The Holy Spirit
(Essay 1)
THEO 108-B01
Mildred Whitehorn
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God is incomplete without the Holy Spirit. The 3 God Heads, the father, the son, and the
Holy Spirit are a complete package. Without one there is no other. The holy spirit is mentioned
many times times throughout the Bible. Over 100 times the Old Testament. More than 261
passages refer to the Holy Spirit throughout the New testament. This alone show alert you to the
significant of the Holy Spirit in God’s plan.
The holy spirit is God. He is God’s spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says “Don’t you realize that
all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” What this
means is the Holy Spirit is believed to live among a group assembled as servers of Christ. He
dwells in each individual and in the group, as a whole. This in turn requires us to be consistent!
We must continue to grow in the spirit and never become stagnant.
The Holy Spirit is truth; and the greatest enemy of truth is untruth. The first untruth told
by Satan brought about sin and death to us all. Sin is big deal and it is costly. Not heeding to the
spirit and living in sin is detrimental to our souls. In Ephesians 4:25, Paul is talking to all
believers and he says, “So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts
of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while
you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” When the Holy Spirit truly dwells in
us we are in no way okay with sin. It is something that we must live our lives avoiding.
The Holy Spirit is Life; to all that believe. When the Holy Spirit dwells in us the sins of
the world cannot remain. It is probably wrong for me to us this example but think of a snake
shedding it’s skin. The old skin cannot live when the new skin begins to form. The old skin must
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fall off when there is a new manifestation of life beginning to form. It is the same when the Holy
Spirit begins to dwell in us. The old person that you used to be is no longer. Because the Holy
Spirit takes over and begins an outpouring of the eternal life of God.
The definition of a spiritual gift according to Willmington is: “it is a supernatural ability
given by Christ through the Holy Spirit to the believer at the moment of his salvation.” There are
gifts of the spirit and there are gifts from the spirit. It is important to recognize the distinction
between the two. There are spiritual gifts and there are human talents. A spiritual gift as, I said
before, is a supernatural power; such as the gift of prophecy, the gift of miracles, or the gift of
healing. The other human talents are pretty much self-explanatory. This is when the spirit gives
someone the ability to do something extraordinarily. “Once when he was eating with them, he
commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I
told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the
Holy Spirit.” So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time
come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He replied, “The Father alone has the
authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about
me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts
of the Apostles
We are filled with the spirit for service. When we are truly serving God, it is
because the Holy Spirit is working through us. Spiritual gifts are given only for the building up
of the church and not ever for an individual’s glory. Any and all good that I might do in the
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church is because the Holy Spirit is at work in my life. This is what is pleasing to God. It is all a
part of his plan for our lives.
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Bibliography
1 Corinthians 3:16
Ephesians 4:25
Acts 1:4-8
Revelations 4:11
Willmington, Harold, L. Willmington’s Guide to the Bible: 30th Anniversary Edition.
Tryndale House Publisher’s Inc, 2011.
