The Holy Spirit Acts From Within Us

It is easy to deny ourselves in pursuit of our desires. A grave sinner or a drunkard can easily forsake their self-respect to achieve their sinful goals. Similarly, some people even reject the freely given salvation without any hardship. In contrast, denying ourselves to follow Jesus has become a difficult task because our nature is attuned to the patterns of this world.

When the tuning is wrong, we repeatedly fall back into our old ways, much like a dog’s tail returns to its natural posture. Straightening a dog’s tail is difficult because it is naturally curved. In the same way, although we are not created in the pattern of this world, our attraction to sin has led us to align our desires with worldly standards. When we are spiritually motivated, we are energetic for a short time but then tend to settle back into our old ways.

The Eternity

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26 (NIV)

We are not created with compatibility with this world, but we are created in the image and likeness of God. It does not mean the figure and structure of a man, but it does mean that man was earlier, created by God just like Him with immortality. However, with disobedience, Man lost this immortality and embraced death. But God sent His Son with an abundance of life, to give us back eternal life. Jesus Himself explained to us the package of everlasting life available in Him.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:25-26 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit Equips

In the early life of Adam and Eve, they possessed eternal life from the day they were created and were free to do as they wished. However, this freedom led to their downfall, taking eternal life away from them. Even today, we are given free will and can do as we please. Yet, God expects us to use this free will to grant authority to the Holy Spirit over our lives.

The Holy Spirit provides wisdom to people, enabling them to earn their livelihood and create marvellous things in every field of work (Exodus 31:1-5, Exodus 35:30-35). With God-given freedom, they used their skills to mould a golden calf and replaced God with that of the carved image (Exodus 32:1-4).

God grants us the wisdom to create new inventions, medicines, modern equipment, digital gadgets, and more. We have the freedom to use this knowledge as we see fit. Even when people choose to use this freedom to create destructive weapons, God does not revoke their free will. Instead, He allows them to exercise it, giving them ample opportunities to change their hearts on their own (2 Peter 3:9).

The Holy Spirit Acts

When we believe in what God has done for us by giving His Son and understand that our sins are forgiven by Him, we become His children. God dwells in the hearts of His children and protects the salvation He has given them (2 Corinthians 1:22). The Holy Spirit convicts us, leads us to repentance, and cleanses our sins with the blood of Jesus Christ.

In the early life of Adam and Eve, they were provided with everything they needed for both worldly and spiritual life and had the freedom to use it. However, despite having spiritual wisdom, they did not understand the true meaning of the death that God warned Adam about, and they ultimately embraced it.

Their attraction to the things forbidden by God led to their downfall. For this reason, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in our hearts, equips us with the skills and expertise to work in this world. However, He does not grant spiritual power to any individual; instead, He acts by residing within us.

God knows our weaknesses and assures us that His strength is sufficient in our moments of frailty. Understanding that we cannot manage matters related to His Kingdom on our own, He has assigned the Holy Spirit to handle them. God wants to prevent us from falling again due to our limitations and instead, exercise His power to present us unblemished to His Father (Jude 1:24-25).

Not Our Deeds

Often, we feel empowered by the Holy Spirit, and over time, we may start to attribute the Holy Spirit’s deeds to our own prayers and strict adherence to His word. People then praise the servant of God for their various “skills” in the ministry, inadvertently overshadowing the true work of the Holy Spirit and seeking fame for themselves.

We must understand that even our faith in Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. He introduces us to Jesus and reminds us of what Jesus did on the cross because He witnessed it, whereas we did not. This is why the faith we build through our own efforts or based on evidence often fails during trials and tribulations. But when we have the Spirit of God within us, He sustains our faith for us.

To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. – 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

In the same manner, healing the sick, delivering the possessed, and performing miracles are not the result of an individual’s efforts through fasting and praying. These acts are simply the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit does not entrust us with these tasks; instead, we are entrusted with propagating the love of God to people. The word “gift” might mislead many into thinking it is something given to us, but in reality, the gift is the Holy Spirit residing within us.

