The Word ‘Characteristics’ is one which describes a special quality of a person. According to the English Thesaurus, it speaks of a person’s uniqueness and/or distinctiveness. Despite common beliefs that the Holy Spirit is a mystical force, when we read the Bible, we see that The Holy Spirit is a considered as a person in the trinity with incredible characteristics. To know the Holy Spirit is to know the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Is Personal

When we say that the Holy Spirit is a person, we mean that He is not a mere influence or power that God sends into our lives but that He is a Being who knows and feels and wills.

 John 16:13-14 says, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. “NKJV. 

When we read this passage, we see that the Holy Spirit is not this impersonal force, instead He possesses a unique and distinct personality. First of all we see that the Spirit it is a ‘He’. The writer users personal pronouns when describing the the work and purpose of the Holy Spirit and what He will do. When we say the Holy Spirit is a person, we don’t mean He has hands, feet, eyes, ears and a mouth. Those are the characteristics of “corporeity”, not “personality”. Those are physical characteristics, not personal characteristics. The characteristics of personality are knowledge, feeling (or emotion) and will. The Bible attributes these kinds of personal characteristics to the Holy Spirit. The Bible always pictures the Holy Spirit as person and never as an impersonal force. Therefore, as a person the Holy Spirit relates to us, He understands, He feels for us, and He is our paraclete which means that He is our divine Friend and Helper. When we examine scripture, we learn of the Holy Spirit’s deity. As the third member of the Trinity, we see that the Holy Spirit is equal in every way to the Son and the Father and therefore shares the same divine attributes. Here are some listed below.

The Holy Spirit Is Eternal

We see in Hebrews 9:14 that He is described as the “eternal Spirit”.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were always there. They have been together in existence forever. The Holy Spirit isn’t just something that was created and sent after Jesus left earth.

The Spirit has had a key role in creation from the start of time. In Genesis 1:2 it tells us that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters as the earth was created. Now, as we trust in God and lay down our lives, the Holy Spirit does a work of making us a new creation. We will see the gifts of the Spirit and fruits of the Spirit in other blogs, but these come from being reborn in God’s image, taking hold of the identity we were always called to have.

The Holy Spirit Is Omnipresent

A characteristic of God which means He is present everywhere at the same time. No matter where we may go, God is there by His Spirit—invisible, often imperceptible, but inescapable. 

The Psalmist David has this to say about the Holy Spirit in Psalm 139:7-10.

 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

The Holy Spirit Is Omniscient

A characteristic of God which means He knows all things actual and possible whether past, present, or future. The apostle John puts it like this in 1 John 3:20, “God is greater than our hearts, and knows all things”. The knowledge and wisdom of the Holy Spirt is infinite, lacking no knowledge and needs no need of counsel outside of himself. Isaiah 40:13 (CSB) — 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who gave him counsel?

The Holy Spirit is Omnipotent

This means that He is is all-powerful and can do anything that is consistent with His nature. Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Romans 15:19 (NIV) by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

The Holy Spirit Is Sovereign

Jesus said, ” Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it will go next, so it is with the Spirit ” (John 3:8). In the same way that  You can’t control the wind – its strength, speed, power of direction, the same is true of the Holy Spirit. Some may believe that the Holy Spirit in under of thumb, that we can control or direct him, making in work according to our will. However, the Bible paints a different picture,  The Spirit of God does not work according to the rules and patterns of man.