Day 44: How Is the Holy Spirit At Work IN CHRIST?
Today we want to take a brief look at some of the key things that the Holy Spirit does for all those who place their trust in Christ. In a later study, we go into more detail on these. For now, it is important that you see what God the Father and Son are doing in the World through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit brings New Birth for those who trust Christ.
Titus 3:5
He [God] saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
When we turn from our old way of life to place our trust and confidence in Jesus as the New Way of Life, we show that we have been reborn—given new spiritual life — through the work of the Spirit. Because of this, we are entirely new creations, new people set on a new course with a new destiny.
The Holy Spirit indwells those who trust Christ.
John 14:16–18
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 14:17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? {ESV}
The Father and the Son send their Spirit to live within all those who trust Christ. This is called the indwelling of the Spirit and it makes everyone who is “in Christ” the Living Temple of God. Our bodies and spirits become the place where God shows his presence on the Earth. This is also the way God “pours His love out” in us:
Romans 5:5
…God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Notice also in John 14:18 that Jesus says He would come to us when the Spirit comes. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit gives us the reality of Jesus’ personal presence!
The Holy Spirit baptizes and unites Christ’s people into His Body—the Church.
1 Corinthians 12:13
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Baptism speaks mainly to the idea of identification and union. When the Spirit descended on Jesus at His water baptism, He was completely identified and associated with the new work that God the Father had begun in Israel through Him and would spread to the whole World. When we are baptized by/with the Spirit, we were identified and united with Christ and His people—His Body, as Paul says here. In this same way,
The Holy Spirit seals all those who trust Christ.
Ephesians 1:13–14
When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 1:14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.
When we believed in and trust Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to seal us, to mark us off as people who belong to God. In doing this, the Holy Spirit serves as the guarantee that we will wind up in our final destination—blameless in the Father and Son’s glorious presence:
1 Corinthians 1:8–9
He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:9 God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Holy Spirit empowers those who are in Christ for New Life.
Ephesians 3:16-17
I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…{NET}
One of the most awesome realities that is true of us as Christ’s people is that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit who lives within us, empowering us to live a new kind of life!!! Now, think on that for a minute: when you believe in Christ and trust Him, you have access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead empowering you to live a whole new kind of life—one shaped by Jesus’ own life!
Now it is important to realize that the Spirit only does these things for those who place their trust and confidence in Christ. These are just some of the blessings that come to all of us who respond to the hope held out in the Good News of the Gospel, the Message of Truth, by placing our final confidence in Jesus alone.
Think about how the truths of the Spirit’s work that we have discussed today can change the way you think about all of life.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
