We are regularly told to have faith in God, or to have faith in Jesus. We often forget, however, that there is another we are to have faith in. The Holy Spirit.
There are many reasons the Holy Spirit is easy to forget. One is that while God and Jesus actively spoke throughout the Bible the Spirit did not usually play such a role. There are no scriptures that read “the Spirit said.” What we must understand is the Spirit was an ever present force throughout every part of the Bible. The Spirit is what made David a man after God owns heart. The Spirit is what turned a sinner like Saul into a saint named Paul. God creates, and Jesus saves, but the Spirit resides.
John 12:36 states:
“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
The light is the spirit. It is within us. It guides us toward salvation, and keeps us from sin. It is always there, and easy for the believer to ignore because we grow used to its presence. I’ve thought on this recently, and how different the world of today is than the world of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament God was the same God He is now, but He expressed Himself in far different ways. He spoke openly to people, and called down plagues to destroy those who opposed Him. He was very active, and one can easily be fooled into thinking He has actually become more passive since the coming of Christ.
This belief is wrong. God is just as active now, and arguably more so. He doesn’t just do amazing signs from outside of us, but He, as the Spirit, resides within each of us. Before the coming of Christ God would choose certain individuals, and allow the Spirit to reside within them. God would also rip the Spirit away from such people if they proved unworthy (He did this to King Saul). Since Christ redeemed us we now all have the ability to have the Spirit reside within us. We don’t have to look around for a pillar of fire to show us we should have faith in our God. We only have to look within ourselves, and remember that He’s there.
The Spirit is very real, and just as important as God and Jesus. Our faith in Christ provides us with the Spirit, and our faith in the Spirit grants us with power to overcome anything. It makes us into sons of light. I am not capable of describing just how amazing that is, but we have to believe it’s that amazing. The Spirit is within us. It guides us. It helps us. It loves us. It’s there for us through everything. It’s an amazing thing, and we must never cease to have faith in it.
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