The Holy Spirit is the Third Member of the Trinity. This means the Holy Spirit is God. Many people believe the Holy Spirit is merely a “force” or a spiritual power, but this is an erroneous belief. The Holy Spirit is God, and He is active in the world today, but you may be wondering, “what does the Holy Spirit do?”
What Is the Work of the Holy Spirit?
When a person places faith in Jesus, they are immediately indwelled by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). This indwelling is permanent as a believer can never lose the Holy Spirit. Once He indwells the believer, He remains forever.
The believer is truly born-again by the work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). The Holy Spirit helps the believer live a life pleasing to the Father. He helps believers do the right things rather than committing a sin. A believer can only cultivate the fruits of the Spirit by the working of the Spirit within them (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Holy Spirit also convicts the believer when they are tempted or when they have committed a sin (John 16:8). He does this to help believers choose to do the right thing. Just because a believer has the Holy Spirit does not mean they will always listen to Him.
Sadly, many people choose to grieve the Holy Spirit. Grieving the Holy Spirit means you refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in your life and you choose to live a life of sin. All believers should abstain from grieving the Holy Spirit as Paul tells us, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
If we keep turning a cold shoulder to the Holy Spirit, it will cause us to become calloused to His conviction. As believers, we need to always listen to Him and allow Him to help us walk in the light of life.
Jesus Himself refers to the Holy Spirit as our helper (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit not only helps us resist temptation, but He also helps us in prayer (Jude 20). When we are too burdened, sad, or depressed, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with moans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26-27). The Holy Spirit is constantly interceding in prayer for us even if we do not know what to pray.
What Are Spiritual Gifts?
The Holy Spirit is in charge of administering gifts to believers. The Apostle Paul tells us, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (1 Corinthians 12:4). The different types of spiritual gifts include evangelism, teaching, exhortation, healing, faith, tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, knowledge, helps, hospitality, leadership, serving, and wisdom (Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 12:6-8).
Each of the spiritual gifts is given to build up the church and bring glory to God. The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (4:10).
Spiritual gifts are not the same thing as talents. Rather, spiritual gifts are divine gifts that are given to believers to bring glory to God. If you do not know your spiritual gifts, you can pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal your gifts to you.
You can also volunteer for different ministry roles at your church in order to discover your spiritual gifts. Each believer is gifted with at least one spiritual gift and the Holy Spirit can help you discover your own unique spiritual gifts.
What Is the Importance of the Spirit?
Did you ever try to read the Bible before you were a believer? Many people cannot understand the Bible before they accept Jesus. This is because before a person is a believer, they are blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4). When we become believers, our eyes are open to the truths of the Bible. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the Bible as He understands its deep truths (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 says, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”
In fact, the Holy Spirit is the One who guided the people to write the Holy Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Since He wrote, He can help us understand it, meditate on it, and apply it to our daily lives.
What Is Sanctification?
Sanctification is the process of becoming more Christlike. The Holy Spirit helps us in our development of sanctification. If we walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit, He will help us grow in godliness. If we choose to walk along the path of sin, there will be destruction.
Paul cautions believers in the Book of Galatians, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (5:16-18). As believers, we must always strive to walk according to the Spirit and not according to our flesh.
When we are being faithful in obeying the Holy Spirit, it will show up in our lives. Similar to what came before, we will develop the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. The fruits of the Spirit consist of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
If you know you are not walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit, do not fear. He is ready to help you today if you just ask Him. It delights the Holy Spirit when you ask Him for His help. He is always ready to help, comfort, and guide you.
The Holy Spirit loves you and He is always with you. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us in this dark world. It is in our best interest to listen, obey, and follow the Holy Spirit’s instruction in our lives. He is God and you can trust Him.
For further reading:
What Does it Mean ‘The Spirit of the Lord Is Upon Me’?
What Is the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
What Is the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
Why Can the Bible Only Be Understood Through the Spirit?
How Are Believers Empowered by the Holy Spirit?
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