Allos parakletos

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14.16 KJV

The phrase translated another comforter in the verse above is allos parakletos. Allos is a Greek work which means "another" and parakletos means comforter. There is another Greek word that can also be translated "another." That word is heteros. It is telling that Jesus chose allos instead of heteros in describing the Holy Spirit as a comforter.

Heteros means “another of a different kind” while allos means “another of the same kind” By calling the Holy Spirit allos Jesus was saying that the Holy Spirit was exactly like him. Indeed, that was the reason why the disciples were comforted—they knew that even though their comforter, master, and friend Jesus was leaving, another one who was exactly like him was going to take his place to comfort, counsel, help, intercede for, advocate for, strengthen, and be a stand-by support for them.

The Amplified Bible translates John 14.16 as

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—

This seven-fold understanding of parakletos is in direct contrast with what the state of orphanhood which the Holy Spirit averts.

The Holy Spirit is a person

What does it mean to say the Holy Spirit is a person? 

To describe the Holy Spirit as a person is to say that he has personal attributes. For instance, Jesus refers to Him with the personal pronouns "he," "him," and "himself." The personal pronouns used for the Holy Spirit have been highlighted in the verses below.

I will pray the father and he will send you another comforter that he may abide with you always...

John 14.16 KJV

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, 'The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.'

John 16:13--15

Why is the Holy Spirit referred to with the impersonal pronouns "it" and "itself" in the Bible?

Since the personhood of the Holy Spirit is as valid as that of the Father and the Son, it is an error to refer to Him as "it." However, in spite of this fact, the King James Version of the Bible, for instance,
refers to Him with it in some portions. We highlight the impersonal pronouns in the following three verses.

The spirit itself beareth witness...

Romans 8:16 KJV

The spirit itself maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered

Romans 8:26 KJV

This is due to the fact that the Greek word translated Spirit in these verses is pneuma. Pneuma is also the word used for wind, evil spirits, human spirits, and any spirit at all.¹ Hence, Romans 8:16 from the Greek is similar to

Even the pneuma agrees with our pneuma that we are God's children.

Hence, translating it as "The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" may be reasonable, granting ignorance of the fact that the pneuma of God is actually a person.

Other personal attributes and characteristics of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit can be grieved

Grieve not the Holy Spirit...

Ephesians 4.30

The Holy Spirit has a will--He decides, determines, prevents, forbids, etc.

But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

1 Corinthians 12.11 KJV

It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

1 Corinthians 12.11 NLT

The Holy Spirit did not want Paul and his team to minister in the province of Asia so he forbade (KJV) them. The NLT says He prevented them.

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.

Acts 16.6 NLT

The Holy Spirit speaks

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly

1 Timothy 4.1 NLT

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and walk along beside the carriage."

Acts 8.29 NLT

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1 http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4151&t=KJV^↩

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is probably the least known person of the Triune Godhead. This is due to the fact that, for a long time in the past, He and His manifestations were subdued and repressed due to a near universal misunderstanding of his person and work. The restoration of the recognition of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church in modern times began in the early 1900s with a series of events, the most significant of which was the Azusa Street Revival. The inception of this revival ushered in renewed zeal for the work of God, accompanied by a spate of renewed interest in the scriptural teaching on the Holy Spirit and His gifts, and the appreciation of His ministry from the beginning of the church to now.

Some important things to note about the Holy Spirit is that
1. He is a person. That is, He has personal attributes and is referred to as a person. He also has a mind, a will and emotions.
2. He is God. He possesses the attributes of God.
3. He is like Jesus.

We discuss each of these points in other posts.

The Fruit, Baptism, and Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Affirmation:
We believe in Baptism of the Holy Spirit for believers with signs following; and in the operation of the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. (1 Corinthians 12.8--11, Mark 16.17, Acts 2.4, Galatians 5.22)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 1.8 NLT

The Holy Spirit is probably the least known person of the Triune Godhead. This is due to the fact that, for a long time, He and His manifestations were subdued and repressed due to a near universal misunderstanding of his person and work. We shall look at who the Holy Spirit is, establish that he is God, explore allos parakletos, a description Jesus gave to him, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.