The Holy Spirit is personal

By "personal" we understand that the Holy Spirit has all the qualities that we usually associate with persons. We can enter into a relationship with him in a similar manner to the way we have relationships with other people. He is not just a blind, unfeeling, unintelligent force. This presents us with a problem, because in our thinking persons usually live in bodies, and the Holy Spirit is spirit, as is God the Father, and doesn't have a material body. He lives in a different dimension to that with which we are familiar.

Jesus is easier to understand, as he entered into our human experience, which involved sharing human nature and a human body. Obviously he was a person. However, when we explore the New Testament we find that the Holy Spirit is constantly spoken of in personal terms. The most obvious example of this is found in the use of the verbs that describe his activities.

Take the following examples:

The Spirit convicts people of guilt and judgement (John 16:8)

guides God's people (John 16:13)

tells things that are to come (John 16:13)

brings glory to Jesus (John 16:14)

hears God's truths and makes them known (John 16:13,15)

appoints pastors over God's people (Acts 20:28)

speaks God's message (Acts 28:25, etc.)

bears witness together with our own spirits (Romans 8:16)

helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26)

intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:26, 27)

searches all things (1 Corinthians 2:10)

knows the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:11)

teaches the content of the gospel to believers (1 Corinthians 2:13)

lives among and within believers (1 Corinthians 3:16, etc.)

washes, sanctifies and justifies God's people (1 Corinthians 6:11)

gives gifts to his people as he determines (1 Corinthians 12:11)

gives life to those who believe (2 Corinthians 3:6)

cries out from within our hearts (Galatians 4:6)

leads us in the ways of God (Galatians 5:18)

has desires that are in opposition to the flesh (Galatians 5:17)

strengthens believers (Ephesians 3:16)

is grieved by our sinfulness (Ephesians 4:30)

can be blasphemed (Luke 12:10) and lied to (Acts 5:3)