Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit is among His people today. He does not ever leave us, we were sealed with Him when we believed, so there's not really a need to work ourselves up and get into an attitude that we think allows us to experience HIm. We just need to ask Him to fill us - in other words, remind us that He is God, He is in us, and we should follow Him. Another way of saying the Holy Spirit is here, is to say: God is my Leader.

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to His followers: John 14:15-31. He is the Counselor and Spirit of Truth. That's comforting. Paul calls Him "Spirit of life" in referring to the law of the Spirit of Life. Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." The rule of the Holy Spirit is one of life and peace and righteousness.

In Acts, the Holy Spirit works all kinds of miracles and gives direction to His people. The book of Acts is structurally reliant upon Acts 1:8:: but you will be my witnesses into Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit empowers this progression. Miracles and signs accompany His work. At pentecost, evidence of the Spirit is in tongues - actual spoken languages that each person understood: the Spirit spoke to each person's heart language. The gospel spreads throughout Judea and Samaria, and the evidence is that the recipients speak in tongues or show great faith. Then, through Paul's missionary journeys, the Gospel is carried throughout the world. But the signs accompanying the Spirit are more evident in the Fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5) rather than signs and wonders. Why? The barrier had been crossed from Jew to Gentile in the spread of the good news. The early church now became multi-cultural [it started out among Jewish people only]. The signs of the Holy Spirit encouraged the church in realizing the Acts 1:8 progression of the Gospel. Not everyone who believed spoke in tongues or worked wonders. All were baptized. Hmmm...

So, what about today? Scripturally, passages like John 14:15-31, Romans 8:1-17, Galatians 5:16-26 should guide our understanding. To say "God is my Leader" is one thing. To live like God is my leader is another. The Spirit impacts my life, attitudes, and actions. Being filled with the spirit is emptying the sin [confessing it] and asking God to lead. Exhale sin, Inhale leadership.

So many passages, so little time.