The Holy Spirit
J. Cotrell
Living in a physical world in material bodies, even Christians are constantly vulnerable to the error of materialism. Theoretically, we believe in spiritual realities—God, angels, demons, our souls. But on a practical level, we often live as if none of these spiritual realities are real. We limit our conscious lives to what can be perceived through our five senses—all of which are physical.
Even in our relation to God, the physical often takes priority. In prayer, for example, we focus on physical blessings and needs. In group prayer sessions, when prayer requests are solicited, usually, the great majority of such requests are for some kind of physical healing of physical ailments.
It is certainly not wrong to be fully aware of and thankful for this physical creation, and it is quite appropriate to petition and thank God for our physical well-being. However, we must always resist the temptation to limit our concerns to the material aspects of reality. I pray that those who have studied this little book about the Holy Spirit will have a heightened sensitivity to God's spiritual presence and work in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is real; he is one of the three persons who are the one true and living God. He is literally present in the lives and bodies of those who have obeyed the gospel (Acts 2:38; 5:32; 1 Cor 6:19). Our own spirits have been changed by his presence: he has regenerated and renewed us (Titus 3:5); he has raised us up from spiritual death. He works within us to make us holy as he is holy (Phil 2:13; 1 Pet 1:15–16). He is the source of our spiritual strength to fight temptation and overcome sin (Rom 8:13; Eph 3:16).
This is not something we will discover through any of our five senses. We do not literally see the Holy Spirit enter our bodies in our baptism; we do not literally feel him moving around under our skin. In this matter, as in many others, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). We believe these things are true because we believe in the utter truthfulness of the Bible.
Having, then, accepted these spiritual realities on faith, let us indeed walk by this faith. Let us truly seek the indwelling Spirit’s power to overcome whatever sin still plagues us. Let us place our hand in his and allow him to lead us in paths of righteousness. Let us gladly use the gifts with which he has equipped us to do our part in building up the body of Christ.
How can we do these things? How can we dare to be spiritual in such a physical world? I leave you with a challenge. To heighten our awareness of the Spirit’s reality in our lives, I challenge everyone (including myself) to make an effort to acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s presence more and more every day. One way this can be done is by listing Bible passages about the Holy Spirit and reading at least one of them daily. It can be done by mentioning the Spirit more in our daily prayers, e.g., by thanking God for his presence and his working within us, or by wording a petition based on texts such as Romans 8:13 and Ephesians 3:16. Writing out the Scriptures and prayers by hand can serve to sharpen our awareness of the Spirit even further.
If we make an effort to acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s presence more and more every day, then perhaps we will be on our way to fulfilling what Paul had in mind for us when he gave us this exhortation, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).
