The Holy Spirit 

Foundations of Faith – The Holy Spirit

The importance of understanding what God’s Word says about the Holy Spirit and His relationship to you is crucial to a firm foundation of your life. Through God’s Spirit, you have the very life that you breathe. By God’s Spirit, you have the greatest success in this life and for all eternity.  

There has been much misconception about the Holy Spirit. Some think He is just a “force”. They don’t realize that He indeed is a person that is personal to you in every way that is good! Also, there has been much confusion because of the false representations and claims of the work of the Holy Spirit.  

Because of this, the following has occurred;

• Many have avoided this topic and lack a desire to sincerely study Him
• Many have become “afraid” or “uncomfortable” of the confusion around Him
• The Holy Spirit has almost become a forgotten member of the Trinity
• Many have been “robbed” of guidance, comfort, wisdom, and success that can only come by faith in the reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our daily lives

The Reality of the Holy Spirit, His Power 

and Relationship to The Believer

After the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, we now see the emphasis on God in the person of the Holy Spirit.

(John 14:26), “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

Some inaccurately claim that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but simply a “spiritual force”. But this is so far from the truth. Throughout Scripture, He is shown to be an actual person by describing Him using words such as “him” or “he”.

(John 14:17), “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

(John 15:26), “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

(John 16:13), “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

The purpose of this lesson is to show you the reality, power, and importance of the Holy Spirit in the daily life of the believer. Let’s look at 5 specific points. The best place to start is right at the beginning of salvation. This is when the Spirit of God works in the heart of the person to bring them to a place of faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and repentance towards sin

The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of believers to bring the gospel to the lost as He spoke to Philip here. Even though God can do it Himself, He has given us the privilege to be part of His evangelistic outreach to win lost souls. If it was not for the reality of the Holy Spirit working on your behalf to get the message of salvation to you, you would have never received it.

(Luke 10:2), “Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest”

Even before you were aware of it, the Holy Spirit was already involved in your life. It will only be when you get to heaven that you begin to understand the full and immeasurable scope of this matter. He continues to work in countless ways within your life and those around you. But one thing is so very sad, and among the greatest errors of mankind; All too often we do not recognize the constant presence of Him. He is within every breath and even every heartbeat!  

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to take a break from the frenzy of your daily life’s routine. In a quiet moment, try to see more clearly His love and presence constantly working for you and all around you. Just watch how pleasant and wonderfully surprised you will become.

Let’s continue and see from His Word, how real and actively involved He is in your life.

2. The Holy Spirit Brings Conviction

Once the gospel is presented to a lost individual, the Holy Spirit then, along with His Word, convicts the person of their unbelief and sin.

True conviction of sin and repentance is so important, that without them, it is not possible to enter a real relationship with God. The “sin issue” of the individual must be dealt with first, as we see in the following Scriptures of God’s Word.

(John 14:6), “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

(Luke 13:3), “…unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

(2 Corinthians 7:10), “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation…”

With that said, pray for discernment. God has placed you in their path and there are times when a person needs a “John the Baptist” in their life with a little hell, fire and brimstone, and other times, a person just needs to hear that they have a Creator that loves them with a love that can be no greater when He gave His life on the cross for their sin. Remember, we are to plant and water the seed, but the Holy Spirit is ultimately the only One that can convict and give the increase in that person’s life to bring about salvation.

(1 Corinthians 3:6), “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

(John 16:7-8), “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”

For most who are now true believers, when we were first entering into a true relationship with Jesus Christ, we didn’t realize the source of the guilt, conviction, and godly sorrow of our sin. Only later do we become aware that it was the reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence that brought us to that enlightenment and understanding.  

3. The Holy Spirit Brings Spiritual Life

Once the gospel is presented to the individual, and this person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and confesses and repents of their sin, the Holy Spirit does something wonderful in the life of this person. Before the person believed and repented, this person was spiritually “dead” to God.  Dead in their trespasses and sins. 

(Romans 7:9), “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”

(Romans 6:23), “For the wages of sin is death…”

But at that moment of faith and repentance, the Spirit of God came into the heart of the individual and “quickened” them (made alive) unto God! 

