This is a question that has been asked down through the centuries, and never quite answered satisfactorily. Let's start with a definition: that is always a good place to start any inquiry into a Biblical topic.

According to Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, the Hebrew word for holy is, "qodesh" and means, "Separation, or an object set apart."

• Exodus 3:5 "And he said, Draw not close to here: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
• Exodus 12:16 "And in the first day there shall be an holy assembly, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy assembly to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you."
• Exodus 15:13 "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation "

According to Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, the Greek word for holy is, "hagios," meaning, "Separate, set apart."

• Romans 1:2 "Which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures."
• Romans 7:12 "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."
• Romans 11:16 "For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches."

So, we can see from these scriptures that holy in the Bible means something set apart, separated. Isn't that wonderful? Glory to God for He is holy and He is spirit.

Now let's take a look at the word spirit. What does it mean or what is it?

The Hebrew word translated spirit in our English versions is the word, "ruach."

• Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters..."
• Genesis 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years..."
• Genesis 41:38 "And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is , a man in whom the Spirit of God is?"

• Genesis 8:1 "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided."
• Exodus 10:13 "And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts."
• Numbers 11:31 "And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day' journey on this side, and as it were a day' journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth."

In all of the references above the Hebrew word is "ruach," the same word used to mean spirit and wind. So we can see the connection made in the scriptures between wind and spirit.

The Greek word for spirit is "pneuma." According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance pneuma means: "a current of air, breath or a breeze." So again we see the connection between spirit and wind. Let's take a look at John 3:8:

The wind bloweth where it wishes, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell where it cometh, and where it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. "

The word wind in John 3:8 is pneuma. So, again we see the connection between spirit and wind. Both the Hebrew scriptures and the Greek make this connection. So, in understanding what spirit is, we can use the similarity of relationship between wind and spirit to gain insight into spirit.

When you take a look at the wind there are two things that stand out. Wind is invisible and wind has force. So, we can conclude the spirit is an invisible force. Isn't that wonderful?

Taking a look at our scripture that Jesus spoke, John 3:8, we see that the wind blows where it wishes, and we can not tell from where it comes from or where it goes. So, we can conclude that spirit has a mind of it's own and does what it wants. We do not know what the spirit is going to say or where it is going to lead. We have to just trust that it knows what it is doing.

So putting what we have learned about holy and spirit together we can come to a basic definition of holy spirit. Holy meaning separate or set apart and spirit meaning an invisible force that acts according to it's own wishes which we can not tell from where it comes from, or where it is going!

So I exhort you to study this teaching. Let it sink down into your mind and heart. Let is speak to you personally and live inside you so you can do it and learn to recognize the holy spirit working in you! God Bless You!