“Spirituality” has become trendy in our culture. Pew Research reported last year that 7 out 10 Americans think of themselves as spiritual. Many people are seeking a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in their lives, finding spirituality as a way to connect with something larger than themselves. The increasing awareness of mental health and the search for holistic well-being are driving the popularity of many spiritual practices. While some studies suggest renewed interest in Christianity, particularly among younger generations, overall, traditional religion is generally experiencing a decline in many parts of the world. A rise in “spiritual but not religious” individuals and the popularity of new-age beliefs are contributing to this trend. Mindfulness, meditation, and holistic healing techniques are gaining popularity. There’s also a growing interest in esoteric knowledge, mystical encounters, and self-discovery practices like tarot and astrology.
This fascination with “spirituality” has, predictably, infiltrated the church itself. We see a growing obsession with subjective experience, often divorced from biblical truth. The hunger for mystical encounters and self-discovery has led many to embrace practices that are, at best, extra-biblical and, at worst, outright pagan. The pursuit of “holistic well-being” has eclipsed the pursuit of holiness, and shallow techniques promising earthly fulfillment are prioritized over the timeless truths of Scripture. This diluted spirituality, cloaked in Christian language, offers a counterfeit comfort and fosters a dangerous disregard for sound doctrine. We must be discerning, lest we trade the genuine work of the Holy Spirit for a self-centered, experience-driven substitute that ultimately leaves us spiritually empty and adrift.
But in the middle of all this cultural swirl, Jesus doesn’t introduce the Holy Spirit as a vague force to be discovered or a mystical vibe to be felt. He speaks plainly. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” Jesus doesn’t deliver these words from a stage or a mountaintop, but around a table. It’s a quiet room and the mood is weighty. These men have walked with Him, eaten with Him, laughed with Him. Now, something is shifting and they don’t fully understand it. Jesus has been speaking of going away and they having difficulty processing it. And into the aching silence Jesus speaks the promise of the Spirit. Not as an abstract doctrine or as a power to download, but as a Person, a Helper. And not for a visit, but to abide with them forever.
What these men needed was not a plan, not even a pep talk. They needed presence. And Jesus, in the most loving way imaginable, says: I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. That’s the context. Not crisis management or spiritual hype. Jesus introduces the promise of the Holy Spirit who will abide within His disciples after He is resurrected and ascended into heaven.
Who is the Holy Spirit? This is not just a doctrinal curiosity; it’s one of the most important questions a believer can ask. Because how you relate to the Holy Spirit will shape how you relate to God, in prayer, conviction, power, and daily living.
John 14:16 NASB “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper…
God the Son, will ask God the Father to give you God the Holy Spirit. This is not an impersonal transaction, but the overflow of an eternal relationship. From eternity past, it was God’s plan not merely to dwell with His people, as He did with Adam and Eve in the garden, but to dwell in them by His Spirit. Adam and Eve enjoyed God’s presence and bore His image through relational love and communion, but their experience, though intimate, did not rise to the reality of being indwelt by the Spirit. That privilege awaited the finished work of Christ. We are not just restored to Eden, we’re brought into union with the risen Son, indwelt by the Spirit who once hovered over the deep and now makes His home in our hearts. Jesus doesn’t need to beg the Father to send the Spirit; He only has to ask. The Father delights to give Himself, by the Spirit, to live within you. But before we can understand what it means to have the Spirit in us, we need to be clear about who the Spirit is. He’s not a force to be manipulated or a feeling to be chased. He is a Person, the very presence of God Himself.
The Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force.
The Spirit is a “He,” not an “it.” To say the Holy Spirit is a “person” doesn’t mean He’s human. He doesn’t have a body like ours. But personhood isn’t about flesh and bones, it’s about having a mind, emotions, and the ability to make choices. Rocks and electricity don’t have that, but persons do. The Bible shows us again and again that the Holy Spirit thinks, feels, and acts, not like a force, but like a Person. You can’t have a mind if you’re just an energy field. Romans 8:27 says that “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” The Spirit knows God’s will and prays in perfect alignment with it. You can’t grieve a power source but you can grieve a person. Ephesians 4:30 warns us: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” This means the Spirit is not indifferent to how we live, He’s affected when we rebel, just like someone who loves us deeply. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is not a vending machine that responds to the right button being pushed. He makes decisions. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says the Spirit “apportions spiritual gifts to each one individually as He wills.” He gives gifts as He sees fit. He makes choices. That’s personhood. The Holy Spirit can be lied to. In Acts 5:3–4, Peter rebukes Ananias for lying to the Holy Spirit, and then clarifies, “You have not lied to men, but to God.” You can’t lie to a wind or a symbol or a metaphor. You lie to a person. And that person is God.
If the Holy Spirit is a person, then we should ask: What kind of person is He? Jesus gives us that answer and the words He chooses are loaded with meaning, which tell us not only about the Spirit’s role, but about His very nature. Before we can understand how the Spirit helps us, we need to understand who He is in relation to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is the third-person of the Godhead.
