Growing up Catholic and even later as a Progressive Protestant, I knew the Holy Spirit existed as part of the Holy Trinity, but I had no idea of His power and that I had access to that power. Moreover, I had no clue that the Holy Spirit could dwell in my heart! I thought that was something that the crazy Pentecostals did. That wasn’t for me! How wrong I was!
The Apostles’ Creed Part 5:
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
The Apostles’ Creed
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
Jesus knew He had to leave the disciples behind. However, He did not want them to be on their own, thus, He sent the Holy Spirit. In this passage from the Gospel of John, Jesus assures His disciples that they won’t be alone….
7 “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”
John 16:7-14 NLT
Here are some of my past podcasts and articles on the Holy Spirit…
Past Blog Posts
- Rely on the Holy Spirit When in Trouble: It’s Better than Booze
- Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can Transform a Life
- The Holy Spirit in Your Heart: A Power that Never Goes Out
- After The Resurrection: Jesus sends the Gift of the Holy Spirit
- How Do You Get Unsurpassed Freedom in Jesus Christ? Galatians Chapter 5
“The Lord, the Giver of Life”
We do sometimes take God for granted. It’s true! If it wasn’t for Him wanting us to live, we wouldn’t be here!
We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:1-3 NLT
6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
1 John 4:6 NLT
Quoting from the Apostles’ Creed Bible Study from the Bible App…
The Spirit of God literally changes everything about your life. He ransoms you, saving you from being a spiritual orphan; bringing you into the household of faith; and marking you as a son or a daughter of God who’s known, loved, provided for, cared for, and pursued. Being adopted into the family of God is an identity marker that nothing and no one can take from you. Through faith in the Son, by the grace of the Father, you’re a Spirit-filled member of His family. The triune God created a new Spirit-born people—the church—characterized by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit indwells believers and uniquely gives them and the church the gift of discerning and receiving the truth about God (see 1 John 1:1-3; 4:6) and rejecting false teaching (see 4:1). The Spirit unites believers and enables us to abide in Christ. The Spirit also fills us and gives us Christlike character that’s powerfully different from the way we once lived according to the flesh (see Gal. 5:16-26; Col. 3:1-17). Now, with the Holy Spirit, humans are turned into proper vessels to love and serve the world in the name of Jesus Christ.
Matt Chandler, LifeWay.com
The Prophets
“Who has spoken through the prophets…”
I find biblical prophets fascinating. God gave His voice to these men, through the Holy Spirit, to speak to mankind. They spoke mostly of warnings — that if the people didn’t stop sinning and going against God’s commandments, they would suffer the consequences. You’d think the people would listen. But, no. They kept on sinning — mostly idolatry — worshiping the man-made gods of pagan nations.
The picture on the right is of the prophet Jeremiah who warned Israel of the coming invasion of the Babylonians and that they’d be held captive for 70 years. Imagine having to tell your friends, neighbors and countrymen such news. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit could that be possible.
I highly recommend Through The Word Bible App to learn about the Old Testament prophets and how a lot of what they told the people then applies to us now and our future.
The Holy Spirit — More than Our Conscience
See, the Holy Spirit is more than just our inner conscience. Back in the Old Testament, God used the Holy Spirit through prophets to set the people straight. That didn’t work. So, then, He sent Jesus to die on the cross and take our sins away. It was obvious to God that we, by ourselves, were never going to be sinless. That’s why Jesus, who was sinless, had to take on our sins to the cross, suffer and die for our salvation.
Then Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit so that He can convict us and keep us on the straight and narrow. Without the Spirit, we’d fail miserably again and again and perish (end up in hell).
You, too, can have the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart! It’s not exclusive to Pentecostals. You’re not going to start rolling on the floor uttering gibberish. It’s also not exclusive to the Pope, priests, or bishops!
God is a Personal God
He’s not in a church building. He’s not up in the sky. He wants to be in your heart.
He won’t force His way in. You have to invite Him in.
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Pray this prayer humbly, sincerely and wholeheartedly…
“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Please forgive me. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and my life to you. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. I surrender my whole life to you and I will follow you for the rest of my life. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Next Steps in Your New Walk with Jesus…
- Start reading the Bible daily to get to know God. If you don’t have one, I recommend the YouVersion, Bible.app and Through the Word app — both are free and have a lot of great Bible studies.
- Pray every day. Talk to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you daily.
- Find and join a Bible-believing church — preferably a non-denominational one and be baptized!
