He is a person (though not a human person); not merely a force or a power. He is a divine person who can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), resisted (Acts 7:51), quenched (I Thessalonians 5:19), blasphemed (Matthew 12:31), and lied to (Acts 5:3). He contains the ability to both rejoice and weep.
As for His name, He is referred to as the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit. Either of these names is correct. The King James translators seemed to favor the term “Holy Ghost.” But they did translate His name “Holy Spirit,” as in Luke 11:13. I personally use both terms interchangeably. He has many titles, including “the Spirit,” “Spirit of God,” “Holy Spirit of God,” “Spirit of the Father,” and “Spirit of Christ.”
The Holy Ghost is deity. This means that He is God Almighty. Just as the Father is called God (I Corinthians 8:6), the Son is also referred to as God (Hebrews 1:8). Just as the Son is referred to as God, the Holy Spirit is also called God (Acts 5:3-4).
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit “came upon” individuals from time to time. The idea of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside individuals, living in their hearts continually, was foreign to the Old Testament saints. In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon individuals “at times” (Judges 13:25).
Since the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes to live in every believer. Before Christ went to the cross, He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit was presently with them. He was with them because Christ was with them, and the Holy Ghost was with Christ. However, Christ promised them that, after the Holy Spirit would be poured out, that He would not just be with them, but He would be in them (John 14:17). Christ promised that the Holy Ghost would abide with them, not just visit them from time to time. Christ also promised that, when the Holy Ghost came to abide with them, living within them, that He would abide with them forever (John 14:16).
On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the body of believers known as the church. Since the Holy Ghost came to abide with the church forever (John 14:16), there will never be a need for another Pentecost. To say that we need another Pentecost is as ignorant as saying that we need another Calvary. What Christ did upon the cross was sufficient, being a “once for all” event, and what Christ did when He prayed the Father to send the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is also a “once for all” event. Just as I was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), buried with Christ (Romans 6:12; Colossians 2:12), and risen with Christ (Colossians 3:1), it is also true that when Christ ascended, I was seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3), and I was baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13) on the day of Pentecost.
Although the disciples were “with one accord” in the upper room (Acts 2:1), this is not why the Holy Ghost was poured out on the day of Pentecost. It was predestined that the Holy Spirit would come on the day of Pentecost. He would have arrived on the day of Pentecost whether or not the disciples were with one accord. Christ, being our Passover (I Corinthians 5:7), was slain on the feast of Passover, fulfilling the Jewish feast of the Passover. Christ was buried, fulfilling the feast of unleavened bread. Christ was resurrected, fulfilling the feast of firstfruits. And Christ prayed the Father to send the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, fulfilling the Jewish feast of Pentecost.
Since the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit lives inside of the believer from the moment of conversion. Galatians 4:6 plainly teaches that God sent forth the Holy Spirit into your hearts. Galatians 4:6 also tells why God sent forth the Holy Spirit into your hearts – not because you tarried; not because you prayed; not because you spoke in tongues; but rather because ye are sons. The Bible is plain – God sends the Spirit into a person’s heart because that person has become a son, or child, of God. Now the question must be asked, “How does a person become a son?” John 1:12 answers the question concisely – “But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even as many as believe on His name.” A person becomes a son by simply believing on Jesus Christ (John 1:12), and God gives that person the Holy Spirit because they are a son (Galatians 4:6). Hence, the Holy Spirit dwells within an individual at the very moment they believe on Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:9, Paul reiterates this, stating that if a person does not have the Spirit of Christ within him, then that person does not belong to God.
You do not have the Holy Ghost because you prayed; you have the Holy Ghost because He prayed. In John 14:16, Jesus promised, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.”
At the moment of conversion, when the Holy Spirit takes up residence within the believer, the Holy Spirit then baptizes the individual into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13).
Just because an individual has been converted, and the Holy Spirit lives within them, does not mean that the individual has been filled with the Holy Spirit. Those in the Ephesian church had already trusted in Christ (Ephesians 1:12-13). Yet, Paul commands them to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
The experience of being “filled with the Spirit” is given to the believer that he might fulfill the Great Commission, being a witness to a lost and dying world. It is inconsistent to emphasize the experience of being filled with the Spirit, but refuse to emphasize the subject of soul winning. They go hand in hand. A person who claims to be filled with the Holy Ghost for the past twenty years, but has not lifted a finger to win a single soul to Christ in those twenty years, is a hypocrite. Every time the scripture gives the Great Commission in one of its forms, the scripture also gives the command to be filled with the Spirit. In Matthew 28:18, Christ says “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” But why does He speak of the power? Why is the power emphasized in verse 18? The power is emphasized in verse 18 because the Great Commission is given in verses 19 and 20. We need the power of the Holy Ghost to carry out the Great Commission. In Mark 16:15-16, Christ gives the commission to go and preach the gospel to every creature. Then, Christ says, “These signs shall follow them that believe.” But there are no signs except to those fulfilling the Great Commission. In Luke 24:47, Christ tells the disciples that remission of sins is to be preached. Then, in Luke 24:49, He commands them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the infilling of the Holy Ghost. Then, in Acts 1:8, Christ again tells the disciples that they will receive power, and that the power will be given to them for the purpose of being witnesses.
The experience of being “filled with the Holy Ghost” is not a one-time experience. The disciples were filled in Acts 2 (Acts 2:4), but they were filled again in Acts 4 (Acts 4:31). We should be filled with the Spirit as consistently as we are working for God.
