In the sermon of the Apostle Peter (Acts 2:17-21), the text from Joel 3:1-5 announces the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and why did it come? “But after that, I will pour my Spirit on all the body. And your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream. And your young men will see visions. I will pour out my Spirit even on servants and handmaids.”
The role of the Holy Spirit
To give us strength and help in our fight against sin. Before returning to Heaven, Jesus said, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” (Acts 1:5-8). Some powers are much stronger than we are in our nature (human nature). Paul says, “But I say, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh…those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:16-25). The Holy Spirit will strengthen us so that whenever we are tempted, we will not give in to the lusts of our flesh.
How did the Holy Spirit outpour?
On the last day and the great day of the feast, Jesus stood among them and cried out, saying: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him. And this he said of the Spirit, whom they that believed on him should receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not been glorified. So many people, hearing these words, said: Truly, this is the Prophet.
And others said: This is the Christ. And others said: Will not Christ come from Galilee? Did not the Scripture say that Christ would come from the tribe of David and the city of Bethlehem, where David was? And there was division in the multitude for him. And some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. So the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees and said: Why did you not bring Him?
Read also: Did Jesus resurrect? Proof of Jesus’ Resurrection
How did the servants answer Jesus’ words?
The servants answered: Never man spoke as this man spoke. The Pharisees answered them, “Have you not been deceived? Did not one of the rulers or the Pharisees believe in him? But this multitude, which did not know the law, is accursed! Nicodemus said to them, who had come to him before by night, being one of them: Does not our law judge a man unless he first obeys it and knows what he has done? They answered and said to Him: Art not thou also of Galilee? Search, and see that out of Galilee, there arose no prophet. And they went every man to his own house. Jesus, therefore, spoke again, saying: I am the light of the world: he that followed me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
The Spirit descends upon the people.
The Spirit also descends upon the people in the Old Testament, but why did it appear? In Isaiah 32:15, the coming of the Spirit from above is promised. The Spirit’s receiving and renewing the heart also appear in Isaiah 36:27, and in 37:14, the giving of the Spirit means resurrection. According to Ezekiel 39:29, the Spirit is poured out upon the house of Israel, and Zerubbabel is strengthened by the promise that the Spirit of the Lord will remain among the people.
Should Christians walk in the Spirit?
Yes, Christians should walk in the Spirit. What are people’s beliefs about why the Holy Spirit of God came? Saint Paul spoke of “receiving,” “sending,” or “giving of the Spirit.” And of Christians walking in the Spirit. The Spirit dwells in man and “has the Spirit of God.” However, the Spirit should not be confused with His gifts, called “grace.” In I Corinthians 12:4, Apostle Paul says: “There are many kinds of gifts, but it is the same Spirit.”
Is it possible for God to descend upon every man?
Yes, the Spirit can descend on every human being. The Spirit of God can also fall on others in a group. The outpouring of the Spirit in the Old Testament marks man’s call to a divine ministry. Judges work as a result of the Spirit coming upon them, as we see in the case of Othniel, Gideon, with the plastic expression “the Spirit of God has clothed him,” Jephthah or Samson. The anointing of kings was also accompanied by the Spirit’s descent, as in the case of Saul or David, whose consecration “the Spirit of the Lord rested on him from that day forward.” The prophets then worked with the Spirit of God, as we see with Elijah and Elisha. The Spirit comes in or on Jessekiel. The Spirit also descends upon the Messiah for his royal role.
What does “He who is worshipped and magnified with the Father and the Son” mean?
These words show that the Holy Spirit is fully equal with the Father and the Son, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, and therefore due to the same worship and glory as the Father and the Son. But not only that. These words not only show that the Spirit is due the same worship and honor as the Father and the Son but also that when we also worship and give glory to the Father and the Son, we must also worship and give credit to the Holy Spirit.
He is inseparable from them, the third divine person of the Holy Trinity. This means that the Holy Spirit is one being with the Father and the Son, as we have seen that the Son is also one being with the Father. The Holy Spirit is in the Father and the Son, as the Son is in the Father and the Holy Spirit, and the Father is in the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three have one being, one will, one power, one glory, and one Godhead, manifested in three hypostases, one God in three persons, just as the sun has the disc, ray, and light but is one sun.
Why is the Holy Spirit usually mentioned in the third row, after the Father and the Son?
Not because the Holy Spirit is less than the Father and the Son, for everything the Father and the Son have, the Holy Spirit also has (John 16:13-15), but because every work done by God in the world is done by the three divine persons in this order: it begins with the Father, is done by the Son, and is completed by the Holy Spirit. “For from him and through him and in him are all things” (Romans 11:36). The order in which we mention the three divine persons does not show a difference in place and rank within the Holy Trinity, but the part that each has in every work directed towards the world.
What is holiness?
Fearlessness and fervent, unceasing love are the signs of holiness. It consists in such a strengthening of man in goodness by virtues that he does not commit any evil deed, nor is he quickly troubled in thought by the temptation to do any evil. Then man becomes free from all passion, he attains the virtue of fearlessness, and at the same time, he rises to unconditional love for God and man.
In the state of holiness, grace has penetrated from the depths of man’s heart into his whole being, illuminating him spiritually. And since where grace is, there is also the Holy Spirit, and there is also Christ.
The Holy Spirit wants to teach us who Jesus is
“I have many more things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever is heard, He will speak; and He will reveal to you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and disclose to you. “ John 16:12-14.
During Jesus’ time on earth, a great work of salvation took place in Him. He opened a new and living way for us. He is our High Priest, our forerunner, who can understand and help us in our struggles.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit !” Ephesians 4:30
The Holy Spirit desires to live in our hearts. He wants to speak to us through the Bible. The Holy Spirit wants to lead us. The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to help us, so let us not grieve Him but obey and submit to Him.
Let us try to live a holy life. Have a blessed day, and take care of your heart!
