The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

Part Four

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

In the last several segments of this series on the Holy Spirit we learned that Jesus sent us another Advocate when He ascended to Heaven. This Advocate, Helper and Counselor whom we know as the Holy Spirit, indwells us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. We also learned that the Holy Spirit is instrumental in the process of us coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. He energizes the truth in our mind. He convicts us of sin in our life as He uses the Word of God to demonstrate the judgment we are under because we are sinners. This conviction which the Holy Spirit brings upon us leads to repentance of our sins and us seeking a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful influence the Holy Spirit has on our lives, for as we repent He begins a process of spiritual regeneration within us as He takes up residence within us. He continues to grow us into the image of Christ through His ongoing influence in our lives. At our conversion we are baptized into the Body of Christ with the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ. Thus we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift from God when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. But the Holy Spirit has three more important actions that He undertakes in this spiritual conversion process and in His act of indwelling us which we will cover in this segment.

 

Action Seven

The Holy Spirit Separates Us from Sin and Death

 

We experience great freedom and peace when we are saved not only because we have been forgiven of our sins, but also because the Holy Spirit separates us from the dominion of sin and death.

   

Romans 8:1-2 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

 

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life that we are given when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. We have no condemnation upon us once we become a follower of Jesus Christ. We have been made free from the penalty for our sins. We are no longer under the law of sin and death. Now we live according to the law of the Spirit. This freedom comes to us through our conversion made possible by Jesus and the Holy begins His ministry of sanctifying us when we are baptized by Jesus with the Holy Spirit.

 

Sanctification, or in its verbal form, sanctify, literally means “to set apart” for special use or purpose, that is, to make holy or sacred. Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart and we are set apart when we give our life to God the Father, by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and accept Him as Lord. The process of being sanctified is accomplished by the Holy Spirit as we cooperate with Him in our obedience to God’s Word. We could never be sanctified while under the law, but under the law of the Spirit we can be.

    

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 – “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Here Paul shares the fact that we, as followers of Christ, should always give thanks to God for the fact that from the beginning of time God chose us to be saved through the work of the Spirit. This work is the divine ministry of sanctification. We can’t do this on our own, but without our cooperation the Holy Spirit cannot accomplish it. It is a team effort of the divine power of the Holy Spirit working in us as we willingly and obediently work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It states in Philippians 2:12-13:

 

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence — continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

 

This scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit works in us, according to the will of God, to purify and sanctify us. But this verse also challenges us to do our part by working out our salvation in humble submission to the Lord’s commands and walking as Jesus walked as we walk in the Spirit (1 John 1:7, 2:6, 2 John 6, 3 John 3).

    

1 Peter 1:1-2 – “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”

 

Here in this letter written by Paul to Peter we see it illustrated that we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father to be obedient followers of Christ. Christ made it all possible through His death and resurrection, but it is the Spirit who carries out the sanctifying work in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit indwelling our lives the process of sanctification could not take place.

 

Action Eight

The Holy Spirit Seals Us as a Guarantee

 

One of the most important benefits of receiving the Holy Spirit as a gift from God is the fact that He is our guarantee that we are truly saved and will never lose our salvation. God secures our salvation and gives us a promise that we are His by giving us the Holy Spirit to live within us. The Holy Spirit is a deposit that guarantees we are a child of God, a member of His holy family, a resident of God’s Kingdom.

 

Ephesians 1:13-14 – “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory.”

 

Seal in Greek, “‎sphragizo” (sfrag-id’-zo), means a stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation and by implication means to keep, to attest or to seal up. In ancient times when a signet ring or mark was made on a document with wax to establish its authenticity, it was validated as officially the possession of, or had the authority of, the owner of the mark. Thus when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, we are marked, validated and established as owned by the Lord. We are His possession and can never be claimed by another, such as Satan. We belong to the Lord and will always forever be owned by Him. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee of God’s pledge to us that we are His.

 

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

 

Paul here repeats this claim of ownership upon the life of every follower of Christ. He anoints us with His seal of ownership by putting the Holy Spirit within our hearts as a deposit. This deposit is a guarantee of what is to come. What is to come is our completed salvation when we are eventually taken to Heaven to receive our glorified bodies and the rewards for an obedient life.

 

Action Nine

The Holy Spirit Gifts Us for Service

in the Body of Christ

 

Another action of the Holy Spirit when He takes up residence within a follower of Christ is His gifting of that believer with spiritual gifts. These gifts are given not for personal edification, but for the purpose of edifying others in the Body of Christ.

 

1 Corinthians 12:7 – “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

 

Ephesians 4:11-13 – It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

 

The Holy Spirit distributes these spiritual gifts according to His purpose and will.

   

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 – “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”

 

The Holy Spirit has the divine authority to gift each Christian with the spiritual gift or gifts that will best benefit the body of Christ. We do not determine what spiritual gifts we wish to have; only the Holy Spirit has this authority. The Holy Spirit has the wisdom to make this decision according to the will of God for the benefit and growth of His church. While we may benefit from and enjoy the manifestation of these spiritual gifts as they are expressed through us, they are given to us for the benefit of others. We see in the letters of Paul to the Corinthians that followers of Christ in Corinth were abusing spiritual gifts and seeking certain gifts for selfish use in order to magnify and promote themselves. Their true purpose is for the edification or building up of others in the church fellowship, growing them in the grace and knowledge of God and to allow them to further accomplish the will of God in the local church body.

 

While there are a limited number of spiritual gifts, the way they are expressed are without limit. Each individual Christian has a unique personality and different personal experiences that are blended with the spiritual gift(s) the Holy Spirit bestows upon them. Therefore while a Christian may be blessed with the same spiritual gift of another, the gift(s) will not be expressed in the same manner. This gives an unlimited variety to the way spiritual gifts are used by God to minister to followers of Christ in His church. So you see that the spiritual gift(s) you have been given by the Holy Spirit as a Christian cannot be expressed or used in the church like anyone else. You are very unique to God.

 

In our next segment we will begin to cover the seven ministries the Holy Spirit undertakes after we are saved and are established as a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ Lord and King.