The Role Of The Holy Spirit In The Church Today

The role of the Holy Spirit in the church today cannot be overemphasized. It is clear that in the church today, the Holy Spirit dwells in those persons who have submitted to the Lordship of Christ. They believe in Him, and so receive eternal life.

In talking of the powerful and transforming regeneration of Man, we have seen this comes about when the Holy Spirit comes to a person and applies, or communicates, the work of Christ through the word of Christ. By ‘the work of Christ’ we mean that which Christ did, and none other could do for it is His work alone, though He was aided in doing it by both the Father and the Holy Spirit. That work is told by ‘the word of Christ’.

It is through the Holy Spirit that the word becomes effectively to us, the applied work of Christ. We know that in Genesis 1: 1-3 there was the tohu wabohu– – ‘the without form and void’ condition – and only when the Spirit made His movement of power across the face of the deep and the word of God was spoken did all become transformed into order and beauty and coherence.

Together the word of God and the Spirit bring Creation to its true being, for being inseparable they are dynamic. In James 4:1-12 the writer sets out two ways of life, the moral and the immoral: “What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have, so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain, …”

As we read the passage we are moved to see ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us’, because whether the word ‘spirit’ should be written with a capital ‘S’ or a small ‘s’, it tells us the state of God’s heart when one who should be living according to the Spirit is not doing so. Even if the term ‘spirit’ is the correct one it tells us God’s heart yearns jealously for us when we are not filled with His glory and not living by its moral order, but rather are in that state where we are conformed to the world when we do not even belong to it!

We need, then, to take up the matter of the Spirit’s dwelling in us. This of course is a momentous matter in our lives. That the Third Person of the Triune Godhead should dwell in a human person is astounding. Paul asks the question, ‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?’ (1 Corinthians 1:6). It is difficult to believe that human bodies can be a temple. It is the Spirit of holiness who dwells in that temple.

We go further to discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in the church today.

The Indwelling Spirit In The Church Today

Man’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and God’s Covenant

The Spirit is always associated with the Covenant of God, for He is both the Spirit of Creation and the Spirit of love and relationships. Naturally, then, the tie is the Spirit of God’s law, the perfection of moral glory, and is so even in Eden. Isaiah 63 tells of his doings with Israel as they went through the wilderness. Events took place which meant disobedience to both God’s Covenant and his law. Later the prophets, filled with the Spirit, recalled Israel to the law.

In Ezekiel 36:24-28, the Holy Spirit comes to Israel and creates the spirit of Israel-Man-afresh in that he now obeys the covenantal laws, commandments, and ordinances of God, i.e. he is one with the glorious law of God, and so with God Himself.

The Holy Spirit: the River of God

Without a doubt, in John 7:37-39, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, rivers of living water’. We might say ‘the river of living water’ because the river in Genesis arose within Paradise but flowed out as four rivers, designed to water the whole earth. We surely have to say that nothing has life without water and that the Holy Spirit sustains all life, meaning that the Spirit is the river arising in Eden and becoming a river to water the whole earth.

In Revelation 22 the river is surely that of the Holy Spirit, just as in Jerusalem. As Psalm 46:4 tells us, ‘There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Highest’. There was no river in Jerusalem as such. Yet in Ezekiel 47 the river flows from the south of the altar, as in Revelation 22 it flows from ‘the throne of God and the Lamb’.

In Revelation 22-as in Ezekiel 47-the river waters the tree of life which is on both sides of the river, and its fruits are perpetual as its leaves are, also, for the healing of the nations. We always associate the Spirit with flowing, life-giving water.

We associate film with fruitfulness-’the fruit of the Spirit as in Galatians 5:22-23. We associate him with healing-’the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations’.

