WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WHAT IS HIS MISSION TODAY?

Understanding the Holy Spirit

This lesson will focus on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Speaking to someone about their salvation and where they will spend their eternity is not that easy. The fact is that you alone can’t save anyone.  First, it takes the Holy Spirit to empower you and to use you to be a soul winner. Secondly, it takes the Holy Spirit to set up the atmosphere that convicts the individual(s) to change from their sinful nature and to accept Christ’s gift of salvation, and thirdly, it takes the individual(s) to listen and to have an open mind and a willing heart to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. If you noticed, there is no true salvation without the involvement of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. He is fully God. The Holy Spirit is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, has a will, and can speak.  He is alive and He is a person.  The Holy Spirit is not particularly visible in the Bible because His ministry is to bear witness of Jesus (John 15:26).

Some cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses say that the Holy Spirit is nothing more than a force. This is false. If the Holy Spirit were merely a force, then He could not speak (Acts 13:2); He could not be grieved (Ephesians 4:30); and He would not have a will (1 Corinthians 12:11).

The truth is that the Holy Spirit is a person the same as the Father and the Son are within the Trinity.

Three questions for you before you proceed

(1) What do you know about the Holy Spirit?
(2) Do you have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit?
(3) Have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Before you answer yes to these, you have an important reading assignment. Read

Luke 3:22, Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:38, Isaiah 11:2, and John 14:26 

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit has a job description. He has a ministry. In reading Scripture, you can count on finding clear descriptions of the Spirit’s various assignments. Scripture does not leave the works of the Spirit to our imagination. The Spirit of God has specific work to be done, and the Scriptures clearly teaches us about that work. I broke this done into three sections to make this easier for you to understand.

Ten Assignments of the Holy Spirit (1-4)

1. The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus. It is always the Spirit’s mission to exalt Jesus. He has come that we might be deeply impressed with the Person of Jesus Christ and go away excited about His work. The gifts are necessary to thrust us into the mission and work of Jesus. The purpose of the Spirit is to exalt Jesus and let Him be lifted up.
2. He convicts us of sins.It is the Spirit’s mission to convict us in three areas. First of all, He gives us an awakened sense of sin, particularly the sin of unbelief in Jesus. The Spirit wants to reverse that unbelief so we will trust and believe in Christ. Secondly, the Spirit wants to affirm to us the righteousness of Jesus. His mission is to affirm the righteousness of Jesus and call on us to look to Him alone for salvation. Lastly, the Spirit comes to usher us into an awakened sense of sin, an acknowledgement of Jesus, and an acknowledgement that judgment has already been passed against the evil one.
3. The Holy Spirit Regenerates us. God had formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. Now Jesus breathed a new order of life into His disciples—eternal life.
4. He lives in us. We are charged to be filled with the Spirit. The alternative assumption is that we only allow the Spirit to partially dwell in us when we need to allow Him free access to every part of us.

Assignments of the Holy Spirit (5-7)

5. The Holy Spirit seals believers. His presence in your life is a mark that you belong to God. Paul said the Holy Spirit is also a down payment that guarantees that you are completely Christ’s. When you have sinned, it’s certainly not the devil who is telling you that you are God’s child. There is a still small voice that says, “Even though you have failed, there’s mercy. God loves you.” That’s the Holy Spirit who is acting, because He has sealed you and has given you the deposit of His presence.

6. He guides us. We’re really helpless in getting accurate guidance and direction unless the Spirit works within us. The Spirit is especially present, especially active, in junctures of our life—times when we’re making vital decisions that are going to affect us for many days to come. Again and again, Scripture suggests to us that when we open ourselves to God, the Spirit works in us with power and we can rest in His creative work.

7. The Holy Spirit prompts us to worship. There’s a time to be quiet in the presence of the Lord, a time to hear the Word of the Lord: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). But there is also a time to praise the Lord with an upraised voice. There is a time to say from the depths of the inner man, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns” (Rev. 19:6). The Spirit incites us to that kind of worship.

Assignments of the Holy Spirit (8-10)

8.  He empowers us for witness. There is a balance between the worship of the Lord and the work of the Lord. It is never the purpose of the Lord to simply have the Spirit stir us to worship and then leave us there. The Spirit’s task is to instill strength in us in the moment of worship, so that we can go out empowered to do the work of the Lord.

9. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand and apply what is taught in the Word of God. He not only inspired the Scripture, He also caused it to be inspiring. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Whatever the Spirit does will line up with Scripture because the Spirit inspired Scripture to begin with. The two will always agree.

10. He will give life to our mortal bodies. This is a work of the Holy Spirit that is yet to come. But the promise of that work is connected incredibly with the resurrection of Christ himself: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).

Your Assignment