There are plenty of things people get wrong about the Holy Spirit, and I’m not talking about just Pentecostals. Christians of all stripes can’t seem to think rightly about Him. A large contingent of Christians seem to think the Holy Spirit is a gift. True enough, Jesus did put that idea in the heads of His disciples, but the Holy Spirit is so much more than just a gift. He is a Person; a divine Person. The Holy Spirit is a much a divine Person as God the Father and God the Son.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the most important doctrines in the Bible and is a major component of what the Bible teaches about Redemption. He is mentioned in every book of the New Testament except for 2 and 3 John. All the Gospels begin with a promise of His outpouring. So why is He so misunderstood? The fact is, the Holy Spirit is neglected by most churches because of either formalism or the fear of fanaticism. But the very simple truth is that when we have the Spirit in our lives, we have God in our lives.

His Work

By the time we get to John 16, the end was near for Jesus as far as His earthly ministry was concerned. Things were about to get very uncomfortable for the disciples, so Jesus warned them.

They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the hour is coming when those who kill you will think they are offering a service to God. (John 16:2 | TNIV)

Talk about getting it all backwards! The so-called religious leaders would stoop to persecuting and sometimes killing followers of Jesus Christ thinking they were doing God a favor! Sin deludes people into believing the craziest things, which leads to actions that are inexcusable and unthinkable in a sane world. To comfort His friends, Jesus said this:

…but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. (John 16:5, 6 | TNIV)

Those are a curious two verses. It’s a little hard for us to make sense of them. The disciples were overcome with a sense of sorrow and dread, not so much because Jesus was leaving them, but because their world was about change. None of them had the courage to ask where He was going, probably because they had been down that road before and at least one of the bunch got an answer he didn’t care too much for.

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” (John 13:36 – 38 | TNIV)

That was bad enough for Peter, but now it sounded like everybody’s future was just a grim as his was going to be. They didn’t care where Jesus was going; they were concerned about their own futures. To calm their fears, our Lord mentioned the coming of an Advocate.

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7 | TNIV)

Wescott remarked:

The withdrawal of His limited bodily Presence necessarily prepared the way for the recognition of a universal Presence.

Some Christians sentimentally think how wonderful it must have been to walk with Jesus, but they don’t understand that today His Presence is within them, in the Person of the Holy Spirit. One scholar noted,

The braver and more perfect disciple is he who can walk by faith, and not by sight.

That perfectly describes believers after Jesus left the scene and sent the Holy Spirit. We can have a far more intimate relationship with the Lord than the disciples ever had while He was with them during His earthly ministry. Not only is the Holy Spirit the abiding presence of God in believers, He has some very specific things to do for us and in us.

When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:8 – 15 | TNIV)

In all, there are three aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work:

• To the world–conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
• To the disciples–direction and truth.
• To Jesus–revealing him more perfectly to and through those who represent Him.

As far as the world is concerned, the Holy Spirit’s work is to “prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” That seems to be an awkward way to describe what other translations call “convict” or “reprove” the world in regards to sin, righteousness, and judgment. In the Greek, that all springs from a Greek word that refers to a legal term meaning to pass judgment on a guilty party. It’s not just that the Holy Spirit accuses man of sin, He actually brings to them a sense of guilt and helplessness before God. So the Holy Spirit is like a prosecuting attorney who presents God’s case against sinful man. By creating an awareness of sin in man, He places man in the position of being unable to justify himself before God. To help you understand this role, think of the prophet Nathan and his interaction with King David after exposing the King’s sin.

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.” (2 Samuel 12:1 – 7 | TNIV)

That brought David to the place where he finally acknowledged his dreadful sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. (Psalm 51:3, 4 | TNIV)

The attitude behind a life of sin (or any sin a man may commit) is unbelief. This makes sense, for if a man truly believed in God and Christ, he would live accordingly. When that man continually rejects the conviction of the Holy Spirit, he is essentially telling Him that He doesn’t exist.

Also in relation to the world, the Holy Spirit convicts people of righteousness. That’s another way of saying that somehow, in a way that we don’t fully comprehend, the Holy Spirit enforces the standard of God’s character so that a man may compare his thoughts and actions against God’s standard. In other words, a sinful man knows deep down in his heart of hearts that what he is doing is wrong and that his life not what it should be. You may consider that his conscience talking, but it’s a subtle work of the Spirit. Paul in Romans advances this thought using other words:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of human beings who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18 – 20 | TNIV)

And when man continues to reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit; when he continually turns his back on God, what results is not unlike what happened to Pharaoh when he kept refusing to release the Hebrews. Exodus says that, “God hardened his heart,” but Paul put in terms that seem a little more reasonable:

[24] Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. [26] Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. [28] Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:24, 26, 28 | TNIV)

With respect to the disciples, the Holy Spirit would enable them to grasp the teachings of Jesus that so far they seemed unable to. And that’s one of the wonderful things the Holy Spirit does for all believers, not just the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking. The Spirit doesn’t teach anything new, He helps us to understand the Word of God and its teachings. Furthermore, the Spirit, though His gifts, broadens the spirituality of believers, helping us to do things spiritually that we normally would be unable to do. He deepens our understanding of spiritual matters and helps us to discern the world around us, enabling us to have clarity of thought, especially in regard to the future.

And the last function of the Holy Spirit relates to Jesus Christ. The Spirit doesn’t draw attention to Himself, but rather glorifies Christ. He makes the teachings and the Person of our Lord real to us.

He lives in us

The Holy Spirit and His work in our lives is completely indispensable. It’s sad that He is so ignored and misunderstood. Paul, in writing to the Romans, did his best to illustrate the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. In discussing those who live by the sinful nature versus those who have been born again, he makes this crucial observation:

You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:9 – 11 | TNIV)

The non-believer is controlled by his sinful nature – the base desires that lead to sin. The believer, by contrast, is no longer controlled by his sinful nature but by the Spirit because the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit – dwells in them. Your body may constantly feel the effects of sin, but inwardly you are made alive by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit is powerful; His power is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

In fact, by using different titles to describe the Holy Spirit, Paul is teaching something very deep about the Trinity and the nature of the fellowship we have with it. He uses these titles interchangeably: “the Spirit,” “the Spirit of God,” and “the Spirit of Christ” to convey the thought that with the Holy Spirit residing in believers, the Godhead resides there also. That’s an incredible thought showing the closeness of the relationship God wants with His people. It’s mind boggling to consider the singular privilege afforded only to Christians! To be able to daily live in the presence of the three members of the Trinity.

Many of us have been Christians for so long, we have forgotten how it felt to be outside of the family of God; we don’t remember being alienated from God because of our sin. We’ve been very comfortable with God’s presence – so comfortable that sometimes we take it for granted. In writing to the Corinthians, encouraging them to stay away from sexual immorality, Paul gave a piece advice that we would do well to practice, whether or not we are involved in sexual immorality.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 | TNIV)