The Role of the Holy Spirit in the Individual Christian's Life

The Holy Spirit is a part of the trinity. He is part of the 3 in 1 of God. In Mathew 28:19 says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Right before Jesus ascended up to heaven he promised that he would send someone, that being the Holy Spirit to fill them. We see this in Jon 14:26 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit is the one that lives inside of every Christian. Some look at him as our conscious, the one that gives us that feeling of right or wrong. As we see stated in Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” As many believers are baptized with water, symbolizing their new life in the body of Christ there is also another baptism that can take place as a believer and this is being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Luke 3:16 “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The first time we see this take place is whenever the disciple are in the upper room in Acts 2:8 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” They are all praying waiting for the Holy Spirit to come in and empower them. They next thing they know they are speaking in tongues of different languages, which leads to a huge revival. Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The disciples received this power and began to preach to all nations. The Holy Spirit is the one that empowers us to carry out the will of the Father.

The Holy Spirit is a gift from God given to us so that we may be able to have a relationship with him and do the works that he has for us. Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” The Spirit is given to us to carry out Gods word. Our role on the earth is to make disciples and the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us with that. That is his role one the earth to guide us to make disciples of all men. Mathew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit also helps us be like Christ whom was perfect here on the earth. Jesus bore the fruits of the spirit. These fruits are the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” With the power of the Holy Spirit we will be able to have these fruits, which will make us like Christ, which is what being a Christian is all about. Through the help of the Spirit we can help lead people to Christ by being an example and sharing our fruits of the spirit with nonbelievers. John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” 1 Corinthians 2:12 “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” The Holy Spirit helps us to know the deeper things in life that God has for us and the plan he wants us to carry out. 1 Peter 1:22 “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.” He also helps obey the truth of God. As I stated earlier in this passage that he helps us discern right from wrong, The Holy Spirit brings us to know the truth of God and the truth of the world and the reason why we are here. As it pertains to the church, we are the church and the Holy Spirit is in us to carry out the things of Christ and to continue on what Jesus started so many years ago.

I think one of the greatest stories of how someone has been used by the Holy Spirit is that of Saul who later became known as Paul in the Bible. This is the story of man who had everything. He was the high man on the totem pole in the view of the Jews. Saul hated Christians and was actually a part of a group that killed Christians which is documented in the Bible. He was on his way to Damascus when he was struck blind by Christ and then became converted to a Christian. He then became Paul a man after Gods heart. Through the story of Paul we see one of the greatest crusades ever for the Christian religion. He preached the first word to the Gentiles who were not Gods people, but under the will and a vision from God he brought the word to them. The Holy Spirit spoke through Paul as he began on 4 different crusades to bring the Gospel all around the Mediterranean. Visiting different ports and planting churches in some of the biggest cities around which included Ephesus and Corinth. Paul brought many people with him on his different journeys, which included Silas and Timothy who were also used by God to preach to the Gentiles. On their journeys they faced many trials and tribulations but with their eyes set on God they pushed through and reached thousands of people for the Glory of God. I believe this is one of the greatest examples to see the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul came to realize the call he had on his life and with the help of the Holy Spirit he began to make known who Jesus was and why he is so important in our every day lives. Paul is a truly inspiring figure to me because I believe he has the story of most people these days. Not saying that the average person these days are killing Christians, but we all have sinned and done things not pleasing to God. I think it is truly great how God used this man who could not have done anything worse than what he did and became one of the greatest disciples of Gods word. I think he is relatable to almost anyone and we can all learn a lesson of how the Holy Spirit can use us from his story.

I have not had a ton of experiences with the Holy Spirit but there are a few times in my life in where I could see his work-taking place in my life. In my senior year of high school, I was preparing to choose which college I would want to go to and I was trying to play baseball somewhere. I went to a few different showcases and camps but no one was very interested. The year before I had an arm injury that disabled me from being at my best. I ended up coming up to visit ORU for the whole person scholarship and found out that I got it in December. I realized then that this is where I was probably supposed to be since it worked out the way it did. I believe this was the Holy Spirit working things out for me when I didn’t even realize it. I ended up having a very good senior year, which got me the chance to walk on for the fall for the baseball team here. As I pursue my career in accounting I believe that there will be many opportunities for me in this field to show the love of God through the gifts of the spirit. I do not want to be in accounting for my whole business life, and would like to move up into owning my own business one day. There will be many decisions I will have to make in this period of my life. I will need to be tender to voice of the Holy Spirit to help me to make the decision that will be pleasing to God. Also in my business I would like to please God in what I do. There are a lot of dishonest businesses in the world, and mine could be and example to the world of a business that is doing things the honest way and the way that is pleasing to God.