What Power Does the Holy Spirit Give Believers?
Share
The Holy Spirit is a mysterious and vitally important part of the holy trinity that encompasses God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three in one.
I say “mysterious” because he is often the most misunderstood aspect of the trinity. Indeed, some people refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it,” not a “he.” Perhaps we imagine he is some strange mist, an intangible force that somehow knits us all together.
But make no mistake — the Spirit is a person, just like the Father and the Son. In fact, Jesus calls him Helper, or Advocate, using the Greek word paraklētos, which can also be translated as counselor or intercessor.
The last thing Jesus said to his disciples before ascending to heaven after the resurrection was about the Holy Spirit. As he said, “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” (Acts 1:8).
The original Greek Jesus used for “power” is dynamis, meaning ability, miraculous power, and brilliance; he doesn’t mean the ordinary, earthly might of leadership but the sort of supernatural display that makes us pay attention.
What is this power that the Holy Spirit gives believers? Let’s take a look at Scripture and see what it says.
What Is the Power of the Holy Spirit?
The power of the Holy Spirit is the same power that is God. John 1:1-5 contains a powerful summary of the Spirit of God, stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Indeed, the very start of the Bible notes that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. As Genesis 1:2 explains, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
That Spirit — part of God, the Father, the Almighty — is the Holy Spirit, the same person Jesus promised God would send when he was gone.
Where Is the Spirit Depicted in Scripture?
The Spirit is depicted throughout Scripture, and not just at the very beginning when he, as part of the triune God, established creation.
For example, we’re told the Spirit of God “came powerfully upon David” when the prophet Samuel anointed the young man as the chosen king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:13). That same Spirit had been within King Saul, but the Bible tells us the Spirit had “departed from Saul” after Saul disobeyed God, and God rejected him (v. 14).
The Spirit also filled a man named Bezalel, the chief artisan of the Tabernacle who was in charge of building the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 31:2-5), as well as in Joshua, son of Nun, who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land (Numbers 27:18).
The Spirit was also in God’s prophets, including Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:2), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:2), and Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13).
The Spirit empowered Samson (Judges 13:25) as well as various Israelite judges like Othniel (Judges 3:10) and Gideon (Judges 6:34) before God’s people decided they wanted a king.
In the New Testament, the Spirit came upon the virgin Mary, and she conceived the Son of God (Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:18).
The Spirit also descended on Jesus “like a dove” when he was baptized by John (Matthew 3:16) and later led him into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1).
Before his crucifixion, Jesus promised his believers, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17).
That’s exactly what happened, as we later discover in the Book of Acts.
When Does the Holy Spirit Come to Christian Believers?
In Acts 2, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples were all gathered together on the Day of Pentecost, which was a religious day. Then, the Bible explains, a sound came “like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven” and filled the whole house, and “they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:2-4).
At first, people who witnessed this change in the disciples thought they were all drunk or crazy. But then Peter stood and preached, convicting those who heard him. By the end of the day, 3,000 people became believers and were baptized, and they also received the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible teaches us that when we repent and believe in Christ as our savior, we receive the Holy Spirit within us. As the apostle Paul explained in Ephesians 1:13-14, “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory.”
What Power Does the Holy Spirit Give Believers?
The Holy Spirit is active in our world. In addition to being our helper who seals us as God’s own, he helps us in our prayers and intercedes with God (Jude 1:20, Romans 8:26-27) and he comforts us by bringing hope (Romans 15:13). He gives us the words to say when persecuted (Luke 12:11-12 ), and he also gives us a variety of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), from healing to prophecy to wisdom. He also convicts unbelievers of the Truth of God and the nature of sin (John 16:8).
In short, he teaches, convicts, guides, leads, and equips us, enabling us to accomplish God’s will in ways we cannot do on our own.
What Are Some Other Things to Know about the Holy Spirit?
It’s important to understand that, as believers, we are no longer our own selves but new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Therefore, we should remember that we need to walk, talk, and live in the knowledge that we have an element of God inside of us. As 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 proclaims, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
This means we should act in accordance with this knowledge — don’t behave immorally or lustfully. Don’t get drunk or lie or disrespect the temple that houses God’s spirit.
We should also understand that there are certain “fruits” that a person bears — certain traits they have — that signal whether they are true Christian believers and have the Holy Spirit living inside them. Galatians 5:22-23 describes these as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
As Paul notes, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25).
Those who believe in Christ are blessed with a mighty gift — the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s all remember what a blessing this is, to have a part of the triune God residing within us, and overflow with joy and hope knowing we all work together to bring about God’s kingdom on earth. Amen, and thanks be to God.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Miguel Bruna