The Indwelling of the Spirit in Man

What does the indwelling of the Spirit mean? There is much that is a mystery when the Persons of the Godhead indwell Man. But if we believe that the true image of God is where Man is one with God from the beginning, then the relationship of Man and God has ever been in His Covenant. As the Three Persons indwell One Another without losing their identity as Persons, so Man in his innocency was one with God. And, in the regeneration which grace brings, he is again one with God.

In John 14:17 we saw that the Holy Spirit was among the disciples when Jesus was present. But, as Jesus promised the Spirit would come to dwell in them. So He did at Pentecost and has done so ever since. We saw in Romans 5:5 that he came into the heart bringing the fullness of God’s Love with Him. So the Spirit dwells with and by this love. Romans 8:26-27 tells us of the love and intimacy of the Spirit in our hearts.

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Here the Spirit is one with our hearts. His total identification with us means the tie is not a sleeping guest or a detached inhabitant, but has an immense love for us, in that lie takes up the anguish which all Creation knows in general and the Spirit-possessed person knows in particular. This knowledge of God’s indwelling love in the Person of the Spirit is enormously important. Truly the strong Spirit has come and we are different.

We are not ‘orphan spirits’, deficient and deserted, but we are one with the Spirit. Another side to this indwelling is that all which the Spirit initiates in God’s people such as love, unity, fellowship, prayer, worship, and spiritual warfare results from the Spirit’s indwelling. This is too vast a subject to deal with here and we will leave it until later.

The Spirit brings energy for living true life-eternal life-and also gives the gift of power so that our witness to Christ and the truth can be authentic, and the communication of the gospel can be effectual. What we are saying in all this is that the Spirit who came at Pentecost goes on ‘pentecostalising’ the people of God. What we have said about Man is a spirit, but, as fallen, being alone spirit without the resources we have mentioned in the few paragraphs above, now, by the indwelling of the Spirit, becomes an extraordinary person.

The Role Of The Holy Spirit In The Church Today

The Revelational role

Following the fall, our ability to know and understand God, let alone ourselves was damaged and corrupt. Apart from God, we could not even know who we are, or where we came from. This “blindness” is demonstrated by the thousands of different theories and religions, which have developed over the millennia.

How did we get here? Where are we going? Both science and religion attempt to find the answers to these questions. Did we come from nothing? Were we created by the Sun? Are we animals? The questions go on and on. Only through God’s revelation of Himself, could we ever know who we are. Isaiah paints the picture of our lost condition, like blind men we grope along the walls. We are lost and without hope.

God revealed Himself to us through His Spirit, who spoke through the prophets, Moses through the Spirit of God revealed God’s will to Israel (Numbers 11:17), the people through whom God would work Redemption for all humanity.

The Redeeming Role

Before we can be redeemed, we need to know we need redemption. The problem for many, who rely on their works, is they have a false sense of security. They don’t see their need for redemption, as far as they are concerned, they are not lost.

The Pharisees illustrate this point, being lost and not knowing it, since they relied on their works and self-righteousness, they saw no need for redemption. Contrast this to the tax collectors and harlots; they knew they were lost because their works did not blind them.

The Holy Spirit has a two-fold part in redemption, first, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, then the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance of sins. We can’t repent if we don’t think we need repenting. In the same vein, we limit the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, once we rely on our righteousness. Therefore when we rely on God’s righteousness and mercy, we are led to redemption, this occurs when the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

The Indwelling Role

Once we realize we are lost and need redemption, the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and salvation. Then the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our bodies because we now have the righteousness of Christ. We are “Born Again” of the Spirit (John 3:3,6,8), our bodies are now the Temple of God because God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us (I Cor. 3:17).

Now with God dwelling inside our earthly bodies, we have the power of the Holy Spirit, we no longer need to rely on our power. We can now have victory over the flesh, because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Romans 8:8-9

Without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are outside of Christ, we do not have His redemption, we have only our works. With the Spirit, God gives us the ability to have our lives transformed.

