The Spirit

Paul Cozza

A Place in the Wilderness

The Spirit

© 2023 Paul Cozza

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Paul Cozza
A Place in the Wilderness

Email: paul@aplaceinthewilderness.com
Website: aplaceinthewilderness.com

Scripture quotations are from the
American Standard Version of the Bible (1901)
unless otherwise noted.

Cover design: Nuggitz Creative Services (Nuggitz.com)
Cover photo: San Hoyano | 123rf.com

In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit is generally called the Spirit of God1 or the Spirit of Jehovah.2 This was God as the Spirit moving in His creation and coming upon man as power. The great blessings of the Spirit to His people were not yet revealed.

The Names of the Spirit

In the New Testament, God has opened the storehouse of His supply to us as the Spirit. His many names and functions reveal the numerous aspects of the Spirit in His relationship with man. All of these are for and according to the eternal desire of God’s heart. He is known as the Holy Spirit,3 the Spirit of holiness,4 the life-giving Spirit,5 the Spirit of life,6 the Spirit of truth,7 the Spirit of God,8 the Spirit of the Father,9 the Spirit of God’s Son,10 the Spirit of Jesus,11 the Spirit of Christ,12 the Spirit of Jesus Christ,13 the Spirit of the Lord,14 the Spirit of glory,15 the eternal Spirit,16 the seven Spirits,17 and simply the Spirit.18

The Aspects of the Spirit

Furthermore, among other things, He is God,19 the Begetter,20 The Dove,21 the living water,22 the breath,23 the baptism,24 the Revealer,25 the power,26 the Anointer,27 the food,28 the Teacher,29 the Comforter,30 the gift,31 the anointing oil,32 the clothing,33 the filling,34 the firstfruits,35 the Intercessor,36 the Sanctifier,37 love,38 the Giver of gifts,39 the foretaste,40 the Liberator,41 the Transformer,42 the seal,43 oneness,44 the word of God,45 the bountiful supply,46 truth,47 and much more.

Unfathomable

Who can understand such a Spirit! No one. Trying to understand this Spirit is like trying to fit an ocean into a teacup. The effort is not only wasted, it is even absurd. No doctrine, no dogma, no theology can define this Being. He is undefinable, immeasurable, and incomprehensible.

Consider: Typical Christian doctrine says the three of the Trinity are three Persons. But what does the Bible say? It says God is Spirit.48 How can the entire God be the third “Person” of the Godhead? The Bible also says the Lord is the Spirit.49 How can the Lord, the second of the Trinity, be the Spirit—the third of the Trinity?

The Bible says clearly that there is one Spirit.50 But it also tells us there are seven Spirits.51 How can this be? Is the Spirit one or seven? The answer to that question is, Yes!

Furthermore, The Bible says the Spirit is the breath of the second of the Godhead,52 and the seven Spirits are the eyes of the second.53 How can this be? In addition, the second of the Godhead became a man, who then became the Spirit in resurrection.54

You might say that I am confusing the Godhead. Actually though, I am simply pointing out what the Bible says. If there is confusion, it lies in the minds of those trying to define God, who is undefinable.

So then, what do we do? We stop trying to understand God. We stop attempting to fit God into some kind of doctrinal theology. Then, the confusion will pass. God is not for our mind; God, who is Spirit, is for our human spirit.

The Marvelous Pear

Consider a pear. It is splendid to look at, and smells quite sweet. But, I understand virtually nothing about it. I might study it, analyze it, dissect it, and put it under a microscope. Yet, I still would hardly know a thing about it. Its mysteries would remain just that—mysteries.

I could examine that pear for days, until it rotted, and the ants came and carried it off. But, I still would really know nothing about it. And, worse still, I would remain hungry.

What I really need is to take that pear into me—bite it, savor its sweetness, let its juices fill my mouth, chew it, then swallow. Next, I would assimilate all it is. Not only would I be relishing its goodness in taste and texture, I would become more healthy by virtue of what that pear is and what it does to me inwardly.

All my study and analysis would avail me nothing. I actually must eat that pear. So is the Spirit! I can never understand Him, but I can partake of Him, drink Him in, breathe Him in, be filled with Him.

The Wonderful Spirit

This Spirit is most wonderful! He is, in fact, whatever we need Him to be. Are you thirsty deep within? He is life-giving water. Are you lonely? He is the Comforter. Are you weak and tired? He is power and life. Whatever your need, He is.

