The deity of the Holy Spirit is seen clearly throughout the entire New Testament.  The Holy Spirit is always considered equal to God (1 Cor. 3:16).  In the relationship of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit immediately indwells a person once he/she believes (1 Cor. 6:19).  Like the Father and the Son, the Spirit is eternal; but the most explicit references to the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son are found in the great commission (Mt. 28:19).

The personality of the Spirit is no less important just because He is not in bodily form as Jesus was.  Because we cannot describe what the Spirit looks like, many people choose not to emphasize the Holy Spirit or give as much attention to it.  In a proper Trinitarian understanding, the Holy Spirit is just as important and has a personality like the Father and Son do.  The union of the Father and Son, who are both personal agents, suggest that the Holy Spirit is a personal agent as well.  Second, since the Holy Spirit works with humans, it must have personality.  Last, there are numerous Scripture references that attribute personal characteristics to the Holy Spirit, such as emotions (Eph. 4:30).

The work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works prior to and at the moment of salvation.  Because of the sinfulness of human nature, it is impossible to come to Christ unless the Father draws a person to Him (Jn. 6:44).  As a result, the internal, effectual call brought about by the Holy Spirit is the only call that will cause a sinner to repent and come to Christ.  The Spirit first convicts a person of sin, which eventually leads to repentance.  At the moment of belief, the Spirit supplies salvation to believers—known as spiritual baptism— preserving them through faith to the very end (Eph. 1:13). 

            The next major work of the Spirit is regeneration and empowering believers to live the Christian life (Jn. 14:12).  Regeneration is the radical change of nature that occurs when a spiritually dead person, separated from God, is united with Christ spiritually through the power of the Holy Spirit.  People who do not have the Spirit are still slaves to their “sinful nature” (Rom. 6), and are morally evil and unclean.  There are numerous Spirit fillings where God teaches His children how to follow, serve, and enjoy life with Him.  During this process, the Spirit also convicts the believer of sins that need to be addressed and interprets our prayers so that we can pray in accordance with God’s will (Rom. 8:26-27).

The Holy Spirit is also responsible for the giving of spiritual gifts.  It is debatable whether the gifts the Spirit gives are given at birth or at the moment of salvation, but is quite clear that the Spirit gives spiritual gifts for the edification of the church.  There are numerous gifts that are given, but no one individual has all of the gifts and the Spirit gives the gifts as He chooses (1 Cor. 12).

            One of the many discussions today within the church centers on whether some “sign” gifts such as tongues and prophecy still exist. The Bible never explicitly states that these gifts have ceased; it does speak specifically how they are to be used, however.  First, when the gift of tongues is used, it must be interpreted and no more than two or three are to speak in one session (1 Cor. 14:5, 27).  If there is no interpreter, the potential speaker of tongues must be kept silent and the use of tongues should only be used for personal devotion.