Glenorie Mission Church

Every believer is sealed by the Spirit. Ephesians 4 :30 states: ’Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption’. By this action we are stamped with the sign of God’s ownership, a mark which remains until we are taken home to Heaven. The very presence of the Spirit in our heart is God’s distinguishing seal that we are His.

What is his continuing work?

After His initial or crisis work, what does the Holy Spirit do in a life which belongs to Christ?

In what way does He continue His ministry?

1. The Holy Spirit will help us grow.

The Holy Spirit wants to create and maintain those conditions under which our new life in Christ can grow. ‘He will bring glory to me…’ said Jesus Christ (John 16:14).

He is the Spirit of holiness’ so He will teach us Holy living. He is the Spirit of power, so He will teach us what the resurrection life of Christ within us can mean in daily living. See Romans 8:2. ’Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death’. This means that the demands and standards of our new life can be fulfilled in us and by us with His enabling. The measure of our power and of our spiritual growth will be according to the measure of our surrender to the indwelling Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit prays for us. (Romans 8: 26,27)

Here is one of the most encouraging aspects of the Spirit’s present ministry. Often we do not know how to pray. Or it may be that physical or emotional weakness makes it difficult for us to pray. But the Holy Spirit not only knows our condition, He knows the will of God. Therefore he intercedes for us.

The explanation of much that happens for good in our lives is that same intercession on our behalf.

3. The Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirit. (Romans 8:15-17)

Again this is part of His continuing ministry. He works to produce assurance in our hearts that we are God’s child. The Bible itself is the ground of our assurance, but those who know Jesus Christ as Saviour also know the quiet peace which comes as the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirit. That witness may be hard to describe, but the true believer knows the truth of it.

(to be continued)