What is a Spirit?

We have established that the Holy Spirit is a spirit. Let's make it clear what a spirit is. We don't want there to be any confusion about what we mean when we say that the Holy Spirit is a spirit.

God is a spirit, Jesus is a spirit, and even you are a spirit! You are body, soul, and spirit. Within your body is your spirit--and that spirit is your essence, your fountain of life. After your body perishes, your spirit endures.

Satan is a spirit—one who went from the beauty of perfection to the ugliness of sin. Along with him, all demons are spirits. In fact, all angels (good and bad) are spirits. What does the Bible say about the good angels? It tells us that they are ministring spirits.

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?(Hebrews 1:14).

Ghosts and Demons

Ghosts—those beings famous for appearing to people at night—are also spirits. They are the spirits of the righteous, not of the unrighteous. A true ghost was a good person who died and who has received a temporary pass out of Paradise. They were in the cool side of Hades, Paradise, but they got authorization for temporary leave. They got a pass.

On the rarest of occasions, a spirit from the hot side of Hades will get a pass to get out of there. Now, that’s only to be transferred to the cool side—Paradise. We won’t dedicate time to talking about how that happens, but it happens. There is very little wiggle room for it, but some sins can be forgiven in the life to come.

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:32; NKJV).

The point is that we’re on Earth now and evil ghosts do not exist here. There are no evil ghosts on Earth. If you run into a ghost, and the ghost is doing evil or lying—it’s not actually a ghost. It’s a demon trying to trick you.

That demon is evil, as you will likely notice. But he’s no ghost.

Demons are liars, and they sometimes call themselves ghosts. Other times they call themselves dwarves, elves, fairies, aliens, extraterrestrials, or even angels—they may even be beautiful! But they’re still demons. Demons are posers.

Ghosts in the Bible

Samuel is one of two genuine ghosts you can read about in the Bible. Samuel was a good ghost because he was a good man when alive in his body. The ghost Samuel spoke true words and sympathized with King Saul, warning Saul against sin. Those are good things Samuel did as a ghost.

... the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up Samuel for me.” When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice... the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up from the ground!” Then he said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.” Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt with his face to the ground and bowed down.

Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul said, “... I called to you to let me know what I should do.” Then Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy?

...Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me...” (1 Samuel 28:11-19; LEB).

Another ghost warned Eliphaz, Job’s friend, to not think that Eliphaz was more righteous than God. A demon would never say such a thing. A demon wouldn’t say what this ghost said to Eliphaz. Listen to the testimony Eliphaz shared with Job:

A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.

A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?’ (Job 4:12-17)

A Spirit: A Life-Force Linked

The proper definition of a spirit is “a personal life-force inextricably linked to its own soul and body.” God has a body. Jesus has his own body too. Although many people would like to, they cannot separate God from his body. He is described in the Bible many times, and he has a glorious body: a head, hands, feet, legs, a torso, and on top of his head is white hair.

... the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool (Daniel 7:9).

Humans lose their bodies at death, but we get them back at the Resurrection just like Jesus did. What does that prove? That our spirits are inextricably linked to our bodies.

The Devil will be ‘cast into the Lake of Burning Sulfur’ (Revelation 20:10). Only someone with a body can be hurled into a lake. So, the Devil will have his physical body when he is cast into the Lake of Fire. His life-force is linked to his body. They're bound together.

When the Bible says that ‘the eternal fire [was] prepared for the Devil and his angels’ (Matthew 25:41), and that in Hell the demons will endure eternal punishment (v. 46), we can be sure that the demons and every human being who arrives in Hell will feel the burning of the flames.

Why will they feel torturous pain? Because they will have been resurrected! They will have their physical bodies back before they enter Hell. Again--the reason why they get their physical bodies back is because their life-force is inextricably linked to their bodies.

