You cannot understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit if you do not understand the Person of the Holy Spirit. So let’s start at the beginning. Who is the Holy Spirit?

There are two biblical answers to that question. First of all, the Holy Spirit is a real person. The Holy Spirit is not it. The Holy Spirit is who. He is a person. John 16:12-13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” There are two basic reasons why we believe the Holy Spirit is a real person. 

First, the Holy Spirit has the attributes of personality. The Holy Spirit thinks. Acts 15:28 speaks of what “seemed good to the Holy Spirit.” Romans 8:27 refers to “the mind of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit chooses. In Acts 16:6-7, the Holy Spirit prevents Paul’s missionary team from going into Asia and Bithynia. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts as he wills. The Holy Spirit feels. Romans 15:30 says the Holy Spirit loves. Galatians 5:17 says the Holy Spirit desires. Ephesians 4:20 says the Holy Spirit grieves.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit performs the actions of a person. The Holy Spirit does things that persons do. The Holy Spirit teaches, leads, intercedes, directs, and chooses. An impersonal force or representation of the power of God or a higher power cannot do those things.The Holy Spirit is a person. 

Secondly, the Holy Spirit is the living God. There are four reasons why we believe the Holy Spirit is God.

First, the Holy Spirit is called God. Ananias and Sapphira lied about what they gave in church. In Acts 5:3, Peter asked, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?” Acts 5:4 says, “You have not lied to man but to God.” 

Second, the Holy Spirit is associated with God. Matthew 29:19 commissions us to baptize new disciples “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Hymn of Grace in Ephesians 1:3-14 praises the redemptive work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit has divine attributes. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Hebrews 9:14 calls the Holy Spirit “the eternal Spirit.” 

Fourthly, the holy Spirit performs divine acts. Genesis 1:1-1shows the Holy Spirit at work in creation. Luke 1:34-35 tells us that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Romans 1:4 tells us that the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that the authors of scripture were superintended by the Holy Spirit. John 3:5-8 explains that regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

We have lingered over the question, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” to get to another question, “Where is the Holy Spirit?” Of course, as God, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. He is never late, tardy, or absent. He is fully present everywhere. But there is another answer – a remarkable but neglected answer – to that question. The Holy Spirit is within you. God is in you. This is an essential part of the believer’s union with Christ. We are in him, and he is in us. 

• Like the bird is in the air and the air is in the bird. 
• Like the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish. 

James Hamilton Jr. wrote, “The indwelling of the Spirit is God’s favorable abiding with those who enjoy his merciful establishment of a covenant relationship.” 

Here are five spiritual dynamics of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit…

Spirit-Indwelling is Christian.

Do you have the Spirit? Those who ask that question are typically inquiring as to whether you have had a special or supernatural experience with the Holy Spirit as a Christian. Most fail to recognize that to ask, “Do you have the Spirit?” is to ask whether you are a Christian. Romans 8:9b says, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” If you do not have the Spirit, it does not mean you are a second-class Christian. It means you are a non-Christian. However, when you turn from your sin and trust in Christ for salvation, God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart immediately, completely, and permanently. This is a uniquely and exclusively Christian reality. Every true Christian is a beneficiary of what A. Louis Patterson called “the indwelling presence of the Life-Giver King.”

Spirit-Indwelling is Distinctive. 

Romans 8:9 says, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” This is a definitive statement. Either you have the Spirit of Christ, or you don’t. If you do not have the Spirit of Christ, you are not a Christian. Jude 17-19 says, “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.” Ungodly people are devoid of the Spirit. What distinguishes believers as the people of God is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” 

Spirit-Indwelling is Universal. 

Acts 2:1-4 records the birthday of the church: “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” The are those who claim we need another Pentecost. They are wrong! The significance of the Day of Pentecost is not in the supernatural phenomena that took place. Before Pentecost, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was selective and temporary. The Holy Spirit now permanently resides in all Christians. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

Spirit-Indwelling is Permanent. 

Psalm 51:11 says, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” In essence, David prayed, “Don’t treat me the way you treated Saul.” 1 Samuel 16:14 says, “Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.” David did not want the Spirit to depart from him. This is not a prayer Christians pray. God the Holy Spirit permanently indwells all Christians. Ephesians 4:30 says: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by which you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Sin grieves the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit does forsake us. If you repent, he will restore you!

Spirit-Indwelling is Foundational. 

When my children got their first cars, the car dealers tried to sell them on the bells and whistles. When I got my first car, the car dealer told me about the standard equipment. In a real sense, that’s a parable about the contemporary church. Many pursue the special features of the Christian life but neglect the standard equipment that enables the Christian life to function. The Bible commands Christians to be filled with the Spirit. It does command us to be indwelt by the Spirit. Spirit-indwelling is the standard equipment of true conversion. How is the indwelling of the Spirit foundational? 

The Assurance of Salvation. The most important question you can ask a person is, “Are you saved?” If that person answers affirmatively, then the most important question you can ask is, “How do you know?” True assurance rests on a threefold foundation. 

• The authoritative Word of God. 
• The redemptive Work of Christ. 
• The internal Witness of the Spirit.  

Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Galatians 4:5-6 add: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Eternal Security. Salvation is forever. John 10:28-30 says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Roger Ellsworth wrote, “We must not picture him looking over the redeemed multitude in eternity and saying: ‘We did fairly well. Eighty percent of the saved finally made it home.’” How do we know that our salvation is secure? By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 says you “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Divine Enablement. You cannot do God’s will in your strength. But God will give you strength as strength is needed by his indwelling Spirit. Ephesians 3:16 prays that we would be “strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Ephesians 3:20 exults, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” The Holy Spirit lives within us to enable us to resist temptation, live obediently, serve faithfully, witness boldly, and even suffer joyfully. Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” 

Christian Unity. John 17:21 prays, “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” This has been called “the unanswered prayer of Jesus.” John 11:42 makes it clear that Father always hears Jesus’ prayers. Christ has no unanswered prayers. That prayer that all believers may be one is not about organizational or institutional uniformity. It is a spiritual unity produced by the indwelling Spirit. Ephesians 4:4-6 says, “There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” By the indwelling Spirit, we are one! 

Motivation for Holiness. The little came home from Sunday school with questions about. “Mom, is it true that God is everywhere?” “Yes, son,” she answered. “Is it also true that he lives in Christians?” he asked. “Yes, son,” she answered. “Well,” he inquired, “If God is so big and he lives in us, shouldn’t he show through?” Indeed, if God the Holy Spirit lives with you, it should show up in how you live. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

A Christian Worldview. Romans 12:1 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” We are to live like Christians. We cannot live like Christians if we do not think like Christians. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” The indwelling Holy Spirit works through the regular means of grace to transform us by the renewing of our minds. 1 Corinthians 2:12 says, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” 

Hope in Suffering. False teachers claim that the Christian life guarantees health, wealth, and success. A plain reading of the New Testament rebuts, rebukes, and refutes them. 

• No one has lived on earth without sin except Jesus. 
• No one lives on earth without suffering, including Jesus. 

Christianity does not promise a trouble-free life. It does offer true hope in the midst of suffering by the ministry of the indwelling Spirit. Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” I was introduced to this passage shortly after my father passed away. It was labeled, “Blessed Fruit From A Bitter Tree,” which caught my attention. Life may have planted a bitter tree in your life. But the overruling providence of God can bring blessed fruit from a bitter tree by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.