Thanks for the input, shittim and HB. Here is how I begin the study of the Holy Spirit on our website:
The OT Shema (Deut. 6:4) teaches that God is one, and the NT also affirms that there is one God (Eph. 4:6, 1Tim. 2:5). However, the NT teaches that the one God relates to believers in three ways simultaneously: as the Father, as the Son and as the Holy Spirit (HS). God as the heavenly Father is indicated in Jesus’ model prayer (Matt. 6:9), throughout the Gospel of John (John 3:35, 5:17-18, etc.), and in the epistles of Paul (Rom. 4:11, 8:15, Phil. 2:11).
God the Father and Christ’s Sonship are discussed in Heb. 1:1-4. The Son of God also is mentioned by John (John 1:14, 3:16, etc.) and by Paul (Rom. 1:4, Gal. 2:20, 1Thes. 1:10).
The Holy Spirit is mentioned in three successive chapters in John (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13), frequently in the book of Acts (Acts 1:5, 2:4, 9:17, 13:2, 19:2), and in many of Paul’s letters (Rom. 8:4-26, 1Cor. 6:19, Eph. 4:30) as well as in some of the other epistles (2Pet. 1:21, Jude 20).
The triune God’s “persons” may be distinguished by role: God the Father as creator or initiator (Gen. 1:1), God the Son as Messiah or mediator (1Tim. 2:5), and God the Spirit as indweller (Rom. 5:5). For example, 1 John 4:7 says love comes from (is initiated by) God (the Father), Gal. 5:22 says that love is a fruit of the (indwelling) Spirit, and Eph. 3:18 speaks of the (mediating) love of Christ (Rom. 5:8, Eph. 2:18).
We can denote these distinctions by the use of three prepositions: God the Father is over all creation (Eph. 4:6), God the Son is Immanuel or with humanity (Matt. 1:23), and the Holy Spirit is within all believers (Eph. 1:13). A single passage that comes closest to indicating this distinction is Eph. 3:14-19, in which Paul prays to the Father that through His Spirit of love Christ would dwell in believers’ hearts (also see 1Cor. 8:6).
Over...