The Holy Spirit is the third Person in the Triune Godhead.

Only Jesus Christ has explained the Trinity to us, because only He is capable of doing so. He has made it sufficiently clear that it astonishes those who meditate upon God’s majesty. The wonders of science are a little insight into the wonders of God Himself.

Jewish Rabbinic Judaism and muslims teach a unipersonal god, whom I cannot determine what he did in a past eternity before he created the universe.

Rather, the Christian God is perfectly blessed in Himself, in His eternal being and fellowship as Father, Son and Holy Spirit within the triune Godhead, and has always been so, before He created the Universe.

Yet God determined to create the Universe and mankind within it to display His glory to rational creatures and to share some of His blessedness with them.

All three divine Persons were involved in this Creation, but the result is most visibly the work of the third Person, the Holy Spirit, although He Himself cannot be seen. Rather like gravity and electricity, which cannot be seen other than by their effects, Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit is seen by His work Jn 3:8.

Jesus tells us that nobody has seen the Triune God at any time Jn 1:18, but only the works or the results of His hands.

The Father sent the Son into the world, Who has shown us the Father, and the Son has sent the Holy Spirit to apply Jesus’ work of redemption to sinful human beings.

Jesus tells us about the Father and the apostle Paul explained the theology of the Father in redemption.

Charismatic Christians make a great deal of the Holy Spirit in their teaching and practice, although Jesus said that Holy Spirit would not do so Jn 16:13.

Jesus’ teaching on the Holy Spirit

So what does Jesus tell us about the Holy Spirit?  The most important point is that He is absolutely essential to our salvation.  Just as Jesus is the only Saviour Act 4:12, similarly Jesus has told human beings “You must be born again” by the Holy Spirit Jn 3:3,5,7.  We need a better spirit before we leave this world than the one with which we were born into this world.  It is the Holy Spirit Who will make this difference, Who can change you for the better.

Jesus was sent by the Father to redeem His people and Jesus now sends the Holy Spirit to apply this redemption to each one of His people.

God is love and this manifests itself in the electing love of God the Father, the redeeming love of God the Son and the sanctifying love of God the Holy Spirit.

By His life and death Jesus purchased redemption, the authority to forgive sin and to send the Holy Spirit to sinners.  It is the role of the Holy Spirit to apply this redemption to “save His people from their sins” Mat 1:21.

The application of redemption

The Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Old Testament but He is more fully explained by Jesus, so we learn more about Him in the New Testament.

The Holy Spirit prepared the world Gen 1:2 at the beginning of time and He also prepared the body of Jesus Christ Lk 1:35 for the work of redemption Ps 40:7, Heb 10:5-10.  The angel explained this to the virgin Mary:

“And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore the holy thing being generated from thee shall be called the Son of God.”

Luke 1:35

Later, the angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit:

“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is has been generated in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 1:20

God had told the prophet Isaiah several hundred years before this about the necessity of the Holy Spirit in redemption.

“Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; My elect, in Whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him. He shall bring forth judgment to the nations.”

Isaiah 42:1

The Holy Trinity can be seen at work in this Old Testament verse. We need the whole Triune Godhead to save us from ourselves, our sins, our sinful lifestyle and associations, and the devil himself.

By His redeeming work the Lord Jesus Christ procured and secured the Holy Spirit to apply this redemption to His people.

This is illustrated by the blood and water incident at Christ’s crucifixion Jn 19:34. We need Jesus’ blood to cleanse from the guilt of sin, and the water represents His legitimate purchase of the Holy Spirit to cleanse sinners from the pollution, pleasure, power and finally the presence of sin.

The angel said to Joseph: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Mat 1:21.

Preparation

Jesus tells us how the Holy Spirit would apply His redemption to His people.

In preparation for this enormous and lengthy work throughout the Christian era and throughout the nations of the whole world, the Holy Spirit produced the Bible as the written Word of God which could be duplicated and distributed worldwide, which He would use for the remainder of Earth history, while Jesus left the Earth to prepare heaven for His people Jn 14:3.

Jesus began with calling, teaching and preparing His Apostles.

Then He gave the Holy Spirit to them. The Spirit then used the Apostles to complete the Bible, by adding the Greek New Testament to the Hebrew Old Testament. This New Testament tells us about Christ, His redemption and the role of the Christian church in bringing the Gospel or Good News of redemption to the nations.

Preaching

The Apostles began by preaching the Christian Gospel using the Hebrew Old Testament, “with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven” 1Pe 1:12.  The Holy Spirit convinced sinners of the truth of Jesus and His work Jn 16:7-11 so that they became Christians and were baptized according to Jesus’ commandment “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Mat 28:18-20.

The Holy Spirit taught the Apostles that the Gentiles were now part of the visible Christ Act 10:44-48 and He guided the progress of the Church Act 16:6-7 into other nations.

As time progressed, this Gospel was written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 2Tim 3:16 so that the Word of God could be read and studied as well as preached and explained, and then spread by word of mouth at conversational level by Christians.

Preaching with the Holy Spirit

Peter explains that effectual preaching is accompanied “with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven” 1Pe 1:12. What happens when the Holy Spirit is sent down? He convinces the hearers of the truth of Scripture and the simplest of sermons becomes meaningful.

Preachers are to explain the Word of God and answer the questions that people have.  This means that they should have congregational fellowships where questions can be asked and answered collectively.

Praying for the Holy Spirit

However, we are each to read the Bible for ourselves.  Bible study is a good test of one’s love to Christ. We are to pray to God through Jesus Christ for the Holy Spirit to explain the Bible to us, so that we may know how to live our Christian lives and not be misled by those who twist the Scripture 2Pe 3:16.  Christian fellowship is important in this regard to open our minds to fuller and more accurate teaching of Scripture.

If you find any part of the Bible difficult to understand, then pray to the Holy Spirit, Who gave it to us, through Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest Who is in heaven to intercede for sinners Heb 4:14-16.  If anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous 1Jn 2:1.

Providence and the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit will guide praying people in His Providence and bring them into fellowship with those who can help them SoS 1:7-8. When they wander astray, His regard for His own name will ensure that He brings them back into the paths of righteousness Ps 23:3-6.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

Psalm 23:6

Thanks be to God.