You might rightly ask, “He might be all these things, but how do I partake of them? Yes, He is a marvelous Being, but He is there, and I am here. What good is that to me?” These are most excellent questions.

The Marvelous Jesus

When Jesus was on the Earth, on the last day of the feast—the greatest day—when all had eaten and drunk their fill, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.”55 He was speaking of the Spirit—that Spirit He would become in His resurrection when He was glorified.

Jesus realized mankind was thirsty. Man hungered and thirsted for God. There is an empty spot deep within man—a spot that only God can fill. Man tries to fill himself with so many things—amusements, lusts, education, religion, nature, and on and on. But that spot can only be satisfied by God Himself, for this is how God made man.

Jesus cried out to all the thirsty ones to come to Him, for He is the one with the living water. The water that He gives is the Spirit. That water becomes rivers of living water flowing out of the man who drinks of this Spirit.

The Lord did not try to explain the Spirit. No! He offered man to drink that Spirit. In every instance, the Lord never tried to explain God. He never “fed” man’s mind. He always fed man’s spirit, imparting to man that wonderful, thirst-quenching Spirit of God.

When Nicodemus came to Christ for some better teaching—indeed, he addressed Jesus as “Teacher”—the Lord told him he must be born of the Spirit!56 He did not give Nicodemus something for his mind, which Nicodemus thought he needed. No! He led Nicodemus to the Spirit, to what he really needed and actually wanted deep within.

How

You might still ask, “How do I drink the living water? How do I come to Christ to drink? How does he give me the Spirit?”

From birth, we know innately how to drink. We suckle and drink. No teaching is involved. We swallow without prompting. We drink freely without instruction.

So it is with the Spirit. We simply come and drink. For example, we may come to the Lord and say, “Lord Jesus, I am thirsty. Give me a drink. Give me of Your Spirit. Fill me to overflowing.”

Or, we could say to the Lord, “I open to You. I open my deepest part. Wonderful Jesus, pour Yourself into me.”

No matter how I say it, or when I say it, if I come to the Lord and open, He will fill me. If you come and open, He will fill you!

The Spirit’s Operation

When this Spirit enters us, He is not static. He is always moving and working. He brings God Himself into us and deposits the very element of the holy God within us. This slowly makes us holy, until we are as holy as God is. How amazing is this! This is God’s sanctification of us.

Furthermore, this incredible Spirit works within us to make us like Christ, to change us into the same image as He. We once were dark and of evil countenance, but this Spirit is transforming us into Christ’s brilliant and stunning image. What an unspeakable blessing!

Simple

You might think that this is too simple, that it must be more complicated than this. You might feel you should have to do something for this, that you must “earn” your living, or you might believe that nothing is free, and look for a “catch.”

But, not so. Does a newborn earn its mother’s milk? Is it complicated for the newborn to drink? Is there some sort of hidden agenda in the mother’s feeding of her babe? If this is true of us humans, it is far more true of the great and most excellent God!

God is God. He can do everything. He doesn’t need us to do anything—except to come and open! At the very end of the Bible, God’s marvelous offer is set forth: “He that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.”57 The Spirit Himself declares, “Come!” So come, open, receive, and enjoy.

“Lord Jesus, I open. Fill me. Flood me with Your wonderful Spirit. Lord Jesus, I love You!”

Genesis 1:2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Judges 6:34 But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.

Romans 1:4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord,

John 6:63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
1 Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.

John 14:17 even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.

Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him;

Matthew 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Acts 16:7 and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not;

1 Peter 1:11 searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.

Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Acts 5:9 But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

1 Peter 4:14 If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.

Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;

John 7:39 But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
Acts 5:3–4 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

John 3:5–6 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 1:32 And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon him.

John 7:39 But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

Mark 1:8 I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:5 for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence.

Luke 2:26 And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor:He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives,And recovering of sight to the blind,To set at liberty them that are bruised,

Luke 11:11–13 And of which of you that is a father shall his son ask a loaf, and he give him a stone? or a fish, and he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.
John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me:

Acts 2:38 And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:38 even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Acts 13:9 But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him,

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Romans 8:26 And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;

Romans 15:16 that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

Romans 15:30 Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;

1 Corinthians 12:4–11 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit: to another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discernings of spirits: to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will.

2 Corinthians 1:22 who also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13 in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,—in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 4:3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

1 John 5:7 And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;

Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

Revelation 5:6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.

1 Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

John 7:37–39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.