Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do?
Countless volumes have been written about the Holy Spirit over the past two thousand years of the Christian faith. Many are very complex and thorough. Others represent specific issues discussed in the Bible about the Holy Spirit. Some are just down-right freaky and misrepresent the Holy Spirit as revealed in Scripture.
One of the best books written in more-recent times is authored by Billy Graham, simply titled The Holy Spirit, with the subtitled Activating God’s Power in Your Life. Graham’s work is a wonderful layman’s guide to the person and work of the Spirit of God. I encourage you to own it, read it and refer to it often.
Simply put, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. The New Testament Greek word for spirit is pneuma (silent p) and literally means breath, meaning that the Holy Spirit is the breath of God. With that said, the Holy Spirit is God alive and active in this world and throughout all of heaven and earth. The Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of Christ-followers, equipping and empowering them to accomplish that which He lays before them.
The Holy Spirit is a person, as opposed to a non-engaging force. The Holy Spirit speaks, leads, commands, testifies, guides. The Holy Spirit can be insulted, grieved, praised and enjoyed.
The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present. The Holy Spirit is Creator and Sustainer of that creation. There is nothing that God is that the Holy Spirit is not. All of the essential aspects of deity belong to the Holy Spirit.
What does the Holy Spirit do?
Hold on now, here we go . .
The Holy Spirit:
- causes us to be born again (John 3:5-7)
- convicts people of guilt, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11)
- guides us into all truth (John 16:8-11)
- assures us of the truth of God’s Word (John 17:17; 1 John 5:11-13)
- gives us power for the advancement of His Kingdom (Acts 1:8)
- helps us witness for Christ (Acts 1:8)
- brings God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5)
- frees us from guilt and condemnation (Romans 8:1)
- breaks the power of sin in our lives (Romans 8:9-11)
- teaches us how to pray (Romans 8; Ephesians 6:17,18; Jude 1:20)
- frees us from fear (Romans 8:15)
- assures us that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16)
- helps us in our weaknesses (Romans 8:26-27)
- gives us gifts to be used for the advancement of God’s Kingdom (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4)
- fills us with joy, peace and hope (Romans 15:13)
- helps us to understand spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2:10-14)
- baptizes the believer unto salvation (1 Corinthians 12:13)
- helps us worship with enthusiasm (1 Corinthians 14:15)
- guarantees us a place in heaven (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 5:5)
- creates Jesus’ image in us (Galatians 5;22-23)
- gives us inner strength (Ephesians 3:16)
- fills us with himself in order to accomplish what he lays before us (Ephesians 5)
- changes and renews us (Titus 3:3-7)
And this is just a few activities of the Holy Spirit. The Bible has much more to say about the activity of God’s Spirit in our lives.
What do I do with the Holy Spirit?
The most repeated instruction to the believer about the Holy Spirit is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible repeatedly commands Christians to allow themselves to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit in order that the relationship between the Christian and God is an abiding one, so that place of God in the life of the Christ-follower is one of Lordship, and so that the Christian is empowered to live according to God’s purposes, expectations and instructions.
The Holy Spirit is God alive in us, recreating the image of God in our lives, empowering us with God’s purpose and strength, and giving us everything we need to experience the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10:10). God’s Spirit puts adventure into the Christian life, changing it from being solely an adherence to religious doctrine and transforming it into the inheritance of a lifestyle of purpose, meaning and calling.
As one young boy confronted his pastor, “Now if I invite Jesus into my heart, don’t you think he’ll stick out quite a bit?” To which the pastor replied, “Yes son, if you invite Jesus into your heart, He WILL stick out quite a bit.”
And so it is in the life of the Christ-follower. Once you surrender your heart to Jesus Christ as Messiah, Savior and Lord, He gives you the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit to live in you . . . and once you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, He’ll stick out quite a bit!
- Rev. Dick Read
