10 Mistakes People Make with the Holy Spirit (plus 1 bonus)

February 1, 2014 by

Baptism of Christ with the Holy Spirit Descending as a DoveLightning fast read meant to make you think…

10 Mistakes People Make with the Holy Spirit (plus 1 bonus):

1. Think He is a ghost like the King James Version of the Bible translates it (no, the Holy “Ghost” doesn’t frighten or spook people who are still alive nor walk the halls at night noisily clanging chains and shrieking at the top of his lungs, neither does He haunt houses and scare young children).
2. Don’t realize that He is a part of a Triune Godhead / Trinity with coequal status with the other Two, Father and Son (three Persons in one God). (Genesis 1:26a; 2 Corinthians 3:17)
3. Are ignorant of the fact that He (the Holy Spirit) is a Person and not an impersonal “force” like in the movie, Star Wars (the Holy Spirit isn’t flesh and blood, of course, but has a personality ~ Jesus uses 7 personal pronouns in John 16:13 alone, the New American Standard translation, to refer to the Holy Spirit and His personal characteristics).
4. Forget that the Holy Spirit is the one and only source of power for the Church to reach lost souls (human ingenuity or charisma accomplishes nothing). (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 14, 41; Zechariah 4:6)
5. Order Him around when He is supposed to be the One ordering their lives.
6. Overlook that it is the Holy Spirit that causes a person to be freed from their sins / born again. (John 3:6, 20:22; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:3b; Acts 2:38)
7. Forget that it was by the Holy Spirit that the prophets of old spoke. (Acts 1:16; 1 Peter 1:10-11; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
8. Forget that it was by the Holy Spirit that the Scripture came into being (thus, there are no errors in the Bible). (2 Peter 1:20-21)
9. Miss the Holy Spirit’s involvement in the creation of all things and in the securing of man’s redemption (He played a part in raising Jesus from the dead). (Genesis 1:1-2; Romans 8:11)
10. Are resisting the Holy Spirit and in danger of missing Heaven because of it (repent and ask God for forgiveness). (Acts 7:51; Romans 10:9; John 3:16)

BONUS Equate His workings (in particular, in the distribution and operation of spiritual gifts in the Church) as confusion. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 14:32-33)

(Baptism of Christ with the Holy Spirit Descending as a Dove picture above is in the public domain: click here. PD-US)

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About Pastor Mike

Pastor Mike is making the most of web technologies to encourage disciples. A self-proclaimed “twitterholic,” one twitter follower describes him as the “jogging, blogging, tweeting Pastor.” Visits to Pastor Mike’s blog (A Heart For God) number in the hundreds of thousands. His video blogs have been viewed over a half a million times.