The Holy Spirit, Part II

The Spirit of Truth (that is, the Holy Spirit [see John 16:13]) is very personally involved in the believer's life from drawing the unsaved person to Christ, to opening his eyes to the things of God, to being the proof of his salvation. Yet while we pray to Jesus and worship God, we quickly forget about the third personality of the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit and Our Salvation

Before, during, and after, the Holy Spirit is intimately involved in our salvation. I Corinthians 2:14 shows that an unregenerate person is powerless to understand spiritual things: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Although the Holy Spirit is involved before salvation, Acts 2:38 very clearly shows when the Holy Spirit actually indwells a person: "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" This exhortation from Peter occurred after the Pentecost, so the existing believers already had the Holy Spirit in them.



Stained Glass Window in St. Peter's Basilica



Have you, like me, doubted your salvation and the saving grace of God? The Holy Spirit Himself is the assurance of our salvation. He is a witness in us of our standing before and our relationship with God (I John 5:10). He is the proof that Christ died for us. Moreover, the Spirit of Adoption, as the Holy Spirit is called in Romans 8:15, is the seal of our redemption and the declaration of God's ownership of us to His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Holy Spirit and Our Prayers

In our daily prayer life, too, the Holy Spirit is involved. While there are many examples of praying to God the Father and God the Son in Scripture, there are none about praying to God the Spirit. Of course, we are talking about the Trinity, and by praying to God the Father, we are praying to God, three in one. Multiple times, moreover, we are commanded to pray in the Spirit (Jude 20, Ephesians 6:18).

Thus, when we pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is actually praying through us. the word for "in" in Jude 20 and Ephesians 6:18 can also be translated "instrumentality," which implies that even though our prayers are weak and human, the Holy Spirit makes Himself available and prays through us. The Spirit makes intercession for us to Christ our Mediator and High Priest before the throne of God. In prayer, then, the Holy Spirit is not only our Helper, but also our power.

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26

Corrie ten Boom once wrote in a letter, "We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.

"When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes. Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. For seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me, or let me down [1]."

Photo Credit: hops_76

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
   Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] ten Boom, Corrie. 1974. http://www.the-tribulation-network.com/Testimony/11-17-07.htm