Brief Reflections on our Statement of Faith: #4 The Holy Spirit

Article 4. – The Holy Spirit.

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost. He dwells in every believer, and by His baptism unites all believers into the body of Christ. As the Indwelling One, He is the source of power for all acceptable service and worship (John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:22; 1 Thessalonians 2:7).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is involved in various ministries. He restrains evil; convicts the world; regenerates, indwells, and anoints all who are saved, sealing believers unto the day of redemption. We also believe that the Holy Spirit will teach, guide, and enable those believers who are yielded to Him and walking in obedience to the Word (John 3:6; 16:7-16; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:30; 5:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 John 2:20-27).

We believe that divine enabling gifts for service are bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon all who are saved. These gifts are given to every believer for the building up of the body of Christ (Romans 8:23; 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-13:13; Ephesians 4:4-16; Hebrews 2:3-4; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

We are told several remarkable things about the Holy Spirit in the Bible, especially the pages of the New Testament. Perhaps the most striking is in John 16:7, where Jesus tells his followers that is better to have the Holy Spirit inside of them than to have Jesus walking beside them. 

Jesus goes on in that same passage to spell out a few of the Holy Spirit's ministries on earth. "He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement." Elsewhere, in passages such as Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, we are told that this same Holy Spirit equips God's people for service. 

There is a lot of confusion, even among Christians, over how we are to understand the work of the Holy Spirit and his role in the world today. But what seems evident from Scripture is that he is primarily working in and through those who trust in Jesus to help everyone see Jesus more clearly. And the way he does this is by enabling Christians to live and act in a way that is increasingly more Christlike. 

So as we consider the presence and work of the Holy Spirit today, let's focus primarily on what he is focused on: magnifying Christ. This should lead us to feel gratitude that Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to enable and motivate all true worship and service.