(Ephesians 2:1), “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,”

The Holy Spirit brings spiritual life to the heart of the person who truly believes and repents! We are now alive unto God and look forward to being with Him in Heaven! It is by the power and reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives that brings about this new birth.

(John 3:3-6), “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Again, little did we realize in the beginning, the reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the wonderful work He was doing in our lives and yet, He was there, even as He is NOW!

4. The Holy Spirit and the Body of Christ

At the same time the Holy Spirit places us (“baptizes” us) into “the body of Christ.”

(1 Corinthians 12:13), “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

We become part of the body of people who love the Lord and want to live for Him. We become part of the true Church that Christ has established here on earth.  We become part of the Kingdom of God!  We have a wonderful sense of brotherhood amongst other believers. We sense that common bound that wants to promote praise and worship to our Lord Jesus, along with love, care and exhortation to other believers. We share with a sense of urgency a desire to reach a lost and dying world with the good news of salvation in Christ.

God’s Word tells us that the Holy Spirit equips and enables each member to function in a way that, even though each member is an individual, as parts of the human body such as the ear, the eye, the hand, the head and feet, each member works as a whole (1 Corinthians 12). We come to understand that as much as they need us, we need them. We have an awareness that we are joined together fighting side by side in this spiritual warfare where we take unto ourselves the whole armor of God and do all we can to stand, and all we can to help our brothers and sisters in Christ stand at the end of the day (Ephesians 6).  

We grow into a deep awareness of how precious each member of this body really is. We grow in spiritual maturity to the point when these following words become not just words on a page, but a reality in our hearts; 

(1 John 3:16), “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

As in the previous verse, we also see Christ’s love for the church in His Word;

(Ephesians 5:25), “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,”

If the Spirit of Christ truly dwells within us, there will be that reality and desire that motivates us to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ and do all we can to love, edify, provide, and protect them. Why? BECAUSE THAT IS THE DESIRE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT that is dwelling within us.

5.  The Spirit of God Now Dwells Inside Us 

Many in the world will say “your body is the temple”, but few truly live in such a way;

(1 Corinthians 6:19), “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”

We come to an awareness and conviction that we have been bought with a price and we are not our own. Our utmost desire is to now glorify God. This is all made possible because the Holy Spirit now lives in us!

As the Spirit of God dwells inside us, He does many things.  Let’s check a few of them right now; 

✔ He Comforts us:

As we have already read in (John 16) and seen in (John 14:16, 26), He is called the Comforter. Because of our newfound faith and love in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God comforts us in the assurance that someday we will be in Heaven. He comforts us by assuring us through the promises of God’s Word. His promises include that He will always be there as our best Friend promoting our own good, guidance and provisions.  

There are times we may be tempted to “feel” or “think” that none of this is true or that the Holy Spirit is not real. Here is where the POWER of faith in God’s Word takes over. God designed our relationship with Him in such a wonderful way by establishing it through the power of faith, that even a faith of a grain of a mustard seed, even with the faith of a little child, the reality of the Holy Spirit and His love towards us at ALL times will become as real, evident and undeniable as everything we can feel and see all around us because;

(Hebrews 11:1), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Wherever we go and whatever we are going through, we know the Holy Spirit is there with us. It is our faith in God’s Word that brings out the truth and reality of it. 

It is valuable to point out that when Jesus was amongst the people, they did not sense or realize that the very Creator was there with them! Why? The answer is, because they refused to believe, even with all the proof they had from God’s Word and the power unleashed by the Holy Spirit.  

LET US NOT FALL AFTER THE SAME UNBELIEF CONCERNING THE REALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR PRESENCE TODAY! Faith in God’s Word concerning the Holy Spirit is the ultimate REALITY of it! It is here where we will find our greatest assurance that He is with us and will comfort us in every aspect of our lives and every challenge that awaits us that we must face in the future to the glory of God the Father!  

