God the Holy Spirit

God manifests Himself in many ways. One of them is through His Holy Spirit. (Many older translations and texts call him ‘God the Holy Ghost’ — but these two titles mean the same thing.)

     Whenever the Bible talks about ‘the Spirit’, it usually means God the Holy Spirit. Most of these references occur in the New Testament, though the image also occurs often in the Old Testament.

The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as Jesus’ Spirit on earth (Matthew 28:20; John 15:26). He is powerful:

· He helped create the world (Genesis 1:2).

· He is responsible for keeping us alive.

· He facilitates prayer: Romans 8 describes him acting almost like a translator between us and God the Father during our prayers.

Most people first receive the Holy Spirit at baptism (Matthew 3:16, Acts 10:47, 18:25), though the sensation and impact can be relatively unexceptional at the time. The action of the Spirit explains precisely why baptism is a sacrament. Most people are baptised as babies or as very young children. In a sense, the action of the Spirit at baptism helps ‘kick start’ a person’s Christian life, even if they are far too young to understand or respond for themselves at the time.

    The Spirit often also enters a person through the ‘laying on of hands.’ This curious phrase indicates the way the person doing the praying places his hands on someone else —generally on the top of the head — and prays for the Spirit to come. The classic example occurs in Confirmation. Incidentally, when praying, they may choose to use the word ‘anoint.’

    But will the Spirit come to us, if we want Him to? In the Gospels, Jesus tells us a parable that compares God to an earthly parent. It illustrates the way that we as humans give presents to their children. It says:

Jesus said, ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him
a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ (Luke 11:11)

Some people worry that, having asked God’s Spirit to enter their lives, they feel no different. Do not worry: if you ask repeatedly, and seek to serve God, then changes will occur. You will change.

    God the Spirit enters us in order to change us. In the Old Testament, in Genesis 1:27, God says that all humans are made in the image and likeness of God. All Christians retain the image of God, for everyone has a soul. But sin mars the likeness; so sin means we are no longer holy. The Holy Spirit seeks to direct us into a new way of living—God’s way—which leads us into holiness of life. In fact, the Spirit directs us to act in the ways of holiness in order that we can understand God better. Figuratively, we can ‘see’ God: as one of Jesus’ beatitudes says, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God’ (Matthew 5:8).