Many people are taught that the Holy Spirit is a third person who stands beside the Father and the Son. Others think of the Spirit as a force God hands out, a thing apart from Him. Scripture says neither. It always tells us whose Spirit He is. He is God’s own Spirit, God Himself present with me.

Psalm 51:11 and Isaiah 63:10-11

“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.”

Psalm 51:11

“But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit… where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?”

Isaiah 63:10-11

These are the only three places in the Old Testament where “holy” and “spirit” stand together. All three say “thy” or “his.” The Spirit is holy because He belongs to the Holy One. And look at David’s prayer: “thy presence” and “thy holy spirit” are the same thing said twice. David had sinned, and he begged God not to leave him. I have prayed that prayer.

Matthew 10:20 and Romans 8:9

“For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”

Matthew 10:20

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Romans 8:9

The New Testament speaks the same way. The Spirit of your Father. The Spirit of God. In Romans 8:9 the one Spirit is called both God’s and Christ’s. A separate third person could not belong to two others like that. But the Father’s own Spirit, given to the Son, can be named after both.

Jesus tells us why: “All things that the Father hath are mine” (John 16:15). Scripture also names a spirit after the man it rests on: “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha” (2 Kings 2:15). No one thinks that made Elijah God. In the same way, “the Spirit of Christ” is God’s Spirit resting on Christ.

Luke 1:35 and Matthew 1:20

“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

Luke 1:35

“…for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

Matthew 1:20

“The Holy Ghost” and “the power of the Highest” are one thing said twice. And the child is called “the Son of God.” If the Spirit were a third person, the child would be that person’s son. But Jesus always calls the Father “my Father,” never the Spirit. The Father gave Him life, by His own Spirit.

Acts 2:33

“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”

Acts 2:33

The Spirit is the Father’s promise. The Son received Him from the Father and poured Him out on the church. Like sap from the root, through the vine, into the branches.

Numbers 11:17 and John 3:34

“And I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them…”

Numbers 11:17

“…for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”

John 3:34

God took of the Spirit on Moses and put it on seventy men. He gave the Spirit to Christ without measure. You can share out God’s presence like that. You cannot share out a person in portions. No one asks how much of a person someone received.

Psalm 139:7 and Acts 5:3-4

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?”

Psalm 139:7

“…why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost… thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

Acts 5:3-4

Again David says “thy spirit” and “thy presence” as one thing. And Peter says that lying to the Holy Ghost is lying to God. That is right. The Spirit is God Himself, there in the room. There is nowhere I can go to get away from Him.

1 Corinthians 2:11

“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”

1 Corinthians 2:11

This verse ties the chain together. Paul compares God’s Spirit to my own spirit. My spirit is not a second person standing next to me. It is not a force I carry around either. It is me, on the inside, the part that knows my own thoughts. “Even so,” says Paul, God’s Spirit is God on the inside. That is why He knows the things of God, and why He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). He is not less than God, and He is not someone other than God.

1 Samuel 2:2 and Isaiah 40:25

“There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”

1 Samuel 2:2

“To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.”

Isaiah 40:25

To be holy is to be set apart, with no one else like you. Hannah puts it in one breath: none holy as the LORD, none beside Him. There is no second Holy One. So the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the one Holy One, His own.

Ephesians 4:4-6

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Ephesians 4:4-6

Paul counts: one Spirit, one Lord, one God. And he says who the one God is: the Father. He is “in you all.” How? By the one Spirit Paul just named. This list does not split God into three. It tells us who God is, and how He lives in His people.

What this means

The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit: the Holy One’s own presence and power at work. He is personal because God is personal. He is never a second someone beside the Father.

So when the Spirit is with me, God Himself is with me. Not a helper sent in His place. God. David knew it: “take not thy holy spirit from me.”

Connected chains

• The One God Is the Father
• The Two Gardens
• Christ Carries the Father’s Name
• Sent Forth at Baptism