The Holy Spirit — “He,” NOT “It”
Over the summer I worshipped in a few different churches. I heard some good preaching. But I also heard something in a couple of churches that always grates on me. I heard people referring to the Holy Spirit as “it,” both in prayer and preaching. Jonathan Master explains why we must never refer to the Holy Spirit as “it”:
Because many people know little about the Holy Spirit, and because the language of spirit is so foreign to us, we often refer to the Holy Spirit in impersonal terms. We do this by referring to the Holy Spirit using the pronoun it rather than he. In the English language, an it is a thing. The desk at which I am sitting is an it. But the Holy Spirit is never referred to as an it in Scripture, but rather as a he. He can be obeyed (see Acts 10:19-21); he can be lied to (see Acts 5:3); he can be grieved (see Eph. 4:30); he can be resisted (see Matt. 12:31). In other words, the work that God does in giving a new heart to those who are spiritually dead is a work that is done by a divine person. Not a machine. Not a vague, impersonal force. (pp.39-40)
It is a common problem. I have encountered this error in systematic theology books written by esteemed Reformed theologians and published by houses whose editors might have been expected to catch it. Nevertheless, it is a matter of honour for God the Holy Spirit that we always refer to him in the proper manner.