The Transforming Role

When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, why are there different results with different people? After all, isn’t God’s Spirit one? How can some people have remarkable transformations, while others struggle? For one, God does not force Himself on us, he requires us to respond with obedience, we need to yield ourselves to His Spirit. Without our yielding, we get in the way of the Spirit, we prevent God’s Spirit to work in our life.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3:18

Our goal is to reflect Christ, we can only accomplish this when we yield to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

The Infilling Role

The result of the transformed life, which is yielded to the Holy Spirit is a “Spirit-filled” life. We have the choice to live a transformed life, filled by the Spirit or a life of spiritual stagnation. God gives us the choice to yield to His Spirit or our spirit.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Ephesians 5:18,22-24

When we are led by the Spirit, our circumstances do not matter, the fruit of the Spirit is manifest in our lives. For example, Paul in Acts chapter 16, was beaten and put in prison, you might think Paul would feel sorry for himself, and ask God how could He allow this to happen. Paul on the contrary is rejoicing in the prison before he is set free.

And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:23-25

The other prisoners listened and the jailer was saved because the Spirit led Paul.

Overcoming Role

So if we are filled with Spirit, why do we still struggle? We are being perfected, not that we are perfect. We are in the process of transformation, day to day into the image of the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:1). Those times we sin, because of anger, lust, pride, covetousness, hate, etc., are times we choose to not yield to the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit gives us the ability to conquer the giants of sin in our life, just like Israel entering the Promised Land, ten spies saw the giants in the land and feared them, two spies, Caleb and Joshua saw the same giants, but knew the Lord was able. They walked in faith, and they alone from all those who left Egypt, 20-years and older were allowed to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:29-30). We are at war with the flesh, we have the choice to yield to the Flesh or the Spirit.

Gifting Role

We are all unique individual souls, each one of us has a purpose and a part of God’s eternal plan. When we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit is the down payment or guarantee of our Redemption (Eph. 1:14).

The Holy Spirit also equips the believer, giving each of us our gifts, so we can accomplish the Lord’s work.

The power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit allow accomplishing more than we would ever be able in the flesh. While the world looks at titles and pedigree, the Spirit looks at the heart, searching our real intents. When we are sincere, and pure before the Lord, we can walk in the power of the Lord.

Sending Role

Before Jesus was taken into Heaven, He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the Holy Spirit. What would the Holy Spirit allow them to do? Jesus said they would have power. Power for what? The Holy Spirit would give them the power to “witness” Jesus. Jesus is the focus of not only the New Testament but the Old as well.

We are all commissioned to deliver the Good News, we are in fact, commanded. The closer we are to the image of Christ, through the transforming power of the Spirit, the more clear the command is. The Spirit searches our hearts, and makes intercession according to the will of God (Romans 8:27), now the will of God is for us to reach the lost.

Conclusion

The “coming” of the Holy Spirit is very much like the account of the birth of our Lord in Luke. It is a key event depicted at the beginning of the Book of Acts which sets the stage for what follows. If the ministry of Jesus in the Book of Luke is the outflow of His birth (His incarnation), then the ministry of our Lord through the church in the Book of Acts is the outflow of the descent of the Spirit in Acts 2. What a marvelous passage we have come to.

And yet, sadly enough, we have come to one of the great battlegrounds of evangelical Christians. When one begins to talk about “the Holy Spirit” and “Pentecost,” almost any group will begin to polarize into “pro-charismatic” and “anti-charismatic” segments. As we approach Pentecost in our study, let us be mindful of our predispositions.

Let us seek, as much as possible, to let the text shape our thinking on Pentecost rather than to allow our thinking to “reshape” or distort the text. And let us rely on the Holy Spirit, who alone can teach us the true meaning of our text. Let us also seek to preserve the “unity of the Spirit”.

Having considered the role of the Holy Spirit in today’s church, we observe that there is an interesting reversal here. God bestowed the Spirit on Saul but commanded him to wait for seven days until He instructed him as to what to do.

After His resurrection, our Lord told the disciples what they were to do (e.g. the Great Commission), but instructed them to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them. I conclude, therefore, that there are times when we have the “plan,” but must wait for the “power,” and there are other times when we might have the “power,” but we must wait for the “plan.”

References

Bob Jones: Seven Precious Stones: The Attributes of the Holy Spirit of God. The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News, April 11, 2012.

Elwell, Walter A. (1997), “Entry for ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit”. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.

Gaffin, Richard B. Jr. (1979), Perspectives on Pentecost. P&R Publishing.

Geoffrey Bingham, The Holy Spirit In-Dwelling Man. Australia: New Creation Teaching Ministry, 9 June 2002.

God on the net. “Personal Attributes Of The Holy Spirit.” 2011.

John F. Walvoord, (1954). The Holy Spirit, Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Let Us Reason Ministries. “The Holy Spirit is a Person.” August 2005. Pink, A. W. The Holy Spirit. Providence Baptist Ministries: http://www.pbministries.org, 2006.

The Role Of The Holy Spirit In The New Testament

The departure of Christ ushered in the era of the Holy Spirit. Since then, the role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church has not been completely understood. The Holy Spirit has taken over Christ’s role on earth and it is only in and through Him that Christ is made known.

The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ (Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-15). Among the many titles assigned to the Holy Spirit in the scripture is

the Spirit of God (Mt 10:20; 12:28; Ro 8:9, 14; 15:19; 1Cor 2:11-12, 14; 3:16; 6:11; 7:40; 12:3, 14; Eph 4:30; 1Jn 4:2).
The Spirit of the Lord (Luke 4:18; Acts 5:9; 8:39; 2Cor 3:17-18).
Another Comforter (Jn 14:16).

It is of the utmost importance to believers that they clearly understand the role of the Holy Spirit in God’s eternal purpose for the New Testament church. Many professing Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is merely a force, or an influence emanating from God, but that is not correct.

The Holy Spirit is and has always been, an equal member of the Godhead from all eternity. It is vitally important that believers are very clear in their minds of His Deity and co-equality with both the Father and Christ in the Godhead (Isa 6:8-11 with Ac 28:5-8; 5:3-4; 1Cor 2:10-12; 3:16; 2Cor 3:17-18; He 9:14; 1Jn 5:6-7). These scriptures all teach the co-equality of the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead. In this research, we’ll discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.

The Holy Spirit In The Synoptic Gospels

The first three Gospel records of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew gives us the record of our Lord as the promised King, who came as such and offered the kingdom, only to be rejected by His own; Mark gives the record of Christ as a servant and Luke the record of His perfect manhood. The first chapter in Matthew mentions the Holy Spirit for the first time.

Book of Matthew 1:18

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” When Joseph thought of putting her away an angel informed him that “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (verse 20).

When Angel Gabriel brought the heavenly announcement to Mary, the Virgin mother of our Lord, he mentioned the Holy Spirit likewise. Luke 1:35, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” The Holy Spirit produced the human body for the Son of God by a creative act. Of that body, the Son of God spoke as a prepared body (Heb. 10:5). It was impossible for one who is holy to clothe Himself with a body coming into existence by the natural generation. If that had been the case He would have had a body to which the taint of sin was attached. While it is true that Mary had a sinful body, yet the power of holiness in the Son of God, repulsed every particle of that, and the Holy Spirit in preparing the body could not permit anything unholy to enter the physical body of our Lord.

Book of Luke 1:15, 41 and 67

Luke 1:15, 41, and 67. These passages also mention the Holy Spirit. John, the forerunner was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Elisabeth, the mother of John, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and so was Zechariah when he prophesied. The trinity is therefore seen in holy action in the very beginning of the New Testament. The Father sent the Son; the Son of God came to be incarnate. The Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin; she was conceived by the Holy Spirit. John was filled with the Holy Spirit and also Zechariah and Elisabeth. The same is said of Simeon, who had received a special revelation by the Spirit and was led by Him to the temple (Luke 2:25).

