The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood person of The Godhead, but we do need to understand Him accurately so that we can enjoy God more and be more keenly aware of His presence in this life, to understand more deeply the truths of scripture, so that we may grow more in conformity to our Lord, and so that we can impact the world around us for God’s glory. For us to more deeply understand the ministry of The Holy Spirit, we must first grasp who the third person of The Trinity is and why it is important to worship our God “in spirit and in truth”.
The Holy Spirit is God — not a thing or a force in the universe. The Holy Spirit is deity and an equal person of the triune Godhead. The Holy Spirit has the same attributes, character, and essence as God The Father and God The Son, including Creator (Genesis 1:2), but serves a different function (see 2 Corinthians 3:17). The Holy Spirit has many roles, but His primary function is to point to and exalt The Son (see John 14:26, John 16:14, 1 John 4:13-14 and 1 John 5:5-12). Since we know that The Holy Spirit God, we can trust that The Holy Spirit initiated, inspired, and prompted the human authors who wrote the words of Scripture. The Holy Spirit’s divine power breathed out the very wisdom of God to accuractely reveal His will and His promises to mankind (see 2 Peter 1:19-21 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17). His empowerment also caused Mary to supernaturally conceive the fully God and fully Man Messiah (see Matthew 1:18-20 and Luke 1:3). The Holy Spirit anointed Jesus and His empowerment continued to be active in Christ’s ministry as promised in Isaiah 11:1-2, Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 61:1, Ezekiel 36 & 37, Joel 2:28, Matthew 12:17, Luke 4:1-21). The Holy Spirit was sent by God the Father, after Christ was crucified, at the request of Jesus the Son to testify of and glorify Jesus and to help believers live in holiness set apart for Christ (see John 15:26, Luke 24:49, and Acts 2). This and much more is why The Holy Spirit is called “The Spirit of Truth” who reveals and guarantees the future, that is, the future Kingdom of which believers will inherit (John 16:13-15, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 2 Corinthians 5:5, and Ephesians 1:13-14).
It is by God’s initiation which a sinner is saved through The Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration in a believer’s heart (see John 3:5-8, John 6:63, 2 Corinthians 3:6, John 3:5-8, Romans 8:10-11, Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Ephesians 4:3-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, and Titus 3:5-6). The Holy Spirit indwells believers upon salvation and so sanctifies believers, convicts them, comforts them, empowers them, and gives us good gifts and discernment (see John 14:17, John 16:8-11, Romans 8:13-17, Galatians 4:6, 1 John 3:24, 1 John 4:13, and 2 Corinthians 3:18); this is why we must honor God by understanding Him and worshipping Him rightly — in Spirit and in Truth.