“If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I am coming to you.”
John 14:15-18 HCSB
In our scripture passage today, Jesus is speaking with His disciples. He tells them in verse 1 of John chapter 14, “Your heart must not be troubled.” He explains to them the one and only way to the Father which is through Him in verse 6. In our Scripture passage today, He is explaining that God the Father will send His Holy Spirit to them when Jesus leaves them.
The Bible has a great deal to say about the various roles of the Holy Spirit. When we accept Christ as our Savior and dedicate our lives to Him, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. The Holy Spirit has a number of roles in the life of a Christian. The Holy Spirit guides us. In John 16:13, Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide them in all truth. The Holy Spirit is our helper who teaches us and brings to remembrance all that Christ has taught us (John 14:26).
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us. We are told in Romans 8:26-27 that when we are in such despair that we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. He searches the hearts and knows the Spirit’s mind-set because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. He knows our hearts and intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will.
The Holy Spirit gives us power and helps us to be witnesses for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). 2 Timothy 1:7 assures us that God gave us a spirit of power, love and self-control and not of fear.
The Holy Spirit dwelling in us provides proof of our adoption as children of God. We are told in Romans 8:14 that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God.
What we must understand the Spirit and the flesh oppose each other. Romans 8:8 says those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Paul goes on to say in verse 9 that if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. In verse 10 he says that if Christ is in us, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
We must remember that this is God’s Holy Spirit sent to dwell in us when we surrender our lives to Him. If we fail to surrender our lives to Christ, we remain in the flesh and cannot please God.
The Holy Spirit is our conscience or that gentle tug or reminder when we are tempted to do something wrong. If we submit to sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us.
I always think of the Holy Spirit as the fuel that keeps my Christian life moving along. I need God’s Holy Spirit within me to guide me, to teach me and to remind me of Christ’s teachings. I need God’s Holy Spirit to intercede for me and pray for me when I just don’t know what to pray.
I spent too many years of my life not surrendered to Christ and not having His Holy Spirit dwell inside of me. I never want to go back to that way of life. I thank God for sending His Holy Spirit to guide me through life on this planet. He wants to do the same for you, if you will only allow Him to do so.
If you profess to be saved but continue to live in your sinful ways, you may want to rethink that. Once the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of us, we may sin, but the grief that the Holy Spirit feels is dispersed to us. We are convicted and we want to be cleansed from our unrighteousness. We no longer want to sin.
I urge you to examine your life today. Do you show evidence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you? Can people look at the example you set in your life and see Christ in you in the way you talk and treat others.
To sum it up, Romans 8:5 tells us that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the Spirit. Galatians 5:17 tells us if we walk in the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:24 tells us that those who are in the Spirit have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If you haven’t surrendered to Christ and been filled with God’s Holy Spirit, you are in the flesh which leads to death (Romans 8:13). Give it all over to Him today, let Him fill you with His Holy Spirit and give you life everlasting.
Have a great day!