“The Holy Spirit reveals the deep things of God to us in the Word of God, the Bible.” —Charles R. Swindoll

“Boo! I’m the Holy Ghost.” This is what some people think whenever the subject of the Holy Spirit arises. But who is He, really, and what exactly does He do? Is He an actual ghost, a mysterious fog-like substance floating in the ceilings of cathedrals and hovering over cemetery plots like an ethereal phantom? Hardly! Of the three persons in the godhead, including God the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is the least understood and most mystifying. Let’s dispel some of the myth and mystery by getting reacquainted with the Spirit of Power.

Who Is He?

The Holy Ghost isn’t a ghost at all—He is a Spirit who, as the third member of the godhead, possesses all the attributes of God and operates in the same realm as God the Father and God the Son.

What Is His Role?

The Holy Spirit works in regenerating the spiritually dead, baptizing saved individuals into the family of God, illuminating Christians with the truth, and sealing Christians for eternity.

Seals were important objects in the ancient world and were often engraved signet rings. Their biblical significance was twofold. First, usually with an image impressed in wax, they physically sealed letters (1 Kings 21:8), legal documents (Nehemiah 9:38, Jeremiah 32:10), scrolls (Isaiah 29:11, Revelation 5:1), or doorways (Matthew 27:66). Second, figuratively, seals, like rings, united lovers (Song of Solomon 8:6), symbolized the deputizing power of God (Haggai 2:23), served as a sign of covenant ratification (Romans 4:11), and became a form of identification (1 Corinthians 9:2) and a declaration of ownership (2 Timothy 2:19, Revelation 9:4).

Why Should We Care?

We should care about the Holy Spirit because we must guard against the thought that we have reached the pinnacle of our Christian maturity. Though the Holy Spirit no longer gives divine revelation through divine inspiration, He continues giving divine illumination into God’s deep truth and moving us to take the Gospel message of the Saviour where it’s needed.

“Getting Reacquainted with the Spirit of Power” is from Chuck Swindoll’s series How Great Is Our God! You can stream this message online anytime at insightforliving.ca/audiolibrary.