Experiencing the Holy Spirit

Do You Know The most frequent asked question?

Who is the Holy Spirit and what sort of work does he do? How and where are we as Christians to experience and enjoy the Holy Spirit? Questions like these have challenged Christians for a long time, but they seem to trouble many believers in the present day more than ever. The Pentecostal movement points to miraculous healings and speaking in tongues as evidence of the Spirit’s presence in their midst. Promoters of inter-religious dialogue claim that the Spirit is at work in all religions. Learned scholars write heavy volumes on a theology of the Spirit. All of this threatens to make average Christians wonder whether they really understand the Spirit’s work or whether they are missing out on the Spirit’s blessings. We do not have to be perplexed about such questions, however. Scripture makes clear what the role of the Holy Spirit is: to testify about Jesus Christ and apply the salvation that comes from him. And Scripture also makes clear where we experience and receive these blessings of the Spirit: in the church of Jesus Christ.

Daily Transformation

As with every Christian, the Spirit first gives us spiritual life at our conversion (Titus 3:5). But the ongoing presence of the Spirit changes our day-to-day experience after this as well:

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:17-18).

The Holy Spirit is currently in the process of transforming us into the likeness of God. Below is a list of 9 Bible verses that describe how the Holy Spirit works in our lives as believers.

1. Assurance that Christianity is True

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).

2. The Experience of Hope, Joy and Peace

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

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3. True Understanding of Scripture

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

4. Freedom From the Power of Sin

“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

5. The Experience of God’s Love

“…hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

6. Teaching and Remembrance   

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

7. Guidance into Truth

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13).

8. Spiritual Gifts

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

9. The Fruit of the Spirit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

I want to be better at identifying the Spirit’s work in my life. So I am trying to remind myself that whenever I am overcome by the truth of Christianity, it’s because of the Holy Spirit. Whenever I experience God’s love, joy, peace or hope, it all comes from the Spirit.

When reading God’s Word, it’s the Spirit that gives me understanding. When I am becoming a more patient person or am serving the body of Christ with my gifts, it’s always through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture also teaches that the Holy Spirit is a person who we can grieve (Ephesians 4:30), quench (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and resist (Acts 7:51). So instead, may each of us experience the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14) in our lives today.

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