This article is based on Pentecostalism information.

The Holy Spirit as Revealed in Acts through Revelation set of revelations given by God and details God in the the world via Acts of the Apostles (fifth book in the New Testament) to the Book of Revelation. The books in the New Testament have many references to the Holy Spirit which define who he is and what he does.

Christians believe that through the Scriptures, they learn he was sent from the Lord and is part of the Trinity; that he gives them power and courage to witness, helps them understand the truth of their God, acts as an intercession of prayer, gives them power to resist influences that would dishonor God or hurt them; he is their comforter and counsellor, the ultimate author of the Scripture, and he plays a major role in the development in the New Testament Church.

The Trinity

Believers claim that God - the Father the Creator - and Jesus Christ - the One God and Redeemer - are two separate and distinct manifestations, and, together with the Holy Spirit - the sanctifier, they form a Trinity. Though they are three separate personages, they are One and equal in substance and in divine nature. The Holy Spirit is the third personage, but is a spirit without a body of flesh and bone. This Holy Spirit is the form of God's presence that remained on earth after Jesus's earthly life.

Early general councils of the Christian church defined belief in Father, Son, an the Holy Spirit. The World Book Computer Encyclopedia defines this further, "The council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 and the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381 declared that the Son is of the same essence as the Father, and that the three Persons are one God. The East and West branches of the church later disagreed as to how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the other Divine Persons. The Eastern Church held that the Son comes from the Father through the Son. The Western Church held that the Spirit comes from Father and Son together. A special activity has been ascribed to each of the Persons. The Father creates, the Son became human, and the Spirit make holy."

Prophesy and Fulfillment

The gift of the Holy Spirit was promised long ago, being mentioned in the Old Testament prophesies: "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, "I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions; your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both man and woman, I will pour my Spirit

The full manifestation of the Spirit's power occurred at Pentecost (the birthday of the Church). The account of this is found in Acts 2:1-21. Present in this report were eleven disciples; Mary, the mother of Jesus; his brethren; a number of woman who had followed him; and a large group of unnamed believers; totaling about one-hundred-twenty. They were all gathered for prayer and as they were assembled, the Holy Spirit came on them with visible and audible signs. This fused the believers into one group, giving them an unity that they had not previously possessed. Acts describes in the following verses that: "a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them," (Acts 2:1-4). The terms "speaking in tongues" means that the people "spoke with new languages so that their hearers were able to understand in their own dialect 'the mighty works of God,' " (The New Testament Survey, Tenney, Merill C., p.240). This was a spiritual gift exercised by some believers in the New Testament Church, and is explained further in I Corinthians 14:2-28, and is witnessed in Acts 10:46 and 19:6.

The Holy Spirit

Followers of this faith assert that the Holy Spirit is given to them and empowers them when they believe in Jesus Christ, from their interpretation of Ephesians 1:13-14 which says, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of you salvation. Having believed, you were marked win him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing out inheritance, until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory."

The Advocate

One description of the Spirit is that he is an advocate; that is, he gives power and courage to witness to unbelievers.

Examples

• "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Believers understand this to mean that the Lord gives them the Holy Spirit so that they can witness at all times and places. An example of this is in the description of the lives of Jesus Christ and his disciples. They went to all nations preaching and sharing the word of God, always empowered and influences by the Holy Spirit. He is believed to provide power for worldwide evangelism and will abide with believers forever.

The "Anti-Tempter"

It is further claimed that the Spirit also gives followers the power to resist evil influences that can harm them, and their walks with God. Their bodies

Examples

• "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" (I Corinthians 6:19);
• Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," (Ephesians 5:18-20).

Because followers believe they have the Spirit in them, they believe that they are given the strength to overcome wrong influences with his help.

The Inspiration

According to this branch of Christianity, the Holy Spirit inspired every part of the Scriptures. This is why the Scriptures are often described by them as being "God-breathed."

Examples

• II Peter 1:20-21 says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophesy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were caried along by the Holy Spirit." This suggets that all Scripture came from the influence of the Holy Spirit. Though it was written through the authors of the books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, James, Peter, John, etc) the Spirit is considered to be the one and only final author. (Critics might note that this is a form of circular reasoning, in that the Bible is claimed to be authored by the Holy Spirit because a verse in the Bible says so, and as the Holy Spirit would not lie, it must be true.)
• In relation to this, because the Spirit is claimed to have inspired the Scripture, followers state that "no single text can be taken by itself, or out of spiritual context, because the Spirit is the only one who is capable of being the final interpreter," The New Testament Survey, Tenny, Merill C., p. 370).

The Teacher

The Spirit is also believed to help followers understand the truth of their God when they call on him.

Examples

• "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." (I Corinthians 2:12).
• "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not understand them, because they are spiritually discerned," (I Corinthians 2:13-14).

Because the Spirit is believed to be the author, through his word, he provides guidance and direction for all believers. He helps them to understand what is spiritually written and without his help they feel that they cannot fully grasp the meaning and instructions in God's word.

The Intercessor

Along with helping followers to understand God's word, they also believe that he acts as an intercessor to prayer so that they can communicate with God.

Examples

• "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in out weakness. We do not know what we out to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for is with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches out hears knows the mind os the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will," (Romans 8:26-27).

Pentecostal Christians take great comfort and confidence in believing that our prayers — though often considered inadequate — are heard, understood and acted upon through the intercession of the Holy Spirit.

The Comforter

Members of this faith claim that the Spirit was sent to them in Jesus's absence as a personal comfort. He is often referred to as the "Comforter and Counsellor." The term comforter was a title for the Holy Spirit, which means "to strengthen" or "to 'bolster'" (The Layman's Bible Dictionary). Another translation of this is the term "paraclete," which is given him to express the idea of a helper called to one's side" (The Layman's Bible Dictionary). Believers assert that the Spirit comforts them and helps them by doing all of the above mentioned: acting as an intercessor to prayer, helping us to understand God's word etc. It is also claimed that He helps them by being a bond of unity (Ephesians 4:3-4), the stimulus of joy (Ephesians 5:18) and the armourer for conflict (Ephesians 6:17).

The "Church"

Believers feel that another very important role of the Holy Spirit is his work in their church. Acts is considered to show the nature and extent of the Spirit.

Examples

• Merill C. Tenny explains further in his book, The New Testament Survey, saying "The book of Acts recounts four occasions on which the Holy Spirit came to people in a spectacular manner: to the disciples at Pentecost (2:1-4), to the Samaritans (8:17), to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius (10:44-46), and the disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus (19:6). Each of these instances represents the introduction of the Holy Spirit to a different class of people. Collectively, they mark the beginning of the Spirit's work in the lives of individual believers at the opening of the church era. The gift of the Holy Spirit was the proof of conversion (Romans 8:9) and the stamp of divine approval on the apostles' work," (p.247).

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is an important piece of our lives. Because we cannot see him it is sometimes hard to realize he is here with us. But once we accept Christ we also accept the Spirit. It is a great comfort to know that he is our helper in all times sent from God to be with us. It is also important to understand his role in the Scriptures—as they are inspired by him and can be understood through his guidance.

See also

• Holy Spirit

External articles

• "". Catholic apologetics.com.