Empowered by the Holy Spirit Part 1

The Holy Spirit.

Those three words can raise many thoughts in people's minds.  For some, it can be down right scary.  Maybe they heard the old school teachings of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Ghosts have a way of instilling fear in people.  That is not what should be with the Holy Spirit.  For others, the term brings great joy as they think about the One who has come alongside them and carried them through tough times.  This is a more accurate image.  Sadly, there are those that have a huge question mark in their minds when they hear about the Holy Spirit.  They have not heard much, if anything, about Him.

The Holy Spirit has been cast off into the corner by some denominations of the Christian faith.  It may be that there is nothing in this physical realm to which we can relate Him to.  It is easier to understand the role of the Father because we have one.  The Son is not hard to grasp because many of us are sons or have them.  The Holy Spirit is different.  There is nothing in all of creation like Him, but to not know Him is a great tragedy.

When we look to the Bible, we see that the Holy Spirit is vital to us.  Over the next couple of days, I want to take a look at some of the different ways in which the Holy Spirit brings power to our lives.  The first area of power that will be discussed is the power of salvation.

Salvation takes place when a person is completely saved from their sins.  Romans 3:23 plainly tells us that every human being since the Garden of Eden has been tainted with sin.  This sin separates us from have a relationship with the living God of the universe.  Nothing that we do on our own can ever make that right (Isaiah 64:6).  This is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

This salvation (forgiveness of sins and a new life capable of having a relationship with God) is made available only by the power and work of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus talked with a man named Nicodemus in John 3 about what it takes for a person to be right with God.  In verse 5, Jesus says that a person must be born of water and the Spirit to see the Kingdom of God.  This is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  How does this work happen?

First, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of our sin.  John 16:13 says, "When He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment."  The Holy Spirit first shows us what is present in our lives and keeping us from God - our sin.  When we begin to see the sin in our lives for what is really is and what it is doing to us, that is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit calls us to Jesus.  In John 6:44, Jesus tells us that "no man can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day."  The Holy Spirit not only points out the sin in our lives, but He also points us to the only way of forgiveness and true life - Jesus.  No person just wakes up one day on their own and says, "I am going to be a follower of Jesus now."  That decision comes as the Holy Spirit pulls our hearts to our Creator.

If this was the only thing that the Holy Spirit ever did, it would be enough to praise Him.  Because the Holy Spirit has the power to break through any person's sin barrier and show them the way of life, we should get to know Him more... we should love Him more... we should follow His leading.