The Promised Holy Spirit

Throughout Scripture it is clear that the Holy Spirit does not bring attention to himself. But he does come and dwell those who belong to Christ for Jesus himself promised to send him to us. Being filled with the Holy Spirit produces fruit in our character. The inward changes that take place in us are easy for a maturing Christian to recognize since it is so different from how we used to be. The ability and even the desire to serve Christ's Church is given as gifts from the Holy Spirit so that the Church can be built up and edified. In belonging to Christ and being filled with the Spirit, our body is a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Thought the word cannot see the Spirit or receive him, we know him and have received him. Thus, when we speak of Christ, one of the things we say about him is that he promised to send the Holy Spirit. Those who believe and experience this aspect of the good news go on to Christian maturity.

Growth towards Christian maturity

Holy Spirit Is Unknown to Me

Those who are not disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ don't have the Holy Spirit. Before we come to know Christ, we are ignorant of the existence of the Holy Spirit and we know nothing of the promise Jesus made to send the Spirit. Spiritually, we are dead, having not the Spirit of God in us. If we even hear about the Holy Spirit or Christ dwelling in us, we have no concept of what is being said. It sounds as ridiculous as alien abductions to our minds.

Hearing the Promise

When we begin listening to Christ and hearing about the early Church, we are also being exposed to the Holy Spirit. In fact, any understanding that we do gain about Christ and the Holy Spirit comes as the Spirit opens our mind to the things of God. On our own, we cannot understand. Nevertheless, as we encounter Jesus? promises about the Spirit and how the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, we begin to see the change in the lives of those people we meet in Scripture. We hear the Church speaking about the Holy Spirit and wonder what it means. As we grow in Christ, we find that we are hungering to know that of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. As we encounter the promises in Scripture of the Holy Spirit, we begin to realize that the promise includes us. Through faith in Christ, we come to also know that the Holy Spirit dwells in us by the same faith. The result is that we recognize the Spirit working in us.

Receiving the Promise

Learning to Walk in the Spirit

We grow in our walk with Christ, because of the Spirit working in us. But we also are becoming more aware of the Spirit working through us. The clearest evidence that we are learning to walk in the Spirit is presence of the fruit of the Spirit. We experience the out pouring from ourselves of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in situations that sometimes surprise us. We are amazed at the changes taking place in us. Our attitudes and priorities are clearly different from how we used to be. We can attribute it to nothing other than the working of God in our life, the presence of the Holy Spirit. During this time of growth, we are learning to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than ourselves. Not only is the Holy Spirit bearing fruit as seen in our character, but we are also given gifts by the Spirit by which we serve the church. There may be times when we feel like we are struggling and times when we stumble and fall, but the Spirit continues to work in us, including revealing to us things that we still need to surrender. Our focus may be on Christ, but we are much more aware of the presence and work of the Spirit in our life as he continues forming us with Christ's character.

Walking in the Spirit

Eventually, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit so guide and lead us that we are less and less aware of ourselves. The desires of our flesh have been crucified. We know that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we treat it as such. We do nothing that grieves the Holy Spirit. Faithfully we serve the interests of Christ and his Church in the power of the Holy Spirit by employing the gifts given to us. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is how we live; it is part of the character that has been formed in us. In fact, is an attitude that is contrary to the presence of the Spirit attempts to surface in us, we recognize it as an intruder and reject it. Attitudes and actions that used to dominate our life are things of the past. We walk in the Spirit, proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. As we do, we help people understand the power and presence of the Spirit whom Christ sends to those who belong to him.