A little disclaimer: this is just my understanding of the Holy Spirit, and I welcome all rebuttals, thank you Mike ;-/))
Modern religion has a great struggle with the person of the Holy Spirit. Most Bible teachers recognize the Holy Spirit to be a member ofGod's Trinity. We call the Holy Spirit "God the Holy Spirit. In some places, the name is the Holy Ghost, but either name means the same person. The great struggle in religion has been with the Holy Spirit, by making Him Christ. Of coarse, if you said that to someone doing this, they would strongly deny it. But if you ask them how Christ is in the believer, they would say by the Holy Spirit, meaning that at some point the meaning of the Scriptures changes from Christ in you, , to the Holy Spirit in you.
Many modern theologians would say that is not talking about Christ in the believer, but rather the Holy Spirit. In all my years of searching the Scriptures I have never found a verse that says Christ is the Holy Spirit, or that the Holy Spirit is the life of the saved believer. The fact is the Spirit of God the Father is in the believer, Eph. 4:6, the Spirit of God the Son is in the believer, and God the Holy Spirit is in every believer. But never does one become the other, first John 4:13.
What then is the work of the Holy Spirit? Paul speaks of the believer being filled with the Holy Spirit, how does this happen? Once againPaul's revelation, from Christ, dealing with the tripartite man in body, soul and spirit, becomes invaluable. Christ is in our spirit, joined to our spirit, . The Holy Spirit is joined to our soul. He is given, by Christ, as a gift to every born-again believer when he is saved. He is not Christ, He is not our Savior, He did not die on the cross, He is not our life. He is plainly announced and defined by Jesus in His last message.
At least seven times John chapters 14, 15 and 16 say that the coming of the Holy Spirit is to teach the believer all about Christ, what He will do and who He is in the believer. He is not to have a ministry of His own, except to "take the things of Christ" and reveal them unto us. This means that the Holy Spirit's main mission is to reveal to the believer that Christ lives in him, To reveal to the sinner his need of a Savior, and to reveal to the world who the true God is, first Corinthians 2:8–11.
The Holy Spirit is in the soulish area of man. His work has to do with our minds, our will and our emotions. He works where we make decisions and teaches us daily about the Christ in us. He is not the power of the believer. The power is from the Life, the Christ-Life. The Holy Spirit's power is in our learning what He is teaching us about the Christ in us. The believer has no power within himself. The believer has been crucified with Christ, Christ is to live the life of the believer, Second Corinthians 4:10–11. Too often believers are confused concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. Religion has taught that the Holy Spirit comes to make the believer strong, and more powerful, and to give the believer a ministry. Actually the Holy Spirit has come to make Christ the life and ministry of the believer. The believer is dead in Christ is the only life a believer has. To confuse this places Christ within the believer as a nobody while the believer takes all the glory for living.
Modern religion has a great struggle with the person of the Holy Spirit. Most Bible teachers recognize the Holy Spirit to be a member ofGod's Trinity. We call the Holy Spirit "God the Holy Spirit. In some places, the name is the Holy Ghost, but either name means the same person. The great struggle in religion has been with the Holy Spirit, by making Him Christ. Of coarse, if you said that to someone doing this, they would strongly deny it. But if you ask them how Christ is in the believer, they would say by the Holy Spirit, meaning that at some point the meaning of the Scriptures changes from Christ in you, , to the Holy Spirit in you.
Many modern theologians would say that is not talking about Christ in the believer, but rather the Holy Spirit. In all my years of searching the Scriptures I have never found a verse that says Christ is the Holy Spirit, or that the Holy Spirit is the life of the saved believer. The fact is the Spirit of God the Father is in the believer, Eph. 4:6, the Spirit of God the Son is in the believer, and God the Holy Spirit is in every believer. But never does one become the other, first John 4:13.
What then is the work of the Holy Spirit? Paul speaks of the believer being filled with the Holy Spirit, how does this happen? Once againPaul's revelation, from Christ, dealing with the tripartite man in body, soul and spirit, becomes invaluable. Christ is in our spirit, joined to our spirit, . The Holy Spirit is joined to our soul. He is given, by Christ, as a gift to every born-again believer when he is saved. He is not Christ, He is not our Savior, He did not die on the cross, He is not our life. He is plainly announced and defined by Jesus in His last message.
At least seven times John chapters 14, 15 and 16 say that the coming of the Holy Spirit is to teach the believer all about Christ, what He will do and who He is in the believer. He is not to have a ministry of His own, except to "take the things of Christ" and reveal them unto us. This means that the Holy Spirit's main mission is to reveal to the believer that Christ lives in him, To reveal to the sinner his need of a Savior, and to reveal to the world who the true God is, first Corinthians 2:8–11.
The Holy Spirit is in the soulish area of man. His work has to do with our minds, our will and our emotions. He works where we make decisions and teaches us daily about the Christ in us. He is not the power of the believer. The power is from the Life, the Christ-Life. The Holy Spirit's power is in our learning what He is teaching us about the Christ in us. The believer has no power within himself. The believer has been crucified with Christ, Christ is to live the life of the believer, Second Corinthians 4:10–11. Too often believers are confused concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. Religion has taught that the Holy Spirit comes to make the believer strong, and more powerful, and to give the believer a ministry. Actually the Holy Spirit has come to make Christ the life and ministry of the believer. The believer is dead in Christ is the only life a believer has. To confuse this places Christ within the believer as a nobody while the believer takes all the glory for living.