THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OF BELIEVERS

Last Fall, I was ordained as a Deaconess.  Each of us had to do a Doctrinal Statement on the Roles of the Holy Spirit. My Doctrinal Statement was The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Believer.

This was a wonderful experience.  The research I did for the doctrinal statement helped me have a deeper understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

It is an honor to serve the Lord in this capacity.

Here is the text and video from the Doctrinal Statement from the ordination:

The Holy Spirit is not an option in the life of the Believer. Romans 8:9 says

“ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

The Holy Spirit has many roles in the Life of a Believer. The Holy Spirit is Comforter, Revealer of Truth, teacher, gift-giver, harvester of fruits but first…

The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of people.

In John 16:8-9, Jesus tells the disciples that he will send a comforter to convict “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin because they believe not in me.” The Holy Spirit convinces unbelievers of sin, righteousness and judgment.

• Sin – showing that they have fallen short of God’s standard.
• Righteousness – showing that they do not have righteousness of their own and are in need of God’s perfect righteousness and,
• Judgment – showing that they will have to answer for how they lived their life and that there is more than just physical life but eternal life.

The Holy Spirit speaks to the hearts and minds of people to show them that they are sinners and are in need of God’s Righteousness and that there will be a day of judgment.

The Holy Spirit brings these truths to the minds of people to convince them that they are sinners. It is the response to this conviction, along with the hearing of the gospel, that brings people to salvation. Titus 3:5-6 states “5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,”
Once we are saved, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts sealing us with the assurance of our soul’s eternal state.

The Holy Spirit is Comforter.

In John 14:16 Jesus says “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” That’s the King James Version but in the Amplified Bible this same verse reads “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever.” This Comforter that Jesus speaks of, is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a revealer of Truth.

John 16:13 says “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” The Holy Spirit is our spiritual guide revealing to our minds and hearts the truth as it relates to scripture, to worship, to doctrine and to Christian living. As our Spiritual guide, the Holy Spirit goes goes before us to remove spiritual obstructions, spiritual roadblocks, while at the same time stays beside us to reveal the truth and to make all things plain and clear.

The Holy Spirit teaches the believer.

John 14:26 Jesus says, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” The Holy Spirit opens the believer’s heart enabling us to digest and comprehend the Word of God. This also enables us to pull Scriptures or lessons out of your metaphorical “mental Rolodex” at precisely the time we need to remember it, for ourselves or for others. When we are ministering to someone, or even ourselves, and we find ourselves recalling a scriptural reference that we did not even remember that we knew, that’s the Holy Spirit bringing it to our remembrance. On a greater scale are the writings of the Gospels. The disciples were not taking notes doing the times with Jesus but the Holy Spirit enabled them to write the Gospels.

The Holy Spirit is a gift-giver.

The Holy Spirit gifts the believer spiritual gifts to work for the good of the body of Christ. This is explained in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: “And continued in verse 11 “11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” Every believer (verse 7) has been given at least one spiritual gift. Spiritual Gifts are individual and given by the Holy Spirit. These gifts, some are big and some are small, but all are given to believers by the Holy Spirit so that we can be Christ’s soldiers in the world.

The Holy Spirit harvests the fruit in our lives.

As Galatians 5:22-23 says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” These are not the fruit of our own accomplishment; these fruits are products of the Spirit’s presences in our life.
In conclusion, the Holy Spirit convinces the unbeliever that they are sinners. Once we respond to that conviction and accept Jesus as our personal savior, the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence within us. Once the Holy Spirit “moves” in, he comforts us, guides us, teaches us, and transforms us through spiritual gifts and harvesting the fruits of the Spirit. The knowledge of the roles of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is cause of great joy, comfort and gratitude.