✔ He Teaches us:

Along with His comfort, He also brings us knowledge and wisdom; 

(John 14:26), “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

(1 Corinthians 2:13), “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

The Spirit of God helps you understand God’s Word and teaches you as you read it and hear it taught and preached (Romans 10:14) (2 Timothy 2:2). When one becomes a Christian, they begin to understand that the Word of God is much more than words on a page. When one wants to learn the Word of God, they are entering a spiritual realm where the learning takes place in the heart, soul, and mind of the individual. It is when we take to heart what is being taught to us, believing it, and then applying it to our lives, that the REAL learning takes place! We see all of this in the account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus;

(Luke 24:13-32), “…And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself…Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

The scriptures show us how closely associated the Holy Spirit is with the Word of God.

(Ephesians 5:18-20), “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

(Colossians 3:16-17), “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Being filled with the Spirit is in direct proportion with the Word of God dwelling in your heart by faith! The Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of truth” and it is His utmost desire for you to learn it and believe in it!  

(John 16:13), “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…”

We usually do not sense it, but in truth, the Holy Spirit is actively involved in our understanding of His Word along with the retaining and remembrance of it as we saw above (John 14:26).

He knows that the root of our success with Him and with life and all eternity, is in direct accordance with our understanding, faith, and love for the Word of God. This is why He so much wants to teach you it. This is why He will do all He can to encourage you to study it, believe in it, and obey it!

✔ He Changes us:

Like wind blowing in the air (John 3), we see the “effects” of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Wind is invisible to the human eye, but we can see the reality of it by the effect it has as if a hand were gently stroking and moving the wheat of the farmer’s field.

We see the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives by the effect He has on us, just as described in His Word;

(2 Corinthians 5:17), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

(Matthew 7:20), “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

As we walk in the reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16-18), there will be fruit in our lives that will blossom forth like never before for the purpose of bringing a glorious testimony for our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:22-23).

• Love – There is a love for God and for others like there should be.

• Joy – The heart is filled with rejoicing because of forgiveness of sins and the reality of eternal life and having a true relationship with our Heavenly Father! 

• Peace – Our hearts will be at peace even in the midst of the storms of life because the Lord is with us!

• Longsuffering – Our lives will show forth patience.

• Kindness – Our lives will show much care and kindness to others.

• Goodness – Instead of promoting evil, we desire to seek the good in others. 

• Faithfulness – Our souls will embrace our loving Lord and His Word as we place our very lives into His hands!

• Gentleness – Pride will be replaced by humility.

• Self-control – Our anger and temper will be under control.

We literally become a new person filled with the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ as He makes our hearts His home!

✔ He Reproves and Convicts Us:

As He reproves and convicts the lost as we talked about earlier, so will He reprove and convict the child of God. 

(Hebrews 12:6-15), “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten…”

Now that we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have a new desire to want to walk with the Spirit in holiness. When we do fail, there is an eagerness and conviction to want to confess and let our Heavenly Father know that we are so sorry. We now have a desire to be aware of what sin truly is.  With God’s help we begin to desire to stay far away from it.

We come to a new understanding like never before, that it was because of our sin that Jesus suffered, bled and died such a horrible death!   

We come to rejoice in the loving correction of the Holy Spirit because we now understand that it is truly for our own good.  

✔ He Empowers Us:

The Holy Spirit comforts, teaches, changes, reproves and convicts us.  He also empowers us.

(Ephesians 4:11-12), “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”

(Romans 12:6-8), “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Beginning a life with the Lord Jesus Christ is a wonderful journey full of meaning and purpose. As you discover your gifts and abilities where the Lord wants to use you, the Holy Spirit will equip you for the task. In our upcoming lesson on spiritual gifts, we will go more in detail. 

Closing Comments

In John chapter three, Jesus explained to Nicodemus that the work of the Holy Spirit is likened unto wind. It is invisible. You cannot see it. Jesus continued on and stressed the need of faith to manifest the reality of the Spirit working in you and for you. Your faith in God’s Word, concerning the Holy Spirit, produces the “evidence” that He is right there with you and for you. 

(Hebrews 11:1), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”