Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I wish to address the issue of Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit.
Many have propounded doctrines out of this and/or trying to arrive at the conclusion that the Holy Ghost is different from the Holy Spirit.
I have heard some teaching that in the Old Testament times, it was the Holy Ghost in action and not the Holy Spirit. They say the Holy Spirit only came after Jesus’ ascension as promised by Him, the coming of the comforter/helper/advocate.
The truth is that, the Holy Spirit/Ghost came on people in the OT times ie before the coming of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost was still available even with Jesus before and after His redemptive work.
In John 3:34, it is said of Christ that He had the Spirit of God "without measure". So as He was living on Earth as a perfect sinless man, Jesus had unlimited access to the Holy Spirit, who descended on Him to empower Him for ministry at His baptism. So the Holy Spirit was here, empowering Jesus Christ without measure.
In John 14:16-18, Jesus told the disciples, "you know him, for he dwells with you and shall be in you." So the Spirit of God was with the disciples, but He (the Spirit) was going to be with them and in them in a new way after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
Now in the context of John 16:7, Jesus talks about "going away" through the crucifixion (John 16:19-22). But He speaks of the Comforter in ways that also refer to the Spirit's ministry after the ascension (John 16:13). If you think about it, Jesus actually went away from the disciples twice: once for 3 days and nights from death to resurrection, and once at the ascension. There are two "going aways", and there are two events involving the Holy Spirit that are mentioned after each of those "going aways".
First, after the crucifixion and resurrection, in the upper room, Jesus breathes on them and says "receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). We breathe air in order to live, so this speaks to the aspect of the Spirit's ministry when He regenerates the believer and gives them new life.
Second, after the ascension, the disciples waited in Jerusalem to receive power from on high (Acts 1:4-5). This speaks to the Spirit's ministry of empowering believers for service. This is like a mighty rushing wind that can be harnessed to help us do work. Natural air is breathed for life; and as wind, is harnessed for power: so the Spirit gives us life and empowers us for service.
The linguistic distinction between "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" is most readily evident in the King James (Authorized) Version of 1611.
In the KJV, "Holy Ghost" occurs 90 times only in its New Testament portion. The phrase "Holy Spirit" occurs four times in the NT. But in the original Greek there is no difference between "Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit."
Note that in these KJV texts the Greek words are identical: “PNEUMA” is the same as “GHOST” or “SPIRIT” whiles “HAGION” the same as “HOLY”.
Matthew 1:18 — "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion]"
Matthew 3:11 — "he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion] and fire"
Luke 11:13 — "how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit [pneuma hagion]"
Ephesians 1:13 — "ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit [pneuma hagion] of promise"
The KJV translators were so consistent about maintaining the distinction between "Ghost" and "Spirit" that they broke a key verbal link between two adjoining verses:
Acts 16:6 — "they ... were forbidden by the Holy Ghost (hagion pneuma) to preach the word in Asia"
Acts 16:7 — "The Spirit [pneuma] of Jesus suffered [allowed] them not to go into Bithynia"
In context, these verses make a key link between the "Holy Ghost" and the "Spirit of Jesus." It tells readers that the resurrected Messiah himself superintends the messianic movement by his invisible presence, his "Spirit" (pneuma), "the Holy Ghost" (hagion pneuma).
The phrase "Holy Spirit" occurs only three times in the KJV-OT:
Psalm 51:11 — "Take not thy holy spirit from me"
Isaiah 63:10 — "They rebelled and vexed his holy spirit"
Isaiah 63:11 — "Where is he who put his holy spirit within him?"
In these passages the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) has pneuma hagion, the same phrase used in the Greek NT for "Holy Ghost." The Hebrew behind the phrase is ruach qodesh. Ruach is the noun also used in the phrases "Spirit of God" and "Spirit of the LORD" throughout the OT. There are no separate terms in Hebrew to describe God's Spirit or his Holy Spirit. Ruach is Ruach.
In other words, there is no linguistic basis in the Bible for rendering either ruach or pneuma as both "Ghost" and "Spirit." The distinction lies within the minds of the translators.
My point of emphasis summarised hence is that, the terms “Holy Spirit” and “Holy Ghost” mean exactly the same thing; both refer to the third Person of the Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). The phrase “Holy Ghost” is simply an older term that dates back several hundred years, and is found in some old versions of the English Bible (such as the King James Version). The word “ghost” has a different meaning today than it did several hundred years ago, modern translations of the Bible always use “Holy Spirit.”
Remember that the Holy Spirit is God Himself, and He is at work both in the world and in our hearts. When we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us; in fact, we can’t even come to Him until He convicts us of our sins and convinces us of our need to commit our lives to Christ. Jesus said, “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8).
But God has given His Spirit to us for another reason: to teach us and open our eyes to God’s truth as it is found in the Bible. Is this happening in your life?. Shalom and God bless you for reading ...... Apostle Elikem Joshua Avotri
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