HEN WE TALK about the Holy Spirit, we must not think merely of an experience. The Holy Spirit is not an “it,” even though in Pentecostal circles people have been known to ask, “Did you receive it?” in reference to the infilling of the Spirit. To talk accurately about the Holy Spirit, we must understand that the Holy Spirit is a person with distinct personal characteristics.
Understanding the Holy Spirit
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The Divine Presence in Our Lives
Jesus never referred to the Holy Spirit as just a resource, a force, or an experience. He always presented the Holy Spirit with a personal noun or pronoun, setting forth His personhood. In John 16:15-17, Jesus used a personal pronoun nine times in three verses as He talked about the Holy Spirit. Altogether in chapters 14 through 16, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit in personal terms 19 times.
This concept is significant because it means that every believer can experience a dynamic personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is more than a feeling, an experience, or an emotion. He is a person, and He brings to every believer an opportunity for an ever-deepening and ever-widening relation- ship with God.
Believers need to be aware every day in every situation that the Holy Spirit is with them. All of God’s servants—pastors, teachers, leaders, and laity—need the strengthening and undergirding assurance that at all times the Holy Spirit is with them. In the darkest night and the toughest time, the Holy Spirit is there. Every believer can have a continuing, dynam- ic, personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Chief Executive Offi- cer of the mind, the ministry, and the mission of Jesus Christ on earth. Everything believ- ers have—every transaction of grace, every authority, every responsibility—is carried out
6 EVANGEL • MAY 2010
Through the ages, people have expressed sentiments like these: • Would it not be wonderful to have the personal presence of Jesus like the disciples had?
• Would it not be wonderful to walk along a road time with Him in person?
• Would it not be wonderful to sit with Him for hours around a campfire or ride beside Him across Galilee and ask Him those unanswered questions life brings?
• Would it not be wonderful during life’s storms, when it seems all is out of control, to wake up Jesus and see Him speak peace to the waves?
“The Holy Spirit is transcending cultures, denominations, and man-made barriers as He reaches out and calls sinners to repentance. He is reaching this world by lifting up the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”
We know Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father with an immortal resurrected body where He serves as “High Priest forever” (Hebrews 6:20 NKJV). However, Jesus told His disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18 NIV), but “I will send him [the Holy Spirit] to you” (16:7 NIV). The apostle Paul referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9), so we know this is not a mere analogy. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus in the believer’s life, personally present at all times and under all circumstances.
God at Work in Our World
In addition to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, it is impor- tant also to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in our world. The Holy Spirit is brooding, breathing, birthing, and battling.
through the power, the guidance, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through empowered believers to con- tinue the ministry Jesus started when He lived on earth.
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