The Holy Spirit is often ignored or not understood by Christians. I know in my life I have not only been naive about the role and importance of the Holy Spirit but I have ignored them altogether at times. There are many differing views of the Holy Spirit and his role in the life of a Christian. However, I have recently been studying this topic in depth. I have been reading through the book of 1 Corinthians with a very special lady and something came up in our conversation about chapter 2. Verse 10 says this: "these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God," (1 Corinthians 2:10 ESV). We were chewing on what this passage means when Paul wrote it and what it means to us as believers a couple of thousand years later. What does Paul intend to communicate with writing, "the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God"? Fortunately for us Paul goes on to give us more about this passage.
The next verse says, "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 2:11 ESV) There are a couple of interesting aspects to this verse. Paul gives us a great example so that we can understand what Paul means in verse 10. #1 Paul uses the human spirit as an example. The greek word for the human spirit that Paul uses here is: "pneuma". The Strong's Lexicon defines it one way as "the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, decides". So, with that definition what does Paul's example mean? The meaning is that our inner most being that controls our thoughts and feelings understands the reasoning behind them. That is what Paul is communicating. The Spirit understands the deepest aspects of God. The Spirit comprehends the reasons behind God's thoughts, feelings and decisions. But, this example goes even deeper than that. #2 This passage is a beautiful endorsement for the Trinity. A person is not a person if there is no soul or spirit. The spirit of a person cannot be separated from the human being. In the same manner the Spirit cannot be separated from the Triune God. The Spirit is an integral part of God and that is something that Christians should understand.
The best part is that we, as believers, are given the power to understand God through the Spirit. "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God," (1 Corinthians 2:12 ESV). This is really mind blowing when we consider that God is all knowing, all powerful and so deep that the human mind cannot comprehend him on his/her own. That is the role of the Spirit. We can only comprehend, understand and grasp more about God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The last portion of this verse also indicates that our knowledge about God is given by God. So, we should be asking God for more knowledge and understanding regarding the "the depths of God".
My prayer and hope is that Christians will come to a deeper understanding of the Spirit's role and importance in the Christian walk. May we all "understand the things freely given to us by God".
