Many churches sing the "Doxology" as a part of their service. As a child, I could understand the idea that God was like a father in his love and care for us all. And it made sense that if God was a father, he'd have to have at least one child. But the idea of a "Holy Ghost" gave me the creeps. After all, ghosts are intent on scaring the daylights out of people.

When I was older, I attended a tent crusade where it became clear that the Holy Ghost's job--and the preacher's--was to scare the devil right out of a person. And so, people were being "filled" with the Spirit and "evil spirits" were being cast out.

We'll explore what the Bible has to say about the character and roles of one of the most misunderstood aspects of God.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

In the second verse of Genesis we find "the Spirit of God" hovering over the yet to be formed earth (Genesis 1:2). Throughout the Old Testament, we find references to God's prophets or messengers being inspired and empowered by his Spirit. But it's not until the New Testament that the Spirit of God is called by name as "The Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:35).

The Holy Spirit fills Jesus Christ at his baptism, empowers and emboldens the early disciples--who were previously hiding behind locked doors--and is promised to fill each future believer.

But here is where it gets confusing! While the Bible states there is one, and only one, God, he appears to be three distinct beings and thus the term Trinity or "three-in-one." Jesus tells his disciples to baptize believers "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . . " (Matthew 28:19).

Some theologians have tried to explain this by saying that God revealed himself in three separate forms: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. However, Scripture records all three present at Jesus' baptism: "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased'" (Luke 3:21-22).

Others have attempted to explain the three-in-one as being like electricity which is one force but which can be expressed as heat, light and motion.

Since we're mere mortals, God is beyond our ability to explain and every illustration will eventually break down. But one concept that makes sense to me is the "trinity" of mind, body and soul.

Jesus makes reference many times to being obedient to the Father's plan. " . . . I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me" (John 14:31). Perhaps we can think of God the Father as the "brains" of the Trinity. Jesus tells His disciples repeatedly that "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father."

His early disciples write about Jesus Christ being God in flesh. Colossians 1:16-17 states that as God's "body," Jesus was the agent of creation: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

A brain and a body, however, is incomplete without a spirit--that unique essence that makes all of us--with similar brains and bodies-- very, very different. It is our spirit that expresses who we are.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit expresses the very essence of God's personality. Galatians 5:22-23 describes this character as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

Now obviously brains, bodies and personalities cannot exist separately, but they do have separate functions. Even this illustration is not sufficient to describe the supernatural complexity of God.

The idea of the Holy Spirit being God's personality or spirit, however, seems to describe how believers can be filled with the very nature of God himself.

What does the Holy Spirit do?

In Jesus Christ's last major message to his disciples, he promises that the Holy Spirit will take his place on earth.

(1) The Holy Spirit is God's presence on earth. Jesus tells his disciples, "I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7).

(2)The Holy Spirit will convince us of our need for God. "When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8).

(3) The Holy Spirit will live within us. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever . . . . He lives with you and will be in you." (John 14:16, 17).

The early disciples give us other insights into the work of the Holy Spirit.

(5) The Holy Spirit assures believers that they have been made children of God. "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16).

(6) The Holy Spirit prays on behalf of believers. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:26-27).

Excerpted from The Why Files: Are There Really Ghosts? Buy it at amazon.com.

Copyright © 1998 James N. Watkins. All rights reserved.

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