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Bible Q

What is the Holy Spirit?

This is one of those questions that could require a very long or a very short answer. Here we’re going to go with a very short answer. The Old Testament – God’s spirit God’s spirit is God’s breath or power. For which the adjective ‘holy’ is usually redundant and not used. The adjective ‘holy’ is […]

What does the Holy Spirit empower believers to do?

The holy spirit is a very important area of Christian faith, but is subject to misinterpretation and misunderstanding.  I want to briefly look at some of the Apostle Paul’s comments on the Holy Spirit, as they shed a lot of light on a correct understanding. Although the miraculous powers given to some first century believers […]

Why is the Holy Spirit sometimes called the Holy Ghost?

Nowadays, the word ghost typically refers to ‘An apparition of a dead person which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image’.1 However, this hasn’t always been the case. A long time ago, the words spirit and ghost meant the same thing. The main difference between them was […]

Please explain John 7:39

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those […]

When was the Holy Spirit given?

The full question: “I always thought the Holy Spirit came after Jesus’ ascension. However, Luke 2:25-26 says Simeon had that same “”Holy Ghost”” as Jesus mentions in Acts 1:8. Am I right? Also, was the Holy Spirit always available, but the apostles just didn’t have him until Jesus’ ascension? Basically, why the big plug in […]

I thought we automatically received the Holy Spirit when we believed, but Luke 11:13 doesn’t seem to imply that. What does it mean?

The Holy Spirit is a multi-faceted subject.  You have to look carefully at the context to understand what a given reference means. On one level, all people, believers or otherwise, have the spirit of God, because we know when people die, the spirit which powers them, goes back to God who gave it. Ecc 12:7: […]

How was Jesus able to hear people’s thoughts? (Luke 5:21-23)

There are numerous examples in the Bible of people doing wonderful things, including knowing things that they could not know by themselves. For example, Ahijah knew the king’s wife, even though she was disguised and he was blind (1 Kings 14:6). Daniel knew what Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed, even without being told (Dan 2:30). Peter knew […]

When speaking in tongues, do we know what we are saying?

What is speaking in tongues? The speaker utters incoherent sounds whilst in an ecstatic state, often encouraged by emotional repetitious music and chanting. Usually this is believed to be an expression of a Holy Spirit gift. “Glossolalia”, as this is called, has also been experienced by people who have no claim to be Christian, both […]

Is there anywhere in the Bible where speaking in tongues is not just speaking a human language?

Speaking in tongues is mentioned in several passages in the New Testament: Mark 16:17; Acts 2:1-13; 10:44-46; 19:6; 1 Cor 12-14. It is important to understand that the Greek word for “tongue” was the same word used for “language”, so “speaking in tongues” means “speaking in languages”. Most of the incidents in the New Testament […]

How can we feel the Holy Spirit in our lives?

To give a little context which might help answer this question, the person who originally asked the question also said: I want to built a relationship with God but…I do not feel the holy spirit. … How can I feel the Holy Spirit…? There is some good news for the person who asked this question. […]