In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise – Ephesians 2:11

Introduction

Often in the scripture one may learn much about someone simply by studying the names and titles given to that person. So it is with the Holy Spirit

These 13 titles ascribed to Him provide much insight into His true nature. He is called:

1. The Spirit of God – “Don’t you realise that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?’’ – 1 Corinthians 3:16

2. The Spirit of Christ – But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) – Romans 8:9

3. The Eternal Spirit – Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. – Hebrews 9:14

4. The Spirit of Truth – When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. – John 16:13

5. The Spirit of Grace – Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? – Hebrews 10:29

6. The Spirit of Glory –  If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you – 1 Peter 4:14

7. The Spirit of Life – And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. – Romans 8:2

8. The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation – I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. – Ephesians 1:17

9. The Spirit of Promise – On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. – Acts 1:4

10. The Comforter – But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you – John 14:26

11. The Spirit of Adoption –  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father. – Romans 8:15

12. The Spirit of Holiness – and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in powerby His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 1:4.

13. The Spirit of Faith – It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak – 2 Corinthians 4:13

There are various ministries of the Holy Spirit and today we bring you two of them.

A. HIS MINISTRY CONCERNING THE UNIVERSE

According to David, the Father created all things. ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.’ – Psalm 19:1

However, John declares the Son did it. ‘Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind’ – John 1:3-4.

Finally, in other passages, the Holy Spirit is said to have performed the initial act of creation. What are we to believe? The answer is, of course, that all three persons in the Trinity had a part. As an illustration let us consider an important executive who determines to build a spacious and expressive home. He thus employs an architect to design the necessary plans for this home. The architect thereupon secures a competent contractor to follow his blueprints. In this illustration the executive is the Father, the architect the Son, and the contractor is the Holy Spirit. The following verses then refer to the work of this divine Contractor.

When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. – Psalm 104:30

By His breath the skies became fair; His hand pierced the gliding serpent. – Job 26:13.

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. – Job 33:4

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. – Genesis 1:2

B. HIS MINISTRY CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES

In a word, the Holy Spirit is the author of the Word of God. He has furthermore chosen three basic methods in the preparation and reception of His divine manuscript, the Bible. These ‘steps of the Spirit’ are:

Revelation: that process whereby the Holy Spirit spoke to the forty human writers of the Bible the message He wanted them to transmit.

Inspiration: that process whereby the Holy Spirit guided the very pen of these forty human writers so that the spoken message would be accurately written.

Illumination: that process whereby the Holy Spirit takes the written word when it is preached and read and enlightens those human ears who will hear it.

The following passages bear all this out:

1. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Old Testament.

1. According to David –The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; His word was on my tongue. – 2 Samuel 23:2.
2. According to Isaiah –As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord. – Isaiah 59:21.
3. According to Jeremiah –Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. – Jeremiah 1:9.
4. According to Jesus – For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. – Matthew 5:18.

If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) – John 10:35

• According to Peter – for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. – 2 Peter 1:21
• According to Paul – and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:15-17.

2. The Holy Spirit is the author of the New Testament

1. According to Jesus – All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. – John 14:25-26.
2. According to Paul – If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. – 1 Corinthians 14:37.
3. According to Peter – So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. – 2 Peter 3:14-16.
4. According to John – On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” – Revelation 1:10-11.

Stay blessed!

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Email:  saltnlightministries@gmail.com

Website: saltandlightgh.org

By Dr Joyce Aryee, the author