Many of us are confused about the Holy Spirit. The Father we have a decent conception of, the Son too (Godman, Lord, Redeemer, etc), but the Spirit? We honestly don’t know what to do with “it.” And that’s one of the main problems. Some of us think of the Spirit primarily as an “it”; a thing, a force, and not a person. But according to the Scriptures the Holy Spirit is a person, coeternal, and coexistent with the Father and the Son. What’s more, it matters that we know that he’s a person.
This is one of the realities R.A. Torrey emphasized in his later teaching on the Holy Spirit. In a lecture* aimed at proving the personality (personhood) of the Spirit from Scripture, Torrey first argued for the importance of the question. (I kind of love that, by the way. People used to argue for why they were going to argue.) He knew some might write it off as an abstract, unimportant question, so he very quickly made three arguments for why we should care to know this.
First, “it is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship.” Look, if the Holy Spirit is a person alongside the Father and the Son, then he deserves to be worshipped alongside the Father and the Son. If we treat him as just an impersonal power or force sent from the Father, or something like that, we will be “robbing him of his due.” We won’t be treating him with the adoration, honor, glory, and majesty that a Divine Person is worthy of. According to Jesus, God desires to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth (John 4). If you miss the personality of the Spirit, you’re actually missing out on both of those dimensions. You are missing out on the joy of knowing Him for who not just what he is.
Second, “it is of the highest importance from a practical standpoint that we know the Holy Spirit as a Person.” From the Spirit comes the power to do all that God calls us to do in this world. But, Torrey says, if we think of the Spirit as a mere force, then we will be constantly asking silly questions like, “How can I get hold of the Holy Spirit to use it?” much like Simon the Magician. We don’t know to ask in prayer, “How can the Holy Spirit get a hold of me and use me?” The difference between these two questions is the difference between pagan use of the divine and a biblical understanding of God as Lord.
What’s more, on the one way, we will ask how to get more of the Spirit instead of asking how the Spirit can get more of us. Torrey says the first way necessarily leads to pride, strutting about as if you belong to a better class of Christians because we have “more” of the Spirit as force. When you understand the Spirit is a person, you realize you have to humble yourself to be of any use to him. He is the one who comes and takes a hold of us, fills us, disposes of us, and glorifies Jesus through us as he wills.
Third, “the doctrine of the personality of the Holy Spirit is of the highest importance from the standpoint of experience.” Here Torrey points us to the experience of Christians, both in his own ministry, and throughout the centuries that attest to this. Knowing the Spirit as a person means the possibility of deeper communion, joy, and love, as we come to know our God as he dwells within us. God does not come to us through a lesser, impersonal intermediary. He does not speak to us at a distance and relate to us from far away. Instead, Father and Son send the Spirit, another Advocate, who comes to inhabit us, and bringing us into the very life of God through union with Christ.
We could go on at length on the importance of the personhood of the Spirit. We will stop here for now. Maybe take some time to pray. If you have not considered the reality that the Holy Spirit is a person, stop and meditate on that. Pray that God would give you a sense of it, both intellectual and spiritual. If this is not new to you, stop anyways. Maybe pray Torrey’s prayer, “Lord, how can the Spirit get a hold of more of me? In service? In communion?” Or maybe simply praise God that through the gift of the Spirit, God gives you the gift of himself.
Soli Deo Gloria
*reprinted in Fred Sanders’ How God Used R.A. Torrey, pp. 203-227
Reformedish 
This is the kind of question churches must be asking as corporate worship goes the way of a charismatic understanding of the Holy Spirit. It’s not that the charismatic worship is wrong necessarily, but there’s a lack of understanding about the Spirit’s role in worship. Much of this I think has to do with seeing the Spirit as a force, not a person.
Speaking of a lack of understanding of the Spirit’s role in worship… How many evangelicals are aware of or openly acknowledge that there is no biblical evidence to suggest that the earliest Christians either worshiped or prayed to the Holy Spirit as a distinct entity, a persona distinguishable apart from association with the Father or the Son? Yes, there is no biblical data that indicates New Testament believers worshiped the Holy Spirit as a “person.” I would have responded to this earlier, but I’m hoping not too many will notice that I’ve posted this “heretical” view and track me down to brand me as a heretic–I just call em the way the New Testament portrays em. 8>)
I agree with rwwilson147 more. Why do we put so much emphasis on our understanding to denigrate different views? Scripture does not support worshiping the ‘Spirit’, there is no obligation or imperative to do so, so where is the rationalisation and mandate apart from scripture? My learning and obedience comes from Scripture, the Word of God, inspired by the Spirit of God. The worship of the Father and his Son Jesus is revealed and taught. Isn’t this enough? What makes me believe in the Spirit, is that it is God’s Spirit, the same Spirit that anointed Jesus and raised him from the dead and the same Spirit that Jesus gives to those that believe in him and lives in us and enables us to have eternal life. Is the Spirit a person or a force. It isn’t really important. Both come from the Father and Jesus, it is they who get the glory and are worshiped. And I thank the Father and Jesus for this most intimate gift, of God himself. Praise God!