How do YOU explain the Holy Spirit to people?

[memoriesbymichelle]

How do you explain the Holy Spirit to people? At bible study last night we were studying on the Holy Spirit and one of the gals asked "Is the Holy Spirit a "He" or an "it"?" She went on to say that she knows God lives inside her, but found it weird to call the Holy Spirit a "He". Then another gal said she has trouble explaining to people, because she believes she has the Holy Spirit because the Bible say so, and she said they reply "well I could of written the bible" (no they couldn't lol but we are talking unbelievers here). I don't personally think it can be explained to non-believers because IMO it's the Holy Spirit that draws people to salvation so unless He is drawing them, they cannot receive or perceive Him. So....How do you explain it? How do you know you have the Holy Spirit?

 

[Inkachu]

To me, the Holy Spirit is just that: God's spirit, His essence, His presence. I don't find it confusing or weird at all to call God a "He", though we need to bear in mind that He's not bound by any human definition of gender. A person can know they have the Holy Spirit if they're saved.

Romans 8:9 And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

 

[smacky ramone]

I'd say the most appropriate pronoun for the Holy Spirit is he. The Holy Spirit is definitely the most mysterious member of the Trinity. I don't know if you can explain him in just a few sentences. I think you come to understand the Spirit through study and prayer.

 

[127.0.0.1]

How do YOU explain the Holy Spirit to people?

It might be better if you don't. We have to reduce something and break it down in order to understand it. By explaining God, you attempt to reduce Him (conceptually) until He is small enough to fit in our minds...you can't do that.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

It might be better if you don't. We have to reduce something and break it down in order to understand it. By explaining God, you attempt to reduce Him (conceptually) until He is small enough to fit in our minds...you can't do that.

Interesting thought, but .....what if someone asks you? would you just say "It's better if I don't explain it to you"?

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

Also...How do you KNOW you have the Holy Spirit?

 

[Beauty4Ashes]

I think the Holy Spirit is more femminine than masculine but i don't really assign it a gender.

 

[catzrfluffy]

God living in and with us.

"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)​

He gives us understanding, comfort and shows us the truth. He is Jesus with us in spirit. He is the life in us now we have died (along with Christ) to the world.

How do you know He is in you?: You know Jesus Christ.

An everyday consequence of this might be if we have looked to Christ (who died for our sins) to save us, and then when we read or hear the word of God we have spiritual understanding of some of it. First hand experience of what they're talking about, grace, love, etc. Because we've experienced that from Him.

Though there might be other ways. Sometimes we go through a time when our personal relationship with Him isn't that close, but it doesn't mean we are not saved or we don't have the Spirit.

"Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:8)​

Was answering how does one know? But it's a faith issue. Are you saved? Then He is in you.

 

[127.0.0.1]

Also...How do you KNOW you have the Holy Spirit?

That's the problem, you'll probably get a different answer depend on which group you ask.

EO Church teaches we receive the Holy Spirit at baptism.

 

[ponderingnwandering]

I think that the first time you accept Christ as your savior, you will feel something that you have never felt before. It is a feeling that is both comforting and exciting..........

Really though, its a sensory experience. Not in the sense that you can see, hear, touch, feel through your body, or taste. No, it is a sense all on its own.

It is impossible to describe to someone who hasn't been saved, who hasn't accepted Christ, and yet SO easy to talk about with someone who has, much like trying to explain to someone how chicken tastes if they've never tasted it before.. It astounds me how much i can relate to a complete stranger if we talk about when we first accepted Christ.

 

[radhead]

What's interesting is that the spirit is the part that is most in touch with the physical world. For example, when it tore the temple curtain. Whenever the apostles used the power of God, it was through the Holy Spirit.

 

[K9_Trainer]

I don't think you CAN explain the Holy Spirit to people who are unsaved.

A lot of it just sounds like circular logic to me whenever somebody DOES try to explain faith and the Holy Spirit.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

I think that the first time you accept Christ as your savior, you will feel something that you have never felt before. It is a feeling that is both comforting and exciting..........

Really though, its a sensory experience. Not in the sense that you can see, hear, touch, feel through your body, or taste. No, it is a sense all on its own.

It is impossible to describe to someone who hasn't been saved, who hasn't accepted Christ, and yet SO easy to talk about with someone who has, much like trying to explain to someone how chicken tastes if they've never tasted it before.. It astounds me how much i can relate to a complete stranger if we talk about when we first accepted Christ.

I totally agree with what you said especially this part.

What's interesting is that the spirit is the part that is most in touch with the physical world. For example, when it tore the temple curtain. Whenever the apostles used the power of God, it was through the Holy Spirit.

Exactly!

I don't think you CAN explain the Holy Spirit to people who are unsaved.

A lot of it just sounds like circular logic to me whenever somebody DOES try to explain faith and the Holy Spirit.

I believe this to be totally true as well. The Bible teaches this, that the natural man cannot understand spiritual things, but it was a question that came up in Bible study and I thought it was thought provoking and I like pondering things, so hence the thread. I think the answer is that when you live your life filled with the spirit, you react to trials in life differently than people that don't know God. And people that are not saved notice sometimes (when the Holy Spirit is drawing them ) and THEN you have an opportunity, but any discussion prior or just for the sake of it, will yield no benefit, EXCEPT any of the WORD of God that you share, because God's Word CANNOT come back void. But thats my feeling, and the worse insult someone could say to me would be "wow I didn't know you were a CHRISTIAN" So yeah I agree with you all.

