The Holy Spirit is God’s presence at work in the world. The Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) declare that the Spirit of God was at work in the creation of the world (Gen 1.2), giving life to plants, animals, and humans (Ps 104.27-30). The leaders of Israel were given power and direction by the Spirit, including Moses and the seventy-two leaders chosen to help him (Num 11.24-30), Gideon (Judg 6.34), and Kings Saul and David (1 Sam 10.6-13; 11.6; 16.13; 2 Sam 23.1-4). Earlier prophets like Elijah and Elisha (2 Kgs 2.9-15, where the CEV translates “spirit” as “power”) and later ones like Isaiah and Ezekiel (Isa 61.1; Ezek 2.2; 3.12-27) were guided by the Spirit of God and given messages for the people.

The Lord promised to give his Spirit and message to his people so that they would become eager to obey God’s Law and teachings (Isa 59.21; Ezek 36.24-29). The prophet Isaiah reminded the people that it was by the Spirit that God guided the history of Israel from the beginning (Isa 63.10-14). If God’s people disobey the Spirit, they will be punished (Isa 63.10), but when they follow the Spirit, their lives and hearts will be transformed and purified (Ezek 36.26,27). And ultimately, their hope for the future is that God's Spirit will renew them and their relationship with God (Isa 44.3-5; Ezek 11.19,20), and send them a new ruler filled with wisdom and justice (Isa 11.2-5).

For the writers of the New Testament, Jesus is seen as the one who fulfills the vision that inspired the prophets. Luke reports that an angel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would come down to her, and God’s power would come over her and that her child, Jesus, would be called the holy Son of God (Luke 1.35). Jesus’ relationship with God is again emphasized at his baptism when “the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove” (Luke 3.22). At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus read a passage from Isaiah to people gathered on the Sabbath. He declared that the Lord’s Spirit had come to him and had chosen him to tell the good news to the poor (Luke 4.16-19). Although Jesus’ enemies accused him of having an unclean spirit (Mark 3.28-30), Jesus claimed that it was by God's Spirit, not by the devil, that he was able to drive out demons (Matt 12.28). The writer of Matthew also claimed that Jesus was the “chosen servant” Isaiah said would be given the Spirit of God and bring justice to the nations (Matt 12.15-21; see also Isa 42.1-4).

In John, Jesus tells his disciples he will send the Holy Spirit to help them; to teach them everything and remind them of what Jesus had already taught them; to show them what is true; and to guide them in the full truth (John 14.15-17,25,26; 15.26; 16.4-15).

After Jesus died and was raised to life, he spent forty days with his apostles. He told them that they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1.3-5) and that the Spirit would give them the power to take the good news about Jesus “everywhere in the world” (Acts 1.8). Then, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came to the apostles who were gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2.1-12). Acts goes on to tell of the many ways the Holy Spirit guided and strengthened the apostles as they took the good news about Jesus to other lands and people (for example, see Acts 4.8,31; 6.3-5; 8.29; 13.2-9; 20.22-24).

For Paul, it is the Spirit who sets free God's new people and who changes their lives so that they can have peace and be obedient to God (Rom 8.1-17). The Spirit gives them the ability to understand God's will, to live together in love, to see what the future will bring, and to carry out the different kinds of work that need to be done in the churches (1 Cor 12~14). The Spirit produces within them the love and the lifestyle that God wants for his people (Rom 4.9-13; Gal 5.22,23).