Of Satan it says that he will be ‘tormented day and night for ever and ever’ (Revelation 20:10). So, he’ll be in the Lake of Fire in his body—and there won’t be any fun times down there. Satan will feel pronounced pain. Surely, he will feel worse pain than anyone else in that wretched place. He is a spirit, his spirit is bound to his body, and they will be joined together for all eternity.

The Holy Ghost?

Do you like to call the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost? If you do, please make sure that the people who hear you are not confused by the term ghost. Explain to them what you mean. You mean spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a spirit. Say it to your friends and acquaintances. The redundancy will not confuse anyone. Reiteration of truth does not cause confusion. Repetition is the mother of learning. The Spirit is a spirit.

Older versions of the Bible call the Spirit the Holy Ghost because ghost in the classic English usage always meant “bodiless spirit.” That’s what ghost meant in 1611 when the KJV was penned. But because the term ghost has developed a negative connotation over the centuries (think of all the Halloweens and horror movies people have seen since 1611), it’s best not to use the term ghost when speaking of the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2; Revelation 11:11). Is he not? Contrast the term Spirit of Life with the term ghost. The second elicits thoughts of a dead person. We shouldn’t use a term that connotes death to describe the Spirit of God, the source of all Life.

Calling the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost is a dangerous juxtaposition to make. You’ll confuse people if you make it.

A Person?

So, the term ghost doesn’t work for the Holy Spirit, but how about Person? Can we call him a Person? It’s very popular among most Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals to call the Holy Spirit a person. In fact, the first things most of them will say about him if you ask them to define him is that he’s the Third Person of the Trinity. But we recommend against using the term Person for the Holy Spirit.

In the first place, we don’t use the term person because the Bible never calls the HOly Spirit a person. That should be enough of an argument. Remember: If you are saying more than what the Bible says, you’ve become a dangerous person. You’re mixing human thoughts with divine words. That's bad chemistry.

Do not add to his words or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar (Proverbs 30:6; NASB).

Secondly, the term Person is used often among theologians. That is, it’s borrowed from human ideas—the “Trinity” idea in particular. And that’s exactly why using person for the Spirit confuses people! Men's ideas are convoluted. God's ideas are cogent.

... let God be true but every man a liar (Romans 3:4; NKJV).

Theologians have turned the Holy Spirit into a complex mystery with their loaded terminology. Person is one of their loaded terms, in addition to not impersonal, and personhood. They like to show off their fancy words, but a sincere believer thirsts for simple Biblical terminology. He has an insatiable hunger for Bible words in context.

Understandably, an honest pastor might strive to prove that the Spirit has a person-ality. And he’ll easily prove it because the Spirit does in fact have his own personality! Nothing wrong with studying the personality of the Holy Spirit, but if we use the term person to define the Holy Spirit, we’re adding to what God has laid out in the Bible.

Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it... (Deuteronomy 4:2)

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll (Revelation 22:18-19).

Bible Words Bible Ways

It’s best to call the Holy Spirit a spirit, just as the Bible does. If we speak the way the Bible speaks, we cannot fail. Why? Because it’s the Word of God, and God is true. Try to use Bible words Bible ways.

The word person makes the Spirit sound human. Of course, the Spirit is not human. Jesus is indeed a human to this day (1 Timothy 2:5), he is a man. So, it’s fine to call Jesus a person. But it’s not right to call the Spirit a person because he's no man.

Not that there is anything wrong with being human. The original human nature, the one Adam and Eve had before they got the sinful nature, was good. God created Adam, and Adam was good. But regardless of what the human nature is or is not--whether you're talking about the original innocent nature of man or the corrupt nature of sin you and I have, the flesh--the Holy Spirit does not have our nature!

The Holy Spirit is a spirit with the divine nature. People have the human nature—and that's why calling the Spirit a person produces confusion. Your hearers might think of the Spirit as if he were like us. You have to remind him that the Spirit has the divine nature.

Let's try not to confuse anyone about who the Spirit is. People are confused enough! Let's speak clearly. Let's speak Biblically.