A few summers ago, our family drove across the country and ended up visiting Yosemite National Park for a few days. On the final day, we parked at Tunnel View (which gives you the best views of the entire park; seriously, Google it!) which is literally just a stop on the side of the highway. Many people were coming and going, and a few stopped to jump out of their cars — which happened to still be running — only to snap a quick picture and keep moving on to the next stop. It was quite shocking to me how quickly people came and went, believing that twelve seconds was sufficient to take in one of the most stunning portraits of God’s creation on the planet. Some things are so astounding, breathtaking, and beautiful that they need more than just a quick glance or a fading Instagram story!
As Christ followers, many of us can manage to read through the entire book of Acts, or Romans chapter 8, or other significant passages where the Holy Spirit is mentioned throughout the Scriptures and commit the same error as those rushed tourists at Yosemite. However, a longer, second look is needed. Let’s investigate four realities of the Holy Spirit every believer must understand:
1. The Holy Spirit was Promised.
Acts chapter 2 takes place after the resurrection of Jesus, after his multiple public sightings for at least forty days, as well as after his ascension. There are 120 or so believers who were told by Jesus himself to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit, whom Jesus had said they would be baptized with not many days from now. He explained that the Holy Spirit would bestow the church with the necessary power to be his witnesses in both the city of Jerusalem, the greater area of Judea, and even to those outside of their racial or ethnic comfort zone (Samaria). This would not be a merely localizedreligion — this would extend beyond Jew to Gentile, and beyond Jerusalem to even the farthest corners of the earth.
Acts 2:1 says, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.”
This is the Feast of Pentecost, exactly fifty days after the Passover when Jesus died at Calvary. This feast was an occasion when the Israelite farmers brought their first fruit offerings of grain to Jerusalem, where there would be much festivity, as well as the reading of the book of Ruth. So there are about 120 believers all in one place, and notice what happens next:
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
We get the “firstfruits” of the Spirit’s empowering witness right in the next few verses:
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
This was not gibberish; these were literal, recognizable, uttered languages. This was astounding because the ones who were precisely speaking other languages and dialects were simple Galileans — not necessarily the university grads in the community!
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians — we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
The misunderstanding that they may be drunk came from those who heard multiple languages being spoken that they couldn’t understand. But as James and John begin speaking of the mighty works of God, the Elamite and Libyan both perk their heads up and say, “Oh wait — they’re not babbling like a bunch of drunks — I can understand them!” So Peter stands up and begins to share the Gospel, saying (verse 15):
For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”
Peter says this isn’t from the influence of too many mimosas; this is a fulfillment of that verse in Joel which we all know: God has promised to pour out his Spirit in the last days, and we’re seeing that promise come to pass!
This isn’t the only place the Spirit was promised by God. Jesus promised the Spirit in John 7:37-38 when he described living water flowing from the heart of the one who believed in him — a reference to the Spirit who hadn’t yet been given. In John 16, Jesus promised the Spirit would come and that he would guide us into all truth. There are many more that time won’t permit, but we praise and thank the Father and the Son not only for promising the Spirit, but being faithful to sendthe Spirit to the church.
2. The Holy Spirit is a Person.
John 14:16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
We refer to the Holy Spirit as the third “person” of the Trinity. When we refer to people, we use personal pronouns, therefore the Holy Spirit should never be referred to as “it.” Some call him the “Holy Ghost,” but I think even that terminology can imply an impersonal force, or wind. Part of what was called ‘the Arian heresy’ was to imply that only the Father was truly God and that Jesus was a created being, thus the Holy Spirit was merely an essence. The Jehovah’s Witnesses propagate this false teaching, but Scripture is pretty clear: the Holy Spirit of God has knowledge (1 Cor 2:10-11), a will (1 Cor 12:11), a mind (Rom 8:27), he loves (Rom 15:30), reveals (Acts 13:2), intercedes (Romans 8:26), teaches (John 14:26), guides (Acts 16:6-7), can be grieved (Eph 4:30), insulted (Heb 10:29), lied to (Acts 5:3), and blasphemed (Matt 12:31-32). These can only be referring to a person.
God didn’t leave us as orphans; Jesus would ask the Father for another Helper — a Person like himself. This means that the Spirit is a distinct and co-equal person of the Trinity. The Scriptures tells us that the Holy Spirit is:
- Involved in creation (Genesis 1:2)
- Involved in the incarnation (Luke 1:35)
- Involved in salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14)
- Involved in the resurrection of Christ (Romans 8:11)
- Involved in judgment (Acts 5 — Ananias & Sapphira)
How did the person of the Holy Spirit work in your salvation? Titus 3 says:
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
Paul tells Titus that this was their state prior to salvation: mentally and morally corrupt, lacking both sense as well as sensibility. Before we were in Christ, we were empty-headed, empty-hearted, deceived, enslaved, oppressed, and subjugated to malevolence and hostility. Though Paul and Titus use the pronoun “we,” he wasn’t referring only to them! This is the natural state of all unbelievers. Then we come to a radical breakthrough in verses 4-5:
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,
In stark contrast to the envy and hatred espoused by the unbelieving world, the good, loving, kind God — whom Paul emphasizes is our Savior — broke into our lawless, rebellious state of confusion. God didn’t measure our good works on one side of the scale hoping to outweigh our wickedness — NO! He didn’t tell us to look within ourselves for the answers, as if meditation, self-realization, or the enneagram would save us. God isn’t a cheerleader on the sidelines motivating us to save ourselves, because that’s impossible. We need something more than a motivator — we need a Mediator — someone to look upon our sad state of spiritual plight and come to our rescue. Paul says God appeared, and he saved us — and it wasn’t because of our works but according to his own mercy. Then notice what Paul tells Titus:
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
There’s a radical, new beginning in the life of the previously dead-and-disobedient when Jesus Christ justifies us (which means to declare us righteous before a holy God). Notice Paul uses the same term for Jesus that he just did for God — “our Savior.” We can’t save ourselves; we must yield completely to Jesus our Savior: He has justified us by his grace and has made us inheritors of the hope of eternal life. But how did this new life begin? Paul explains to Titus that this spiritual birth happens when the Holy Spirit has been given to us. Notice we have the person of God the Father in verse 4, the person of Jesus the Son in verse 6 — and the person of the Holy Spirit here in verse 5.
Paul tells Titus the washing of regeneration and renewal came to us through the person of the Holy Spirit, whom God poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ. ‘Washing’ describes our baptism into Jesus Christ — our identification with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection — which is spiritual, but we commemorate this with the outward, visible sign of water baptism which speaks of an inward cleansing from the old flesh. All who are saved in Christ have been renewed and regenerated by the person of the Holy Spirit.
3. The Holy Spirit is a Provider.
There are many activities or ministries that the Holy Spirit provides to our spiritual life — but here are eight:
- Convicts (John 16:8-15)
- Regenerates (John 3:1-8; Titus 3:5; I Peter 1:23-25; James 1:18)
- Seals (Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30)
- Indwells / baptizes believers (I Corinthians 6:19; Romans 8:9; John 14:16; I Corinthians 12:13)
- Gifts (I Corinthians 12:7-11)
- Guides (John 16:13-15)
- Produces fruit (Galatians 5:22-23)
- Fills (Ephesians 5:15-21; Galatians 5:16)
Notice the progression here: the Son proceeded from the Father, and the Holy Spirit of God proceeded from both the Father and Son to be poured out on God’s people — convicting us before we were saved, but then regenerating us, sealing us, dwelling within us and baptizing us into Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts which allow us to minister to his people, and guides us to be effective for his kingdom. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of Christ’s character as we abide in him, and fills us with the strength to walk in a manner pleasing to him.
In the fourth and fifth stanza of Come, Holy Spirit, Come! (Joseph Hart, 1759), we sing these words:
‘Tis Thine to cleanse the heart,
To sanctify the soul,
To pour fresh life into each part,
And new-create the whole.
Dwell, therefore, in our hearts;
Our minds from bondage free;
Then shall we know and praise and love
The Father, Son, and Thee.
God has been faithful to give his church the Promise of the Holy Spirit, which has nothing to do with unbiblical experiences, or feelings, or fluff — but has everything to do with the Person of the Holy Spirit, so that we would receive the Provision of the Holy Spirit — resulting in us experiencing the Power of the Holy Spirit.
4. The Holy Spirit gives Power
Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8 that they would receive “power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” Apart from the Holy Spirit’s power, the disciples would never have been empowered nor emboldened to share the triumph of Christ’s resurrection with those who had never heard. But the empowering doesn’t only involve the Christian’s mission. The Spirit’s empowerment begins much sooner, and closer to home. Romans 8:1-9 walks us through this transformative enabling in our sanctification.
Just as every Christian is “in Christ,” the Holy Spirit dwells within every Christian! 1 Corinthians 6 and other passages teach us that our bodies are the Spirit’s temple. God’s Holy Spirit dwells within us, giving us renewal, and when we set our mind on the Spirit we experience life and peace. This is how we live and walk — with the presence of the Holy Spirit residing within us. He has been poured out upon us and now indwells all believers. The word for a person who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit is ‘unbeliever‘! Every Christian may not speak in tongues (1 Cor 12:30 makes that easily clear), but every Christian — every single one — has the Holy Spirit. That’s both indisputable as well as comforting.
