"Spirit" in Scripture refers primarily to: (1) the Spirit of God β the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, who hovered over creation (Gen 1:2), inspired Scripture (2 Pet 1:21), convicts of sin (John 16:8), regenerates the lost (John 3:5β8), indwells believers (1 Cor 3:16), produces fruit (Gal 5:22β23), gifts the church (1 Cor 12), and will raise the dead (Rom 8:11); (2) the immaterial, personal dimension of human beings made in God's image β the breath of life God breathed into Adam (Gen 2:7); and (3) spiritual beings β both holy angels and demonic spirits. The Spirit is not a force, energy, or impersonal power β He is a Person who can be grieved (Eph 4:30), lied to (Acts 5:3), and resisted (Acts 7:51), who intercedes, teaches, and leads (John 16:13).
SPIRIT, n. Primarily, wind; air in motion; breath. In Scripture, the Spirit of God is the third person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The spirit of man is the immaterial part of man; the intellectual or thinking substance in man. The Holy Spirit is promised to sanctify, guide, and comfort believers. "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you?" β 1 Corinthians 6:19.
New Age and postmodern spirituality has hijacked "spirit" to mean an impersonal cosmic energy, a universal life force, or an inner divine spark accessible to anyone through meditation, substances, or spiritual practice. "Spirituality" without the Holy Spirit is a counterfeit that leads people away from the personal, holy, and exclusively Christian Spirit of God (1 John 4:1β3). Within the church, both extremes corrupt the Spirit's work: cessationism can grieve Him by denying His present activity; charismatic excess can dishonor Him by replacing His Word with emotion and manipulation.
Genesis 1:2 β "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
John 3:5β8 β "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'"
John 16:13 β "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth."
Romans 8:11 β "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies."
Ephesians 4:30 β "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
H7307 β ruach (Χ¨ΧΦΌΧΦ·) β spirit, wind, breath; used for God's Spirit, human spirit, and wind
G4151 β pneuma (ΟΞ½Ξ΅αΏ¦ΞΌΞ±) β spirit, breath, wind; the Holy Spirit; the human spirit; spiritual beings
G40 β hagios (αΌ Ξ³ΞΉΞΏΟ) β holy; the Holy (Spirit) β set apart, sacred, wholly other
"The Spirit does not come to make us feel good β He comes to make us holy, to convict us of sin, and to point us to Christ (John 16:8β14)."
"Without the Spirit, the Bible is a closed book; with the Spirit, it becomes the living and active Word of God (Heb 4:12)."
"The Spirit-filled life is not one of constant ecstatic experience β it is one of daily walking in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 25)."