Chapter Thirteen: Why the Spirit?

Christians, upon their baptism, recite the Trinitarian formula, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit...”

We are Trinitarians. We believe in One God in Three persons.

What does the Holy Spirit do, though? Ortlund reminds us in this chapter and the next how the Trinity functions, particularly as our Triune God relates to us.

John 14-16 provide us with an enormous window into the last moments of Christ before His crucifixion. We are going to look at two passages this evening before branching out into more detail on the Spirit’s work, and then tie everything into our focus on our Gentle and lowly in heart Savior.

First, let’s look at 14:15-18. He tells the disciples they will demonstrate their love for him through their obedience (a worthy lesson in its own right). However, our focus is on the next three verses. Jesus is about to depart from this earth, but He wants to encourage the disciples.

He tells them He will pray to the Father and that Father will “give you another Helper.” This Helper “will abide with you forever.” He will never leave us, in other words.

Jesus tells us about this Spirit, “The Spirit of truth.” Jesus is human and is bound by His humanity to one particular place. The Holy Spirit is not so. He will abide (dwell, live) with us forever. The world does not and cannot understand the Spirit.

He lists out several examples from Scripture that I think will be helpful for us to understand:

Regenerates us (John 3:6-7)

Convicts us (John 16:8)

Empowers us with gifts (1 Cor. 12:4-7)

Testifies in our hearts that we are God’s children (Gal. 4:6)

Leads us (Gal. 5:18, 25)

Makes us fruitful (Gal. 5:22-23)

Grants and nurtures in us resurrection life (Rom. 8:11)

Enables us to kill sin (Rom. 8:13)

Intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray (Rom. 8:26-27)

Guides us into truth (John 16:13)

Transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18)

Considering the enormous role of the Spirit in the life of the believer, what take aways can we get from this?

Our Gentle and Lowly Savior has given us a remarkable gift—the Holy Spirit

“The Spirit of God indwells believers to reorient their lives and move them in a new spiritual direction by his application of the Word to their hearts.” Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley

Taking three of the works of the Spirit we mentioned above, let’s look at how it works in life. The Spirit leads us, by guiding us into the truth, ultimately transforming us to the image of Christ.

So, you read the Word of God in the morning. You read how you are to be kind to one another in Eph. 4:32. You go about your day. It’s time for lunch, so you pull into the drive through at Chick-Fil-A. The man at the window is extremely grumpy. He throws your change at you. Now, you have two responses: a good response or an evil response. The evil response is logical, understandable, and defensible. The good response runs contrary to your feelings, the facts, and even the normal expected response.

The Holy Spirit, however, gives His leading. Be kind. Remember that God forgave you all your sins in Christ. You are being led by the Spirit, He is guiding you to the truth of His Word, and He is helping you be transformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

“The leading of the Spirit consists of illuminating and effectually directing believers by God’s Word.” Beeke, Smalley

Or take another working of the Spirit: His confirmation that we are God’s children- Gal. 4:6. We become, through salvation, God’s children. The Holy Spirit testifies to this wonderful truth.

But consider this in connection with Eph. 4:30. We can “grieve” the Holy Spirit. Our sins (mentioned in 4:25-29, 31) grieve the Spirit.

The verse mentions our sealing for the day of redemption. In other words, when God saves us, He saves us. But, as Beeke and Smalley remark, “Though the Spirit will never break that seal and forsake believers, they can forfeit the sweet experiential comfort of that seal and suffer great darkness of soul.”