 

[ceh85]

I have no idea to be honest. I really wouldn't know where to start. I tend to think it's/he's something you get acquainted with after you learn a bit more about Christianity, but at the same time it has been working within you all the time by drawing you closer to God. So it's not like it's not there just because you haven't learnt about it, but at the same time you can't fully get to grips with the concept until you've been taught about it. But that's just my random thoughts.

 

[Stravinsk]

How would I describe it?

The Holy Spirit urges a person to remember and accept the words of Christ - personally recognise grace and manifest fruit in their lives as a result of this.

The Holy Spirit is present when the will to obey God is present.

A revelation by the Spirit is often accompanied by a strong urge to worship God.

The Holy Spirit leads a person to truth. One does not need the approval or acknowledgement of others, even within their religion, even if believers are in a small minority - to acknowledge and accept this truth.

How do I know I have it?

I don't always. See above. The Spirit can be quenched by a number of sins and attitudes. I know it is present in me when it leads me to repent and obey. And in singleminded worship, thankfullness and genuine goodwill towards others.

 

[BRISH]

How do you explain the Holy Spirit to people? At bible study last night we were studying on the Holy Spirit and one of the gals asked "Is the Holy Spirit a "He" or an "it"?" She went on to say that she knows God lives inside her, but found it weird to call the Holy Spirit a "He". Then another gal said she has trouble explaining to people, because she believes she has the Holy Spirit because the Bible say so, and she said they reply "well I could of written the bible" (no they couldn't lol but we are talking unbelievers here). I don't personally think it can be explained to non-believers because IMO it's the Holy Spirit that draws people to salvation so unless He is drawing them, they cannot receive or perceive Him. So....How do you explain it? How do you know you have the Holy Spirit?

See, trying to get into detail about something that is kind of left vague is why I ran from the idea for soo long. The Holy Spirit was a joke, in my opinion, for a long time. The best way I personally know how to explain the Holy Spirit is to say that I can't explain it. It's something that has to be experienced personally to even really grasp it. I don't think it's through one magical instance. For me, the bible is doubtable, Jesus is doubtable, but it was experiences through the Holy Spirit that I finally went from believing to having faith in the matter. It was a process. One thing led to another with confirmations always and nothing that I could have come up with or able to be explained away.

Anyways.....I avoid discussions about whether it's a he, she, it, or whatever. I don't think it matters. It is here on earht and is the comforter, the middle man, and is very much existing IMO and I don't think anyone should be pressed one way or another. It really is something that will happen on it's own with each person, in it's own personalized way. I think the one thing that applies to all in this is that you can pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. As you open up to it and try to have faith in it, it starts to proves itself more and more over time. Sometimes we have to let our own understanding or jadedness to the side, and...just see what happens. What can it hurt. The process with me didnt start out with some huge faith. It started out with me yelling out in anger to God "WHAT, DO YOU WANT FROM ME. WHAT!" I didnt have a strong faith, but I was submitting unknowingly really......and the only faith I had was that there was "something" to yell at. That's all it took for God to step in and start the spiritual storm that began then. Don't let anyone tell you have to be this or that. Ignore them. Open up when you're ready, and just go with it. It will define itself for you, not anyone else.

 

[white dove]

I think that the first time you accept Christ as your savior, you will feel something that you have never felt before. It is a feeling that is both comforting and exciting..........

Really though, its a sensory experience. Not in the sense that you can see, hear, touch, feel through your body, or taste. No, it is a sense all on its own.

It is impossible to describe to someone who hasn't been saved, who hasn't accepted Christ, and yet SO easy to talk about with someone who has, much like trying to explain to someone how chicken tastes if they've never tasted it before.. It astounds me how much i can relate to a complete stranger if we talk about when we first accepted Christ.

I agree... with all of that.


To describe it even to a believer of some kind is still difficult. I've tried, but really can you describe something like that. As far assigning gender to God, I don't. There are aspects of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that are equally masculine and feminine. Getting caught up in gender assignment only promises to confuse others and in my belief, distorts the truth.

 

[Tamara224]

TBH, I don't believe I ever have attempted to explain the HS to anyone.

But now that I'm thinking on it, I think I'd say...

The HS is like the wind, you cannot see it but can see what it does; it is often unpredictable - blowing as it wills; it can't be caught or pinned down or contained; sometimes mighty and powerful - tearing down everything in it's path, other times gentle and soft granting respite to the hot and weary.

The HS is God's Spirit, doing God's will. Sent to us as our helper and our comforter, our strength and our sustainer. The earnest deposit of our salvation - testifying to the truth of God's promise that we will be resurrected to eternal life with our Lord. The HS intercedes for us when we do not know how to pray, teaches us and guides us. Although we cannot see the Spirit, we can feel and 'hear' Him.

 

[Tehchad]

That is tough. I guess I'd have to go with something like this:
The HS is a gift from God to his believing children. It is hard to explain to someone who isn't one of God's kids, bc the way I would explain it makes assumptions as to what you believe. *shrug*

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

TBH, I don't believe I ever have attempted to explain the HS to anyone.

But now that I'm thinking on it, I think I'd say...

The HS is like the wind, you cannot see it but can see what it does; it is often unpredictable - blowing as it wills; it can't be caught or pinned down or contained; sometimes mighty and powerful - tearing down everything in it's path, other times gentle and soft granting respite to the hot and weary.

The HS is God's Spirit, doing God's will. Sent to us as our helper and our comforter, our strength and our sustainer. The earnest deposit of our salvation - testifying to the truth of God's promise that we will be resurrected to eternal life with our Lord. The HS intercedes for us when we do not know how to pray, teaches us and guides us. Although we cannot see the Spirit, we can feel and 'hear' Him.

BBM LOVE THIS!!! I loved the whole answer but this I will share with the friend that asked. Excellent!