The Coming of the Holy Spirit
The Day of Pentecost was one of the most phenomenal and important events in all of history, for it was the day of “the coming of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus had deliberately prepared the disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Bible, the revelation of the indwelling Spirit had been progressive (Joel 2:28–29, Luke 3:16, Acts 4:8, etc.).
What does this mean? First, when we grasp the gospel and believe, genuinely believe unto salvation, the Holy Spirit enters our life. He comes upon, falls upon, pours, fills, baptizes (immerses) Himself into the life of the believer. This is a personal experience. We actually experience the Spirit coming into our life. The believer receives the Spirit experientially. Second, when we grasp the gospel and believe, really believe, the Holy Spirit places us into the body of Christ, which is God’s Church. The believer does not feel or experience this act. It is an act of God that takes place in heaven. We are counted as a member of the body, of the church. We are adopted as a child of God. It is an eternal position, an eternal relationship. Thirdly, after we are saved, we are to be filled and to keep on being “filled with the Spirit”—day by day (Eph. 5:18).
The Power of the Holy Spirit
This is one of the most important passages in all of Scripture. Its subject cannot be overemphasized: the power of God’s Spirit in the life of the believer. If there is anything we need as believers, it is the power of God’s Spirit in our daily lives.
The Spirit gives life by doing what the law could not do. The law could not make us righteous because our flesh is too weak to keep the law. All flesh has miserably failed and comes far short of God’s glory as reflected in His righteous law. But what the law could not do, the Spirit is able to do. The Spirit provides righteousness and life. The Spirit of life frees the believer from both sin and death.
The Holy Spirit frees the believer to live as Christ lived. The active energy of life, the dynamic force and being of life—all that is in Christ Jesus—is given to every believer. We actually live in Christ. And the Spirit of life which is in Christ frees us from the fate (law) of sin and death. This simply means that the believer lives in a consciousness of being free. We breathe and sense a depth of life, richness, a fullness of life that is indescribable. We live with power—power over the pressure and strain, impediments and bondages of life—even the bondages of sin and death. We live now and will live forever in this glorious power and freedom.
Worship in Spirit
We are to worship God in spirit. This verse is key to the distinction of human beings from all other of God’s creatures. There is a sense in which we humans are a paradox. We were created with all dignity and honor possible; yet, we were also created out of the most base and lowly stuff of all—dirt (Gen. 2:7). But note: humans are not only body and soul; we are also spirit. This is what makes us different from all other creatures. God breathes His own breath or spirit into the nostrils of every human being. God made no other creature like this. We are spirits, eternal beings made both for this earth and for eternity. God’s image is in us, giving us the spirit or the drive and ability to worship. Our spirits give us unquenchable spiritual drive and ability to reason after God and to relate to Him due to being made in His image.
Our spirits (along with our souls) are the innermost part of being, the very core and heart of life. They contain the very breath of God’s life, the very breath of God’s existence, the very being of God’s life. That is, the spirit is eternal existence and being. God is Spirit, meaning He is the very embodiment of life eternal and He has created humans as spirits; therefore, we are to worship God in spirit and in truth.
The Offensive Truth
People are often offended by Christ. And one of the particular offenses is the teaching that the Spirit of God gives life and that the flesh counts for nothing. But the truth is that flesh cannot give a person life. The flesh can neither profit nor count for a person. We are totally incapable of helping or saving ourselves. People do not like to accept or think about the zero value of the flesh. They do everything they can to preserve its youth, attractiveness, and stamina. But before too long, the flesh proves unprofitable; it ages, deteriorates, and surrenders to the process of decay. Eventually, every person dies; the flesh surrenders to its own failure.
Such a thought—despite its truthfulness—offends people. They love the world and the flesh, its pleasures and feelings. But the truth of the matter is, only the Spirit can give us abundant and eternal life. How do we receive this life? By receiving the Word of Christ. The words that Christ spoke are spirit and life. When a person receives the words of Christ into their hearts and lives, they begin to live. What sounds better to you? Living according to the flesh that ultimately deteriorates and dies—or living according to the Spirit, which ultimately leads to abundant and eternal life in Christ.
Life by the Spirit
If you are a genuine believer, you stand before God approved and acceptable to Him. You are embraced and loved by God, looked after and cared for by Him. For you have been given God’s nature, and you walk through life bearing this same nature. Therefore, you are not to cave in to the desires of your sinful nature; you are to walk bearing the fruit of God’s nature, that is, the fruit of God’s Spirit.
God calls you to walk consistently with your position in Christ. To be in Christ is to be in God’s Spirit. When you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, God placed His Spirit in your heart. The Spirit is there to guide and direct you day by day. Therefore, you are to live by the Spirit; you are to live just as the Spirit of God directs. This is the point of this verse. If we live by the Spirit, we should also walk by the Spirit. The Spirit gives us life, the life of God; therefore, we are to walk and live out the life He gives us.