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Introduction
The Holy Ghost is the infinitesimally understood person of the Trinity. In fact, many believers share many misconceptions about the Holy Spirit. Some view Him as a force, as a ghost, and a second class replacement god. He is mistaken with the manifestations themselves and has even been presented as an ancillary figure that appears briefly. The Church as a family of believers has the duty to know the Holy Spirit, learn to relate with Him, and appreciate how He manifests Himself. Therefore, Christians have the responsibility to acknowledge how the Holy Spirit has always existed and be able to explain when He came upon the people. Further, the believers need to appreciate the early ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the purpose as well as how it is today. In consequence, they shall have learnt how the Holy Ghost is the part of the Trinity and a comforter to believers.
How the Holy Spirit Has Always Existed
In recognizing how the Holy Spirit has always existed, it is crucial to identify His personality according to the Bible. The nature of the Holy Ghost is fathomed from the qualities of having intellect, emotions, and will (Ryrie, The Holy Spirit 13). As a matter of fact, His intelligence comes from the fact that He knows the things of God (King James Bible 1611 KJV, 1Corinthians 6:2:10-11). More specifically, the Holy Spirit is known to search for the deep things of God that no human would ever understand. The Holy Spirits intelligence emanates from Him having His own mind (Romans 8:27) and therefore has the capability to teach (1Corinthians 2:13). Through the Holy Spirits teachings, the believers are then able to acquire wisdom about the spiritual things. Inarguably, the activities of having great understanding of Godly things and possessing His mind shows that the Holy Spirit has ever existed as a person.
Aside from the personality character of the Holy Spirit, He has always existed as a distinctive divine person who is a God. The fact that the Holy Ghost carries deific epithets is an absolute demonstration of His Godliness (Ryrie, Basic Theology 397). For example, He is being referred to as the Spirit of our God (1Corinthians6:11). Moreover, some scriptures append Jesus name to the Holy Spirit (Acts16:7) in which he is called the Spirit of Jesus . In addition to facets of His ministry are the works of Deity (Ryrie, Basic Theology 397). In the early church, the Holy Ghost was called a spirit of adoption which shows that He plays a key role in adoption of the believers (Romans 8:15). Notably, the Holy Spirit is also involved in execution of acts that can be performed by only God Himself (Ryrie, The Holy Spirit 22). A specific occasion is the creation period in which the scriptures record that the Spirit of God was wandering over the moving waters (Genesis 1:2). Without any doubt, the Biblical examples show that the Holy Spirit has always existed as God.
The Pentecostal Day
The significance of the Holy Spirit is explained lucidly in the Bible, during the Pentecostal Day in which he came upon the early disciples. As was the Jewish custom, the Pentecostal Day was the fiftieth day after the Feast of the Passover when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Weeks (Arnold 15). Being the second of three festivals, all Jewish were required to attend the celebrations in Jerusalem. Therefore, with all assembled in one accord, there came a sudden sound from heaven which was comparable to a rushing mighty wind and it filled the house of the Jewish gathering (Acts 2:2). Also, tongues of fire appeared on each one of the people who had converged in Jerusalem on that day (Acts 2:3). As evident from Pentecostal Day, the Holy Spirit is associated with the two symbols that often embodied the manifestation of the presence of God.
With the descending of the Holy Ghost, diverse implications were observed in the Jerusalem meeting. Luke records that the all were filled with Holy Spirit and began in speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them through the utterances (Acts 2:4). Amazingly, everyone spoke on his own native language, despite being Galileans (Acts 2:7). This showed the great power of the Holy Spirit because He enabled everyone to identify with his own local dialect despite Greek being an official language as introduced by Alexander the Great (Arnold 15). In essence, the coming of the Holy Spirit emboldened the disciples towards the proclamation of gospel.
