The Holy Spirit Is Our Helper
4. John 14:15-17 If you love me, keep my commandments. I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you always. He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you.
5. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.
6. Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings.
The Holy Spirit Is A Person
1. Being a person, the Holy Spirit has feelings. He can become sad or angry, and others can insult Him and blaspheme against Him .
Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. – Isaiah 63:10
And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. – Matthew 12:31
You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! – Acts 7:51
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. – Ephesians 4:30
How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? – Hebrews 10:29
2. He has intentions, shows willfulness and discretion, loves, communicates, testifies, teaches, and prays . These are qualities that distinguish Him as a person.
You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. – Nehemiah 9:20
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Fatherthe Spirit of truth who goes out from the Fatherhe will testify about me. – John 15:26
His Role In Salvation
In the Church Age, the Spirit is central in salvation. He directs and enables evangelistic efforts . He convicts the unbeliever of sin and regenerates the person. He cleanses the person from sin and gives him the new nature . As He performs this spiritual new birth, the person enters the kingdom of God gaining eternal life . The Spirit seals the person. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the seal or guarantee that a person is saved and will remain saved . And, the Spirit gives spiritual gifts to believers, graciously enabling all believers to serve in spiritual ministry.
Also Check: Is The Bible Inerrant And Infallible
Be Found Blameless Through The Holy Ghost
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless . And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation . How can you truly be looking for Him unless you are blameless before Him? Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ . You cannot have the fullness of Christ without receiving the Holy Ghost, neither can you have the fullness unless you are blameless. To be blameless you must walk in the light. If you do not walk in the light, you are not blameless in the eyes of the Lord. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin . Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin . You will be blameless when you have done all the Lord requires, and that includes receiving the Holy Ghost baptism.
God The Holy Spirits Work In The Church
The Holy Spirit not only empowers the believer with gifts but works actively in the church and even appoints church leadership . Here are a few examples:
Acts 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot.
Acts 11:12 Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the mans house.
Acts 13:12 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
Acts 5:3-4 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.
1 Cor 2:9-12 However, as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a persons thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.
Recommended Reading: What Does The Bible Say About Refugees
Fruit And Gifts Of The Spirit
The “fruit of the Holy Spirit” consists of “permanent dispositions” , virtuous characteristics engendered in the Christian by the action of the Holy Spirit.Galatians5:22â23 names nine aspects and states:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control against such there is no law.
In the Epistle to the Galatians these nine characteristics are in contrast to the “works of the flesh” and highlight the positive manifestations of the work of the Holy Spirit in believers.
Christian denominations have doctrinal variations in their beliefs regarding the Holy Spirit. A well-known example is the Filioque controversy regarding the Holy Spirit â one of the key differences between the teachings of the main Western Churches and various Eastern Christian denominations .
The Filioque debate centers around whether the Nicene Creed should state that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father” and then have a stop, as the creed was initially adopted in Greek , or should say “from the Father and the Son” as was later adopted in Latin and followed by the Western Church, filioque being “and from the Son” in Latin.
The topic of the Holy Spirit is discussed extensively in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “I believe in the Holy Spirit” in paragraphs 683 through 747.
The Holy Spirit Makes Believers New And Gives Them Eternal Life
Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to renew, sanctify, and make us holy. Just as the Holy Spirit raised Christ from the dead, the Holy Spirit will give eternal life to believers in Christ.
But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you .
Don’t Miss: Praying Without Ceasing Meaning
The Result Of Walking In The Spirit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.
to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13.
Two Things That Characterize This Experience
We could talk for hours about what that experience is. In fact, most of my messages are just that descriptions of the experience of the Spirit of God in the life of the believer. But Ill mention two things from the book of Acts things that mark the experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit or of receiving the gift of the Spirit.
1. A heart of praise: One is a heart of praise. In Acts 10:46 the disciples knew the Holy Spirit had fallen because they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Speaking in tongues is one particular way of releasing the heart of praise. It may be present or may not. But one thing is sure: the heart in which the Holy Spirit has been poured out will stop magnifying self and start magnifying God. Heartfelt praise and worship is the mark of a real experience of the Holy Spirit.
