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Josselyn Petel

Dr. Wilson

THE 104

November 2019

Holy Spirit Research Paper

The Holy spirit is a part of the trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy

Spirit. These three elements are inseparable because they cannot stand alone, and they are unique

and important. They hold the world together with their unity. The Holy Spirit is the power of

God and is his active force (Micah 3:8; Luke 1:35). In history, the Holy Spirit is often

disregarded. The Holy Spirit has the same importance in the trinity as the two other persons. The

Trinity cannot work without the two other persons. The Holy Spirit is often seen as rough and

judgmental, but it is the opposite in reality. The Holy Spirit wants to love and correct us.

The Holy Spirit is in each one of us, and we can be used by the Holy Spirit to spread love

around us. When we spread love, we can touch the lives of other people. If everybody does that,

we could touch everyone on the earth. We are witnesses on the earth. It is important to try to

deliver the message that the Holy Spirit give us because we can help people around us. Before

Jesus went back to heaven, he promised us that the Holy Spirit would empower us to fulfill such

a mission. Acts 1:8 says, “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.” (see also; Luke 24:45-47 Matthew 12:31-33; John 14:15-17).

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In John 14:16-17, Jesus talks about how when He leaves the earth, God will send

“another.” He is referring to the Holy Spirit, sent not only to lead us in the ways of the Lord but

also to be with us so that we are never really alone. This is the promise that Jesus made to his

disciples and to all believers that after He left the earth, we would have a guide, friend, and

helper. So, while Jesus is no longer present on the Earth, He can still speak to us. He corrects and

teaches us in Truth (John 14:26). The Greek word “Parakletos” in this passage translates as

“Helper”. The Holy Spirit is a leader and a guide. He convicts the world of sin to follow him.

The Holy Spirit is an inspiration to everyone, he is an example of wisdom and a source of

revelation and power. We have access to this power as the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in

Ephesus (Ephesians 1:17-20). The Holy Spirit is the guide to all truth, he can hear and speak

with the Father and is the only one who can do that.

The Holy Spirit not only can hear and speak with the father but can speak to the believer.

Nonetheless, he wants to make Jesus and the Father known to us (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit

has multiple gifts that He is willing to share with believers as he wills. These gifts are described

by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians as: healing, miracles, faith, word of

knowledge, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discernment of spirits, prophecy and word of

wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). The purpose of these gifts is to edify the church and build

God’s kingdom on earth. Not every believer will necessarily have the same gifts, one may have

the gift of prophecy, while another believer may operate with the gift of words of wisdom. The

Holy Spirit knows that we have many weaknesses. He is here to lead us to repentance so we can

return to a path of righteousness. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do

not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless

groans.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
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intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Roman 8:26-27). When a

believer receives the Holy Spirit, he/she receives what is called a prayer language. Often times,

when we do not know what to pray, we can pray in tongues/the spirit and the Devil cannot

understand what we are praying. When we pray in the spirit, our prayers are also not affected by

our human mind as we are not praying in our earthly language but in our prayer language. The

Holy Spirit gives eternal life to those who are born of him, since we as humans are limited to our

fleshly bodies and one day, we will leave those bodies behind. We have the Holy Spirit inside of

us, who will guide us to heaven. “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to

death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who

raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life

to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Roman 8:10-11).  

The Holy Spirit dwells inside of us and gives us knowledge as we are God’s temple. We

have to maintain this temple because it is the most beautiful gift given to us. We welcome God

inside of us and should seek to live an upright lifestyle, following the instructions that we receive

from Him. If we neglect our body, it is like we neglect God himself. We are important to him,

we are his children, and He wants the best for us. We have to stay in shape and lead other people

to do the same. (Corinthians 6:19)  “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy

Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” When you

have the holy Spirit, you have a divine signature, and you can hear the message of the truth. The

Holy Spirit sanctifies and enables believers to bear good fruit in their lives. He wants the best for

you and if you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you can be certain that great things are ahead of

you. In conclusion, the Holy Spirit is a guide and helper to the believer, offering divine wisdom

and guidance as well as spiritual gifts as he wills.

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In Acts 8, there is a story about a sorcerer named Simon. Simon would practice sorcery in

the city. Everyone listened to him because he was very powerful and the people believed that it

was the power of god, but the people also heard about the miracles surrounding another man

named Phillip. People were getting baptized and Simon himself believed in baptism, so he too

got baptized. After that, Simon followed Phillip everywhere. When the apostles heard this news,

they sent for Peter and John. When Peter and John they arrived, they prayed for the new

believers because not everyone received the Holy Spirit. Peter and John laid hands on the new

believers and the news believers received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that, he tried to buy

the power he saw in Peter and John. They refused and they told him to repent of his sin. Simon

asked them to pray for him to be clean before the Lord. Acts 8 shows that we cannot buy the

Holy Spirit because He supersedes money and the Holy Spirit is a free gift.

There are a lot of people around the world who use the Holy Spirit to spread love to

others. I think Mother Theresa is a great example. Mother Theresa was led by the Holy Spirit to

give her life for poor people. She joined the Sister of Lotero when she was eighteen, and she

learned English because it was the language that the Sisters used, and English is the first

language of the world. After Mother Theresa moved to India, she taught her knowledge to poor

children. In 1950, Mother Theresa found the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic

Religious congregation. Today, this congregation exists in more than 120 countries and has more

than 600 missions. During 40 years of her life, she helped poor people, sick people, and people

who nobody would take care of. Mother Theresa is a great example because she gave her life for

other people and lived for them. She always thought of others first and now her exemplarity and

her wisdom has spread around the world with her congregation.
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Before coming to ORU, I never really considered the Holy Spirit’s role or that He might

be leading my life. But looking back at my process of coming to ORU, I think He may have been

directing my steps. My overarching goal and hope is to become a professional soccer player. In

France, I played for the soccer academy of Stade de Reims for a total of five seasons. With this

overarching goal of becoming a professional player in mind, I performed well during my first

four seasons. The coaches were satisfied with my work, and they told me that if I continued

doing well and believed in myself, there would be no reason that I could not become a

professional soccer player. However, during the fifth season, the coaching staff changed. It felt

like I had to start all over in proving myself to him. The new coach did not like how I played and

would not give me playing time. Even though I worked even harder to prove myself, the

situation did not change. Because of this, I had to leave the team. Things were not looking good

for me.

But then, I had an opportunity to come play in the USA. I started to learn English to

qualify to come here. After doing this successfully, I was able to come. I think that the Holy

Spirit may have led me to this place. He empowered me to never give up even in the face of

discouragement. Because of this, I think that I am a better player now than in all my time playing

in France. My own plans that I had for my life may not have turned out quite how I thought I

wanted, but the Holy Spirit was leading my steps and continues to direct me. Perhaps I have

come to the U.S. for a bigger purpose than I can even see for myself.

As a businessman or soccer player, the Holy Spirit will always be next to me to help me

find a solution to my problems and he will give me strength to continue to work hard in

everything I do.
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Works Cited

“BibleGateway.” Bible Gateway, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, 2008,

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%2BPeter%2B5%3A7&version=NIV.

Kolodiejchuk, Brain M. C. Mother Teresa: Where There Is Love, There Is God. Brian
Kolodiejchuk, 2010.