What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

I began a short series last week looking at the person and work of the Holy Spirit. We started off by identifying that the Spirit of God was at work from the very beginning of time. As we read in genesis 1:2, “The spirit hovered over the waters..” Today, I want to continue our investigation by considering what the Holy Spirit does. Writing in articles such as this does not allow for a complete and sufficient discussion of this subject matter but hopefully you will take some time during the week to read the scripture passages mentioned and to allow the Spirit of God to be your teacher.


So What Does the Holy Spirit Do?
1. The Holy Spirit is involved in the new birth.
a. Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit…" (Jn. 3:5).
2. The Spirit lives inside believers
3. The Spirit sanctifies (I Pet. 1:2).
4. The Spirit convicts (Jn. 16:8, ASV)
5. The Spirit comforts (Acts 9:31)
6. The Spirit Counsels (Jn14:16)
7. Teaches (I Cor. 2:13)
8. Saves (Tit. 3:5)
9. Purifies (I Pet. 1:22)
10. The Spirit also exerts power (Rom. 15:13)
11. The Spirit brings truth (Jn14:17)
12. The Spirit empowers (Acts 1:8)
13. The Spirit gives gifts (1Cor 12:8).

Comforter/Counselor
In John 14:16-14:24 - Jesus makes a devastating announcement to his disciples – He is going to leave them again. He adds confusion to the devastation by saying that He HAS TO GO. He brings some comfort in that Jesus tells the disciples that even though He must leave He will send them another comforter, someone to come along side them. The Greek term used in the New Testament is ‘paraklete’ or ‘parakleton’. This word is translated as “advocate” in 1 John 2:1 and essentially it means “one called alongside” for protection or counsel. So the role of the Holy Spirit, as stated by Jesus, was that He would be one who would come along side to comfort and to counsel. Wouldn’t you just want that person with you every day, during every moment, assisting in every situation, counseling in every decision. In this passage Jesus also uses the word ‘another’. The word “another” used here is ‘allon’ (meaning ‘another of the same kind’) rather than ‘heteros’ (another of a different kind). Jesus was one comforter. The Holy Spirit was another comforter, but another of the same kind. Jesus is reassuring the disciples that the new comforter will be made of the same stuff Jesus was – to use an old expression, he would be cut from the same cloth. The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our counselor and He is just the same as Jesus – fully God.

An Indwelling Spirit
Jesus continues in this passage to tell the disciples that while He walked with the disciples, the Holy Spirit would dwell (live) inside of them. In verse 17 Jesus clearly tells them that the Spirit will live inside of them. Have you ever thought about that? The Spirit of God, who hovered over the waters at the creation of the world, lives inside of YOU! Everywhere you go, He goes, everything you do, He sees, everything you say, He hears. Now that probably doesn’t make you feel that good – especially if you have made some of the same mistakes I have made. Your body is the Holy Spirit’s address. Paul wrote in 1 Cor 3:16 that your body is a ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’. I think my temple is in a little need of repair – (time to drop some weight and take care of His house.) In John 20:22 Jesus appears in the Upper Room before the disciples, Thomas checks out the nail marks in his hands, and then Jesus tells them to ‘receive His Spirit’. This is what many authors consider the disciples conversion experience – they have seen Jesus crucified, risen from the dead and now have declared Him as Lord. After Thomas has had his questions asked Jesus fills them with the Holy Spirit. They are reborn. If you have accepted Jesus as Lord and savior of your life and have confessed Him as Lord then the same Holy Spirit has entered into your body too. You have been filled.

The Holy Spirit Insures Us and Assures Us
In Romans 6:16 we read that the Spirit of God ‘bears witness’ with our spirit that we are God’s children. The Holy Spirit is intricately involved in our salvation. While Jesus died on the cross and paid the punishment that should have been ours, He is now in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father, praying for you (comforting thought). Here on earth, the Holy Spirit is calling people by name, pointing them to Jesus, leading them to salvation. The Holy Spirit operates on a ‘spirit’ level and communicates with our spirit directly. Eph 1:13-14 tells us that when we heard the Gospel and believed that we were marked – with the Holy Spirit. You are a marked person – the Lord knows that mark, and the enemy knows that mark too. Those verses continue by telling us that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, securing our guarantee for a life with the King. What a beautiful image. Gordon Fee: wrote this, "The Spirit himself is the down payment...in our lives that guarantees our certain future...The gift of the Spirit is the first part of the redemption of the whole person". Now that really is ‘Blessed Assurance’. On the flip side, Romans 8:9 says this, ‘If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.’

Enables Us
John14:21 says, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
1 John 3:24, “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

John 14:23 “Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

It is clear here that the Holy Spirit lives in us and it is through His power that we can now live. Love is the only power that can draw a person to keep the Lord’s commands; they are too foreign to fallen human nature for it to be otherwise.

Provides Freedom
One of the things the Bible often associates the Holy Spirit with is freedom. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." I want to look at four freedoms that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. In 1 Corinthians 12:3 we read, “Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. So we cannot even declare that Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit.

Empowers Us
Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Here we see one of the verses that we will discuss in a few weeks when we look at the difference between ‘in-filling’ and ‘out-pouring’. If you recall from earlier we discussed from John 20 how Jesus appeared to the disciples and they received the Holy Spirit – an in-filling. After that occurrence they were instructed by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem and to wait for empowering when the Spirit came ON them.

What sort of power are we talking about?

Well if we read the end of the verse from Acts 1:8 we see that the empowering is for us to be witnesses. We are not empowered so we can be better Christians, we are empowered so that we can be His witnesses. We are empowered so we can carry out the great commission.

The Holy Spirit Gives Gifts – that is for a brand new post – coming next week