2. Obedience: The other mark Ill mention is obedience. In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles say to the Sadducees who had arrested them, We must obey God rather than men. Then in verse 32 he says, We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God gave to those who are obeying him.
Read Also: Pray Without Ceasing Meaning
Who Is The Holy Spirit
When Christians talk about God coming to live in their hearts, its the Holy Spirit they are describing. The Bible describes the Spirit as the breath of God.
Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you. And with that He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.
So just as you need oxygen to live in your human body, if you trust in Christ, you are born again in a spiritual sense and the Holy Spirit becomes the source of new life God places within you. You no longer just relate to God as a higher power outside of yourself. God transforms you from within so that you become more like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in the life of a believer. But this does not mean God separates Himself into three separate parts.
God is three distinct persons who somehow are one in substance. God is unique in this way, so its not surprising that it takes some work to come to terms with this truth.
The Bible helps us to break down the mysteries of the Holy Spirit into ideas we can grasp.
Soul As Used In The Bible
First, consider the soul. You may remember that the Bible was originally written mainly in Hebrew and Greek. When writing about the soul, the Bible writers used the Hebrew word nephesh or the Greek word psy·khe. These two words occur well over 800 times in the Scriptures, and the New World Translation renders them soul, either in the main text or in footnotes. When you examine the way soul or souls is used in the Bible, it becomes evident that this word basically refers to people, animals, or the life that a person or an animal has. Let us consider some scriptures that present these three different senses.
People. In Noahs day . . . a few people, that is, eight souls, were carried safely through the water. Here the word souls clearly stands for peopleNoah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Exodus 16:16 mentions instructions given to the Israelites regarding the gathering of manna. They were told to gather it according to the number of the people that each of them had in his tent. So the amount of manna that was gathered was based on the number of people in each family. Some other Biblical examples of the application of soul or souls to a person or to people are in the footnotes found at Genesis 46:18 Joshua 11:11 Acts 27:37 and Romans 13:1.
Recommended Reading: Chronological Order Of The Bible
Feeling The Holy Spirit’s Presence
Where Is The Holy Spirit In The Bible
Jesus is easy to find in Scripture. In a sense, He is everywhere, but we also have four books, known as Gospels, which are biographies of His life specifically. In the book of Jeremiah and elsewhere in the Old Testament, we see early references to God as Father. This is also how Jesus often referred to Him when He was teaching.
But at first glance, it may be unclear where the Holy Spirit shows up in Gods Word. And yet the more you know what to look for, the easier it is to see Him throughout Scripture, from the very first verses until the last.
The following verses are examples of where the Holy Spirit shows up in the Bible.
You can also watch this video for an overview of the Holy Spirits presence in the Bible.
-
The Bible begins with the Holy Spirit present at the creation of the world.In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters .These are the very first verses of the Bible. The Spirit is present from the very beginning.
These verses are simply a snapshot of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Without Him, the Bible does not make sense.
Why not take some time to study what it means to live a Spirit-filled life using our Holy Spirit Starter Kit.
The Holy Spirit is dynamic and knowable. The more you allow Him to guide and direct your life, the more you will become like Christ and experience the love of your Father in heaven.
Read Also: Is The Bible Infallible
The Holy Spirit Works In The World Through Evangelism
Referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus affirmed in John 16:8: When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Lord used the legal term convict in order to highlight that, even if man can point out an error, it is the Spirit that brings conviction of sin. He shows the offense, reveals the foolishness of the sin, points out the consequences, convinces of guilt, and leads the sinner to repentance. He is the churchs greatest ally in its evangelizing effort. Without the help and the filling of the Spirit, the evangelistic task of the church will fail.
The emphasis on the Holy Spirit does not come from any religious organization in particular, but from Christ Himself. When the disciples asked the Lord about the future, Christs answer was emphatic: He said to them, It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth .
Speak The Heavenly Language Of The Holy Ghost
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment : And he saith unto him, Friend , how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless . He did not have the Holy Ghost therefore, he did not speak the heavenly language. To be changed and caught up when Jesus comes, you must have on the wedding garment and speak the heavenly language, and this you cannot do unless you have the Holy Ghost. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth . In other words, without the garment of the Holy Ghost which gives heavenly language, he was spewed into the Tribulation Period.
You May Like: What The Bible Says About Unforgiveness