We can undoubtedly state that the Holy Spirit of God is still today one of the most controversial and misunderstood figures in the Holy Bible.
So much so that there are many theological lines that differ from each other regarding the person and role of the Holy Spirit today.
And as a result of this, in my view, the Holy Spirit is sadly neglected due to lack of knowledge
For even though no Christian would deny the existence of this person of the Trinity, there are millions of churchgoers unable to say that they have experienced the presence or working of the Holy Spirit in their lives in recent months.
Without commenting on many who say they don’t even believe that it is possible to experience and experience this.
What is the Holy Spirit of God according to the bible?
Most of today’s religions or ideologies respond to this question by stating that the Holy Spirit is nothing more than a supernatural force or energy.
But, reading the bible, we can easily see that this is a limited and somewhat ridiculous approach to the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is a person.
If you have been wrongly taught, I have to tell you that the Holy Spirit is not merely a wind or a dove, God’s Word clearly tells us that He is a person!
However, when I say that the Holy Spirit is a person, I do not mean a human being.
By the way, angels are not human, but people; God is not human, but he is a person; Just as the Holy Spirit is not human, but a person!
Research what attributes a being needs to be considered a person and you will see that this being simply needs to have intellect, emotion, and will. The Bible itself reveals to us that the Holy Spirit of God has these 3 personal characteristics.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus Christ assured us that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and only a person is able to teach something!
The Holy Spirit speaks, teaches, shares wisdom, grieves, guides, commands, etc. He is the one who convicts man of sin.
In Acts 5:3 the bible tells the story of a couple who lie to the Holy Spirit and you need to agree with me that no one can lie to a force, but to a person.
The Holy Spirit is God.
Just as the Holy Spirit has all the attributes that qualify Him as a person, He also has all the attributes that qualify Him as God.
The Holy Spirit is eternal, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.
Another aspect that characterizes the Holy Spirit as God himself is found in biblical verses that emphasize this fact through association, for example:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;” Matthew 28: 19
This type of association indicates that we are talking about beings that share the same nature!
So we understand that the Holy Spirit, in addition to being a person with whom we can relate, He is also God, and that same Spirit comes to dwell within us when we surrender our life to Jesus.
With this, He demonstrates that the only way for man to approach God is through Jesus Christ.
Why do we need the Holy Spirit?
We need the Holy Spirit so that the seed of grace generates, in us, fruits of eternal life!
Today in churches, the model of worship often based on “entertainment” has overcome the search for the action of the Holy Spirit of God in services (and outside them).
This model filled the temples with people concerned only with themselves, instead of generating servants willing to sacrifice everything in favor of the presence of Jesus.
Maybe we are too familiar and comfortable with the current state of the church and therefore don’t feel the weight of the problem.
But what if you were raised on a desert island with nothing but a bible to read?
Imagine being rescued after 20 years and then starting to attend a modern-day Christian church.
Chances would be huge that you would be perplexed to realize that the church lives very little of all that Jesus conquered for us on the cross of Calvary.
Having read the Word outside the cultural context of the contemporary church, you would be convinced that the Holy Spirit is more than the essential element in the Christian’s life, just like the air that is necessary for any human being.
You would know that the Holy Spirit led the early Christians to do inexplicable things and to live a life that made no sense to the culture around them.
The truth is, there is a huge gulf between what we read about the Holy Spirit in Scripture and how believers and the church operate today.
Satan’s plan is to withhold the Holy Spirit of God from us.
In many modern churches, you are astonished to notice the apparent absence of the Holy Spirit, and that is the crux of the problem.
If I were Satan and my main objective was to thwart the purposes of God and His Kingdom, one of my main strategies would be to get churchgoers to ignore or ignore the Holy Spirit.
And this plan (obvious and evil) has worked, it is notorious that people (the body of Christ) are dissatisfied and with the feeling that something is missing in the houses of worship.
This feeling is so strong that some Christians decide to completely distance themselves from the church and the Word of God!
I strongly believe that ‘that missing thing’ is actually someone – God’s own Holy Spirit.
Because without His presence the church cannot live a lifestyle unlike any other group of people.
Who has the Holy Spirit of God?
The greatest mark of the person who has and has been transformed by the Holy Spirit of God is that he becomes like Jesus.
Someone who has the Holy Spirit stops worrying only about himself and gives up his rights and things to take care of others.
Jesus himself stated that this would be the differential of his disciples when he said:
“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I loved you, you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34,35
Love is the true mark of those who have the Holy Spirit because we are not able to love people like ourselves.
Therefore, when a Christian detaches himself from the things of this world and chooses to give up status, recognition, and material goods in favor of others – it shows that he has really been transformed by the Holy Spirit.
As the Apostle Paul said, you can even speak in strange tongues, perform miracles, and know all the mysteries of God – but if you don’t have love, all this is worthless!
So try to develop that mark of the Holy Spirit, and ask Him to give you more love for your neighbor, instead of asking to do supernatural signs…
Especially because the love of neighbor is the true miracle that we should seek!
What does the Holy Spirit do?
We have already learned that the Holy Spirit of God is a necessary person, but that He is God Himself acting in us and through us!
