What is the role of the

Holy Spirit?

Europe Edition

What is the role of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is often the subject of much debate and confusion in the church. Some people insist He is a power or source of God-

given spiritual energy. Others see Him as a ghost-like force, entering or leaving us at will. And many more picture Him as a kind of cosmic magician, elusive and vague, who drops mysteriously into our lives to make religious things happen and then leaves just as quickly as He came.

The Bible is clear both about who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. We can’t cover everything here, but we can, using Scripture, lay a helpful and God-centred foundation about His work in the lives of God’s people and what we can expect of Him.

Europe Edition

[2] WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is not a power source, force or cosmic magician. The Holy Spirit was present when God created the world (Gen. 1:2), He is eternal

(Heb. 9:14), He’s not limited by time or space (Psalm. 139:7-10), He has the authority of God (Luke 1:35-37) and the knowledge of “the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10-12). The Holy Spirit is one of the three Persons of God, equal with the Father and the Son. All three Persons of God are united in bringing us to God so that we can know Him. The Father sent the Son to die for our sin and offer us new life; the Son sent the Spirit to help us understand what God has done for us and to keep us trusting Him (You can read more about this in Why is the Trinity important? at ourdailybread.org/lookingdeeper).

The Holy Spirit is the very heartbeat of life with God, who “dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). And the apostle Paul tells us that “having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is God Himself making His home in His people and marking them as belonging to Him.

The apostle Paul tells us that as Christians we should be “filled with the Spirit” so that we can live in submission to God and one another (Eph. 5:18). But what does it actually look like to live with God’s Spirit within us? And what does it mean to be “filled” with Him?

WHAT DOES HE DO? [3]

What does He do?

His work in the lives of Christians: The Bible is clear that all Christians have God’s Spirit within them, as He is “the guarantee of our

inheritance” (Eph. 1:14). Jesus explains entering a relationship with God as being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Therefore the Holy Spirit should be evident in our lives. He marks us as now belonging to God, whereas before we became Christians, we belonged just to ourselves. This huge change in status is what it means to be a Christian and receive new life with God.

When Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit during the last supper, He went into some details about what He would actually do in the lives of believers:

“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” —John 14:26 (emphasis added)

“The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” —John 15:26 (emphasis added)

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” —John 16:14 (emphasis added)

[4] WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The Holy Spirit helps us stay focused and centred on Jesus, our Saviour. He continues to teach us more about Him, reminding us of His Words in Scripture. He makes Jesus known to us so that we can draw closer to Him in a real and active relationship.

God wants us to be confident in our salvation and our status before Him. The best way to do this is to keep us close to Christ. Jesus came to earth to die for our sin and take on God’s judgement for us. He then rose from the dead and offers new life and righteousness to all who trust in Him. This hope is what God wants to keep central in our hearts through the prompting, teaching and inspiration of His Spirit.

This gives us the foundation for living lives of real transformation; lives no longer about us and what we can do, but lives about God and what He has already done!

His work in the world: When Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit, He explained that He also had work to do in the world (outside of the church):

“When He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.” —John 16:8-11 (emphasis added)

Jesus promised that God would be active in the world through His Spirit to convict people of their

WHAT DOES HE DO? [5]

need for Him. The Holy Spirit’s work in the world is to bring people to repentance by showing individuals that they have sin (“because they do not believe in Me”) that must be judged and paid for. He also reveals that righteousness is only found in the ascended Christ who beat death and sin for us when He died and rose again.

God is on a rescue mission through His Spirit. He wants more people to turn from their own selfish lives to belong to Him as His children. As people who are called to join God on His rescue mission and witness to the risen Christ, we can be confident and expectant. The Holy Spirit is at work changing the hearts and minds of the people around us to help them see their desperate need for Jesus. Let’s not shy away from telling them the truth about what Christ has done, but join the all-powerful God in His work!

The Holy Spirit is at work

changing the hearts and minds

of the people around us to

help them see their desperate need for Jesus.

[6] WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Being filled with the Spirit

Paul instructed the church at Ephesus to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). This is not about ‘running out’ of God and needing to top up, like a car needing

fuel. Neither is it to do with having super-spiritual highs, seeing visions or getting rid of all our problems. It’s about continually allowing the Spirit to influence, control and shape us. It is about actively choosing to spend time with God to be strengthened by Him for His good purposes. In fact, it is daily life for Christians. As we draw closer to God through His Word and in prayer, He will fill our hearts and minds with His ways, love and purposes. We will want to live by His strength and for His glory.

Being filled with the Spirit is also about having confidence in God. As Paul affirms:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. —Romans 8:1

As we submit to God and spend time with Him in His Word, He will remind us of the victory Christ has won for us over sin and death! It is not a victory we earn by working hard; it is one we receive by trusting Him and giving our lives to Him. He will remind us that even on our worst days, the victory is won. Even when we mess up, we have real hope in Christ and can confess our mistakes to Him, knowing He forgives us and will help us change. This confidence and total reliance on God is something of what it means to be filled with His Spirit.

BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT [7]

What it looks like: Confidence in God is one key outworking of the Spirit in our lives. Paul also describes another result of the Spirit in us:

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. —Ephesians 5:18-21

We see several specific things here: the encouragement and uplifting of other believers, joy towards God, a thankful attitude and submission to one another. Many of these things are about how we relate to those around us. How genuinely do we care for those in our churches and communities? Is it our priority to help them stay focused on God and His promises? Do we want to submit and serve them in this way? If not, perhaps we need to talk to God and ask Him to fill us again with the compassion He has for the people He has made.

