Too often, when we speak about God, the Holy Spirit is left out of the conversation.  Those who deny the deity of the Spirit like to point out that in our discussions about God, we rarely mention the Holy Spirit.  We speak of the Father and the Son, but the Spirit is nowhere to be found in the conversation.  They are not wrong.  Unless we are dealing specifically with the subject of the Spirit, we, too often, ignore the Spirit in our discussions about God.  How many times do we make mention of the Father and the Son, but do not refer to the Spirit?  The Holy Spirit is God.

Acts 5:3-4 (ESV)
³  But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

Being God, the Holy Spirit deserves the same love and affection that we give the Father and the Son.  Why should the Spirit be an object of our affection?  He should because without Him, our salvation would be just as impossible as it would be without the other members of the Godhead.  Think with me about what the Spirit does for us.

We are sanctified by the Spirit.  Peter referred to the sanctification of the Spirit in 1 Peter 1:2.  Since sanctification is a critical part of our salvation, so is the Holy Spirit.  This is true regarding both positional and progressive sanctification.  Positional sanctification occurred when we were first moved from the land of the lost to the country of Christianity in Christ.  Yes, the Spirit played a significant role in that achievement.  Jesus spoke of it to Nicodemus when He referred to being born again.

John 3:5 (ESV)
⁵  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

When is a person born of the Spirit?  It is when that person obeys the gospel of Christ by following the instructions of the Spirit.  This is why Peter said that we are born of the Word (1 Peter 1:23).  It is also why the Bible teaches that we are sanctified by both the Spirit and the Word (1 Peter 1:2 and John 17:17).  The Spirit operates, in the realm of sanctification, through the Word of God.  That is the role of the Spirit in God’s scheme of redemption.  He is the Revelator of the Word (John 16:13).  The Word is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

Think about the value of the Spirit.  Without Him, we would have no revelation; thus, we would not know how to live right before God.  We should be thankful for the Spirit because He allows us, not only to be sanctified positionally (set apart from sin and the world and devoted to God), but also to maintain our sanctification progressively.  He teaches us, through the Word, and by the grace of God, how to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12).

We should all be endeared to the Holy Spirit.  He is not just an active force as some teach.  He is a divine person and member of the  Godhead, and He should be an object of our affection.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.