Surely you must be wondering: What does the Holy Spirit do? Did I get it right? Then continue this reading:
He speaks – The Bible tells that the Holy Spirit himself spoke to the disciples as a person, not as a force used by someone ( Acts of the Apostles 13:2 ).
Think – the Holy Spirit searches and understands the things of God, He has the intellectual capacity ( 1 Corinthians 2:10-11).
Sit – If we can grieve the Holy Spirit, it means He has the capacity to feel emotions (Ephesians 4:30 ).
Has will – the Holy Spirit makes decisions, thus bringing us to know His will ( Acts 16:7 ).
Guide us – the Holy Spirit teaches us how to live as God wants. He lives within the believer and helps him to find the path he must follow. It is He who helps us to interpret the Bible correctly and apply it in our lives ( Galatians 5: 16 ).
Enable us – through the action of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome sin and live worthy. The Christian’s new attitudes are known as “ fruits of the Spirit ” because they are the result of his work ( Galatians 5: 22-24 ).
How to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God?
This is an extremely easy question to answer, but difficult for the human brain to understand.
Be full: It’s not an option it’s an order.
“And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is strife, but be filled with the Spirit;”
Ephesians 5: 18
The original meaning of the expression ‘full’ (in Greek) implies being “directed”, “controlled” and “empowered” by the Holy Spirit.
When Paul instructed: “Do not get drunk with wine”… He was saying the following:
Beloved, do not be controlled by alcohol, do not be enslaved by the desires of the flesh… Do not live anymore to satisfy human evil desires, but to satisfy the will of God.
For this, be filled with the Spirit, but remember that the filling of the Spirit is not completed in a single dose, it must be part of a daily experience.
We already know that being filled with the Holy Spirit is an order from God for us and should be a daily experience in our lives, but for this to happen we have to comply with 3 fundamental principles, which are:
- Seek growth in the Word of God.
- Walk in Holiness.
- Persist in Prayer.
Seeking growth in the Word of God:
The Word of God should so richly and abundantly control the Christian as to bring about a complete transformation in his thoughts and actions.
The true Christian must be full of the Word to become filled with the Holy Spirit because to be filled with the Spirit you need to have faith and faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
That’s why we can say that the Holy Spirit fills the life of the one who is controlled by the Word of God!
Walking in Holiness:
The Bible is clear in exhorting us that those who live by the Spirit, and in no way should seek to satisfy the desires of the flesh.
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit’s desire in our lives, just as the Spirit does what is contrary to the flesh.
That is, all the time they are in conflict with each other!
To be filled with the Holy Spirit of God we need to take off the old man as one takes off an old garment and throws it away. The responsibility is all ours!
Because there is no way to be filled with the Holy Spirit being full of sins and works of the flesh!
Asking in Prayer:
“If you, even though you are evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks him!” Luke 11: 13
This text is super clear: just ask and believe in the character and grace of the Father! Therefore, the conclusion I reach is that we urgently need to rescue the simplicity of the pure gospel of God.
Almost every time I need to deal with a situation, I realize that the real cause of our problems are religious beliefs, which teach the children of God to win the Father’s love and to pay the price to have a place at the table.
Do you remember how Satan deceived Eve? He said: if you eat the fruit, you will become like God… But she was already like God.
His image and likeness were made! The devil continues to use the same strategies throughout history, he deceives men, so that they live seeking to DO things, to BECOME what they ALREADY are or RECEIVE what they ALREADY have.
Satan leads believers to seek blessing when they are already blessed. He says that nobody loves them, and that’s why they need to prove to the world who they are, while the Cross screams to us every day.
In my relationship with Jesus, I have learned to pray and receive daily everything the Bible says is already available to me. And that has led me to experience wonderful things in all areas of my life!
Why don’t I feel filled with the Holy Spirit?
Well, brother, you already accepted Jesus as your lord and savior and practice His works so I’m sure the Holy Spirit already dwells in you!
However, there are things that keep you away from his presence and do not let you see him in your life, see what these things are below:
Our words : (lie, filthy words – rotten – Ephesians 4:25-29).
Thoughts (of which we are unworthy, anger, jealousy, envy): These thoughts hurt you, and sadden you as much as the action.
Ingratitude: When we are not aware of his presence within us, we do not honor him, and behave as if the Holy Spirit were not present.
Not responding to his suggestions, direction, influence, and everything he does in us: For example, the willingness to read the word, pray, and meditate, is the Holy Spirit in action.
When we don’t understand the purpose of the cross: Some claim it was just to get us out of hell, but it goes beyond that – it was so that you and I might come to His praise and glory.
What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit?
The Bible tells us to seek the Holy Spirit, the Word exhorts us: be filled with the Spirit!
According to the bible, the experience of being filled with the Spirit is not a passing emotion, on the contrary, when we receive the fullness of God, everything is transformed in our lives.
Seek to hear the voice of the Lord, assume the identity of the Son of God, do the will of the Father and take pleasure in Him, resisting temptations through a life of consecration and struggle.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit of God is not a one-time event, but a real, ongoing fact, every day of our lives. It’s a process!
We must give ourselves to Christ every day. In every situation of conflict between “I” and God’s will, we must make our decisions based on continual submission to Christ.
That’s what the bible says: The Holy Spirit wants to fill you!