Holy Ghost
Holy Ghost - The Spirit of God is His power by which He achieves all His purposes. By His Spirit, God:
- Gives life to all creatures (Psa 104:30, Job 34:14-15)
- Communicated His purpose through His prophets (2 Tim 3:16, Deu 18:18, Num 12:6-7)
- Empowers and equips His angels to carry out His purposes (Psa 104:4, Psa 103:20)
- Revealed His character through:
- His inspired revelation in both Old and New Testaments (2 Peter 1:19-21)
- His work with Israel (Isa 63:7-14)
- His Son, Jesus Christ (John 14:9, Acts 10:38)
This description of God's Spirit occurs almost exclusively in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is God's Spirit directed particularly to His work of salvation in Jesus, which may be described as "the new creation in Christ Jesus" (Gal 6:15, 2 Cor 5:17). Although sometimes referred to in a personal sense, the Holy Spirit is not a person, but rather is God's power active through His Son, His apostles and His prophets in the first century, and through continuing angelic ministration (Acts 10:38, Eph 3:5, 1 Cor 14:29-30, Isa 63:9-10).
Through His Holy Spirit, God:
- Equipped His Son for His ministry (John 3:34-35, Acts 2:22, Luke 4:14, 18-21, Acts 10:38)
- Equipped His apostles to:
- preach the gospel (Acts 1:8, 1 Pet 1:12),
- perform miraculous signs (Acts 5:12, Heb 2:4) and
- to witness against the unrepentant Jews (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:8-14)
- Raised His Son, Jesus, from the dead (1 Pet 3:18, Eph 1:19-20, 2 Cor 13:4)
- Granted various gifts to apostles and believers in the first century to ensure the establishment of the believers and the completion of His written word, the Bible (Eph 4:7-16, 2 Pet 1:20-21)
Return to Bible Dictionary Main Index
Additional essential Bible study tools:
