The Holy Spirit is relational

God has always had a Son; even before the creation of the world (John 17:24). This is the most important thing to be said about the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9). So whatever God is like, His Spirit will be like. If God is a one person being, then love cannot be an inherent part of Him, for love requires someone to love. Instead this god will be lonely, needy, and self-obsessed. And so his spirit will not so much be like Casper the friendly ghost, but more like an abusive poltergeist.

The Holy Spirit is love that flows 

But God is not so. God is primarily Father; from all eternity He has been loving His Son and delighting in Him. The Son is the eternal radiance of the Father’s being, the shining forth of the Father’s manifold beauties (Heb 1:3). And the Spirit is the love that flows between the Father and the Son, a love which flows with such a strength, intensity and joy that He is a person, just like the Father and the Son. We see pictures of this throughout the Bible. In Matthew, Jesus is baptised and the heavens open to the sound of God’s thundering delight in His Son (Matthew 3:17). As the Father calls out ‘This is my Son with whom I am well pleased,’ the Spirit descends like a dove on the Son, flowing as it were from the Father’s heart towards the eternally beloved Son. A snapshot of the eternal love relationship within in the Trinity. 

Or take Romans 5: The Father gives life and saving faith to people and does so by pouring out the gift of His love through the Holy Spirit into their hearts (Romans 5:3-5). Indeed the Bible’s understanding of how someone comes to faith in the Lord Jesus shows that the Holy Spirit is not just some weird force who impersonally bullies people to believe. Not at all. Instead the Holy Spirit is the very love of God that comes down into our cold, dead hearts and takes away our hatred of God; we are given a living heart that turns to Jesus in love and joy (John 3:3-6, 19-21; 1 John 4:19; 2 Cor 4:6). By putting His Holy Spirit in us, God puts His own love for Christ into our hearts so that we too may join in His eternal happiness.

The Holy Spirit is a real person 

So much more could be said. The Spirit is a real person: a 'He' not an 'it' (John 14:26). Read Acts to see how the Spirit teaches, calls, gives life, can be resisted, and so on. The Spirit was at work in creation, beautifying all that the Son had made. He is at work in the life of the Christian, always directing the Christian to look to Christ as King, Redeemer, Treasure and God (John 16:14). Finally much more could be said about the work of the Spirit in giving gifts to the church (1 Cor 12-14) and accomplishing the Father’s eternal plan of transforming all the redeemed into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor 3:18, Romans 8:29).

The Spirit is no Gollum, no impish it. He is the love of the Father and the Son; given freely and lavishly to all God’s children, that they too be a part of the Father’s family.

For further reading, Larry recommends The Good God by Mike Reeves. Read Larry's blogs here in English and hier auf Deutsch.