The Names of the Holy Spirit

Why should we examine the names of the Holy Spirit?

In many cultures, including Roman-era Israelite culture, people were given descriptive names.  For instance, Isaac means "he laughs", Abraham means "father of a multitude".  Thus, by examining the names of the Holy Spirit we learn about the characteristics and traits of the Holy Spirit and about the relationship between the Spirit and others.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit."

1 Corinthians 2:10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

The word means "breath," or "wind." Both thoughts are in the word as applied to the Holy Spirit. In the following passages we have the idea of the Spirit as the breath of Christ and of God.

John 20:22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Compare Psalms 104:30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

In the following passage we have the idea of the Spirit as the wind.

John 3:6-8 [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.' [8] The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

It may be beyond us to fathom the full significance of this name as applied to the Holy Spirit, but this much seems clear:

The Spirit is the outbreathing of God, His life going forth to bring things to life. Possibly we should notice the fact that the breath is itself the vital principle, and some have thought that the Spirit is therefore the inmost life of God.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of God" and "God's Spirit."

This is the same essential thought as the term "the Spirit" but His Divine origin, character and power are emphasized.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 New English Bible Surely you know that you are God's temple, where the Spirit of God dwells.

Romans 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of the Lord."

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD

Compare Isaiah 63:14 like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord."

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of the living God."

2 Corinthians 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Christ."

This name brings out the relation of the Spirit to Christ as well as to the Father.

Romans 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Compare Acts 2:33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of his Son."

Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."

This name is given to the Holy Spirit in especial connection with His testifying to the sonship of the believer. It is "the Spirit of His Son" who testifies to our sonship.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

The Spirit is not merely the spirit of the eternal word, but the spirit of the word incarnate, Jesus Christ. It is the man Jesus exalted to the right hand of the Father who receives and sends the Spirit.

Acts 2:32-33 [32] God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. [33] Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Jesus."

Acts 16:6-7 [6] Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. [7] When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
 

The third person of the Trinity is called "The Holy Spirit."

The name emphasizes the essential moral character of the Spirit. He is Holy in Himself. He imparts holiness to others.

Luke 11:13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Compare 1 Peter 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Oh, if we only realized more deeply and constantly that He is the Holy Spirit. Well may we, as the seraphim, bow in His presence and cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Yet how thoughtlessly many talk about Him and pray for Him. We pray for Him to come into our churches and our hearts, but what will He find there?
 

The Holy Spirit is called "a Spirit of Fire."

Isaiah 4:4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire

This emphasizes His searching, refining, dross-consuming, illuminating, energizing work.

Note: Metal is often refined by melting. Impurities rise to the top and are scooped off, leaving refined metal. The layer of impurities is called "dross."
 

The Holy Spirit is called "a Spirit of Judgment."

Isaiah 4:4 The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Holiness."

Romans 1:4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

This possibly emphasizes his holiness even more than the name "the Holy Spirit."
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The promised Holy Spirit."

Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

Confer Acts 1:4-5 [4] On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. [5] For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

Acts 2:33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Truth."

John 14:17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 15:26 When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.

John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

Compare: 1 John 5:7 Revised Standard Version And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Life."

Romans 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
 

Each of the following names is based on Isaiah 11:2

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Wisdom."

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Understanding."

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Counsel."

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Power."

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Knowledge."

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord."

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Oil of Joy."

Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

It is important to understand the significance of oil when this was written. "Oil" does not refer to petroleum, but rather olive oil, a major crop at the time. It served as food, was burned in lamps for light, and was traded for other goods and currency.

This is also a most beautiful and suggestive name of Him whose fruit is first "love,", then "joy."

Confer Galatians 5:22 [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Grace."

Hebrews 10:29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

This name brings out the fact that it is the Holy Spirit's work to administer and to apply the grace of God. Not only is He gracious, but He is making ours, experimentally, the multifold grace of God.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Spirit of Glory."

1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

This name is intended to teach not only that He is glorious Himself, but that He imparts the glory of God to us.

Compare the following two passages:

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Romans 8:16-17 [16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. [17] Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

The Holy Spirit is the administrator of glory as well as grace, or rather of a grace that culminates in glory. Compare the following

Ephesians 3:16-19 [16] I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Thus we see that the Father is the one who dispenses grace, but the Holy Spirit is the one who delivers it to the recipient.
 

The Holy Spirit is called "The Eternal Spirit."

Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
 

The Holy Spirit is called "the Counselor."

John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 15:26 When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.

John 16:7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

=== DISCUSSION ===

Reviser's Note: This Point brings up an interesting linguistic point. In Torrey's Edition the three excerpts read "the Comforter", not "the Counselor," because they were from a different translation. Other translations use the word "Advocate."

Which translation more accurately conveys the sense of the original?

A counselor advises; he provides counsel. In many cases, his counsel is anything but comforting: "For this type of crime, there's no way you won't be sent to prison. There's no way you will get less than ten years in the state penitentiary. They'll be letting you off easy if they give you twenty years in prison."

In context, the passages provide no sense of "comforting", consoling, etc. "... the Counselor ... will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." "the Counselor ... will testify about me."

Clearly, in these passages the sense is that the Spirit is an advisor. Of course, He will testify and teach about the love of the Father and of the Son, and we all should take comfort in such love.

Torrey states: The word translated "Counselor" literally means "one called to another's side," the idea being one at hand to take another's part. It is the same word translated "one who speaks in our defense" (advocate) in this excerpt:

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

The thought is that the Holy Spirit is one who is called to our side, one who is ever ready "to stand by us," to take our part. It is a wonderfully tender name for this Holy One. When we think of the Holy Spirit He seems so far away, but when we think of the Paracletos, or in plain English, our "standbyer," or our "part- taker," how near He is. In what numerous ways He stands by us will appear when we come to consider His work. But let us get this thought firmly fixed now, that the Holy Spirit is one called to our side to take our part.

"Ever present, truest friend, Ever near thine aid to lend."