The Holy Spirit of God

The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Trinity, and is known as the comforter and counselor. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come and go, but would never permanently stay. In the New Testament, He lives within us, and abides in us forever, He never leaves us. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit the moment we believe in the Gospel of Grace stated in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The Holy Spirit's task is to always keep pointing us to our Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross. The Holy Spirit will keep reminding us about our abundant forgiveness through the Blood of Christ, and that we are today the righteousness of God in Christ. In other words, we tend to become less and less sin conscious, and more and more conscious of Christ's righteousness upon us. The Holy Spirit teaches us to lead a quality life with the wisdom of Jesus from God's Word through gentle inspirations from within us. Our Lord Jesus said:

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” - John 14:26

What happens to the Holy Spirit if we sin? Does He leave us?

The Bible says:

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” - Ephesians 4:30

God's Word clearly states that the Holy Spirit will never leave us, and that He is sealed within us. When a Christian, having sealed with the Holy Spirit, commits a sin, the Holy Spirit gets grieved. This is when such people experience a disturbance of peace from within them, because, while they are still in sin, the Holy Spirit begins to remind them of Jesus's Grace upon them. The moment such people pay attention to the Holy Spirit's voice, Christ's Grace is released and they naturally experience the desire to stop sinning, without much effort of their own. Whereas people who call themselves Christians, but really are not Christians, tend to continue in sin because they do not have the Holy Spirit in them.

The Holy Spirit will not lead a person by accusing them of their sins, but rather He will remind them of their abundant forgiveness because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus on the cross, and lead them into repentance. This is the reason the Holy Spirit is known as the comforter and not as the accuser. The devil on the other hand is known as the accuser, as stared in the book of Revelation 12:10, who will accuse a person of their sins and lead them into condemnation. Whereas the Holy Spirit, the comforter, will remind a person of the gift of Grace, and lead them to repentance.

The Holy Spirit manifests Himself from within a Christian as various gifts. The Holy Spirit decides which gift each person should have:

“But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” - 1 Corinthians 12:11

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are stated in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, and they are as follows:

Word of Wisdom
Word of Knowledge
Faith
Healing
Working of Miracles
Prophecy
Discerning of spirits
Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues

If a Christian is not showing any of the above manifestations of the Holy Spirit, it does not mean that they do not have the Holy Spirit in them. It simply means that they are depending on their own efforts rather than relying on the Holy Spirit. A Christian, having shown one or more gifts of the Holy Spirit in the past, is no longer showing the gifts anymore does not mean that the Holy Spirit in them has diminished. It simply means that such a person has stopped hearing the Word of God. When we listen to Jesus centered sermons, our faith in us grows. Our Lord Jesus always emphasized on faith, during His ministry on earth, to His disciples and to other people around Him by saying, "your faith has made you well", or "you who of little faith". Our Lord knew very well that faith in Him is the root for progress or breakthroughs in any area of life. The Bible says:

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” - Romans 10:17

Listening to God's Word being preached helps us to become more familiar with the voice of our Lord Jesus, and hence we become more sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. The Word of the Lord is Spirit and it is full of life. If we do not know God's Word, then we would miss out on the guidance of the Holy Spirit from within us. When we walk under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we are walking in Grace, and we ultimately tend to lead a quality life by not giving-in to the desires of the flesh, and therefore, sin will not have dominion over us. The Bible says:

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” - Galatians 5:16

Instead of relying and walking in the Spirit, if we are walking in our own efforts by relying on our own works, then, we are walking under the law. If we are walking under the law, then Christ becomes of no effect and we have fallen from Grace. The Galatian Christians are an example of people who went back to the law, and started to walk by the law. For this reason apostle Paul rebuked them by saying:

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” - Galatians 5:4

Nobody in the entire Old and New Testament had ever been able to keep or fulfill the entire law of Moses, apart from our Lord Jesus. This is the reason our Lord Jesus had to shed His Blood for the remission of man's sins, as Jesus Christ was the final sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Holy Spirit makes us conscious of this truth, and of our abundant forgiveness in Christ, and reminds us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. Whereas the law makes us conscious of our sins. The Bible says:

“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” - 1 Corinthians 15:56

Our Lord Jesus is the only man who fulfilled the entire Mosaic law, and today He is seated at the right hand of God the Father as one of us, as He is 100% man and also 100% God. When we walk under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Himself is responsible for us to keep us holy, not by our own works, but by His Grace. The Bible says:

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

We should never forget, that there are two people among the Trinity, who are constantly interceding for us. The first is the Holy Spirit from within us. The Bible says:

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” - Romans 8:26

The second is our Lord Jesus Himself, as a man, and as one of us, who was tempted in every way, and yet without sin. Even before Peter could fall, we notice that our Lord Jesus had already gone ahead and had interceded for Peter to God the Father:

“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” - Luke 22:31-32

Peter relying on his own strength said to Jesus that, he is even ready to go to prison and even to death in Luke 22:33. This is when our Lord Jesus guided Peter in showing how fallible human strength is by specifically telling Peter as to how he would fall in Luke 22:34 saying "I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me". Later as we read through the Gospels, we see a humbled Peter, no longer relying on his own strength nor his good works, but solely relying on the Lord and His finished work on the cross of Calvary. Our Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He continues to intercede for us and God the Father always listens to His Son. The Bible says:

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” - Romans 8:34

Finally, when we are constantly walking in the Spirit, by being attentive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, who is continuously pointing us to our Lord Jesus Christ, by reminding us of His finished work on the cross, our faith grows stronger day after day upon hearing the Word of God, and ultimately, we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” - Galatians 5:22-23

Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. For a branch to bear fruits, it takes time, therefore as Christians we need to be patient and not lose hope, because Jesus said:

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” - John 15:5

When we are relying on the Holy Spirit and not on our own works, He gives us hope. The Bible says:

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” - Romans 15:13

The Holy Spirit never leads a person using the law, thereby making a person conscious of their sins, but rather, as a comforter, He leads us through Grace, by constantly reminding us that we are the children of the Most High God, and as a counselor, He guides us to walk as a child of God in our day to day life, so that when others see the presence of God upon us, they would turn to the Lord and give all the glory to the one Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle John says:

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” - 1 John 5:13

Apostle John is one person who depended and boasted on the Lord's Love for him, rather than his love for the Lord. Having experienced the Lord's Grace, he mirrors the Lord's words stated in John 3:16, and assures us believers that we do possess the gift of eternal life because of His finished work on the cross due to our faith in the Blood of our Lord Jesus, and not on our own works. The Holy Spirit bears witness by resonating with God's Word from within us, and helps us to understand this truth, thereby giving us hope and confidence to walk as a child of the Most High God in our day to day life.