The Holy Spirit has a significant presence in the New Covenant and in this Dispensation of Grace. Many of the Friends and Workers have a limited knowledge about the invisible Holy Ghost (aka Holy Spirit in many Bible translations). Generally, they do not use the word Holy with Spirit; instead, they refer to the Spirit.
It wasn’t until I was in my early 40s when something prompted me to begin studying to learn more about the Holy Ghost/Spirit. Up until that time, I had viewed the Spirit as an elusive feeling, an attitude, an influence, a force, a power that came and went; similar to one’s conscience. Although I had been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I was clueless as to how the Holy Spirit functioned in God’s plan. In the 42 years I attended meetings, I recalled hearing very little preaching about him. I gained a whole new perspective of the Holy Spirit when I began to do a deep-dive study about him. I discovered my so-called understanding was seriously incomplete and somewhat erroneous.
I was amazed to find that the arrival of the Holy Spirit was prophesied by Old Testament prophets. Moses, Joel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all alluded to a time when the Holy Spirit would come along with a New Covenant!
Jeremiah foretold of a time when believers would not need guides or teachers. But this is the Covenant that I will make…I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them… (Jer 31:33-34 NKJV).
Likewise, Ezekiel prophesied the Holy Spirit would be within God’s children and would guide them: I will give you a new heart and put My Spirit within you …and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them…. you shall be My people, and I will be your God (Ex 36:26-28 NKJV).
Jesus repeatedly refers to the Holy Spirit with the masculine third-person pronouns: he, his, him – NOT an it (13 times in John 16 alone)!
He is referred to as The HOLY Spirit 100 times in the Bible, along with an impressive array of other titles and designations. Some of these are: the Holy Ghost, Comforter, helper, Paraclete, counselor, intercessor, guide/leader, teacher, witness, Spirit of Truth, Spirit of God, etc.
I discovered that I had totally overlooked many of his attributes, functions, roles, abilities.
One very important act was to inspire the writing of the Bible: According to Peter, holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21 NKJV).
I learned that the Holy Spirit is a deity with a personality—he has a mind, will and emotions.
That he loves, hears, makes decisions, intercedes, searches, teaches, guides, infuses, equips, empowers, convicts, saves, protects, transforms, etc. believers.
He is also a gift-giver. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them (1 Cor 12:4)
That humans can resist, quench, grieve, insult and blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
It was surprising to read in Scripture how much the Holy Spirit was involved with Jesus’ earthly ministry. In his farewell talk, Jesus made the Apostles a magnificent, incredible promise that extends to believers today (John 14-17). That after Jesus ascended, he would send the gift of the Holy Spirit who would be both with and in each of them FOREVER.
Before Jesus’ finished his work on earth and ascended to Heaven, during the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came and went—but He no longer works that way in the New Covenant and this Dispensation of Grace. He does not come and go in the lives of believers today. He STAYS there FOREVER.
GIFT of the Holy Spirit: In this Dispensation of Grace, all believers become the adopted children of God and are gifted with the Holy Spirit from the moment they surrender their life to Jesus Christ. He takes up permanent residence and lives inside (indwells) them. John remarked: As many as received him–to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:11-13).
He said, And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [Comforter in KJV], that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of Truth—you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17 NKJV). The Holy Spirit is a gift from God!
Peter said, Repent, and…be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ…and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit(Acts 2:38).
ADOPTED & HEIRS: Paul used the term adoption to describe the process by which God establishes a relationship with a person who trusts Christ as their Savior. He wrote: God …who…chose us in him before the foundation of the world…having forordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself (Eph 1:3-8).
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ… (Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:6-7). The Aramaic term Abbá means Father or Daddy.
SEALED: God, our Creator has welcomed believers as his fully adopted children and heirs. The moment they trusted in Jesus as their Savior, God sealed them with the Gift of the Holy Spirit. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13).
God claims them as his very own adopted children. No one can break the seal of God. Jesus said, No man can pluck them out of his hand (John 10:27-29 KJV). Nothing can separate God’s children from God’s love. The Holy Spirit indwells his children forever.
Believers’ inheritance is Heaven—the sum total of all God has promised us in salvation. Peter describes this as an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you (1 Pet 1:4 NKJV).
After entering a believer, the Holy Spirit abides in him forever—does not come and go. What a magnificent gift! Because the Holy Spirit has sealed us, we can live joyfully, confident of our sure place in a future that holds unimaginable glories. We are secure—the Bible assures believers of their salvation—promises them eternal life. Notice the verbs are present tense in the following verses.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Eph 2:8-9 NKJV).
John wrote an entire epistle (1 John) to assure a group of people that they were in fact saved.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life… (1 John 5:13 NKJV).
WITNESSING. Shortly before Jesus ascended into Heaven, his final words were a promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit AND a commission to believers to witness to the ends of the earth. Spreading the gospel (aka witnessing) was very important to Jesus. This was Mission 1!
He said, 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. (Acts 1:8-9).
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth…He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness… (John 15:26-27 NKJV).
What is called The Great Commission essentially outlines what Jesus expected the apostles and those who followed them to do in His absence til he returns.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Mat 28:19–20).
The book of Acts records numbers of preachers and teachers of the gospel other than in pairs. Limiting the spread of the saving gospel to the mouths of an itinerant, unmarried pairs of preachers seriously restricts the Holy Spirit’s work.
Jesus commissioned ALL Christians to spread the Gospel and to play a role in bringing unbelievers to Christ. This is Mission 1. Jesus expects evangelizing to unbelievers to be a high priority in the lives of the children of God.
Paul wrote that those with the indwelling Holy Spirit will be led by the Spirit and will walk as children of light and bear the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:16-25). The fruit they bear is the evidence of a spirit-filled life: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23; Eph 5:8; 1 John 1:6-8 NKJV)
ASSURANCE: Believers can be sure the Holy Spirit lives in them…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9).
However, it’s possible that a believer may have suppressed the Spirit; may have limited the Holy Spirit’s moving in their lives; may not allow him to be active; he may be dormant; may have a form of godliness, but are denying the power thereof (2 Tim 3:5). Perhaps by sins of commission and/or placing/allowing parameters/boundaries where the Holy Spirit is unable to act freely. Quench not the Spirit (1 Thes 5:19). A believer who disobediently takes control of his life and commits sins of commission quenches/stifles the Holy Spirit’s work and may find himself out of service until he repents of the sin and yields again to the Holy Spirit’s control of those areas.
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Cor 3:11-13 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit is not given to some believers and not to others.
The Holy Spirit’s ministry is not restricted – he operates in ALL believers
Believers are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Today the Holy Spirit lives in Christians only and he does so in ALL Christians permanently.
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would teach, guide, and reside inside believers PERMANENTLY.
Guide: John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth… (also 1 John 2:20, 27)
Teacher: 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 (John 14:26-27).
With the Holy Spirit inside, a believer doesn’t need a spiritual guide or teacher. They already have the best there is!
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable/indescribable gift of the Holy Spirit!
God forbid that we should neglect learning about so great a person who helps us so much!!
I can’t encourage you enough to diligently study and increase your knowledge about the Holy Spirit. May you allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to work in you and fill you with the fullness of God.
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:14-19 NKJV).
By Cherie Kropp
February 9, 2025