The person of the Holy Spirit is not someone unique to the New Testament. The Holy Spirit has co-existed with Father God from the beginning. We see the Spirit of God at work in Creation- Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”.
In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit would “come upon”or “be with” someone to enable them for a specific purpose or task, but in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit lives “within” the believer. Christ-followers are the temple or home for the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).
The grace of the Holy Spirit is especially evident in the New Testament as He comes as a gift of Jesus to be our“Helper, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth”.
The Holy Spirit also comes with power and authority over the devil (1 John 4:4). As we surrender our lives to God, we have the Holy Spirit’s power to conquer our selfish will and He helps us live the Christian life as we learn to be led (guided, directed, influenced) by the Spirit, (Rom 8:11).
As we learn to walk in the Spirit, we will overcome the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16-18). This new life in the Spirit requires a new way of thinking and doing things. The Bible instructs us to “…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:23, 24).
We also have the following promise: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:13, 14).
Putting to death the deeds of the body has to do with putting to death those habits and patterns of thinking that are contrary to God’s righteousness and replacing those habits and patterns of thinking with godly habits and godly thoughts. This is where the Holy Spirit’s help is crucial for He is able to reveal truth, remind us of the Scriptures, and speak encouragement to us.
As if all of that were not enough, the Holy Spirit also made available, to all believers, important spiritual gifts. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul warns us to not be ignorant or unaware of these gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant”. In other words, Paul was saying that these gifts are too important for the church to neglect.
While I would encourage you to read all of 1 Corinthians chapter 12, I will be touching, ever so briefly on the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. I will be spending more time on the individual gifts in my next series entitled Christianity 201.
There are nine gifts of the Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12 and they are:
1. Word of Wisdom – A spoken message of wisdom inspired by the Holy Spirit to an individual, dealing with the deep things of God.
2. Word of Knowledge –A spoken message referring to understanding things that could not be naturally known.
3. Faith – Extraordinary faith as opposed to “saving” and “normal” Christian faith. the faith to move mountains.
4. Gifts of Healings -The supernatural ability to administer healing to others. The plural form of the word healings indicates a variety of illnesses common to mankind.
5. The Working of Miracles – Supernatural ability to over-ride or reverse natural laws of nature.
6. Discerning of Spirits -The supernatural ability to discern the source of a spiritual manifestation. The three sources are God, Satan and the spirit of man.
7. Prophecy –The supernatural ability to speak what Jesus is saying at the moment to encourage, edify, exhort by revealing what God will do.
8. The Gift of Tongues- The supernatural ability to speak an unlearned language that glorifies God. When done in public, as in church, it should be followed by the gift of the Interpretation of Tongues.
9. The Interpretation of Tongues -This gift always follows the public speaking of the gift of tongues so that it would be understood by those in attendance. As a side note the Gift of Tongues and Gift of Interpretation when taken together is prophecy.
These gifts of the Spirit are nested between 1 Corinthians 12:7 & 11. Verse 7 says, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”. The “all” is referring to the Body of Christ or the spiritual Church. Then verse 11, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills”. The Holy Spirit sovereignty gives His gifts as He pleases.