John 14:16 NASB …another Helper…
Jesus answers that question with just two words, “another Helper.” That phrase tells us the Spirit is not only personal but divine. Jesus isn’t saying the Father will send someone entirely new or different. He says He will send another of the same kind, another just like Himself. This isn’t substitution. It’s continuation. To understand who the Holy Spirit is, we need to understand what Jesus meant by calling Him ἄλλον παράκλητον, another Helper.
The Holy Spirit is fully divine, not merely a symbol of God’s power, but God Himself. Psalm 139:7 asks, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” The answer is nowhere. That’s because the Spirit is omnipresent, He is fully present in all places at all times. He doesn’t travel, and He’s never absent. Only God possesses that kind of presence. Paul also tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:10–11 that “the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God,” and adds, “no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” That’s omniscience, perfect, exhaustive knowledge. The Spirit doesn’t discover truth, He already knows it fully and immediately, because He is God. Then in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19, Paul tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and that God’s Spirit dwells in us. The Spirit lives where only God belongs. To be indwelt by the Spirit is to be indwelt by God Himself.
The disciples had walked with Jesus, spoken to Him, leaned on Him, trusted Him. Now Jesus promises that someone just like Him is coming. Not a substitute, but a continuation. This means the Spirit shares the same divine nature as Christ. He is not a lesser partner in the Trinity. He is not a heavenly sidekick or a divine assistant. He is fully God, just as Jesus is fully God. And that matters, because if the Spirit is not truly God, then He cannot reveal God, cannot apply salvation, cannot dwell within us with full authority and purity. But because He is God, the promise still stands: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Jesus goes, but God stays, with us and in us, in the person of the Spirit. If you’ve ever wished Jesus could walk beside you physically, the Holy Spirit is His answer to that desire.
The Holy Spirit continues the presence of Jesus inside the believer.
When Jesus says the Father will send “another Helper,” He uses the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos). This term can be translated as Helper, Comforter, Counselor, or Advocate. At its core, it means someone called alongside to help. It was used in legal settings for someone who would stand beside you in court to defend and speak for you. But it also carries the warmth of friendship, someone who walks with you in weakness, strengthens you when you’re afraid, and reminds you of the truth when you forget. Jesus was their first Paraklētos (cf. 1 John 2:1), and now the Spirit continues that ministry, not just beside us, but within us. He comforts us (John 14:18), teaches us (John 14:26), convicts us (John 16:8), intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26), and empowers us to live holy lives (Gal. 5:16). He doesn’t replace Jesus, He brings the presence of Jesus into us. The Spirit is not just a helper in general; He is your Helper, every step of the way.
The Holy Spirit is not a mood. Not a magic wand. Not a spiritual surge. He is God, personal, powerful, present. He thinks. He feels. He chooses. He speaks. And He doesn’t come into your life so you can use Him. He comes to lead, comfort, convict, and conform you to Christ. We do not manipulate the Spirit or summon Him.
The Holy Spirit makes salvation possible.
John 14:16 NASB “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper…
Jesus doesn’t say the Father might send the Spirit. He says He will give, a word that carries deep weight. This is not something you earn. Not something you unlock through effort. Not something you purchase with prayer. The Spirit is given, freely, intentionally, graciously.
The Greek word δώσει is the future active of δίδωμι, a verb consistently used in Scripture to describe God’s gracious initiative. It’s the same word used in John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” Now, in John 14:16, Jesus says the Father will give another Person, the Spirit. The giving of the Spirit is not a bonus for mature believers; it is part of the same stream of redemptive generosity as the giving of the Son.
This giving also implies ownership and authority. The Spirit is not a free-floating force to be manipulated. He is sent by the Father at the Son’s request. He is not at our disposal. We are at His. The Spirit is not seized, He is bestowed.
And why must He be given? Because without Him, we cannot be saved. From start to finish, salvation is a supernatural work, and the Spirit is the divine agent who brings dead sinners to life. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). In other words, no Spirit, no salvation. The Spirit is not just the power of the Christian life, He is the starting point of it.
We receive Him as God’s appointed companion. Jesus doesn’t say the Father might give the Spirit if we prove ourselves. He says the Father will give Him, because without the Spirit, no one can be saved. From beginning to end, salvation is a supernatural work. You can’t produce it through logic, morality, or willpower. You must be born again, and that new birth is the Spirit’s work. In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul says, “He saved us… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.” That means unless the Spirit awakens the heart, opens the eyes, and draws a person to Christ, they remain spiritually blind. Jesus said the Spirit “will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). That conviction isn’t psychological pressure, it’s divine mercy. It’s the Spirit resurrecting a dead heart and making it live to God.
Apart from the Spirit, Christ is just a historical figure. The cross is just a tragedy. The gospel is just noise. But with the Spirit, these become the very power of God unto salvation. So when Jesus says the Father will give us the Spirit, He is not offering an upgrade. He is offering life.
But if the Spirit is God’s gracious gift and the very source of life, then He must not be misrepresented. He is not a power we invoke for our purposes, but the very presence of God to whom we yield. And yet throughout history, many have invoked the name of the Holy Spirit for self-centered, manipulative, or even blasphemous ends. We must be discerning. The Spirit is not ours to use, He is God to be reverenced.
