His Own Power
The Spirit is not energy. He’s not an impersonal force. Electricity is an impersonal force, but the Holy Spirit isn’t a zap from God. On the contrary, the Spirit possesses his own force!
You shouldn’t call the Spirit "a power" if the Spirit possesses power, right? Well, the Spirit has his own power. Would you call an angel lightning because he produces lightning? Of course not.
… the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the Earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning… (Revelation 8:5)
Would you say that an angel is fire simply because he manifests himself in fire? No.
There the Angel of Yahweh appeared to him [Moses] in flames of fire from within a bush (Exodus 3:2).
It’s obvious from the Scriptures that angels are not lightning or fire even though the messengers of the two passages above possessed the power of lightning and fire. The second one (the Angel of Yahweh) who appeared to Moses in flames of fire was the preincarnate Christ.
You wouldn't call Jesus "fire," would you? Is Jesus fire? No.
In the same way that Jesus posesses fire, the Holy Spirit possesses power. That power belongs to him, and the proof that it belongs to him is the fact that the Spirit distributes it. He distributes power to whom he pleases.
You can’t give something you don’t already possess. If something doesn’t belong to you, you have no authority to pass it on. But the Spirit both possesses and distributes his power. We call it the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gave it to:
Jesus
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit… (Luke 4:14)
2. Paul (along with the other apostles)
… by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God… I have fully proclaimed the Gospel of Christ (Romans 15:19).
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power… (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)
3. the Church
… that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
In conclusion, the Spirit has his own power. He gives it to whom he pleases. Don't confuse him with the power he distributes.
The Power of God
Now, let's address an exception to the rule, an exception of which you should be aware: You can say that the Spirit is the Power of God. There's nothing wrong with that. It's a great name for him.
When using the title the Power of God for the Holy Spirit, the caveat is that you should say much more, but it’s not false to say that the Holy Spirit is the Power of God. He is just that.
Similarly, you can call Jesus a prophet, but you should say much more. It’s not false to call Jesus a prophet. His disciples called him a prophet. Saying it is true, although it's not the complete truth.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, 'What are you discussing together as you walk along?’ ‘… About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people’ (Luke 24:15-19).
Don’t waste your time telling Jehovah’s Witnesses or others who don’t believe in the Holy Spirit that the Spirit is not the Power of God. It's a great name for him and they'll be able to prove it with the Bible, so don't argue. The angel Gabriel used that name for the Spirit, and archangels don’t lie.
The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the Power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35).
In case you are having any difficulties interpreting this passage, this should help: It’s based on Hebrew synonymous parallelism. That is, it’s based on two identical truths placed right next to each other. The two similar truths are the Holy Spirit and the Power of the Most High. These are synonymous.
Could someone tell you that a Navy special forces Seal is the power of the U.S. Navy? Sure. Why not? And the Seal wouldn’t feel insulted to hear those words. He wouldn’t say that we were dehumanizing him if we made such a statement.
Couldn’t we say that Cristiano Ronaldo was the power of the Portuguese national soccer team in 2018? Ronaldo wouldn’t mind if we said so. Likewise, we can say that the Holy Spirit is the Power of God and we can say it without offending him.
We can say that the Holy Spirit is the Power of God without ceasing to believe that the Spirit is a spirit (yes, that's what the Holy Spirit is--just like humans, angels, and God are spirits, so is he a spirit). We don't have to cease to believe that the Spirit of God has his own will, feelings, and personality just like every other spirit-being.
The Power Within Christ
Jesus spoke of a power which came out of him, but which was not his own power. He spoke of the power of the Holy Spirit. That power healed a woman from bleeding, and we know that it was the anointing of the Holy Spirit because someone else responded to the woman’s faith—someone who was not Jesus!
The Lord Jesus was unaware of the lady’s faith. It wasn’t Jesus' choice to heal the lady. The Holy Spirit made that choice. And why not? Doesn't he have his own will? Isn't he perceptive? Can't he do miracles on his own? Is he not autonomous?
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
‘Who touched me?’ Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace’ (Luke 8:42-48).
Let’s think about this: How could Jesus have healed someone without willing it himself? There’s only one answer: Someone else willed it—and that someone was the Holy Spirit of God. It’s apparent that the Holy Spirit took the initiative to heal the woman. Power went out from Jesus, and that power was the anointing of the Spirit.
As we saw, the Spirit has so much power that he can be called the Power of God (Luke 1:35)--likewise, he has so much anointing, he can be called the Anointing (1 John 2:20, 27). In this passage, the power that Jesus felt leave his body was the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It was not the Spirit himself.
The Spirit remained in Christ even after the Spirit performed the healing miracle. That's the way the Spirit works through us too. We place our hands on the sick and his power, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, is transmitted from us to the sick.
The Finger of God
To reinforce the truth that Jesus healed others by means of the Holy Spirit, later in the same Gospel Jesus affirmed that he performed his miracles by the Finger of God. Jesus said so while he was casting out demons by the Holy Spirit. Here's what he said:
… if I drive out demons by the Finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when Someone Stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder (Luke 11:20-22).
If you have any doubts about whether the expression Finger of God here means the Holy Spirit, you need go no further than the parallel passage in Matthew. There we read:
… if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you (Matthew 12:28).
Case closed. The Holy Spirit is also known as the Finger of God. He was the Power of God within our Lord Jesus Christ while Jesus was in the flesh.
So it was through the Holy Spirit that Jesus carried out his miracles. That’s exactly why Jesus began performing miracles in Cana. He went to Cana after he was baptized in the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River. Jesus' conversion of water into wine is called the 'beginning of signs Jesus did' (John 2:9-11; NKJV) It was his first miracle, performed through the Holy Spirit who had begun to live within Christ.
Someone Stronger
Back to the passage where Jesus explained how he cast out demons. We gather that the Holy Spirit is the Someone Stronger of Jesus’ Luke 11 parable. The Devil is the strong man and the Spirit is the Someone Stronger. With this contrast, Jesus makes the unmistakable point that the Spirit is more powerful than the Devil. We repeat: The Holy Spirit is more powerful than the Devil.
The Devil sends demons to subjugate people, but the Spirit has authority to bind those very demons. That's what it means in 1 John 4:4 when it says:
... greater is he who is in you than he who is in the World.
So, the Spirit delivers people from demon possession and returns control of a person’s body to themselves. Now you know why self-control is the last of the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Blasphemy
We should note here that anyone who says that it’s not the Holy Spirit but the Devil who performs such deliverance is an irrational person. In addition, they are ignorant of the Holy Spirit and guilty of the unpardonable sin.
Just a few verses later, Jesus said this:
And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:31-32).
Honor the Holy Spirit
If there's one lesson you take away from today's post, let it be this: Honor the Holy Spirit. He is not just a force. He has his own force, his own power. He uses it when he wishes.
And God Himself will guarantee that the Holy Spirit gets the respect he deserves. If you haven't already been treating him with due respect, start respecting him today.
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