Recently, someone asked me to “educate them on the Holy Spirit.” This seemingly simple question is actually a topic that I could spend months or years researching and writing about without explaining it fully. This is what I wrote to this individual, submitted here for your edification.
The Holy Spirit is one of the beings that make up the trinity of God. Along with the Father, and Jesus, the Holy Spirit is one of the three distinct personalities of God. The Holy Spirit has many purposes or functions that are found throughout the Bible. Here are three functions, with the appropriate Scriptures.
The Holy Spirit Points Out Our Sin (Convicts Us)
“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
John 16:8-11
When we do something wrong, as all of us do, the Holy Spirit points out our error. Once we know that we have done something wrong, we know that we need to ask God to forgive us. We know that when we ask Him, He will do it.
The Holy Spirit Helps Us Pray
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27
Quite often, we truly don't know how to pray. When we can't find the words, the Holy Spirit expresses our struggles.
The Holy Spirit Cleanses / Purifies Us
“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
The Holy Spirit dwells inside of us. Because of this power, we do not have to be slaves to sin any longer. It is quite likely that we will still fail and sin from time to time, but this does not have to be our normal state of being anymore.
Just as I said to this other individual, please don't just take my word for what the Holy Spirit is and does. Rather, I encourage you to be just like the Jews that Paul encountered in Berea who are described in the 17th chapter of Acts.
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.”
Acts 17:11-12
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