For those of you who have read the last post on the Holy Spirit, an explanation is in order. Where did the term Holy Ghost come from? It is not to be found in the Greek Text. Holy Ghost is a Germanic term. The Dutch Bible, German Bible, the old Gothic Bible, the Anglo Saxon Bible and our English bible use the term. In Anglo Saxon it was Halig Geist. It is one of the reasons that our English Bible and the English language have prevailed.
Whenever the third member of the Godhead is singled out as a person, and not the influence of a person, the term Holy Ghost is used. At no place in your Bible will you ever see phrases such as his Holy Ghost, or my Holy Ghost, or the Holy Ghost of God. I have had brethren wonder why I Thessalonians 4:8 uses the term his holy Spirit when the term translated out of Greek is exactly the same term translated everywhere else as Holy Ghost; He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
The answer is in the word, his. A King James Bible would never say his Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is always used when the passage is speaking of person himself to whom the reference is made. In a King James Bible, there is a distinction made between the spirit of a person and the person himself. A careful reader of Greek, French, Spanish or whatever else language, might eventually understand that distinction, but they would only get it through context. Our English Bible just plain out tells us.
The closest synonym in your Bible to the term the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God. For example, look at John the Baptist's testimony concerning the dove. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, Matthew 3:16. He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him, Mark 1:10. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him, John 1:10. In each of those instances we saw the event through John's eyes. In Luke we see it through God's eyes. He doesn't quote John, or tell us what John saw. He tells us what happened. And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased, Luke 3:22.
The usage of the term Holy Ghost to describe the third person of the Godhead makes a King James Bible far easier to understand. If there is no difference between the spirit of a person of the Godhead and the person himself, then Acts 19:2 makes no sense. When Paul meets 12 men outside of a synagogue, the Word of God describes them as disciples of John's and as believers. And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, Acts 19:1,2.
These twelve Jewish believers who were devout enough to have banded together since their conversion under John's ministry, and now stand outside of a synagogue, have certainly read their bibles. It is unthinkable that they are not familiar with the Old Testament. Yet, they have never heard of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God is mentioned in the second verse of the Bible. The fact that God has a Spirit is interlaced throughout almost every book of the Old Testament.
What is not plain in the Old Testament is that any reference to God's Spirit is a reference to an entirely different person in the Godhead. Any reader of the Old Testament can see that there are two persons spoken of as God. Yet, the Holy Ghost as a distinct person in the Godhead is never mentioned. Therefore twelve devout Jews who are undoubtedly familiar with Holy Writ did not know that the Holy Ghost existed.
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.), John 7:39. John's disciples did not receive the Holy Ghost. They couldn't because Jesus Christ had not yet been glorified when they were converted. Apostles like Paul scoured Europe and Asia looking for such people to lays hands upon them. It is a time and doctrine unique to the transitions of the Book of Acts. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established, Romans 1:11.
As long as our brethren learn their doctrine from C.I. Schofield and from other Bible correcting memes, there is little hope of them ever grasping these things. Let go of your preconceived ideas. Let your King James Bible teach you. To call yourself a Bible believer, and yet not believe what it says, is to really not believe the Bible at all.