What
is the Holy Spirit?
God became a man in Jesus so that Jesus could die for our sins.
Jesus rose from the dead to offer salvation to all the people through spiritual renewal
(rebirth). When Jesus ascended into heaven, his physical presence left the
earth, but he promised to send the Holy Spirit so that his spiritual presence
would still be among mankind.
Luke 24:46-49 KJV
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus is
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all the
nations beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry
ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endured with power from on high.
Jesus opened the minds of the people so they would understand the scriptures. The Holy Spirit does that in our lives today when we study the bible. Pray that the Holy Spirit will open your mind to understand, giving you the insight to put God's word into action in your life.
Jesus Promises to send the Holy Spirit
John 14:15 Life Application
Study Bible
If you love me, you will obey what I command, And I will
ask the Father, and He will give you another counselor (the Holy Spirit) to be
with you forever .. the spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it
neither see him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will
be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Before long, the
world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also
will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in
me, and I am in you. Whoever hears my commands and obeys them, he is the one who
loves me. He who loves me will also be loved by my Father, and I too will love
him and show myself to him.
The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within us and all believers,
helping us live as God wants. By faith we can utilize the power of the Holy
Spirit everyday. The Holy Spirit is a powerful person (spirit) on our side,
working for and with us.
When Jesus said, "I will come to you", he meant it. Although Jesus ascended
to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to live in believers, and the great comfort
out of this is that to have the Holy Spirit is to have Jesus himself!!
2 Corinthians 1:20-22
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are
"Yes"
in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory
of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed
us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is top come.
All of God's promises of what the Messiah would be like are fulfilled in Christ. Jesus was completely faithful in his ministry; he never sinned. (1 Peter 3:18); he faithfully died for us (Hebrews 2:9); and now he faithfully intercedes for us ( Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:14).
St Paul mentions two gifts
God gives us when we become believers. (1) a seal of ownership to show who our
master is, and (2) the Holy Spirit, who guarantees that we belong to him and
will receive all of the benefits. (Ephesians 1:13, 14) The Holy Spirit guarantees
that salvation is ours now, and that we will receive so much more when
Christ returns. The great comfort and power of the Holy Spirit is a down
payment (deposit) of the benefits of the eternal life with God. This guarantee
or promise should be all we need to put our trust and faith in Jesus.
The spirit of life is the Holy Spirit. He was present at the creation of the world and He is the power behind the rebirth of every Christian. He gives us the power we need to live the Christian life.
Romans 8:26
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
with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the
mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance
with God's will.
As a believer, you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. Even when you don't know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede for you, and God answers. God may not answer the way you intended or right away, but he has surely heard your prayers. With God helping you pray, you don't need to be afraid to come before him. Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you "in accordance with God's will."
Angie
Lewis
Copyright©2004