Who is the Holy Spirit

  I am helping a friend write up some basic concepts of the Christian faith and here is my section on who the Holy Spirit is.  I know its very basic but it is something that I am proud of and it gives people something to ponder. 


Advocate – The first role of the Holy Spirit along with Jesus, is that they are our advocates. Just as someone would go to either your boss or the president of the United States on your behalf, that is what the Holy Spirit does for us with God. An advocate is a go between two parties and is a messenger between them. An advocate also speaks for us when we do not know what to say and also reminds us what we should and should not do. Another part of being an advocate is being a comforter. An advocate and comforter is someone who comes and walks alongside us encouraging us, but also telling the truth in love


Convictor – The second role of the Holy Spirit is a convictor. Just think of this as your conscience on steroids. We all get that feeling when we know when we have said or done something that we should not have, and this is called guilt. Where the Holy Spirit comes in is that the Holy Spirit lets us know what we did was wrong (guilt), but also provides a way to make it right if possible, and also provides the power not to make the same decision again.


Prompter- The opposite side of convictor is this idea of the Holy Spirit leading us to do or not to do something.  Whether it is the prompting to go give a certain amount, say something, or not going to a particular places.  If we allow, the Holy Spirit guides us to particular places, people and conversation that often have eternal consequences for the better. 


Transformer – Third role of the Holy spirit character development. What good would it be to have forgiveness of sins if we are not able to change our character. Our character is more than just right action or what we do when no one is but it is about where we stand with God. Our character is what we stand for, and it is either ourselves or God, and the Holy Spirit grows us into a more mature child of God and our actions are the fruit of who we are becoming.


Revealer – The fourth role of the Holy Spirit is revealer. Anything we know about God, whether through our prayer time, reading of our Bible, listening in church, or any other time is because the Holy Spirit revealed it to us. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 Paul tells us that through the Holy Spirit we can even have the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals more than just the will of God to us, the Holy Spirit reveals God Himself. Jesus says that through His Spirit we can abide in Him. The Spirit is what makes our relationship with the Lord possible.


Worship- The fifth role of the Holy Spirit is worship. One of the struggles that the people in the New Testament faced is the idea of when, where and who is allowed into worship. In John 4 Jesus explains that it is not so much about the time nor the place of worship, but are we worshiping in spirit and in truth. When the Holy Spirit is residing in us, we are the Temple of God and the Holy Spirit resides in us. Worship becomes more than just singing a few songs, tithing or listening to a sermon, but how we live our life. Worship is doing life on a day to day basis through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit


Abiding- this is where the rubber meets the road. Are we putting into practice what we know and how the Holy Spirit is leading. We can know things about God and about ourselves, but it is useless unless we put it into practice. Abiding is taking what we know and through the power of the Holy Spirit, putting it into practice. It is as simple as putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. Abiding also means relationship. Relationships mean that it takes two people to be in full communication and sharing with each other. Just think of it as doing with your best friend, where the communication is always open and honesty and vulnerability are the key ingredients to making it work.
Application

1. How does one worship in spirit and in truth ona daily basis?





2. When sharing truth with each other, can we over sugar coat it and drown out what needs to be said and where does tact come in?





3. How do we have real relationships that move from social media to face to face and what are some of those challenges?




Homework

Read Galatians 5:16-25 and what characteristics are present in your life and which ones need to be instilled?





God can reveal Himself through such areas as fasting, prayer, cooperate or personal worship, and Journaling, Try one or two and see what God reveals to you