“You might think that calling the Holy Spirit the ‘forgotten God’ is a bit extreme … I don’t think so … Without Him, people operate in their own strength and accomplish human-size results. The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”
~ Francis Chan, Forgotten God, p. 15, 16-17
This week, my husband and I began a Bible Study entitled Forgotten God, and though I admit, I have only read the introduction and part of the first chapter, I am intrigued. As you read above, Chan writes that he believes the lack of life-changing-ness in the church today is because we have forgotten in whose Spirit it is supposed to be done, whose Spirit is supposed to inhabit every action we partake in as a church. We have forgotten, or so he argues, who it is the disciples were told to wait for in the beginning part of Acts. So I thought it’d be fun to do a little study on what the Word of God has to say about the Holy Spirit … Wanna come along? I admit, I’ve only spent about half an hour with a few good tools looking up verses about what the Word says about God’s Spirit, but already, my heart is excited and stirred up to share with you!
Why do we need the Holy Spirit anyway?
There are a lot of really good reasons for the Holy Spirit. The first of which, according to John 16:8 in the Living Bible is that the Holy Spirit, “will convince the world of its sin, and of the availability of God’s goodness, and of deliverance from judgment.” Therefore, without the Holy Spirit’s work upon the face of the earth, you and I would never have come to realize how desperately we need God, would never have acknowledged our sin or the great gift of God to redeem us from it. Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 1:22 in the same translation says that after we’ve accepted Christ, God “has put his brand upon us – his mark of ownership – and [given] us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him, and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us.” So the Holy Spirit also works to confirm within us that we are saved, to assure us of our salvation, and to whet our appetite for the glorious eternal rewards awaiting us with God. Romans 8:14 adds, in the CEV, “Only those who are led by God’s Spirit are his children.” I don’t know about you, but I want desperately to be a child of God, and apparently, the Word tells us that it’s not enough to simply pray a prayer. We must live out our faith in Christ in unity with the Spirit – that’s our guarantee.
We also need the Holy Spirit to live a powerful life in Christ. Acts 1:8 tells us in the Living Bible that it is when the Holy Spirit comes upon us that we receive power to “testify about me with great effect … to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection.” Without the Holy Spirit, all our testifying about God’s goodness, His life and death and resurrection, will come to nothing. Our testimonies will only have power when they are coupled with the Holy Spirit’s movement in our lives and through our lives. Nehemiah 9:20 in the Living Bible says that God sent His “good Spirit to instruct” the people. John 14:26 reiterates this point by saying, “But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.” So it is the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives that teaches us, grows us, stretches us, and brings to remembrance the Word of God (how often I pray that the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance the verses I need to share with someone who is hurting – and He is SO faithful! :D). We cannot do these apart from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also “tells you what to say,” according to Matthew 10:20, in the CEV. Do you see how well those last few things fit together? Together, these Scriptures tell us that without the Holy Spirit, we won’t know what to say, won’t remember what the Word says, and won’t have a very effective testimony (which is probably a result of the first two things). Wow.
Beyond our personal salvation and our ability to witness to others, we also need the Holy Spirit to be an active part of our daily lives for a variety of other reasons. Acts 6:10, in the CEV, tells us that Stephen spoke “with the great wisdom that the Spirit gave him.” The Spirit will give us wisdom. Not our textbooks, not documentaries, or Wikipedia, or anything like that. When we need wisdom, we have to get that from the Holy Spirit. Nothing else will do. And, my personal favorite Scripture about the Holy Spirit, the one I marvel at and enjoy pondering but do not yet fully understand, is John 16:13, which in the Living Bible says, “When the Holy Spirit, who is truth, comes, he shall guide you into all truth, for he will not be presenting his own ideas, but will be passing on to you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” Did your spiritual eyes just pop out of your head? Mine do every time I read that, and I thank God for this promise, that the Spirit will guide us, that He will show us where to go, and that He gives us the ability to dream and catch glimpses of the future that is coming to us in Christ … I know I don’t fully understand that last part yet, but wow! I know I can’t do that on my own, that I must have the Holy Spirit to do that … and it’s amazing … Don’t you think?
And yes, we need the Holy Spirit for praying in tongues, as 1 Corinthians 14 makes this very clear, as does the book of Acts, in which one of the principle “signs” that someone had been filled with the Holy Spirit was that they prayed in tongues. I know, I know – this is a controversial subject, but allow me to simply remind you that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:18, “I thank God, I speak with tongues more than you all.” So, if we trust the other words of Paul’s writings, we need to really delve into this subject. For those of you already baptized in the Holy Spirit and pray in tongues – you know how precious and important this is. For those of you who don’t, allow me to share two really helpful resources with you: a great little book by Kenneth E. Hagin, and a great sermon entitled "Speaking in Tongues" by Andrew Wommack, that can be downloaded for free.
Finally, we need the Holy Spirit in order for our churches to thrive beyond the surface level. For example, John 4:23 tells us in the CEV that, “A time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshippers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth …” Worship without the Spirit will be unauthentic, will leave people empty. Oh, it may be entertaining, a good show, be peppy and vibrant – but if the Holy Spirit is not directing it, there will not be true worship. We need His help! Acts 9:31, in the CEV, further shows our reliance on the Spirit by saying, “The church became stronger, as the Holy Spirit encouraged it and helped it grow.” Our churches, though they may attract more people with gimmicks or whatever, will not see true spiritual growth and maturity in its members unless the Holy Spirit is active, is encouraging it and strengthening it.
So what does the Word tell us to do with the Holy Spirit?
I hope this has been helpful to you. It’s been fun for me, exciting even, to realize how many things the Bible promises us the Holy Spirit will do in our lives, and to realize how much I have to grow in yet. So, as kind of a closing thought, I’ll leave you with three verses about how we are to interact with the Holy Spirit, and encourage you to a study of your own!
- Zechariah 4:6b
o (CEV) “I am the Lord All-Powerful. So don’t depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit.”
- Ephesians 4:3
o (LB) Try always to be led along together by the Holy Spirit, and so be at peace with one another.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19
o (LB) Do not smother the Holy Spirit.
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