3 Realities Of The Holy Spirit

Raimer Rojas

The Holy Spirit is actively operating in this world in three ways: Omnipresence, Indwelling Presence, Manifest Presence. And therefore with an understanding of these three realities and their distinctions, we can help a congregation be aware of, expectant, and seeking the full gamut of the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

As an added bonus, the congregation of a church can greatly benefit from these understandings as they encounter worship songs and hymns that speak of the Holy Spirit active in one of these three ways. They need this to make sense of the context of the focus of the songs they sing. We can educate a congregation, through short exhortations, as to the realities of the Holy Spirit, as seen through these various lenses.  

Omnipresence

The Holy Spirit is present everywhere

That God can be in all places simultaneously is a key attribute of God.  “However, the Bible specifically teaches that God is both everywhere at once and transcendent (above all) or outside of His creation.”

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." - Psalm 139:7-10 NIV

Indwelling Presence

The Holy Spirit dwells within believers

Yes, He lives in the hearts of believers (1 John 4:13; 1 Cor. 6:19; Ephesians 1:13-14). We don’t necessarily feel this reality but it’s a fact. This is the Indwelling Presence. Keep in mind that those who are in Christ are not only indwelt but infilled with the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Spirit happens at conversion, the infilling of the Spirit, which the Bible exhorts us to seek, is to happen continually (Ephesians 5:18; Acts 13:52). 

Manifest Presence

At times, the Holy Spirit will give a more experiential and tangible sense of the presence and power of God, sometimes individually or in a corporate fashion

There are indisputable moments in the Bible when the presence of God comes powerfully upon an individual or group of people. Probably no believer would contest this reality in the Old Testament. But many are not aware of this reality still continuing to happen in the New Testament. There are signs in the NT of this happening as well and I am not just talking about Pentecost (when the Spirit came like a rushing wind, the impact visibly seen and heard by those in the room and those outside > Acts 2). That is to say, not just at the very start when the Holy Spirit was first poured out on what would become the birth of the Church, but in future contexts as well. And then there is the experience of the Church over the ages outside Biblical times, where global reports of the manifest presence of God coming down into a room or other locale, region, have been recorded. 

Old Testament Examples Of The Manifest Presence Of God:

Some New Testament Examples Of The Manifest Presence Of God:

As one person put it... “God's presence is everywhere, at all times, and with all of us, believer and unbeliever alike. Likewise, His Holy Spirit indwells believers at all times. But His manifest presence is something that occurs in our lives as He chooses to reveal Himself.”