As we saw in full graphic live shots from December 11, 2021 of the devastation caused by exceedingly fierce tornadoes that ripped through multiple states, wind is a very powerful force. At its strongest, it can cause wood to pierce steel and similar fabrications, lift tons and flip them like a plastic penny. It can collapse structures weighing in the tons. It can literally plow a path through a town and make it look like it was never there. (see stories on NPR's website, and on CBS News website.)
Wind is a force. Depending on the circumstances, it can be 'gentle' - i.e., the effect of the force is gentle. Depending on the circumstance, it can be 'driving' - i.e., the force of it pushes away or obliterates anything in its path. It has no personality - it does not know happiness nor fear. It does not cry. It cannot discern between right and wrong. It does not discriminate between good people and not so good people, or good organizations and harmful organizations. It is welcomed on a hot summer day, and loathed during storm seasons - and it never is sentient of either circumstance. It does not speak words nor carry on a conversation. It cannot love or hate. It cannot see, it cannot hear, it does not walk. It does not have an 'instinct'. It cannot smile, nor frown. It cannot mourn, it cannot groan - even though poets and even the author of the Bible will ascribe certain emotions to wind as it describes the effect it has on people and other things. However, it does not possess those emotions itself. It is a force.
There are some religious groups and religious people who believe that the Holy Spirit of God is only a force. An inanimate force that affects or effects things, like the power and impact of wind. Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) is one such organization. Subscribing to ancient arianistic beliefs, the organization teaches that the Holy Spirit of God was a force He created and which is 'active' in the world. Like the wind, such a force cannot be sentient, He cannot feel grief - although the Bible says that God the Holy Spirit can be grieved. The 'force' in their definition is a mere instrument of God: "Just as a craftsman uses his hands and fingers to do his work, God has used his spirit to produce results" that include the universe, the Bible, and 'the fine qualities' God wants for His people. According to JW, the Holy Spirit is not a person as they clearly state in their doctrinal statements. They say He cannot bear witness, yet that goes against scripture at Romans 8:16, John 15:26. They say that the Holy Spirit does not speak - again, that goes against Jesus' own words at John 16. They say that the Holy Spirit is an inanimate force - however, scripture tells us He is alive--Romans 5:5, Romans 7:6, Romans 8:10 (this is not an exhaustive list). They say He cannot feel and that He is not self-aware, yet the Bible reveals a different story: Romans 8:14, Romans 8:23, Romans 8:26, Romans 8:27, Romans 9:1, Romans 14:17, Romans 15:16, Romans 15:30. They do not believe He has character and sentience, but the Bible teaches differently: 1 Corinthians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 2:11, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 12:3, Acts 1:2, Acts 1:16, Acts 5:3, Acts 5:9, Galatians 4:6, Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:22, Galatians 5:25.
When a person has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in him or her, discernment of God's words in scripture is possible; God gives us His Holy Spirit to teach us and transform us into the image and character of Christ. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world because He is God, the Holy Spirit. A person of the Godhead who testifies about Jesus to the world, convicting the world of the sin from Adam which rejects Jesus as revealed in scripture. As the link to 1 John relates, the spirit that speaks against the Godship of Jesus Christ is an 'anti', i.e., against Christ, an antichrist. It speaks to deceive and veil the truth and reflects the devil and satan, whose mission is to steal the faith, kill the spirit, and destroy the ability of persons to recognize the truth and, rather, speaks lies and deceptions. (compare John 10:1-10, 2 Corinthians 4:2-4, Acts 20:28-30, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 Timothy 4:1-5).
The personhood of God the Holy Spirit is sometimes not spoken about in churches with the clarity of scripture and, like other of God's revelations to humankind, the knowledge of God's full character and person remain unknown to those who flock to a church, who sit in pews week after week or tune in via Zoom or YouTube to attend church regularly. Like the Titanic's sad journey in an icy sea, they only see the surface of the knowledge of God - the tip of the iceberg, without awareness of the greater depth and substance of who God is. That, too, makes for a sad journey. Jesus invites us to know the truth that sets us free from the grip of antichrist teachings, the truth and understanding, the protection from the antichrist which Jesus fervently prayed for His followers during the last night of His earthly life. Come and drink the water from the Life which He freely gives and never thirst again for deceptive teachings.
