The Work of the Holy Spirit
My cousin JD posted a comment on my last post that I felt deserved another post rather than a simple reply in the comments on the blog. Does the work of the Holy Spirit lead only to repentance or is there more to it than that?
If we study Scripture, we find in Galatians 5 what the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our life are: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. The Bible also teaches us in Colossians 1:27 that the mystery of God is "Christ in you". Thus, we can have the power of the indwelling Christ in our lives, but we know that this is the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts because Christ is no longer omnipresent but is in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary in heaven. Thus the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit allows Christ to dwell in our hearts.
We also find in Scripture in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Here we can see how the Holy Spirit convicts of sin leading us to repentance, of righteousness leading us to live lives of holiness (see Gal. 5 again), and of judgment (thus those who follow the Spirit will understand the true import of Dan. 8:14 and the judgment hour message of Rev. 14 and the 1844 beginning of the judgment hour). Notice in John 16:13 that the Spirit guides us into all truth. Thus, if we are to live Spirit-filled lives, we must be willing to follow all of the teachings of the Bible because 1 Pet 1:19-21 teaches us that all of the Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
There is much more to say about the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, the pentecost experience of the apostles when they were filled with the Holy Spirit after putting away their differences and being united in truth. They were then able to preach the gospel the then known world in their generation. This is a foreshadowing of the work of Holy Spirit in the last days when the latter rain is poured out on those who have followed God completely into all truth and the earth is lightened with its glory(see Rev. 18:1). The Holy Spirit guided the Millerite movement, he guided the Adventist pioneers into all truth, and He is guiding all today who are willing to follow Jesus all the way into the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary to be fit for the judgment and ready for the second coming. So yes, JD, there is much more to the work of the Holy Spirit than repentance. He is the enabling power, day by day, that helps us to be just like Jesus and to overcome as Jesus overcame (see Rev. 3:21). May we live lives filled with the Holy Spirit
posted by Norman McNulty @ 7:30 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
AMEN!!!
I read in a biography of Jesus that His ministry to earth at been to unleash the Holy Spirit from the shackles of Judaism/legalism.
It is interesting to look at this in the context of the ministry of John the Baptist. John rejected claims that he was Elijah or Messiah and insisted on pointing toward the Christ (John 1). John is also the first person on record to associate the Holy Spirit with Jesus. (John, through his Jordan baptisms, flaunted the idea that the Temple was the sole conduit through which men could worship God, a theme Jesus continued in his own ministry.)
Jesus uses similar language in John 14 as he foretells the reign of the Holy Spirit (verses 25-27). In other words, Jesus saw his ministry as a conduit through which the Holy Spirit could infuse believers and establish the Kingdom of God. As John paved the way for Christ's ministry, Christ cleared the way for the triumph of the Holy Spirit through the Kingdom of God.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Jesus' return to heaven after his resurrection unleashed the incredible power of the Holy Spirit into the world. It seems like this was the goal of the Godhead all along.
I want to respond to the Galatians 5 reference (the most significant teaching of the Holy Spirit to be found in the Bible), but I'll do that in a follow-up comment.
Thanks for the great post!
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