don’t seem to talk that much about the Holy Spirit. That’s unfortunate, because it is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s presence into our lives. As Christians, we believe there is one God with three Persons. Most of us have a pretty good handle on the Father and the Son, but the Holy Spirit is often overlooked, even as we’re enjoying the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.

Who is the Holy Spirit? First, the Spirit is our teacher and guide. He (or she) is the Counselor that Jesus promised to his disciples at the Last Supper (John 14). The Holy Spirit is the continuing presence of God in our lives, now that Jesus has ascended into heaven. The Spirit is behind everything in our lives that draws us to God: the Bible, our prayer lives, the church, and so on.

Second, the Holy Spirit is our power and strength. She (or he) is the One who came upon the believers at the first Pentecost, and filled them with amazing power (Acts 2). As the presence of God in our lives, the Spirit brings power and authority into the circumstances we find ourselves in. When we are weak and confused, the Spirit who dwells within us accomplishes the impossible.

Third, the Spirit changes who we are. Romans 8 speaks at length about how the Spirit transforms us from being people who are controlled by sin and our natural desires, into children of God who have been set free from these things, so that we can experience the fullness of life that God wants for us. The “fruit of the Spirit” of Galatians 5 is one of several places in Scripture where we learn about the new kind of life that the Spirit works within us; Colossians 3:12-17 is another example.

The Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is possible because of the redeeming work of Christ. Once we have accepted the grace that Christ’s death and resurrection brings, we begin the journey that the Spirit leads us on. With every passing day and year, our very character and identity changes, as the we bear the fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives.