Many Churches teach that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity.  It is not.  See “Is God a Trinity?”  What then is the Holy Spirit?  Let’s take a look at what the Scriptures reveal.

The Holy Spirit is the means by which God imparts life

The word “spirit” is translated from the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma.  Both words mean wind or breath.  Breath is descriptive of life. 

When God made Adam, God breathed into Adam’s nostrils and he came to life.

Gen 2:7  …breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

When Jesus was preaching to the crowds He said that it is the Spirit which gives life.

Joh 6:63  It is the Spirit [pneuma] who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit [pneuma], and they are life.

The apostles also made the same point.

Rom 8:10  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit [pneuma] is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit [pneuma] of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit [pneuma] who dwells in you.

2Co 3:6  who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit [pneuma] gives life.

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit [pneuma],

The Holy Spirit is the means by which God manifests His power

Here are some Scriptures which show that the Holy Spirit is the means by which God manifests His power.

Luk 1:35  And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Luk 4:14  Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

Act 1:8  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; …

Rom 15:13  Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rom 15:18  For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—
Rom 15:19  in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

2Ti 1:7  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

The Holy Spirit is the means by which God inspires His prophets

The apostle Peter understood that it is the Holy Spirit which moves holy men of God to speak.

2Pe 1:21  for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the means by which God opens our mind to understand His truth

The apostle Paul explained that truth was revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit.

Eph 3:3  how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery

Eph 3:5  which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
Eph 3:6  that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

1Co 2:9  But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
1Co 2:10  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

The Holy Spirit is the means by which God cleanses and transforms us

Here are some Scriptures which show that God cleanses and transforms us through the Holy Spirit.

Tit 3:4  But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

1Co 6:11  And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is the life force of God.  Here is a summary of what we have seen.  The Holy Spirit is the means by which God:

• imparts life
• manifests His power
• inspires His prophets
• opens our mind to understand His truth
• cleanses and transforms us

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it helps us to understand what the Holy Spirit is.