The Holy Spirit

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word: John 15:26: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, proceeds from the Father and the Son. It is as though the Father and the Son together breathed out the Holy Spirit. But again, this is an eternal act, outside time, so the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all equal to one another. But the Spirit is distinct. The Father sends him, and so does the Son. But there are two common questions about the Holy Spirit: first, Is he really God, or is he a creature? In Acts 5:3, 4, St. Peter told Ananias that he had lied to the Holy Spirit, and explained that he had therefore lied to God. The Holy Spirit is God. And second: Is the Holy Spirit a Person, or just some impersonal divine force? In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul explains that the Holy Spirit has deep, divine knowledge, as well as a personal will and choice. We already saw that he can be lied to. And he may also be grieved. These are things that can only be said of a Person, not a force. This Holy Spirit brings the Son’s holiness to you. In the inspired and perfect Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, and in the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, the Holy Spirit’s power comes to give faith and life in Jesus. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.