God's Holy Spirit is someone all Christians should get to know well. He is God living inside everyone who believes in Christ, the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, and the Spirit who guarantees that we will receive our inheritance in the Lord.
Many Christians, however, have wrong ideas about who the Holy Spirit is. In this article, we will talk about some common misconceptions about Him, so that the believer can develop a growing relationship with Him.
Common misconceptions about the Holy Spirit of God
1) That He's not a person
One of the very wrong misconceptions about the Holy Spirit of God is that He's but a "force" or a "power," not a Person. This kind of misconception denies His very identity as the third person of the Trinity.
While the Holy Spirit is indeed the power of God who created all things in Genesis 1, He is not just a "power." Let's take a look at Genesis 1:26-27:
"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
We know from Scripture that God is one in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He made man in this likeness: a Spirit, possessing a soul, living inside a physical body. We were made that way.
The Holy Spirit of God is very much alive as a person, not just a thought. He lives in every believer and enables each of us to live as a new creation in Christ. If He was but a power or force, we wouldn't be able to have a relationship with Him.
2) That He comes and goes
Before Christ, the Spirit of God did not reside in man. During the Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit of God merely "fell upon" men of God to empower them to do God's will. One look at the lives of Samson and David and we'll understand that during that time, God's Holy Spirit did come and go.
After Christ, however, God changed the scenario. He tore the veil at the temple as Christ hung on the cross, signaling the breaking of the walls between God and man - we can, through Christ, be reconciled with Him.
God's work of reconciling with man is made complete in Christ. When we believe in Christ and come to Him, God deposits His Holy Spirit in us to live in us. His Spirit takes up residence in us and makes us His temples.
Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us,
"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."
He did come and go during the Old Testament times, but now that we're in Christ, He lives in us.
3) That He is "present" only when there are "goosebumps."
Many Christians equate the presence of the Holy Spirit to a warm, fuzzy feeling accompanied by hair-raising goosebumps. While He does make His presence felt, the truth is that He's ever-present and we don't need goosebumps to tell us that He's here with us.
Some Christians who feel lonely and uninspired think God has abandoned them. God, of course, does not do that. He promised that He will never leave us or abandon us (see Hebrews 13:5). It's our lack of faith in Him that makes us think He has forsaken us.
