Day 119: What Are The Growth Ministries of the Holy Spirit? Part 2
The Holy Spirit has been given to all of us who are trusting Christ to lead, empower and fill us. The Spirit has been given to us to lead us and empower us to live in self-sacrificing love because this is who God is and what we have experienced from God Himself
3. The Holy Spirit Leads, Assures And Intercedes For Us As God’s Beloved Children.
WORDwork:
Romans 8:14-27
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him…
26 …the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.
How does Paul define the “sons of God” in 8:14? What is the Spirit doing for them?
What “spirit” is the Holy Spirit contrasted to in 8:15?
What does the Spirit do for us in 8:16-17?
What does the Spirit do for us in 8:26?
This passage is one of the most comforting passages in all the New Testament relating to the Holy Spirit. Last week, we looked at 8:1-13, the first part of this passage. As we continue on, we hear that the Spirit of God is leading the sons of God. If you look at the context, you will discover that this is taking place whether you are completely aware of it or not. The Holy Spirit is now leading each of us in Christ in hope, trust, and love—to follow Jesus by faith. He is not leading us in fear and slavery but in freedom and glory (see the rest of chapter 8 of Romans).
Another ministry of the Holy Spirit that we hear in this verse is that He is constantly bearing witness to our spirits that we are in fact Children of God. If you remember, one of the ministries of the Spirit is to bear witness about Jesus. Here, He bears witness to us. He is ever speaking to our “depths” reminding us that we are in fact Father-God’s beloved children. He constantly speaks within us, “You belong to God; You are His child.” And if we are His children, then we are also heirs with Christ of the Kingdom to come. This ministry of the Spirit should cultivate our hope and joy.
As the Spirit leads us and witnesses to us, He is also interceding for us. He helps us in our weakness. We don’t know how we ought to pray. But the Holy Spirit who has access to the mind of Christ and also knows the desires of the Father is always praying for us, interceding for us—asking the exact right thing for us in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. What a great encouragement! The Spirit is always praying for us exactly what we need! Notice these prayers take the form of “inexpressible groanings”—what the Spirit prays cannot be translated into human language because His thoughts are too deep. As the Spirit leads us, He is asking for what we need along the way.
4. The Holy Spirit Empowers Us To Live/Walk As God’s Children.
Galatians 5:16-25
But I say, live (literally walk) by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
In our last study, Walking in the Truth, we considered how the Spirit is seeking to guide us and empower us to live by trust in Christ. This is opposed to the Sin that Dwells within us which seeks to get us to live by our own self will and self-empowerment. As we heard there, the Holy Spirt is the very power that raised Jesus from the Dead. Now, He lives within us empowering us to live a whole new way of life. We see this reflected in other passages in the New Testament:
Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the second half of this workbook, we are going to focus on things we can do to become more aware of the Spirit’s work within us and how we can cooperate with His work. His power is always available to us and there are exercises we can do and habits we can form to make that power real in our lives.
5. The Holy Spirit Fills Us As We Submit To His Leading.
Ephesians 5:18-21
Now do not get drunk with wine, which leads to corrupt self-indulgence, but allow yourselves to be filled up by/in the Spirit, 19 (which will overflow) in speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The Spirit seeks to fill us with the joyous and loving reality of His Divine Life – the Life of Father-Son-Spirit. In this passage, Paul is contrasting a life of drunkenness (being filled with liquid “spirits”!) with living a life filled and overflowing with the life of The Spirit of God. When we allow the Spirit to fill us up, our lives will overflow with the types of things Paul mentions in this passage. We will speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. These were some of the earliest ways that the church encoded and passed on its core teaching, truths about Christ, and values. We will be filled with joy, singing and making music in our hearts to the Lord. We will constantly be giving thanks in all circumstances, realizing that Father-God is always at work in Christ on our behalf. Finally will be characterized by our submission to one another. The very essence of the Lord God is a “spirit” of submission and service.
This will be our main thread of thought from here on: The Spirit has been given to us to lead us and empower us to live in self-sacrificing love because this is who God is and what we have experienced from God Himself. As we follow the Spirit who is following Christ, we will be characterized by joy, thanksgiving and submissive love for one another and for all.
Think about all you have read for today. How do these truths shape or change the way you think about the Holy Spirit? How might these truths affect the way you live?
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