Holy Spirits Ministry in the Early Church, Purpose and Nature in Current Christianity
Among the many ministries of the Holy Spirit, the ones that were distinctive during the period of the early church were baptism and healing. The disciples taught repentance of sins and baptism as a conversion to Christianity (Phillips, Exploring Acts 56). Peter together with other disciples taught that baptism in the name of Jesus Christ was a guarantee for the receipt of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37-41). Undeniably, the purpose of the baptism ministry was to add more people to the body of Christ (Phillips, Exploring the New Testament 82). Besides baptism, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the early church incorporated healing. To illustrate, Peter and John healed a certain lame beggar who used to sit at the gate of the temple (Acts 3:1-10). The intent of the healing ministry of the Holy Spirit was to bring life transformation to people by relieving them of their pains and sorrows (Phillips, Exploring Acts 69). Accordingly, the combined objective of various aspects of Holy Spirits ministry in the early church was to facilitate the proclamation of gospel.
Nonetheless, it important to note that, the Holy Ghost religiosity has experienced some changes in entirety. Certainly, no one can deny that the contemporary conception of the Holy Spirit is far much different from the times of the early apostles such as Peter, Paul, and others. In the current state of Christianity, baptism is viewed as a conversion experience, or rather an initiation to the denomination. This has led to overemphasis on baptism by water, which is characteristically immersion in water. As a result, some believers have been obscured of the Spirit Baptism and it is only baptism that can save them (Chappell 317). As evident, the growth of different churches has seen varied interpretations of the scriptures within the context of cultural and religious experiences.
Holy Spirit as Part of Trinity and Comforter
As God, the Holy Spirit has existed through eternity and different examples in the Bible attest to the fact that He is indeed part of the Trinity. Firstly, the Holy Spirit appears as the co-creator with God the father. This simple fact is evident from the creation stories in the book of Genesis. The Bible speaks of how the earth was formless with darkness and the spirit of God was wandering over the waters (Genesis1:2). Secondly, the Holy Ghost is the part of the Trinity because of how He complements Gods work in a unique manner that no human can do. The best examples of His divine works include the conception of the Virgin Mary and descending upon Jesus head in form of a dove at the time of baptism (Matthew 1:20; 3:16). In reality, the Holy Spirit forms part of the Trinity through His collaborate way of working with God the Father and the Son.
God has given the believers numerous gifts, but none is comparable to the Holy Spirit. By His description, Holy Spirit is a comforter of the believers. Jesus Christ assured the disciples, who are presently the believers that he will pray to the God the Father to send another helper who will abide in them forever (John 14:16). Jesus promise of the Holy Spirit gives consolation to believers who may be in distress and are in need of consolation. Therefore, through the Holy Ghost, Christians are promised of divine support in times of their tribulations.
Conclusion
In summary, believers have the duty of recognizing the existence of the Holy Spirit from the scriptures. To add on, the Christians need to appreciate the purpose of the Holy Spirits ministry with regards to its past and present natures. In the end, the Holy Ghosts place in the Trinity can be ascertained with His importance of being a comforter to believers. Other aspects notwithstanding, the personality of the Holy Spirit is viewed in relation to intelligence, emotion and will. Implicitly, the Holy Spirit assumes the nature of Deity as He has always existed. The symbols of divinity are evident during the Pentecostal Day in which a blowing wind and tongues of fire were witnessed. More clearly, the Holy Spirit is part of the Deity and the whole Trinity in relation to how He complements Divine work. Unquestionably, the Holy Ghost is a comforter to believers because of Jesus.
Works Cited
Arnold, Clinton, editor. Acts. Zondervan Academic, 2007.
Chappell, Paul. Continue: A Biblical Journey in Personal Discipleship. Striving Together Publications, 2015.
Phillips, John. Exploring the New Testament Book by Book: An Expository Survey. Kregel Publications, 2009.
Exploring Acts: An Expository Commentary. Kregel Publications, 2001.
Ryrie, Charles. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. 2nd ed., Moody Press, 1999.
The Holy Spirit. 2nd ed., Moody Press, 1997.
The Bible. King James Bible 1611 KJV. Cambridge UP, 2018.
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