Don't Kid Yourself: You NEED the Holy Spirit

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! - Luke 11:13

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you . . . - Acts 1:8

Some Reformed Presbyterians have perfected the art of avoiding talking about the Holy Spirit because, from our perspective, other groups of Christians who claim to be "Spirit -filled" have distorted much of what the Bible teaches about the Third Person of the Trinity. But the Holy Spirit is God, just as surely as our Heavely Father is God and Jesus is God. God is Three-in-One, not Two-in-One. More importantly, the Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity who dwells in believers and who empowers us to know the truth and to walk in obedience to Christ. The quality of our Christian life truly is measured by the degree to which we are Spirit-filled and thus Spirit-empowered.

For a Christian to try to live a faithful Christian life, battle sin and walk faithfully with God without the daily, ongoing help and power of the Holy Spirit is foolishness. It's like a baker trying to bake bread without turning on the oven. It's like getting in the car and trying to go on a road trip without turning the key and starting the engine. The Christian Life without the power of the Spirit is an empty farce, a mockery of true discipleship. But how do we get the help of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit dwells in every believer. For without the work of the Holy Spirit, you would not have come to saving faith in Christ in the first place. Thus, everyone who has been born again and has placed their faith in Jesus Christ has received the Holy Spirit. (see Eph. 1:13-14; John 3:3-8 & John 16:5-14).

While the Holy Spirit indwells every believer, not every believer is being led by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit and being empowered by the Spirit. But we must be if we are to have any consistent power for obedience and fruitfulness in our life. The fruit we seek in our lives is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). To think that we could manufacture this fruit ourselves without the power of the Holy Spirit is as foolish as thinking we can make our own apples without an apple tree. Man-made apples may look the same from a distance, but take one bite and you'll know the difference immediately.

But how can we live lives empowered by the Holy Spirit? Well, there's no secret formula or sacred prayer or chant or incantation or ceremony or anything like that. For years, I thought there must be some hidden secret that I wasn't seeing, some method of prayer or some secret language of prayer that would get me the power of the Holy Spirit. This kind of deception has been in the church from the very beginning and is a lie that keeps God's people from seeking Him where He may be found. The Holy Spirit is not hiding in some secret chamber waiting for us to say the magic words to unlock Him. God says to His people, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13)."

Where can we seek the Lord? Well, in His Word, of course! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and is the author of Scripture. If you want to know more of God, read His autobiography! Unlike any other autobiography, God's Word is living and active and will penetrate us to the heart, convicting us, teaching us, strengthening us and equipping us for a life of discipleship (see Heb. 4:12 and 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The power of the Holy Spirit is found in the Word because the Spirit works through the Word, softening our hearts to receive its life-changing truth. Neither the Spirit without the Word nor the Word without the Spirit will change a man's heart and make Him more like Christ. (see John 3:34; John 6:63; Acts 4:31; Ephesians 6:17 and others)

But we should not stop there and think that if I get alone with the Holy Spirit and my Bible, then my life will be all that God wants it to be. Both the Spirit and the Word will lead us into worship and deeper fellowship with God's people in the Church. The more we are led by the Spirit, the more we will be seeking to worship God together and fellowship and learn alongside His people. And our understanding of the Word will grow so much better and clearer as we learn from the pastors and teachers God has appointed. (see Eph. 4:11-13)

So, if you need the Holy Spirit, seek Him where He may be found: in the Word and among His people. In the ordinary places of Bible study, prayer, worship, fellowship and evangelism, God the Holy Spirit delights to work to fill His people, empower His people and transform His people to be more like Jesus. Seek Him today!