Personhood of the Holy Spirit

By Melissa

Since we have been discussing the Trinity, I would like to discuss a common misconception about the nature of the Holy Spirit. For a standard definition of the Trinity, I like to use the definition given by Dr. James White in his book The Forgotten Trinity: "Within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." (p. 26).

Many are thrown off by the term “persons” and do not understand the meaning of this term. The definition of what constitutes a person is one who possesses mind, will and emotion. Most of the time, when we think of a person, we think of a person as only one having flesh and bone- a physical being. While physical persons do possess flesh and bone, it is not necessary for one to possess flesh and bone in order to be a person. That defines humanity, but not personhood. There are also metaphysical persons, such as angels and demons, who also qualify as being persons- just in a different sense- because they likewise possess mind, will and emotion. As humans, we are a hylomorphic composition of matter and spirit (material and immaterial) whereas spirit persons are just immaterial as Jesus teaches in Luke 24:39 that a spirit does not have flesh and bone.

The cults do not usually contest that the Father or the Son are Persons. They don’t even contest that Satan is a person because though He is a spiritual being, he possesses mind, will and emotion. However, they do contest the Personhood of the Holy Spirit. The Jehovah’s Witnesses hold the position that the Holy Spirit is merely God’s active force similar to electricity. However, we know that biblically this is not the case from Scripture. He is a Person and He is also God. If it can be shown, from Scripture, that the Holy Spirit possesses mind, will and emotion, then this shreds the Jehovah’ Witness position. Please study these Scriptures in context and hopefully you can see how Scripture supports the position that the Holy Spirit is a Person, possessing mind, will and emotion and not merely an active force: Once we establish that the Holy Spirit is infact a Person, we are able to then look at Him as not just some active force, but as a personal Being with certain attributes. Upon studying His attributes in Scripture, it is clear that the Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of God, such as eternality, holiness, omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence- which means ultimately that He is God as only God can possess divine attributes.

1.) He has a mind:
- 1 Corinthians 2:10- The Spirit searches all things.
- 1 Corinthians 2:11- He knows the thoughts of God.
- Romans 8:25-27- He knows our minds and searches our hearts.
- John 14:26- He will teach you all things and brings the teachings of
Christ to our remembrance.
- John 16:13- He guides us into all truth.

2.) He has emotions:-
- Ephesians 4:30- He can be grieved.
- Hebrews 10:29- He can be insulted.
- Acts 5:3-4: He was lied to by Ananias.
- Matthew 12:30-32- He can be blasphemed.
- Acts 5:9- The Spirit can be tested.


3.) He has a will:
- 1 Corinthians 12:11- He distributes gifts at His will.
- 2 Timothy 3:16 & 2 Peter 1:21- He gives Scripture.
- Acts 11:7-12- The Spirit speaks and gives commands.
- John 14:3- He brings Scripture to our remembrance.
- Acts 8:29- The Spirit spoke and lead Philip.

Once we establish that the Holy Spirit is infact a Person, we are able to then look at Him as not just some active force, but as a personal Being who possesses particular attributes. Upon further studying His attributes in Scripture, a clear case is made that the Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of God, such as eternality, holiness, omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence- which means ultimately that He is God as only God can possess divine attributes. In conclusion, we can see how important it is to establish the Personhood of the Holy Spirit in making the case for the Deity of the Holy Spirit, which is a fundamental aspect of the Doctrine of the Trinity.