I am often asked how the Personhood of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated. It is an exceedingly important question and worthy of careful consideration. After pondering and praying about this quite a bit, the following lines of evidence are what I find most helpful.
I primarily look to lines of evidence in the Scriptures. I also find helpful evidence in the writings of Ellen White.
In the Scriptures we find the ongoing presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in both Testaments.
We also find Christ's promises to send His Representative and Successor—a successor would have to be another person.
The greatly anticipated gift was realized on the Day of Pentecost, and abundant power for witnessing came. As a result, in short amount of time, the Gospel was taken to the whole world. The early church members did not view the Holy Spirit as an influence, they had been told, believed, and responded to the Holy Spirit as a real Person directing and enabling their efforts.
The Book of Acts preeminently records the activity of the Holy Spirit in directing and blessing the early believers as they sought to fulfill Christ' commission to go and make disciples. Though often perceived as speaking of the acts of the apostles, in reality, the book was all about the work of the Holy Spirit. Looking at these activities, we find things going on that only a Deity could do, as well as activities that only a Person would do. In the Bible Study I give numerous examples.of both.
There are also many many verses in the New Testament — from the Gospels to Revelation — that speak of all Three Persons in the same verse or passage. In my research I found many more of these verses than I ever realized. These verses are solid evidence of the distinct Personhood of the Holy Spirit.
The words used to describe and discuss the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures vary, even though they usually refer to the same self-existent, eternal Deity. Clearing up misunderstandings in this regard is very important.
Ellen White affirms the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit as a distinct person throughout the Scriptures!
She also speaks of promises made and the wonderful blessings realized as a result of the gift of the Spirit
There are also strong quotes on the Spirit coming and functioning as Christ’s Representative and Successor. '
There are quotes on the Personhood of the Holy Spirit. Some of these are very strong, and one of the documents even has Mrs. White’s handwritten note at the top that she approved the document that included the key quotes.
The best evidence, however, is the many “Three” statements where she lists the Three Persons, along with descriptors such as “Three Great Worthies,” “Three Highest Powers of the Universe,” “Three Great Instrumentalities of Heaven,” etc. In my research I found 25 to 30 of these titles, of which many are used multiple times in her writings. The repeated use of these “Three” statements give abundant proof that the Holy Spirit was a distinct Person of the Godhead. On another page you will find many samples of these statements.