Introducing The Holy Spirit
Who is the Holy Spirit?
John the Baptist said: "I
baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more
powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Is our spiritual
life only 2/3 of what it could be? Are we missing the fullness of the power,
presence and significance of the Holy Spirit in our life? The Holy Spirit came
to reside within Jesus Christ's true followers after Jesus rose from the dead
and ascended to heaven (Acts 2).
John 3:5 Jesus said, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born
of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Acts 2:38 Peter replied,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Jesus told His apostles... "I
will ask the Father, and He will give
you a Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not
behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be
in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." (John
14:16-18)
John 16:5 “But now I am
going to Him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather,
you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I
tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you; but if I
go, I will send him to you. 8 When he
comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness
and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about
righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no
longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands
condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13
but when he, the spirit of truth, comes,
he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will
speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.14 He will
glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known
to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he
will make known to you.”
Acts 2:38 Peter said to
them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins, and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus said, "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 that I said to you." (John 14:26)
The Holy Spirit was given to
live inside those who believe in Jesus, in order to produce God's character in
the life of a believer. In a way that we cannot do on our own, the Holy Spirit
will build into our lives His Fruit: love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). God asks us to rely on Him to produce these
qualities in our lives. Christians are told to Walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25) and be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). The Holy Spirit empowers Christians
to perform duties that promote spiritual growth among all Christians (Rom. 12;
1Cor. 12; Eph. 4).
After we have acknowledged
our wrong choices in life and placed them before the cross, Jesus will forgive
us, make us right with God (righteous) and He will abide in us. We are "Under New Management". As we clean
our house, then we can submit our lives entirely to Christ and ask Him to fill
us with His Holy Spirit. We will be able to pray to God in a spiritual language
and we will experience the fullness of God. We will experience a new
supernatural life full of love for Our Father and for each other in a way that will
bring healings, miracles and the removal of evil influence.
Next discussion: The Holy Spirit provides spiritual gifts i.e. special
abilities for the purpose of building up the body of Christ.