The Work of the Spirit Pt. 2

            Last week, we explored how the Spirit worked in the lives of the Old Testament believers. We saw how, while the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of the Old Testament saints, he worked in a different way than he does today. The work of the Holy Spirit is seen in many different aspects of the New Testament believer.

            First, the Spirit saves and regenerates believers. He directs and empowers evangelistic efforts. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). As he directs these efforts, he convicts and convinces the unbeliever of sin, righteousness and judgement. “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11). The Spirit works to bring people to a point of making a decision to either accept Christ or reject him. If the person accepts Christ as his savior, the Spirit regenerates him into new life. He grants new life by cleansing and renews the new believer. “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5).

            The next work of the Spirit that comes naturally after saving and renewing is indwelling. The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence within a believer. This is part of the New Covenant promise. This permanent residence was procured by Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection. This residence of the Spirit brings God’s love into the believer’s life. “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5). Since the believer has the Spirit indwelling them, they are able to discern spiritual truth. This indwelling of the Spirit happens at the moment of salvation. It is not later in the believer’s life as some teach. “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.” (Acts 2:38). Since the believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God, they are a temple of God.

            The Holy Spirit seals the believer. This sealing is a mark from God to indicate his ownership of us. All believers are sealed by the Spirit at the moment of salvation. “[He] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:22). This seal results in security. This means that we can never lose our salvation. This sealing should motivate us to work towards Christlikeness.

            The Spirit also baptizes new believers. At the moment of salvation, the new believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13). This baptism places us in the spiritual Body of Christ. This one body is the spiritual body of the invisible church. It is not the visible church that we can see when we walk through the front doors of our church. In fact, many unbelievers are a part of the physical church, but only believers are a part of the invisible one.

            The Spirit also teaches, intercedes, and assures us. He illuminates the Scriptures as we search his Word. “These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). The Spirit intercedes on our behalf. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8:26). He prays on our behalf for God’s will on matters that have not been revealed to us. He also translates our prayers so that they are effective. The Spirit also works to assure us of our salvation. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:16).

            The Holy Spirit is very active in the life of the New Testament believer. It is because of the Spirit that we are able to maintain our salvation because of his sealing. It is because of him that we are able to kill sin as we strive for Christlikeness. As we continue to live for God, striving to be like him and glorifying him, he continues to assure us of our salvation.