There seems to be some controversy over the use of the third person neuter pronoun 'it' in regard to the Holy Spirit. Some folks feel that it is wrong to speak of the Spirit of God as 'it'.
But please do notice the following:
Isa 34:16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and
his spirit it hath gathered them.
Here, Isaiah delivers a message from God, who speaks of his spirit as 'it'.
Jhn 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw
the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and
it abode upon him.
Here John the Baptist speaks of the Spirit as 'it'.
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when
it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Here the apostle Peter speaks of the Spirit of Christ as 'it' and uses the term 'which' (instead of the religiously correct term 'who'.
Now let's look at one verse, which is actually merely a sample of numerous other similarly constructed verses:
1Jo 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, [even] Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And
it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
Notice the phrase 'it is the Spirit'. This is similar in construction to numerous other phrases which say 'it is ...X' where X is a person (male or female). For example, howmany times have you said 'it's God' or 'it's Jesus'? We see no problem whatsoever in saying 'it is [insert male or female person's name here]'.
Why is this possible? Why do we not say 'he is the Spirit' or 'He is God' in such situations? Technically and grammatically, the phrase 'it is the Spirit' is simply saying that 'the Spirit is
it' where 'it' is the subject of the sentence or phrase.
Why is this not considered incorrect grammar? Because that is simply how language works.
To say 'it is ...X' is simply saying that 'it', an unidentified subject, is then identified as 'the Spirit' or 'God' or 'Fred' or 'Mary' or whatever you supply. There is no grammatical difficulty even though the pronoun is neuter and the noun which it refers to is masculine or feminine or whatever the case may be.
So, in short, there is both Biblical and grammatical precedent for using 'it' in reference to the Holy Spirit.
Does this mean the Spirit is 'an it' and not a 'He'? No, of course not. The pronoun does not determine the reality of the underlying noun. That would be contrary to all logic and language, not to mention common sense.
But, to put it simply, if the Bible itself occasionally refers to the Spirit of God as 'it' then it is
not wrong for us to do so as well.
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