Anyone who has been to Church, and most importantly has read the Bible is familiar with the concept of the Trinity.

One God/Three Persons.
That is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In our opening blessing each week we invoke God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son. Today we are going to speak a bit about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. First, we will discover a bit about this mysterious Person, and then we will tackle the mystery of how He lives in us as believers. In order to understand the nature and the power of the Holy Spirit we must start with His role in the existence and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was on earth in his human body it was the Holy Spirit that bound him consistently with the Father both in mind and Will. The relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit is established from the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly life.

According to the Gospels, the Holy Spirit was instrumental in the conception of Jesus. In the gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary,

The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
– Luke 1:35

This divine act highlights the Holy Spirit’s role in bringing forth the incarnation of Christ, the Son of the Trinity made flesh, marking the beginning of the divine connection between Jesus and the Father through the Spirit. The baptism of Jesus is another significant moment where the Holy Spirit’s presence is vividly seen. As recorded in the book of Matthew.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’
– Matthew 3:16-17

This event underscores the triune nature of God, with the Father’s voice, the Son’s presence, and the Holy Spirit’s descent, symbolizing the divine approval and the Spirit’s empowering of Jesus’ mission on earth. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit.The Spirit provided guidance, strength, and wisdom as Jesus taught, performed miracles, and fulfilled His mission.

For instance, immediately after His baptism, Luke records it…

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
– Luke 4:1

This verse demonstrates the Spirit’s role in directing Jesus’ actions and decisions, ensuring alignment with the Father’s will. As we know, it was in the wilderness that Jesus was tested by the enemy, and when the test had been completed, and Jesus had prevail, Luke says this…

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
– Luke 4:14-15

The implication in this verse is that not only did the Spirit give Jesus clear direction and timing but also provided Him with the supernatural wisdom to teach in the Synagogues with authority, illuminating the scriptures to the Scribes and Pharisees from God’s perspective.

I believe that it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to rightly divide the Word (the Bible) today. We will speak more about that in a moment.

Furthermore, Jesus Himself acknowledged the Holy Spirit’s role in His works. In the Gospel of Matthew He states to the Pharisees who question His motives and from whence His power comes to drive out demonic forces…

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
– Matthew 12:28

This acknowledgment serves to illustrate that the miracles performed by Jesus were carried out through the power of the Holy Spirit, reinforcing the connection between Jesus and the Father. This divine presence not only connected Jesus Christ to the Father during His earthly ministry but continues to work powerfully within believers today.

Understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in these contexts offers profound insights into the nature of God’s interaction with humanity and the transformative power available to the faithful. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the action by which God takes up permanent residence in the body of a believer in Jesus Christ.

Conversely, in the Old Testament, the Spirit would come and go from individuals, empowering them for service but not necessarily remaining with them. According to most theological interpretations, the Old Testament describes instances where the Holy Spirit came upon individuals who were not necessarily considered “believers” in the sense of a personal relationship with Yahweh, but rather came upon them for a specific task or purpose, like empowering a prophet or judge to carry out God’s will.

Consider Samson who was in no way a paragon of moral virtue… What seems certain is that in the Old Testament, a level of faith or obedience was not required to receive God’s Spirit but only God’s purpose of fulfilling His sovereign Will. Here’s a somewhat obscure piece of scripture from first chronicles that describes the Spirit filling an individual for a specific purpose…

Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.” Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said:

We are yours, O David;
We are on your side, O son of Jesse!
Peace, peace to you,
And peace to your helpers!
For your God helps you.
– 1 Chronicles 12:16-18

What I find so fascinating about this scripture is that just like we must come humbly, seeking peace with God in order to receive the peace that he has already provided for us in Christ Jesus… so David said to the men of Judah and Benjamin, “if you come peaceably to me then my heart will be united with you but if you come to betray me then the God of our fathers will look upon you and bring judgment.”

And how are we drawn to desire peace with God? By His Spirit, just as it was with Amasai to David. The Holy Spirit draws us to desire a relationship with God and then reveals the Son to us when the time is right. God is always with those whose hearts are with His Son.

