Who Is the Holy Spirit?

We must again ask “Who can understand the mysteries of God, and how or why should He reveal himself as the Holy Spirit?” To try to understand, we can only go again to God’s Word, which is eternal.

When Jesus told His disciples that His life on earth would soon be ended and that He would return to heaven, His disciples were very troubled. We read in the Holy Book, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1). John also says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16).

Think for a moment how Jesus described the person God would send and what His work would be. First of all, the Greek word used for this description is Parakletos, which means Comforter, Counselor or Helper. In John 14:16 we read, “to be with you forever. “ Only the Holy Spirit of God could stay with us forever, for though man must die God’s Spirit is eternal. Again, we read, “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). It is not possible that this “paraclete,” who Jesus prophesied would come, could have been a man, for the world can know a person but it cannot know the Spirit of God. Again we read, “The Holy Spirit [the paraclete] will dwell in you. “Surely, we can see that Jesus was not prophesying about the coming of a man, rather He was announcing the coming of the blessed Holy Spirit of the Godhead. Some Muslims have brought confusion by inserting the Greek word Paraklutos, meaning “praised one,” for Parakletos, hoping to make a connection to their own prophet. However, the word is not found in the original Greek manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures.