We’ve been looking in this series at the misunderstood Holy Spirit. There is so much confusion in the church today over the Holy Spirit. Some over-emphasise Him. Others under-emphasise Him. Some look to their own experience to define their doctrine of the Holy Spirit, while others look to their tradition as the authority to define who the Holy Spirit is.
We have concluded that the only place to learn of the Holy Spirit is the Bible, since He is the author of the Bible. He wrote it, so surely that is where He will give us everything we need for life and godliness. We do not need our experience or our tradition to add or subtract from the sum total of truth that the Holy Spirit recorded regarding Himself. The Bible is enough.
We have seen wonderful truths regarding the Holy Spirit in this series. We have studied Scripture and seen that He is a Person – He has will, intellect and emotion. We have seen that He is God – not just the desire or power of God – but God Himself, one of the three persons in the Godhead. We have seen that He has changed His methods over time, and in the church age, He is permanently indwelling and sealing all true believers.
In Part 3 of this series, we studied the baptism of the Holy Spirit and saw that it is the act whereby the Holy Spirit joins us into Christ’s body by his death and resurrection. In this final part of the series, let’s look at the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives today as Christians.
Many Christians are like a man whose car has broken down, while a new battery lies in the boot. They are like a son with a huge bank account who lives like a pauper. I’m not advocating the prosperity gospel, I’m pointing out that so many Christians miss out on real power, life and vitality because of a misunderstanding or a neglect of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives, and how to respond to Him. So let’s examine that, and see what we must do.
Someone once pointed out that one of Satan’s best strategies is to confuse the believer as to what God will do and as to what he or she must do. If we are confused as to God’s part and our part, we will get tripped up. If you think it is all up to us, you’ll become a legalist who depends on the flesh to try and live the Christian life. You’ll pretty soon end up hopelessly frustrated by your weakness and continual defeat.
If you misunderstand God’s sovereignty, you will think since it is all up to Him, there is nothing for me to do – and so you become passive. You become, actually, lazy and inactive – because you think the Christian must just ‘let go and let God.’ It is only when we can learn to balance the truths of God’s sovereign power with our human responsibility, that we will find the balance of the Christian life that Christ wants us to have.
We need to see it this way: The Holy Spirit is totally sovereign in our lives. It is His power alone that will accomplish anything of value in our Christian lives. We can do nothing apart from Him. When we get to glory, we will see that 100% of the glory for our lives goes to Him. Secondly, we need to see that we are totally responsible for responding to the Holy Spirit. While He will give all the power, we must put in all the effort.
He empowers the effort, but He does not empower slothfulness or passivity. When we get to glory, we will see saints rewarded in excess of others, because they put in more effort than other believers, while depending on the Holy Spirit. So, it might seem contradictory, like the twin forces at work in our salvation – God’s sovereign election, and man’s responsibility to believe. But they are both true. When it comes to your Christian life, the Holy Spirit will do 100%, but you must give 100%.
What does the Holy Spirit do, and how must I respond?
- Firstly, the Spirit produces Christlikeness in your life
John 15 pictures the Christian life as a grape vine. Christ is the vine, believers are the branches. As we remain in union with Christ, we bear fruit. That fruit will be God-glorifying Christlike character. Now notice, branches do not produce fruit, branches bear fruit. The fruit is produced by the vine, and it comes out from the branches.
In the same way, the supernatural characteristics of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control are the fruit of the Spirit – simply John 15 restated.
So the Spirit does the work. He, being God, manifests godliness through us. That takes a great weight off, doesn’t it?
I mean, we are not trying to imitate merely a great moral human. We are trying to imitate the God of the universe! How utterly impossible apart from supernatural power. So what must I do? He is producing the fruit, but what is my responsibility? The answer is given a few verses earlier in Galatians 5: 16: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
Walk in the Spirit. That’s our responsibility. Think about that illustration. Walk. When you walk, you are actually in the process of falling with each step. You transfer your weight, and allow gravity to pull you, and then you place your other leg on the ground as your means of support. Well, God is saying, take every step of your life depending on Me. Every moment of your life must be like a simple falling and trusting your leg – the Holy Spirit – will take you through, as your only means of support.
This speaks of continual, ongoing dependence and fellowship. It is a state of being, and a way of life. It’s why Paul uses the word ‘walk’ so often in Ephesians to describe your entire lifestyle.
In fact, I regard walking in the Spirit as identical to being filled with the Spirit. We find that term in Ephesians 5:18. There Paul says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit.” What does this mean?
It’s the same thing as walking in the Spirit – coming under His control, being completely dependent on Him. See, many have gotten confused over being filled with the Sprit. They have mistakenly equated it with the baptism of the Spirit, and even with salvation. But there are a number of reasons why this is not possible.
Firstly, Paul is saying, literally in the Greek, “Be ye continually getting filled.” Unlike the verb he uses in 1 Corinthian 12:13 where he speaks of the baptism of the Spirit as a completed event, here he tells us to continually do this thing. Continually get filled. Notice also the illustration he uses. He says don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. What’s the connection?
Well, the one who is filled with wine comes under its influence, and their behaviour changes. He is, as we say, under the influence of the alcohol. Now, one who walks in the Spirit, who is filled by the Spirit, comes under His influence, and is changed. The fruit of Christlikeness is produced by the Spirit. And you can see it in the verses that follow Ephesians 5:18 – the results are praise for God, thanksgiving, submission to authority, godly relationships.
See, being filled with the Spirit is not you getting more of Him. We saw in Part 2 and 3 of this series that you get all of Him when you get saved. No, it is Him getting more of you. Walking in the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit, is you continually submitting to God in humility, wanting Him to do His work through you.
This is the simplest statement of the Christian’s continual humility before God: stating your helplessness, needing His empowerment. Stating your submission, wanting His leadership. It really all starts here – humbling yourself before God, asking that He fill and empower you.
- Secondly, the Holy Spirit enables fruitful fellowship with God
The Bible is a closed book to the unbeliever. It is a maze of complicated and seemingly contradictory ideas. Prayer is an exercise in futility for the unbeliever, because not only do they not know who to pray to, they have no idea what to ask of God. How the Holy Spirit once again does 100% of the work in the life of the believer in the regard!
Firstly, He illuminates us as we read the Bible. Illumination refers to the light going on in the darkness. The Spirit wrote the Bible, and He is the one that gives us light as read it, and discernment as we hear it preached. 1 Corinthians 2:
Now we have received, not the spirit which is of the world; but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God: which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1 Corinthians 2:12-13
See, the Holy Spirit is the One who gives the power to understand the Bible, and to see Christ’s glory revealed. If you’re a believer, you will have had that experience when reading the Bible – suddenly it all makes sense, or you say, “I never saw that before!” That’s the blessed Spirit illuminating. He helps us in prayer too. Romans 8:27-28 tells us that the Spirit prays for us, and knows what requests to make for us because He knows the mind of God. Verse 26 seems to suggest that He aids, even corrects, our prayers and makes them acceptable to God.
So prayer and Bible study are only worth anything because the Holy Spirit does it all. Once again, what is my responsibility? Well, when it comes to prayer, Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” Just like we must walk in the Spirit, we must include even prayer in this. We must depend on Him to help us to pray, with what to pray, and the strength to pray fervently as God wants us to. The Spirit will give 100% of the power, but we must put in 100% of the effort, depending 100% on His empowerment.
What about the Word? He will turn on the light. He will let it make sense. What must I do? Colossians 3:16 tells us, “Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you with all wisdom.” Now why is this related to the Holy Spirit? Well if you look it up, you’ll find that Colossians 3:16 and following are almost mirror images of Ephesians 5:18 and following, which tells us to be filled with the Spirit.
This leads us to understand that Colossians 3:16 is integrally related to our being controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not work in a vacuum; He leads and guides using His Word. And the more saturated you are with His Word, the tighter and stronger His control over you. So our responsibility is to immerse ourselves in the Bible. To memorise it, spend time studying it, listen to it preached.
Oh, He will turn on the light, He will illuminate, but you must make the effort to read, study and memorise. That is why Paul says in Romans 8:5, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit – the things of the Spirit.” In order to respond to the Spirit’s promise to teach us His Word, we must spend much time reading it and thinking about it. It must take up so much of our thinking, that we can truly be said to ‘mind the things of the Spirit.’
If we are often found meditating on Scripture, the Spirit will truly teach us. And realise, the Spirit does not only teach you the Bible when it is open in front of you, like He is limited by time and situation. He can teach you when you are in the car, thinking about what you read. The point is this: our responsibility is to saturate ourselves with Scripture. The Bible must be at home in our lives. Our glasses must have Bible-coloured lenses in them, and it thus affect everything we look at.
It’s important to add that the Spirit also graciously keeps drawing us to God. Philippians 2:13 tells us, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” The Spirit not only gives you the power to do the works of Bible study and prayer, He also gives you the will. He creates a hunger and a thirst in you for fellowship with God. What must I do when He is drawing me to read my Bible and pray? Simple – 1 Thessalonians 5:19: “quench not the Spirit.”
Don’t resist Him, and His drawing. Don’t put out the fire He creates in you by dowsing it with food, light entertainment, friends, TV, reading, hobbies. There is a thirst He creates in you that can only be met in God – in fellowship wit Him. Don’t quench that drawing power He uses. Respond to Him – work out your salvation with fear and trembling – put in that 100% effort into prayer and Bible study.
- Thirdly, the Holy Spirit gives us discernment.
But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you: and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
1 John 2:27
John is not saying that Christians do not have need of teachers. That would contradict Ephesians 4:11, which tells us He gives the church teachers to help it. No, John is saying that because the Spirit indwells true believers, they do not need spoon-feeding on every single point. They are not clueless as to every false doctrine. The Spirit gives discernment.
In this context, John is explaining how Christians will be able to spot antichrists – note the plural – false teachers, who deny Christ. Jesus even pointed out that even though sheep are dumb and easily led astray, He said of His own sheep in John 10:5, “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.” The Spirit will give the discernment. So once again, He will give 100% of the power.
What is the Christian’s responsibility? Just a few verses later, John returns to this theme and now gives the human responsibility. John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirit whether they are of God.” Test the spirits. The human’s responsibility is to not be a gullible Christian who swallows everything without questioning it. Test, consider, examine a person’s doctrine.
Ever wondered why some don’t have discernment? It’s because they are not carrying out their human responsibility to test the spirits, and the Spirit will therefore not give them discernment. He gives 100% when we put in 100%. In this area, it means we must consider very carefully if something is biblical, and then the Spirit will empower us with His wisdom.
- Fourthly, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin
He is the alarm bell that warns us against going into sin. He is beyond that, the awful, crushing feeling of shame and the need to confess to God when we sin. Although we think of it negatively, isn’t it a wonderful thing that the Spirit even goes after those who have sinned against Him, urging them to repent and make right? Without Him, how quickly we would descend into destruction. It is His kind calls to repent, His firm warning voice to put off sin and pursue righteousness, that saves us from so much harm.
Now, it is a wonderful thing to have a guide who warns us, and even rescues us, when we have fallen. But what is my human responsibility? Ephesians 4:30 says, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Don’t grieve Him. In other words, don’t offend and cause Him pain by ignoring His warnings and going into the sin. Listen to that still, small voice.
The danger of learning to ignore His convicting voice, is that we are actually learning to be comfortable with grieving Him. We are learning to regard our sin lightly. Pretty soon, we will have a seared conscience, where we can hardly hear the Spirit’s conviction though our now hard hearts. He is doing you a favour by warning you not to sin. It is our high-handed rebellion and pride that pushes ahead with our desires, in spite of His warnings. It makes us less receptive to Him, it loosens our grip on Him as our leader.
I think it is a foolish thing to grieve your guide through life. So instead of grieving the Spirit, we must obey the Spirit. As Romans 8:14 puts it, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The Spirit is doing the leading, but you and I need to do the following – and obey Him. Don’t do the wrong thing, do the right. Put off the old man, mortify your sin, and put on the new man, follow Christ.
- Fifthly, the Spirit empowers your service for God
Now, we don’t have time to go into spiritual gifts, that’s a series on its own, but the Bible is clear about spiritual gifts. They are divine empowerments for service. The Spirit gives them sovereignly to whoever He wants to. Not everyone has the same gift, nor can everyone ask for or get the same gift. God gives a spiritual gift or gifts to you when you are saved, you do not have to plead for it.
Spiritual gifts are always there to edify each other, not for selfish use. When every believer exercises their spiritual gift in the body of Christ, it works together like a human body with its divinely designed unity and harmony. So the Spirit gives you a gift, and will give you 100% of the power to use it. So what is my responsibility?
Surprisingly, the Bible doesn’t tell me to try to try and discover my gift. It simply tells me that I have one or more, and tells me that I must serve in the body of Christ. It is when you serve in the local church, depending on Him, that He will empower your service with the gift or gifts He has equipped you with. You will not use your gift while doing nothing for God.
But here is the key: God truly empowers service done in love. 1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, is meant to be read in the context of spiritual gifts. Paul says, if you serve for any other reason than love for God and for each other, your service is meaningless and empty. It is using your gift with love that is your human responsibility. You must seek to serve God and others with genuine love for them, and the Holy Spirit then will give you 100% of the power – He will energise your gift as it were, and your service will be effective.
So there are at least five things the Spirit does in our lives. There are certainly many others – He gives assurance, He comforts, He represents and many more. But these five are enough to chew on, and to give us clear responsibilities.
The Spirit empowers our Bible study and prayer by illuminating and interceding for us. Our responsibility is to pray fervently in the Spirit, and to saturate ourselves with the Bible, so that we are minding the things of the Spirit. We also must not quench the Spirit when He draws us to God, we must hunger after Him and respond to Him.
The Spirit also gives discernment to His children. He will sound the alarm when a wolf is nearby. What must we do? We must not blindly believe everything, but we must test all things.
The Spirit convicts us of sin. We must respond to His conviction by obeying Him, not grieving Him. We must confess our sins when we fall, and seek to follow His leading in our lives.
The Spirit is the dynamic behind your service for God. Your response should be to serve with love, unselfishly seeking the profiting of others.
So indeed, the Spirit does 100%, we must give 100%. We are actively dependent; we are passively active. This is the paradox of the Christian life, but one so simple that a child can understand – God the Spirit will do it all, but I must do my best, leaning on Him.
And so we finish our series on the misunderstood Holy Spirit. It is sad that so much confusion exists over Him and His work. But what a blessed truth to know, if you are saved, you are in Christ, and He is in you, because of the Holy Spirit. Your past has been sanctified by Him, your present satisfied by Him, and your future secure by Him. Let us thank the Father for the Spirit!