WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT: By Elmer Towns

07 Feb 2024 Comments Off on WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT: By Elmer Towns

by Joyce/EM in Devotionals Tags: , , , ,

Written by: Dr. Elmer Towns

Someone once called the Holy Spirit, “the forgotten person of the Trinity.” While that may have been true throughout much of church history, we are living in a generation that has rediscovered the important role of the Holy Spirit in our life.

One of the most significant consequences of this awakening is many Christians’ interest in discovering and using their spiritual gifts in ministry.Understanding who the Holy Spirit is, what He does, how we relate to Him, and what He expects of us in our life is important for Christians.

Who Is the Holy Spirit?

Some people view the Holy Spirit mystically, considering Him to be some kind of force or emanation from God. But the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is far more than this. He is not merely a force but a person with all the attributes of personality. But neither is the Holy Spirit only a person. Scripture makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is also God. Personality involves intellect, emotions, and will.

WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT…
The Holy Spirit knows things that only God knows (1 Corinthians 2:11).
He is also identified as loving (Romans 15:30) and subject to grief (Ephesians 4:30).
He also acts on the basis of decisions He makes (1 Corinthians 12:11).
He is described in Scripture as teaching (John 14:26), testifying (John 15:26), guiding (Romans 8:14), speaking (1 Corinthians 2:13), enlightening (John 16:13), striving (Genesis 6:3), interceding (Romans 8:26), sending workers (Acts 13:4), calling (Revelaton 22:17), comforting (John 16:7), and working (1 Corinthians 12:11).
  1. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE WORLD. Concerning the Holy Spirit, Jesus taught, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). A second aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world is that of restraining evil. It is sometimes hard for Christians to believe sin is restrained at all in this present age, but the Bible describes the Holy Spirit as the Restrainer (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
  2. THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The apostle Paul used five different Greek words to describe spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-7). 
  3. THE FULLNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Many Christians have different ideas about the fullness of the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, the fullness of the Holy Spirit was sometimes associated with tongues of fire, shaking buildings, rushing winds, and people speaking in other languages or doing miracles. At other times, people were filled with the Holy Spirit, and none of these things happened. According to the Bible, there appear to be two evidences that a person is indeed filled with the Holy Spirit.

  1. First, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit have unique spiritual power in leading others to faith in Christ (Acts 1:8).
  2. Second, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit have a divine enablement to fulfill their social roles and responsibilities, particularly in family and working relationships (Ephesians 5:18-33, Ephesians 6:1-9). The apostle Paul urged the Christians at Ephesus, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). But the steps to being filled with the Holy Spirit were summarized by Jesus when He said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38). The four steps to being filled with the Holy Spirit are (1) desire (thirst), (2) repentance of all known sin in your life (come to me), (3) receiving God’s offer of the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (drink), and (4) acting on the basis of faith in the Word of God (He who believeth in me).
  3. THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. As you live your Christian life in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, you will encourage the Holy Spirit to produce spiritual fruit in your life. The Bible describes the fruit of the Spirit as the character traits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Producing spiritual fruit in our lives is one of the primary means by which the Holy Spirit continually transforms us into the image of Christ (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:29). Read this article to learn more about the fruit of the Spirit.

Scripture describes the Holy Spirit as God.

Many of the more than one hundred names and titles of the Holy Spirit in Scripture describe Him in divine terms (God, Acts 5:4; Spirit of God, Genesis 1:2; and Spirit of the Lord God, Isaiah 61:1). Other names such as Eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), Spirit of Truth (John 16:13), and Holy One (1 John 2:20) describe the Holy Spirit as possessing attributes belonging to God. Also, the Holy Spirit is described as accomplishing the work of God in creation (Job 26:13), regeneration (John 3:5), and inspiration (2 Peter 1:21).

There is little question concerning the deity of the Holy Spirit.

Comments are closed.

You Are Not The Only One

Unless otherwise cited devotionals and posts on this page are the property of Joyce Gerald.

You-Tube Videos are not the property of this blog.