Holy Spirit is a person
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:17
There is pantheism in Eastern religions like Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, as well as the new age movement that believes God is in everything and everywhere; God can be found in objects, mountains, and within humans. According to pantheists, God is an energy or impersonal force, not a person, whereas Christianity is a monotheistic belief that there is only one true God who is personal and relational, and the Bible clearly mentions that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all possess attributes and characters, and desire us to cultivate intimate relationships.
As the Bible depicts many incidents and stories to show God's characters vividly, we can more easily relate to the Father God and Jesus as a person. Often, some christians think of the Holy Spirit as a concept or force like pantheists. Many people cannot relate to the Holy Spirit as a person, which makes it difficult to follow and yield to Him.
As Jesus clearly states in the key verse, the Holy Spirit is “he” not “it”; throughout the Greek grammar of the new testament, the Holy Spirit is called “He”. In the same way as God and Jesus, the Holy Spirit also shows His personality. The Holy Spirit has emotions as we can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), to grieve is to make someone feel sorrowful and distressed, and the Holy Spirit does have a personality. As God displays righteous jealousy, so can the Holy Spirit, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns with jealousy"? James 4:5
Having the Holy Spirit in us has been an advantage to us, for Jesus was restricted by locality due to His human body. However, now the Holy Spirit dwells in every born again believer, thus ministering to us as our comforter, as our helper, as our friend. As we welcome and see the Holy Spirit as a person, let us be sensitive to Him, love Him, and praise Him.
Blessing prayer: Thank you, God, for giving us the Holy Spirit. Help us to be sensitive to Him, so that we can acknowledge the Lordship of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen
