The Work of the Holy Spirit: Part I
- Admin
- Aug 24
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 18
Typically, when we think about the work of the Holy Spirit, our thoughts tend toward those things we call the gifts of the Spirit or toward Pentecostal and the Charismatic beliefs and practices. We also tend to think of the Holy Spirit convicting people of sin and drawing souls to Christ.
This is certainly part of his work, but the very thing that was meant to be a unifying factor for the Body of Christ has caused splintering in every generation. Even the mention the Holy Spirit has been a source of contention and confusion since the birth of the Church. Even within the group of people reading this blog there are differing beliefs and opinions about the Holy Spirit’s place in a local fellowship.
As we begin this short study on the Holy Spirit, it is essential that we have a working understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit if the Body of Christ is going to accomplish her mission here on earth. That is the goal of this blog post.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
It is probably safe to say that the Holy Spirit is the least understood member of the Trinity. For the most part, the majority of Christians have a handle on Jesus being our Savior and Redeemer. We understand his humanity, accept his sinless life, his sacrificial death on the cross, and his resurrection as the payment for our sin.
Most of us can likely wrap our head around God being our Father. We can relate to the story of the father and the prodigal son. (Luke 15:11-32) We can make that connection, some with more difficulty than others perhaps, but the Holy Spirit? Where does he fit in? How do we describe his role? What exactly is he all about?
The Holy Spirit has been described as a force, like in Star Wars. He has been described as a ghost, as in the Holy Ghost. The word itself has an eerie or scary connotation, and he has been designated by some as a second-class, second-rate, and mysterious member of the Godhead. He has even been presented as an incidental figure that appears momentarily like he is something that shows up on a whim or can only be experienced infrequently, like once in a blue moon, as the saying goes. We refer to these experiences with phrases like waiting for the Spirit to fall or waiting for a manifestation of the Spirit. In contrast with the Father and Son, we have nothing in our physical existence that we can relate to the Holy Spirit’s presence, his work, or his being.
When we speak of the Holy Spirit, he is often confused with the manifestations of the Spirit themselves. In Pentecostal and Charismatic gatherings, we use terms like, “We sure experienced the Holy Spirit in church this morning,” or “Did you see Sister So-and-So get hit with the Holy Spirit at the meeting last night? That sure was something!”
The bottom line is that the Holy Spirit a person, an individual, as real and as important as Father and Jesus. He is a person with feelings, just like you and me. In the Word, we find that the Holy Spirit be grieved, angered, resisted, blasphemed, and entreated. These are all things that we can feel or experience at the hands of others. Have you ever been blasphemed? Accused wrongly? Spoken ill of? Of course you have, and the Holy Spirit can be entreated to move or to act on our behalf or to show empathy.
Not only having feelings like you and me the Holy Spirit also has individual characteristics like the ones we find in Gal. 5:22-23 where we find that the fruit or character of the Holy Spirit include love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We will revisit each of these in detail as we progress through this series. For now, we are building background and laying some groundwork for our future explorations.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity along with Father and Jesus, and just like them he has purpose. The Holy Spirit creates, teaches, guides, comforts, convicts, intercedes, sanctifies, and seals us. The Holy Spirit also has functions or certain tasks to complete within the Church. Some of the Holy Spirit’s functions are the ones we see in I Cor. 12:4-11 and Rom. 12:6-8. This is where the biggest controversy regarding the Holy Spirit arises among believers.
Why was the Holy Spirit revealed?
Notice the verb that was used…revealed. We typically say that the Holy Spirit was sent. Before Jesus ascended to the Father, he promised to send another helper, and ten days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was revealed. While that was quite an event, the fact is that the Holy Spirit has always been here. From the very beginning, the Holy Spirit has played an important role in the affairs of man.
We see in Gen. 1:1-2 that the Holy Spirit was an instrumental part of creation. We see throughout the Old Testament we see the phrase “the Spirit of the Lord came upon” individuals like Gideon, Samson, and David. But in John 14:16-17, Jesus gives the promise of the Holy Spirit, and there will be a big difference with this coming of the Holy Spirit. In the past, the presence of the Holy Spirit had been temporary for the equipping an individual for a specific task.
This promise that Jesus was making was to last forever. The Spirit of God would be an indwelling presence living and interacting with us moment by moment from within a regenerated human spirit. Jesus called him the Spirit of Truth, which leads to another question…
What About this Spirit of Truth?
In John 8:32, Jesus said that if we follow his teachings and obey his commands that we will know the truth and that the truth will set us free. A little later in John 14:6 Jesus says that he himself is the way and the truth. Later in that same chapter in verse 26 Jesus again references the Advocate he had mentioned earlier, but this time Jesus refers to him as the Holy Spirit, an entity the disciples were already familiar with and then explained what the Spirit would do. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would continue to teach them and to bring to remembrance everything Jesus had spoken and taught over the past three years.
In John 16:13, Jesus again refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth. Men have pondered the meaning of truth for thousands and thousands of years and still haven’t found it. The simplest definition of truth is this: truth is the self-expression of God. It is God explaining himself as only he can do, and the Holy Spirit will guide us into knowing and understanding our God to the fullest extent possible as we avail ourselves to him.
Notes:
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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