We must also ask ourselves what our relationship with God looks like. Is it a joyful experience? Are we full of gratitude to God for His rescue and presence, even during difficult trials? If we feel distant from God, or that the work and Person of Jesus is all rather mundane, we need to be filled with His Spirit again. This doesn’t mean we’ve lost Him—it means that we need to spend time with our God, enjoying who He is and being refreshed and renewed by His Word. Being filled with the Spirit is an active thing on our part, not that we can ‘fill ourselves’, but that we can come willingly to our God so that He can be the centre of all we are and do.

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Walking in the Spirit

As well as being told to be “filled” with the Spirit, we also have the command to “walk in the Spirit”. Paul wrote this to the church in

Galatia because they seemed to think they could live well without God’s Spirit (Gal. 3:3). He reminded them of this important truth:

Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. —Galatians 5:16-17

The walk: The point is that Christians are in the middle of an internal battle every day. Having joined with God, the Holy Spirit now works in us to make us more like Christ. However, until we leave this earth and receive new bodies in heaven, we still have the pull of the “flesh” (our selfish and godless instincts and desires). The flesh and the Spirit couldn’t be more different. Paul goes on to describe the works of both:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions,

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT [9]

heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like . . . But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. —Galatians 5:19-25

One of the key things to note here is that underpinning the “fruit of the Spirit” is the truth that we “have crucified the flesh”. Our flesh was defeated when Jesus died for our sin. Our flesh was crucified in His body. Even though it still calls to us and reminds us of our many selfish desires, it has no authority over us now. We don’t have to listen to it.

However, the temptation to just do what we want is often overwhelming. This is why Paul tells us: “If we live in the Spirit [or, if we have received new life with God], let us also walk in the Spirit” (v. 25). Walking in the Spirit is an active choice. It won’t just happen. He is ready to teach, strengthen, shape and guide us through every event, decision and relationship—but we need to actively submit to Him. When we do get things wrong, we have this promise: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Submitting to God includes continually asking the Spirit to forgive and cleanse us when we know we have messed up.

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How much time do we spend reading God’s Word? How often do we spend time quietly talking with God about our struggles? How often do we meet with other Christians to encourage one another? It is in these essential things that we will keep our ears open to what the Holy Spirit has to say to us. If we don’t spend much time with God, we will distance ourselves from Him (like in any relationship), giving our flesh the louder voice in our lives.

The fruit: As the Holy Spirit keeps us focused and centred on Jesus, He will produce the good character and love of Christ in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (vv. 22-23), are not a result of hard work; neither are they a tick-list to achieve. They are the fruit of the Spirit, meaning He produces them and they flow from Him, not us.

Much of this fruit is relational; it has to do with how we treat and view others. As we have already seen, the Spirit wants to make us people of love, forgiveness and grace who display the Person of Christ to those around us.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

longsuffering, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT [11]

The church should be a place full of the fruit of the Spirit. Some believers may be more patient, some may have better self-control and others will have a really infectious joy, yet all of these traits will be for the benefit of the whole body. Those coming into the church from the world should be bowled over by the difference they see in those who God has called His children.

This isn’t about being perfect necessarily, and living lives without fault, burdens or mess. This is about being people of love despite those things. Jesus didn’t promise the Holy Spirit would ‘zap’ away our problems, but He did promise the Spirit would keep faithfully pointing us to the hope and certainty of Christ’s finished work on the cross for us. With that at our centre, and knowing too our own struggles, we can react all the more generously and kindly to those we meet, serving them with the love and forgiveness that God has shown us. This kind of transformation is the really amazing work of the Spirit within us.

As the Holy Spirit keeps us focused and centred on

Jesus, He will produce the

good character and love of

Christ in our lives.

[12] WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The Holy Spirit

Hopefully this brief introduction to the Holy Spirit has helped clarify what the Bible actually says about His role in helping us focus

on Christ and become more like Him. He strengthens, guides and fills us so that we can live joyful lives that please God and serve His people. It is important to test anything we are told about the Spirit with the Bible’s description of Him.

More could be said about the different gifts the Spirit gives to the church (1 Cor. 12:4-14), along with the extraordinary way He filled the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) and came upon some other groups of new believers in the early church (10:44-45;19:1-5). You can think further about these topics and enjoy more in-depth studies on the Person, character, role and fruit of the Holy Spirit at discoveryseries.org.

Our Daily Bread Ministries is also here to help you in your relationship with God. We have several daily Bible reading notes, including Our Daily Bread, to help you spend time with God each day in His Word. You can read them online at odb.org or request the booklets by contacting your nearest office at ourdailybread.org/locations.

Looking Deeper

The Looking Deeper series offers great Bible teaching for Christians. Whether you are a new Christian or a mature believer, we have a range of short Bible studies on many crucial topics and questions.

At Our Daily Bread Ministries, our mission is to make the life changing wisdom of God’s Word understandable and accessible to all. We’re passionate about helping our readers draw closer to God and share their faith in Him with those they know. Please do share these Looking Deeper articles with others who may benefit from them. You can request print copies of any of the titles on the Looking Deeper website page.

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