Can we, on our own, heal a sick person? Even medical science acknowledges that it can treat a patient but does not guarantee healing. Healing comes from God. While professional doctors treat patients, some servants of God claim to be the healers and deliverers. However, it is important to remember that to heal the sick, Jesus took the sins of the world and was crucified after being severely beaten. He died on the cross, was buried, and on the third day, He rose again in a body that bore the stripes. The Bible says, “We are healed by His stripes,” meaning that as He lives, we too will live, conquering death.

Given this understanding, how can a servant of God claim credit for the healings happening in their ministry? Did they do anything to heal the sick? It is audacious to claim that we are healing people in His name. It is He who heals the sick by residing within us.

Allowing The Holy Spirit To Function

First and foremost, we must recognize that the Holy Spirit can act independently by residing within us. To grasp this concept, we should consider what Paul said about our sinful actions. He stated that if we are doing something we do not want to do, it is not we who are doing it, but the sin within us (Romans 7:19-20). Applying this principle to the Holy Spirit who is dwelling within us, it becomes clear that the Spirit of God can accomplish things that are impossible for humans.

Once we understand that it is possible, we need to learn how to let it happen in our lives. When Jesus asked us to deny ourselves in order to follow Him, He didn’t mean abandoning everything essential for our worldly life or retreating to the wilderness like hermits. Nor does it mean that God is withdrawing our “free will.” Instead, it means setting aside our own priorities and giving precedence to God. Holiness is the act of dedicating ourselves to God.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. – 1 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV)

To allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God to us, we must welcome the Spirit of God into our lives. We are used to accommodating our own spirit, but it can feel unusual to accommodate God’s Spirit within us. It is only when we change our priorities and deny ourselves that the Holy Spirit can take over. Jesus said we cannot serve two masters, and to serve God, we need His Spirit within us rather than our own.

The work of the Holy Spirit within us is often misunderstood because many people reject the idea that the Spirit of God dwells in humanity. Jesus cited Psalm 82 to challenge His critics, arguing that if God works through Him, it is appropriate to call Him the “Son of God.” He noted that even the Psalmist, who called upon God for justice against corrupt judges, referred to those judges as “gods” because they carried out God’s justice. Jesus reasoned that if your own poet called judges “gods,” how much more fitting is it to call the One whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world by the title “Son of God” ((John 10:33-36)? Moreover, Jesus’ prayer underscores the truth that He dwells within us, addressing the question of how God can inhabit human beings.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. – John 17:22-23 (NIV)

Experiencing The Holy Spirit Acting From Within Us

Romans 5:5 teaches us that when the Holy Spirit enters our hearts, He fills them with God’s love. To receive this blessing, we should create an environment that allows the Holy Spirit to communicate with the Father while dwelling within us. However, we often knowingly or unknowingly prevent the Holy Spirit from speaking freely to the Father. By filling our hearts with unnecessary distractions and dwelling on impure thoughts, we stifle the Holy Spirit within us.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. – Ephesians 4:30 (NIV)

When we pray, we often tell God about our needs or difficult situations and then stop. However, the One who dwells within us already knows all these things. If we allow the Holy Spirit to pray to the Father on our behalf, rather than merely informing God of our situation, the Spirit will intercede with deep groanings to bring about the desired outcome. Have we ever experienced the Holy Spirit praying on His own during our prayer time, according to the true need? Or are we content with presenting our lengthy list of requests to God? Praying in the Spirit is the best way to understand how the Holy Spirit is working within us.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. – Romans 8:26 (NIV)

Similarly, when a servant of God heals or delivers someone, it is not by their own power but by the Spirit of God working through them. Without the Spirit’s intervention, the evil spirit could easily overpower them, as seen in Acts 19:16: “Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” This passage shows how some servants of God may boldly claim to be powerful preachers, healers, or deliverers when in reality, it is the Holy Spirit acting on their behalf.

May the Spirit of God help us step aside and make room for the Holy Spirit, sent by our Heavenly Father in the name of His Son, Jesus. Let us willingly allow Him to fulfil the work of His Kingdom, which we often find difficult to understand. May we give glory to God and God alone in all things.