I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17
Our Number One Helper
When you and I first repented of our sins and believed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to make His permanent home in our hearts. He is our Number One Helper in living out our Christian life (John 14:16-17, 26, 15:26).
One of the major roles of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers is to help us be what we already are: Christians and children of the Most-High God. The Holy Spirit aids us in our prayers (Jude 1:20) and He "intercedes for God’s people in accordance with God's will" (Rom 8:26–27), meaning He prays for us! He brings comfort, courage, strength, fellowship, and joy to us as we go through a hostile world (1 Thess 1:6; 2 Co 13:14). He is our Teacher and Guide. He leads us into all truth and protects us from false teachers, false doctrine, and lies in a post-truth world (1 John 2:26-27). He fills believers with "all joy and peace" as we trust in Jesus, causing us to "overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom 15:13).
The Holy Spirit is a giver of spiritual gifts as well. He helps us use our gifts to help our brothers and sisters. "There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them" (1 Corinthians 12:4). The spiritual gifts that believers have are bestowed by the Holy Spirit according to His wisdom (1 Cor 11).
Our Pledge of Guarantee
The Holy Spirit is the One who secures the salvation of everyone He indwells and seals us for the day of redemption (Eph 1:13-14). He is given to us as our Pledge of Guarantee of our future heavenly inheritance (2 Cor 1:22). Essentially, the Holy Spirit is the down payment of our salvation. Once we are given the Holy Spirit, by grace alone through faith alone, we are permanently sealed and can never lose our salvation (John 10:28).
Scripture says that all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Rom 8:14). We know we are children of God because the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we belong to Him (Rom 8:16). Furthermore, Scripture says we have received the Spirit of adoption as children because we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15). Abba is an Aramaic word that means Father. It’s a common term used to express affection, confidence, and trust. Abba represents the deep, intimate bond between a father and his child, along with the innocent trust that a young child has in his "daddy." A believer cries out to God His Heavenly Father like a small, needy child does to His Dad.
Our Sanctifier
Sanctification is a process guided by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. The Spirit leads the believer away from old sinful pleasures and the desires of the flesh and guides us towards righteousness and the lovely, pure, true things of God (Gal 5:16–18). The Holy Spirit works through God's Word as we read it on a daily basis; He sanctifies us by the truth. (John 17:17). As a result, the works of the flesh and the power of sin decrease in our lives, while the manifestations of the Spirit become more and more evident (Gal 5:19–26).
Believers are instructed to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), meaning that we should submit ourselves fully to the Spirit's leading in our lives. God commands us to no longer live according to the flesh but to "put to death the deeds of the body" by the Spirit (Rom 8:12-13). Through the Holy Spirit's power, believers now have the ability to obey God's Word from the heart. What grace!
The Greatest Influencer
The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence only in the believer's heart, but it's also an active influence even among those who do not believe. He is the Greatest Influencer the world will ever experience because He influences people to turn from their sins, believe in Jesus, and be saved. Jesus had promised His disciples that He'd send the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). The Spirit bears witness to the truth in Jesus (John 15:26), influencing and guiding people to His saving grace. Additionally, the Holy Spirit currently restrains sin and opposes the "mystery of lawlessness" in the world, preventing the emergence of the Antichrist (2 Thess 2:6–10).
He Helps Us Understand
The Holy Spirit has another major important role, and that is to give believers wisdom by which we can understand the things of God. “These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:10–11).
As believers, because we have received the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we are able to comprehend the mind of God as revealed to us in the Scriptures. The Spirit enables us to understand God's hidden wisdom. This is divine wisdom, not worldly wisdom. No amount of human understanding or reason could ever replace the teaching and the guiding of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:12–13). Divine wisdom is kept hidden by God and only revealed to His children. His wisdom can only be uncovered and comprehended by those who put their trust in Jesus. The wisdom from God is often foolish and even offensive to unbelievers. That's because without the presence of the Holy Spirit within, God's wisdom cannot be fully comprehended, trusted, or cherished (1 Cor 2:14).
Dear Heavenly Father,
You chose me and planned my salvation before the foundation of the world. Jesus provided the way for me by dying on the cross for my sins. On the third day, He rose again from the grave so that by grace through faith alone, I may have eternal life and be given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is my Pledge of Guarantee and my Number One Helper in living out my Christian life. What mercy and grace!
All glory belongs to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17
But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 1 John 2:27
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