
First, let me just say a few things about the Holy Spirit:
- He is a Person.
Note: the Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’ any more than Jesus or the Father
are. He is not just a ‘force’ or a
‘power,’ but a person. He does things
only a person can do: guide, comfort, teach, be grieved, be lied to, etc. (Rom 8:14; John 14:26; John 16:3; Eph 4:30;
Acts 5:3)
- He is God. The Holy
Spirit is the 3rd Person of the Divine Trinity.
He is included in the Name of God.
He is called ‘God.’ (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 2:10-11, etc.)
- He resides in every true Christian. The Holy Spirit is not just a gift that only the super-spiritual receive. All Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them (Rom 8:9).
Given these three simple (yet profound) facts about the Holy
Spirit, we should ask:
- Do I worship Him and honor Him as I do God the Father and God the Son? How many songs of praise are there TO the Holy Spirit and FOR all that He has done? We have plenty of songs about the Father, about His works, and about the Son and his works, but what of the Spirit? Too often we are seriously lacking in giving honor where honor is due.
- Do I remember that He is always with me, in a very real sense… in every moment of every day? How would it change our lives if we remembered we are filled with God the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy
Spirit,
the holy catholic
Church,
the communion of
saints,
the forgiveness of
sins,
the resurrection of
the body,
and the life
everlasting. Amen.

The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. This is true when we are first saved,
believing we are sinners in need of a Savior; but this also continues as the
Holy Spirit reveals God’s truth to us and then convicts us of our lack of
conformity to God’s truth and God’s ways.
The Holy Spirit gives us faith to believe that the forgiveness of
sins of possible. The Holy Spirit also
inspired the Scriptures which give us assurance that if we confess our sins,
God is faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
The Holy Spirit secures us for everlasting life. Eternal life includes the resurrection of our
bodies at the final judgment. The Holy
Spirit raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11) and since we have the Holy Spirit
in us we too know that the Holy Spirit will raise us. Indeed the Holy Spirit is like a down payment
on eternal life: because He is present in our lives, we know we will have life
with God for all eternity (Eph 1:13-14).
And this is just a smattering of the work the Holy Spirit
does! He inspired the Scriptures (spoke
through the prophets), He comforts us when we are hurting, He assures us when
we are doubting. He gives us wisdom,
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and gentleness.
But perhaps the greatest gift of the Spirit is
that He is with us and in us. Human
beings were made for God, to be with Him.
We will never find joy and all we were made to be, unless we find it in
God’s presence. And the Gift of the Holy
Spirit, through simply being with us and in us, fulfills the greatest purpose
of humanity.