Now we come to the question how do we know that the Holy Spirit is indwelling in US? The Holy Spirit’s role did not end with Jesus’ ministry on earth; it extended to His resurrection.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
– Romans 8:11

This passage highlights the Holy Spirit’s vital role in the resurrection, a cornerstone of our faith in Christ, and signifies the Spirit’s life-giving power that raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus revealed to His disciples the new role the Spirit of Truth would play in our lives when He says in the Gospel of John…

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
– John 14:15-17

And the apostle Paul wrote,

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

These verses are telling us that the believer in Jesus Christ has the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, living in him. When an individual accepts Christ as hid/her personal Savior, the Holy Spirit gives that believer the life of God, eternal life, which is really His very nature and the Holy Spirit comes to live within him spiritually.

The fact that the believer’s body is likened to a temple where the Holy Spirit lives, helps us understand what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is all about. The word ‘temple’ is used to describe the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum in the Old Testament tabernacle structure. There, God’s presence would appear in a cloud and meet the high priest, who came once a year into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. On that Day, Yom Kippur, the high priest brought the blood of a slain animal and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. On this special day, God granted forgiveness to the priest and His people.

Today, the believer in Christ has become the inner sanctum of God the Holy Spirit, as we have been sanctified and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. The believer in Christ becomes the habitation of the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, Scripture also says that the believer is indwelt spiritually by the full Trinity in One God.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
– 1 John 4:15

As the Holy Spirit lives in the believer, He brings about some life-changing results that reveal His Presence:

1. The indwelling Spirit comes to a soul dead in sin and creates new life. Paul calls it the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. This is the new birth Jesus spoke of in John 3:1-8 when Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to see the Kingdom of God, a person must be born again of the Spirit.
2. The Apostle Paul tells us the indwelling Spirit confirms to believers that they belong to the Lord and are heirs of their Father God and fellow-heirs with Christ.

   For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
   – Romans 8:14

   The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
   – Romans 8:16

3. The indwelling Spirit installs the new believer as a member of Christ’s universal church. This is the baptism of the Spirit, according to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

   For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
   – 1 Corinthians 12:13

4. The indwelling Spirit gives spiritual gifts (God-given abilities for service) to the believer to edify the church and serve the Lord effectively for His glory.

   There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
   – 1 Corinthians 12:4

5. The indwelling Spirit helps the believer understand and apply the Scripture to his daily life. I want to camp out on this one for a minute…

Paul tells us…

Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
– 1 Corinthians 2:11-12

The Bible, while accessible, is a text of divine origin and eternal wisdom. Its truths are veiled to the natural mind, as Paul reminds us…

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
– 1 Corinthians 2:14

Without the Holy Spirit’s intervention, our understanding remains superficial and incomplete. The Holy Spirit’s role in illuminating the Word of God is multifaceted.

Firstly, He inspires a hunger and reverence for the Scriptures. As we read, He opens our hearts and minds to comprehend the depth of God’s message. This is not merely about intellectual understanding but a transformative experience. The Spirit brings conviction, encouragement, correction, and guidance through the Scriptures.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit helps us to “rightly divide” the Word of Truth, as Paul exhorts his disciple Timothy. This means interpreting the Scriptures accurately and applying them appropriately to our lives. The Spirit helps us discern the context, the intended message, and how it relates to the broader narrative of God’s redemption plan. The practical application of this divine illumination is seen in our daily walk with God.

When faced with life’s challenges, the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance the words of Scripture, providing comfort and direction. In moments of decision-making, He helps us discern God’s will through the principles laid out in His Word. As we share the gospel, the Spirit empowers us to speak with clarity and conviction, ensuring that our message aligns with biblical truth. One of the evidences of the Holy Spirit living in you is that you will have a hunger and a thirst and a desire to know God’s word

Even though we have gone through quite a bit of the evidence of God’s spirit indwelling in us and how it is supposed to come out in our daily lives there is much more and I will continue it next week, God willing. But for now, suffice it to say that when you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior, you receive the character of God, the power of God, and the very person of God to live in you, with you, and through you. Truly a life lived in relationship with the Lord through His Spirit is the only life worth living. As Jesus said He is the way the truth and the life.

Let’s pray…
– John Henry Raskin, Roadhouse Rabbi