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There is a member of the trinity who gets left out in Christian worship and Christian discussion and Christian teaching and Christian living. He is the very member of the Trinity to whom we are most indebted for our Christian experience because it is He who produces the work of redemption in us.
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Triune God, fully God—just as the Father and the Son are fully God.
He is the Father’s agent in the miracle of salvation and regeneration, leading you through every aspect of your transformation. Your salvation is sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit’s mission is always to point us to Christ.
He is described as the first fruits or down payment of our future inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14, Romans 8:23). The Spirit’s presence now is a guarantee and preview of the full salvation to come.
Since the apostles were on the day of Pentecost, all believers are baptized with the Holy Spirit at salvation. (Luke 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13, Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Titus 3:5,6)
The Holy Spirit’s Role in Salvation
As you hear or read the Good News—the Gospel of Jesus Christ, telling of the greatest life ever lived and what He has done for you— the Holy Spirit begins His unique work. In His own timing, He shines sufficient light into the darkness of your sin, where you are naturally unwilling and even unable to believe. Our spiritual eyes remain blind until God Himself opens them, enabling us to see and believe in the Savior.
The Holy Spirit draws you to Himself, unblinds your eyes, “tugs on” and softens your hardened heart, opens your mind and “convicts you about the guilt of sin and about righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8) and then does a supernatural work of grace to reverse your unwillingness or ignorance and releases you from the bondage of your sin, by leading you to repentance and takes your genuine belief in Jesus Christ and applies it as saving faith, transforming you into a spiritual rebirth, where you are “born again” as a new creation in Christ.
And God, by His grace, forgives you, declares you righteous through the righteousness of Jesus and gives you eternal life!
The Holy Spirit when He comes, will convict the world about the guilt of sin, the nature of it, and the need for a Savior, because they did not believe in Him; about righteousness, personal integrity and godly character because Jesus was going to the Father and they would no longer see Him and about judgment and the certainty of it because the ruler of this world, Satan, has been judged and condemned.
He lives in the new heart of every believer, guiding you to live in obedience and devotion to Jesus. The righteous actions of a believer flow from this transformed heart empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus called Him your Helper—your Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener, and Standby (John 14:26).
Think of the Holy Spirit as a constant, reliable presence—always ready to step in with divine help, wisdom, and comfort.
The Holy Spirit teaches you all things, empowers you to share the Gospel, intercedes for you in prayer, comforts you in times of need, convicts you of sin and ongoing repentance and guards you from error.
Because the Holy Spirit lives in you, “The love of God has been poured out within your heart” (Romans 5:5). You already have all His grace, you have His strength to endure all things, and His Word to light your path.
“God’s divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”
— 2 Peter 1:3
God doesn’t give His Spirit in portions—you already have all you need, and you lack nothing.
It is almost incomprehensible that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ—the one true and living Creator God—lives within us every moment of our lives. Yet, how often in our troubles, decisions, and temptations do we forget this reality?
How often do we ignore or quench the Spirit? How often do we grieve Him through our thoughts, attitudes, and actions that cause Him sorrow? (Ephesians 4:30)
It is the Holy Spirit who assures you that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, that you are a child of God, that you are born again as a new creation in Christ and an heir of eternal life.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”— Romans 8:16
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary – John 16:7-15
Christ’s departure (ascension) was necessary to the Comforter’s (Holy Spirit) coming. Sending the Spirit was to be the fruit of Christ’s death, which was his going away. His bodily presence could be only in one place at one time, but his Spirit is every where, in all places, at all times, wherever two or three are gathered together in his name.
See here the office of the Spirit, first to reprove, or to convince (convict). Convincing work is the Spirit’s work; He can do it effectually, and none but He. It is the method the Holy Spirit takes, first to convince, and then to comfort. The Spirit shall convince the world, of sin; not merely tell them of it. The Spirit convinces of the fact, fault, follow and filth of sin, that by it we are become hateful to God; of the fountain of sin, the corrupt nature; and lastly, of the fruit of sin, that the end thereof is death.
The Holy Spirit proves that all the world is guilty before God. He convinces the world of righteousness; that Jesus of Nazareth was Christ the righteous, the only human being to live a perfect, sinless life.
Also, of Christ’s righteousness, imparted (credited) to us for justification and salvation. He will show them where it is to be had, and how they may be accepted as righteous in God’s sight. Christ’s ascension proves the ransom (price of redemption) was accepted by the Father, and the righteousness finished, through which believers were to be justified (made right with God).
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. All will be well, when his power is broken, who made all the mischief. As Satan is subdued by Christ, this gives us confidence, for no other power can stand before him. And of the day of judgment. The coming of the Spirit would be of unspeakable advantage to the disciples.
The Holy Spirit is our Guide, not only to show us the way, but to go with us by continued aids and influences. To be led into a truth is more than barely to know it; it is not only to have the notion of it in our heads, but the relish, and savour, and power of it in our hearts. He shall teach all truth, and keep back nothing profitable, for he will show things to come. All the gifts and graces of the Spirit, all the preaching, and all the writing of the apostles, under the influence of the Spirit, all the tongues, and miracles, were to glorify Christ.
It behoves every one to ask, whether the Holy Spirit has begun a good work in his heart? Without clear discovery of our guilt and danger, we never shall understand the value of Christ’s salvation; but when brought to know ourselves aright, we begin to see the value of the Redeemer. We should have fuller views of the Redeemer, and more lively affections to him, if we more prayed for, and depended on the Holy Spirit.
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