In the Spirit and Power

The scripture describes God as being triune; spoken of as the Godhead.  God is three in one and known as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 Our triune God is referenced in Matthew 28:19 when Jesus said, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  We have other references found in 2 Corinthians 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen." and 1 Peter 1:1,2 - "1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied."

 Our discussion in this post is going to be focused on the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not simply some mystical being.  Rather, the Holy Spirit is a person with His own distinctive personality and attributes.  And as such, we can communicate with Him, just as we do with the Father and Son. 

 The Holy Spirit is the "executive arm" of the Godhead.  According to Webster's Dictionary, the word, "executive" means: capable of, or concerned with, carrying out, functions, etc.....  In Genesis 1:2 we see the Spirit of God hovering (actually sweeping or moving) over the face of the waters during the creation or the earth.  As the executive arm of the Godhead, He was quite active as God spoke creation into existence.  The Holy Spirit is the power of God in action!

 In the gospel of John, we see that the Holy Spirit is to be given to believers.  The book of John also tell us that He will be "in" us and describes the works He will do.

 First, we note that He will be "in" us according to Ezekiel 36:27 - 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

 John 14:17 says, "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

 Romans 8:9-11, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

 Galatians 4:6, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

 We also find that He is the witness to our hearts that we belong to God. We see in Romans 8:16, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God," and in Galatians 4:6, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

 The Word also tells us the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

1 Corinthians 2:13, "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

 Then, Jesus speaks to His disciples concerning the Holy Spirit in John 16:5-15, "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

 In verse 7 in the above reference, the word "Helper" which Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit is the Greek word "parakletos", which means 'one who is called to another's side' (to offer support).  The Hold Spirit leads believers to a greater apprehension of gospel truths (1 John 2:27).  In addition to general help and guidance, He gives strength to endure the hostilities of the world system.

 The Holy Spirit is called "another Helper or Comforter in John 14:16-18, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you". 18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."  The Greek word for "another" is 'allos' which means: one besides or another of the same kind.  Jesus' use of 'allos' for sending another Helper equals - "one besides Me and in addition to Me, but one just like Me.  He will do in My absence what I would do if I were physically present with you."

 In Acts 1:4,5 and 8, " And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." ... 8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

 So, Jesus tells the disciples to wait to be empowered by the Holy Spirit that they may be effective in spreading the gospel.  The Greek word used for "power" in verse 8 is "dunamis" which refers to miraculous power; that which manifests God's miracle working power.

 Throughout the book of Acts, we see the working of the Holy Spirit manifested in power as He worked through the ministries of the apostles and other believers.  Peter raised the dead, healed the lame and preached the gospel.  Paul cast out demons, healed the sick and survived a snake bite.

 Paul said that he presented the gospel, "not in word only, but also in power and the Holy Spirit."

1 Corinthians 2:4,5 "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

1 Thessalonians 1:5, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake."

 I'll close today with Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3: 14-21, "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

 Paul prays, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we be filled with all the fullness of God. He then asks that we know, that He who does exceedingly above all that we ask or think, will do those things according to the power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit who works in us.

 I encourage you to reread the scriptures given in this blog.  Allow the Holy Spirit to give you revelation of the wonderful truth that is ours in the Word of God. 

 Pray and ask God to reveal to you what He wants to do in and through you by His Spirit!  Next time, I expect we will look further into the work of the Holy Spirit. 

 Be blessed in Jesus' name!