The only explicit mention of the Spirit in Colossians is in 1:8, which speaks of the believers’ love in the Spirit. This book does not speak much about the Spirit because it deals with Christ as the Head directly. Thus, we go on to 1 Thessalonians 1:5 which says, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, even as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.” Then 4:8 says, “Consequently, he who rejects, rejects not man but God, who also gives His Holy Spirit to you.” His Holy Spirit in Greek is literally “the Spirit of Him the Holy.” The Holy Spirit given to us by God is the Holy One who sanctifies us, making us holy before God. Verse 23 of chapter five says that God Himself will sanctify us wholly in all the three parts of our being—spirit, soul, and body.
Second Thessalonians 2:13 says, “God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Putting all these verses together, the Spirit in 1 and 2 Thessalonians is the sanctifying Spirit. These two books in the New Testament deal thoroughly with sanctification and “the Spirit the Holy,” the sanctifying Spirit. This sanctification is for our preparation for the Lord’s coming. Verse 13 of 1 Thessalonians 3 says, “So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” According to these books, the Holy Spirit within us is “the Holy,” doing the work of sanctification to work holiness into us. Therefore, since this Spirit is always working within us, we must not quench Him (5:19).
Second Timothy 1:14 says, “Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” This is the keeping Spirit, who dwells in us to keep the good deposit. In his Epistles to Timothy, the apostle Paul charged Timothy to keep, by the indwelling Spirit, all the things that he had received from Paul and not to lose them. Thus, the indwelling Spirit is the keeping Spirit.
Titus 3:5 speaks of the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we may say that in this book the Spirit is the renewing Spirit (cf. Eph. 4:23).
Hebrews first reveals that the Holy Spirit is the speaking Spirit. Verse 7 of chapter three begins, “Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says.” Hebrews does not tell us who the writer of this book is, and it presents quotations from the Old Testament without telling us from which books they are taken. Rather, the book begins, “God, having spoken of old in many portions and in many ways to the fathers in the prophets, has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son” (1:1-2). It is God, not a mere human writer, who speaks; that is, the writer is God Himself. In the ancient times God spoke through the prophets, and today God still speaks through the Son. Therefore, this book does not tell us the name of the writer, but simply says, “The Holy Spirit says.” Hebrews 9:8 confirms the thought of the speaking Spirit, saying, “The Holy Spirit thus making this clear.” This means that the Holy Spirit speaks, points the way, and tells us the way. Verse 15 of chapter ten says similarly, “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us.” Therefore, in this book the Spirit is the speaking Spirit.
Verses 4 and 5 of chapter six say, “For it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” These verses speak of tasting certain items and partaking of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in this book is an enjoyment to us. To be a partaker of the Spirit means that we have tasted the Holy Spirit. Then in 10:29 this Spirit is called the Spirit of grace. Because He is the Spirit of grace, He can be our enjoyment; He can be tasted by us. Therefore, in the book of Hebrews, the Spirit is revealed in two main aspects: He is the speaking Spirit, and He is the Spirit for our taste and enjoyment.