Holy Spirit Part 2

The Holy Spirit Gives Us Companionship With Jesus and the Father

Jesus said that the Father and the Son would take up residence with us. This is done in the third person of the Godhead. This is the Holy Spirit. When a person loves Jesus through salvation, the Holy Spirit comes and takes up residence in that person’s heart. Acts 2:38

Acts 2:38 (NASB95)

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It is in salvation that you begin a love relationship with Jesus. You receive the Holy Spirit when you enter in to that love relationship.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NASB95

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Knowing that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, we should conduct ourselves in a holy manner. We are to shed fleshly and worldly desires and learn to walk by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Jude 20–21 NASB95

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

We can pray in the Holy Spirit. He takes our prayers before the Father and makes them what they should be.

The Holy Spirit is the means by which we have companionship with the Father. The Father designed the plan of salvation. The Son carried out the plan of salvation. The Holy Sprit applies the plan of salvation. Titus 3:5

Titus 3:5 NASB95

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

The Holy Spirit washes us and makes us clean before the Father.

Without the Holy Spirit we would have no way of communicating with God. It is the Holy Spirit that impresses upon our hearts the laws and the will of God.

The Holy Spirit Teaches Us All Things

The Holy Spirit is the One who enables us to not only understand the Scriptures but also apply them to our lives. He brings about what we need to be conformed into the image of Christ.

Galatians 5:22–26 NASB95

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

The Holy Spirit enables us to take on the fruits if the Spirit

Love- (Agape)the Christian word, means unconquerable benevolence. It means that, no matter what people may do to us by way of insult or injury or humiliation, we will never seek anything else but their highest good. It is therefore a feeling of the mind as much as of the heart; it concerns the will as much as the emotions. It describes the deliberate effort—which we can make only with the help of God—never to seek anything but the best even for those who seek the worst for us.

Joy-(Chara) When Christ becomes your satisfaction.

Peace - (eirene) Knowing that God has complete control over every aspect of your life. Good times and difficult ones are all from God and are meant for our ultimate good.

Patience -(makrothmia) Being slow tempered toward others. Just the way God is with us. How much patience does God give to us? We should do the same toward others.

Kindness / Goodness (Chrestotes)That which brings the ultimate good to others. This could be by charitable means but could also come from correction.

Faithfulness - Being reliable. Being a friend that goes through difficult and good times with someone. This is what the Lord does with us!

Gentleness - (Praotes) balanced temperament. This person is not hot-tempered or apathetic. This person has controlled concern.

Self-control (egkratia) The spirit that has overcome and controls its desires and its love of pleasure. This allows them to be better servants of others.

Every one of these characteristics are the characteristics of God. Since He dwells within us, we have the capability to exhibit and live by these fruits

Therefore, Paul says if we live by the Spirit let us walk by the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit teaches us the things of Christ by showing us Christ in the Scripture. How did Christ handle conflict? How did Jesus treat the less fortunate? What did Jesus teach about work? What did Jesus teach about wealth and money? What did Jesus teach about marriage? What did Jesus teach about parenting? You begin to see the picture. Everything we will face in life Jesus has demonstrated or taught about. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to apply the fruits of the Spirit in every facet of life.

The Holy Spirit Gives Us Peace!

Peace with God

The Holy Spirit by the application of salvation brings us peace with God. Romans 8:5-10

Romans 8:5–10 NASB95

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

The Holy Spirit eradicates the rebellious fleshly spirit that is hostile towards God and his laws and replaces it with a spirit of subjection to God and compliance to his laws. It is in this that we find peace in our souls.

A person can never have true peace in their being apart from a relationship with God. This is the only thing that brings abiding peace.

The Holy Spirit brings peace through a relationship with God.

Peace in life

I hate to break the bad news to you, but life is not fair. Difficulties are a part of life. There is no way around difficulties. Storms of life are a natural part of life. Praise God that the Holy Spirit can calm the storms of life and bring peace. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35–41 NASB95

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

In our lives the situations that we face may be similar to what the disciples faced. They feared for their lives because the storm threatened them. It was too big for them to do anything about, so they went and got Jesus. Jesus just spoke and the storm calmed down. This is how the Holy Spirit brings peace to us in the midst of our storms. When the circumstances become too great for us to handle, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to intervene. He will speak and the storm will calm.

We have had a few health scares in our family. They were life threatening. I remember the fear of the possible prognosis of a few of them. The only way I could get rest and peace for my soul was to bow my knee to the Lord and allow Him to speak into my soul. This is how the storm was calmed in my life!

Peace in death

Finally, we can rest in the end of life. The promises of God make the end of life much more bearable. No healthy person wakes up and says today I want to die. This is not what a normal person does. However, death is an inevitable part of life.

I have seen both sides of the spectrum. I have been with people that did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ and I have been with those that had an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a noticeable difference in the two.

The person that does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ is usually angry and scared of death. They blame God for putting them in this position and they are scared because they don’t know what is to come after they die. If they do believe in heaven and hell, they blame God for not saving them.

The person that has an intimate relationship with Jesus looks forward to their passing. They look forward to their faith becoming sight. They are comforted in knowing that they are going to be in the loving arms of Jesus Christ. The promises of God becoming a reality thrills them and they are ready to go!

Where are you on the spectrum?