Doesn’t it strike you that the defining attribute of the Spirit of God is his holiness? Of all the adjectives to put in front of “Spirit” — it’s HOLY that God wanted us to truly grasp. He is set apart, and when we submit our lives to the work of the Holy Spirit, he produces renewal and enables us to walk in fruitful obedience.
What else does the power of the Spirit give us? In the midst of a corrupted, confusing, groaning creation, we have at least two important things:
Assurance
The Holy Spirit assures us of our sonship by adoption, testifying for us and to us that we are indeed God’s children. He has indeed not left us as orphans; God’s Spirit settles the debate in our hearts when our conscience condemns us. Like the new believers at Pentecost, we too have the firstfruits of the Spirit — the deposit given at the beginning of the harvest which guarantees that there’s much more to come. One day, we will exchange cross for crown, suffering for glory, and the not yet will merge with the already as we see the final redemption and restoration of the new heavens and new earth, with Christ consummating his glorious kingdom. For this, we have a sure hope, even though we don’t see it.
The Holy Spirit also gives the believer: Assistance
The word Jesus uses to describe the Spirit is “Paraklete,” our alongside-Helper. He helps us in our human, limited frailties to pray for God’s will even when we can’t find the right words. He picks up where human words and human knowledge fail, and he prays for us! We aren’t left to ourselves to pray, and thankfully, we aren’t left to ourselves to save ourselves. He has already foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified us.
So we have assurance and assistance in our sanctification — available to us as the Holy Spirit takes up his rightful residence within us.
J.I. Packer said, “All who are realistic about themselves are from time to time overwhelmed with a sense of inadequacy. All Christians time and again are forced to cry, “Lord, help me, strengthen me, enable me, give me power to speak and act in the way that pleases You, make me equal to the demands and pressures which I face!”
Within Romans 8, we learn that belonging to Christ means to have the Spirit, but being in Christ isn’t to escape pain, pressure, or suffering. Some preach that message, “Come to Jesus and you will stop suffering!” But we know the truth of the Gospel is an invitation to “come and suffer with Christ.” In this broken and fallen creation, we will suffer. But even in the suffering, the Holy Spirit assures us of our sonship and assists us in our weakness — so in the battle we’re enabled to become more than conquerors.
Amy Carmichael once penned these thoughts:
“Sometimes when we read the words of those who have been more than conquerors, we feel almost despondent. I feel that I shall never be like that. But they won through step-by-step by little bits of wills, little denials of self, little inward victories by faithfulness in very little things. They became what they are. No one sees these little hidden steps. They only see the accomplishment, but even so, those small steps were taken. There is no sudden triumph … That is the work of the moment.”
I would add — that’s the work of the Spirit! In the small moments, when no one is around, we must yield to the Spirit’s work, the Spirit’s help, the Spirit’s guidance, the Spirit’s power. He is our divine Helper, given to the church to make us more like Jesus.
After taking a longer, second look, are you experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, believer? Are you working out your salvation in your own strength, or relying on the holy provision God has given us in the person of his Spirit? May we echo the same prayer Robert Hawker prayed:
“Blessed promise! Holy Spirit, make it happen in and upon my soul, day by day. Bring me under the continued baptisms of your sovereign influence, and cause me to feel all the sweet anointings of the Spirit sent down upon the hearts and minds of your redeemed. These are the fruits and effects of Jesus, the promise of God the Father. Yes, blessed Spirit, cause me to know you in your person, work, and power:
“I need you day by day as my Comforter.
I need you as the Spirit of truth, to guide me into all truth.
I need you as the one who reminds me of the Lord Jesus, to bring to my forgetful heart all the blessed things he has revealed to me.
I need you, as the witness of my Jesus, to testify of my wants, and of his fullness to supply.I need you as my advocate and helper, in all my infirmities in prayer.
I need you as the deposit of the promised inheritance, that I may not faint or lack faith to hold on and hold out in every dark season.
I need you, Lord. I cannot do a moment without you, nor act in faith, nor believe a promise, nor exercise a grace, without your constant hand on my poor soul.
Come then, Lord, I beg you, and let me be brought under your unceasing baptisms. Shed abroad the love of God my Father in my heart, and direct me into the patient waiting for Jesus Christ. Amen.”
References
https://hymnary.org/text/come_holy_spirit_come_let_thy_bright_bea
https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/keep-in-step-with-the-spirit/
Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, p. 130