Matthew 3:11-12

Matthew 3:11-12. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; whose fan is in His hand, and He will purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Mark 1:18 and Luke 3:16 and 17 and the reference to the same promise in John 1:33). These are fundamental passages and need our closer attention.

We must remember that John, the Baptist, as we call him, was the herald of the King. He still belonged to the Old Testament prophets and did not announce under the name “the kingdom of heaven,” the church, nor this present dispensation of grace, but the kingdom, which is promised to Israel. The baptism which he practiced is not Christian baptism. It was a baptism unto repentance by which the Israelite signified that he was worthy of death on account of his sins. Then he announced that He, who came after him, the Messiah- King, would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Mark 1:12, Matthew 4:1, and Luke 4:l

Matthew 4:l. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested of the devil.” Also Mark 1:12 and Luke 4:l. The passage in Luke tells us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit to be tested by the devil. The Son of God full of the Spirit is now guided by the Spirit to fulfill all which is written concerning Himself. The life He lived before He began His public ministry was also a life of perfect trust and obedience (see Psa. 22:9-10). The Spirit, as Mark states, drove Him into the wilderness. Some have said, that our Lord was anxious to meet the enemy face to face. That it was His spirit which led Him into the wilderness. This is incorrect. If our Lord had gone forth impatiently to meet the old serpent, He would have been the tempter of the devil. It was the Holy Spirit who led Him forward, who impelled Him to meet the foe, so that a test might be applied by Him, to find out that He is the Son of God, the Holy One. There are two reasons why the Son of God could not sin. The first is, because He is God, absolutely holy, and God cannot sin. The second is because the Holy Spirit of God was upon Him and He is the Spirit of holiness.

The Holy Spirit In The Gospel Of John

WE have seen that the Holy Spirit is comparatively little mentioned in the Synoptics. Besides the promise made by John the Baptist, there is but one other promise by our Lord that His Father would give the Spirit to them that ask Him.

It is different in the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John. In this Gospel is revealed the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we have life through His name (20:31). John bears witness to the full glory of the Lord Jesus and makes known the teaching He gave concerning the Holy Spirit and His work in and for the believer.

The Holy Spirit held back from the pens of the Synoptics all these teachings which the Lord gave concerning eternal life and the work of His Spirit, as well as the more definite promises of the Spirit as the Paraclete because it was outside of the scope and purpose of the first three Gospels. We may well call the Gospel of John, written several decades after the Synoptics, the bridge which leads from Judaism into Christianity.

The Gospel of John is the portal through which we enter into the highest revelation as to redemption and the Holy Spirit’s part. This highest revelation is found in the Pauline epistles. We have already mentioned in connection with the testimony of John the Baptist, John 1:32 and 33, also 3:34, so that we do not need to quote these verses again.

Book of John 3:5

Chapter 3:5 is the first passage in which our Lord speaks of the Spirit in this Gospel. “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Our Lord had told Nicodemus the absolute necessity of the new birth to see the kingdom of God and when Nicodemus expressed a desire to know how a man can be born a second time, the Lord answered him in the above words.

The new birth is brought about by “water and the Spirit.” Ritualists claim that the water is baptism. Others claim that the right kind of water baptism is necessary to salvation. The water our Lord mentions in connection with the Spirit is no baptism at all. Water is the symbolical figure of the Word of God. Ephesians 5:26 employs the same figure. Than I Peter 1:23 and James 1:18 show that it is the Word of God out of which we receive our new birth.

In the Word the Holy Spirit is active. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. When a man hears the Word of God, the Holy Spirit in the Word and through the Word acts upon the dead condition of the human soul, and when the Word has believed the Holy Spirit imparts to the believing sinner the new nature and he receives eternal life.

Book of John 20:22

John 20:22. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” This passage contains the first mention of the Holy Spirit after His resurrection. He breathed on them, which was a symbolic action. Never before had He done this, nor is the Greek expression used elsewhere in the New Testament. It is also significant that the definite article before Holy Spirit is not in the original text.

In Gen. 2:7 we read, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” It was the same Lord who did that in the hour of creation, who now breathed on His disciples, the breath of a better life, that, His own life, which had passed through death, the life which delivers from the law of sin and death. And so it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45).

Since He said, “Receive ye Holy Spirit” and not “the Holy Spirit,” it is evident that the Person of the Holy Spirit was not sent down from heaven at this time when He breathed on them, for He had not yet ascended to the right hand of God.

He communicated to them the energy of His own life through the Spirit of God. It has been suggested that this breathing pointed to a revival of faith in the hearts of the disciples, while others see in it a gift of understanding corresponding to the statement in Luke 44:45, “Then opened He their understanding that they might know the Scriptures.” Still, others think that the Spirit was bestowed upon them for the fifty days between His resurrection and the day of Pentecost.

We believe, as pointed out above, it was a symbolic action. In the 23d verse the church, the body of Christ, composed of those who are born again and possess the life in Him, is anticipated. The authority to discipline is not conferred upon a priestly class, as Rome teaches, but upon the assembly of believers.

The Role Of The Holy Spirit In The New Testament

The church is called “Christ” in 1Cor 12:12-14 here and is compared to a human body with its many members. This shows how the church is constituted: the Holy Spirit unites repentant sinners with Christ as members of His body when they believe in Him for their salvation.

The role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church is numerous, but the most pronounced include.

Regeneration (Impartation of New Life)

After baptizing new believers into the church, the next step in the work of the Holy Spirit is to impart new life to them. This is what Jesus calls being born again, and being born of water and the Spirit (Jn 3:3-8). Being born again expresses the change wrought in the life of a sinner after being converted to Christ. This is when sinners become saints.

Being born again is a process. It is not limited to the initial act when repentant sinners are first converted to Christ but is a continuous work of the Holy Spirit renewing and transforming their lives throughout the entire course of their Christian walk. In Jn 3:8 Jesus illustrates the activity and effect of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who have been born again. Just as the wind is invisible but its activity and effect can be witnessed, so to it is with the Holy Spirit. He is also invisible, but the proof of His work is apparent.

There is undeniable and unmistakable evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of born-again believers (Ac 1:1-8; 4:33; 1Cor 2:1-5). Jn 3:3-8 teaches the doctrine of regeneration or the new birth. This is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith (Ro 12:2). The new birth is the only way into the Kingdom of Heaven. The water referred to in Jn 3:5 is the word of God – the gospel – which is the water of life.

Jesus uses water figuratively in the context of being saved by the word. Being born of water and the Spirit means being saved by the word of God and being renewed by the Holy Spirit (Psa 119:9; Jn 4:5-14; 15:3; Eph 5:25-26; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23; Rev 21:5-6; 22:17 with Eze 36:25-28; Jn 7:37-39; Tit 3:5).

Recreation

During the process of regeneration, believers must never take the Holy Spirit for granted. While the Holy Spirit alone can regenerate, He never regenerates alone. Their repentance must be sincere, and believers must be completely surrendered to Christ and the authority of God’s word for the work of the Holy Spirit to be effective in their lives. Their old sinful nature must yield to the new nature of God imparted to them for the Holy Spirit to complete His work of re-creation in them (2Cor 5:17; Gal. 6:15).

Teaching and Testifying

Contemporaneous with convicting sinners of their need for salvation, baptizing them into Christ and into His body, the church, the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church also encompasses teaching the church, testifying of Christ, guiding believers in all truths, glorifying Christ, imparting God’s love to believers, empowering them to overcome sin, bearing witness to their adoption as sons of God, making known the things God has prepared for them, distributing gifts to the church, enduing believers with power to be Christ’s witness in the world, helping them to pray, interceding for them with the Father, inviting all who are willing, to be saved.

