Welcome to Holy Spirit 101, the Basics, the ultimate foundational study of the Holy Spirit. As with any 101 class in high school or college, what would be an in-depth, immense teaching has been reduced to a simple, bare-bone, easy-to-comprehend overview of the subject. The subject matter in this basic teaching is taken from the introduction given by Jesus of the soon-to-arrive Holy Spirit. (John 14-16). This easy-to-remember five-word alliteration will definitely be something to share with other believers.
Person – When talking about the Holy Spirit, Jesus over and over again (19 times to be exact) used personal pronouns like He, Him, Himself. Jesus was telling us that the Holy Spirit is NOT a mysterious force or mist or vapor. It is through His Personhood that we can have a relationship with Him. (John 14:16,17,26; 15:26; 16:7,8,13,14)
Promise – The sending of the Holy Spirit wasn’t an afterthought in the Father’s mind. (John 14:16)
Presence – At one time, the Holy Spirit would come upon select individuals for a given amount of time for a specific purpose. Now, the Holy Spirit has been sent to live and abide within each and every believer forever. (John 14:16-17)
Purpose – The Holy Spirit was sent to be our Helper. Many modern translations use the word “Helper” in place of the word “Comforter” found in the King James Version. Throughout His teaching, Jesus listed several of the many ways that the Holy Spirit would help His followers. (John 14:12,16,17,18,26; 15:26; 16:7-14)
Priority – Jesus told His followers that the sending of the Holy Spirit was not on heaven’s eventually-get-around-to-it list. No. A million times no. Jesus knew that without the abiding presence of another Comforter (John 14:16) His followers would be helpless (John 14:18). Upon arriving in heaven, Jesus said that He would pray the Father to send the One who would give us the needed advantage (John 16:7) to enable us to do His work (John 14:12). The sending of the Holy Spirit was heaven’s priority and the receiving of the promised Helper must be our priority.
Your assignment for this Holy Spirit 101, the Basics class … use this alliteration to strengthen your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Class dismissed.