These works are not conclusive but will suffice for this study. Also, they are not in any official order but are listed like this simply to show the extent of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church (Jn 14:26).

Witnessing Christ

This work of the Holy Spirit is to enable believers to understand clearly and to recall the teachings of Christ in scripture (1Jn 2:20). Unction here (KJV), is the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon believers which enables them to distinguish between good and bad teaching in the church. This does not mean that human teachers are not needed in the church, but that believers, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, already know the truth and have no need of any instruction from false teachers who try to seduce them from the truth the Holy Spirit testifies of Christ.

He bears witness to believers, then through them, to the world. He glorifies Christ in the outworking in believers of all the Spiritual gifts and graces He distributes to the church (Rom 12:5-18; 1Cor 12:4-11, 28; Eph 4:7-16). The Holy Spirit testifies of Christ in everything He has done and is doing in believers. It is only in and through the Holy Spirit that Christ is made known (Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:12-15: 1Cor 12:3; 1Jn 5:5-6).

Raising the Dead

The Holy Spirit will also raise dead believers (Rom 8:11). Quicken here means to give life to. The Holy Spirit will raise dead believers to life at the first resurrection, when Christ comes again to take all the saints of God back to heaven with Him (Jn 5:25, 28-29; 14:1-3; 1Cor 15:51-58; 1Th 4:13-18; Rev 20:4-6).

The presence of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church is God’s assurance to believers of their future resurrection and eternal inheritance in Christ (Ro 8:23; 1Cor 6:14; 2Cor 1:21-22; 4:13-14; 5:1-5; Eph 1:3-14; 4:30; 1Th 4:14). The word earnest in 2Cor 1:22, 5:5, and Eph 1:14 (KJV), is used figuratively of the Holy Spirit which God has given to believers in this present life to assure them of their final redemption.

Further proof of this is the love God has for believers which the Holy Spirit has poured out into their hearts (Jn 5:1-11). Eph 1:3-14 teaches that through their union with Christ, believers have already been made beneficiaries of every spiritual blessing from heaven in accordance with God’s redemptive plan in Christ. Whether redemption, forgiveness, bodily healing, gifts of the Spirit, the assurance of immortality, the promise of the resurrection, the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven, the privileges of adoption, etc. The Holy Spirit is the source of them all.

Conclusion

This is not an exhaustive study but shows something of the vast sphere of operation of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. It is apt then to close the study on His empowering of believers for their witness to Christ in the world (Lu 24:46-49 with Ac 1:4-5, 8). Being endued with power from on high means being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The sure evidence that this has occurred in the recipient’s ability to speak in tongues (Ac 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:1-6).

When they are baptized in the Holy Spirit, believers are empowered to cast out demons; take up serpents; not be harmed if they drink any deadly poison; heal the sick; raise the dead; make the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, etc. They can do everything and more, that Jesus himself did in His earthly ministry (Mk 16:17-20; Jn 14:12-14). This empowering by the Holy Spirit is the inherent right of every believer in Christ throughout the church age, from the day of Pentecost onward (Ac 2:37-39). All that is far off in V 39, includes believers today.

References

Elwell, Walter A., “Entry for ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit”. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 1997.

John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1954.

Mary Fairchild, Divine Works of the Holy Spirit. About.com: Christianity Guide. February 2012.

McQuilkin, Robertson. Life in the Spirit, Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers. 2000.

Ron Minton, The Role of the Holy Spirit in Giving Us the New Testament. Springfield, MO: Baptist Bible Graduate School of Theology, November 1996.

Schultze, Reimar, The Work of the Holy Spirit. Kokomo, USA: Schultze.org, 2000.

Smeaton, G. (1880), in The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Moody Bible Institute, 2012. Val, Boyle, The Work Of The Holy Spirit In The New Testament Church. 11 November 2006.