Life in the Spirit

7/13/22 Glenda Simpkins Hoffman

I was once at a retreat when someone approached me and confessed being upset by the fact that Jesus’ first disciples had the blessing of being with Jesus when he lived on earth, but the rest of us will never have that experience. This person felt a sense of loss and felt that it just wasn’t fair. She grew up saying the Apostles’ Creed every week, so I pointed her to the fact that the creed doesn’t end with God the Father or even with Jesus the Son. It goes on to say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”  

Jesus’ own disciples were quite dismayed at the thought of Jesus leaving them. It is impossible to overstate the crisis that the believing community faced as a result of Jesus’ death and subsequent ascension. This isn’t just about the loss of their teacher and friend. Jesus’ death and return to God marked the end of the incarnation—God’s physical presence with them in the person of Jesus. So what happens when Jesus is gone?  

Jesus answers the question by giving a promise—the promise to send the Holy Spirit who would provide the needed help and hope to his disciples then and to us now.  I love Dale Brunner’s translation of John 16:7 where Jesus says, “I am telling you the sober truth: the best thing that could ever happen to you is for me to go away. Because if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you. But if I do go away, I will send him to you.” 

In her wonderful sermon on the Holy Spirit last Sunday, Connie Jordan-Haas made clear that the Greek word Paraclete means “one who comes alongside.” The way Paraclete is translated helps us to understand why we need the Holy Spirit to come alongside as an “Advocate,” “Counselor,” “Comforter,” or “Helper.”  

  I too grew up going to church and repeating the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds week after week and affirming my belief in the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But honestly, it wasn’t until leaving home and going to college that I really came to a good understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit.  

At school I began to participate in a campus ministry. The first Bible study I ever did was on the Holy Spirit. We heard a quote by Billy Graham that 95% of believers do not understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I knew that was true for me. I knew Jesus had died for me so that I could be saved, but honestly, I still thought it was up to me to try to be good enough and worthy of love and acceptance.  

When I came to understand that the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus with me now and forever to give me the supernatural power and peace I need in my daily life, that was a true game changer. There is so much to learn on the person of the Holy Spirit, I think that is what I will teach about this fall in the Women’s Bible Studies. But for now, I want to share three truths that have truly changed my life. 

First, the Holy Spirit regenerates all believers. Ephesians 2 makes clear, “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” Before we came to Christ, we were spiritually dead. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. In his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus has done for us what we could never do on our own.  

Titus 3;5 says, “He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”  Regeneration, being made spiritually alive, is the work of the Holy Spirit who gives us a new birth and renews us for a different kind of life. 

In John 3, we read about an encounter between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus who comes to Jesus wanting to learn more. Jesus makes clear that everyone is born of the flesh (physically), but we also need to be born of the Spirit, from above, in order to be made spiritually alive.  

Second, the Holy Spirit indwells believers. 1 Corinthians 6:19  says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?”   

In the Old Testament, it was understood that God dwelled within the temple,. But now God indwells his people. While God indwells each of us individually, it is the collective body of Christ, the church, in whom God dwells. The church is the people, not the building.  

This is really good news and such a comfort to us. The Spirit is in us and with us always, whatever we do and wherever we go. We are never alone because the Spirit indwells us and is with us and will help us in every circumstance we go through. 

Third, the Holy Spirit seals all believers: “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13).                                 

When written communication was sent in ancient times, a person of authority would seal the letter with wax using his ring to indicate that it was from him and that it was not to be opened by anyone than the person to whom it was sent. The Holy Spirit is the one who seals us as believers, in essence saying, “You belong to Christ.” To be sealed by the Holy Spirit means God places his mark of ownership and protection on our lives. God grants to us His Holy Spirit as the certain pledge that we are his forever and brought into his glorious presence in the last day.  

Learning these truths as well as how to trust and rely on the Holy Spirit has changed my life in ways I could never have done myself. Believe me, I tried. The proof of the Spirit’s presence in my life and yours comes as we bear the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).  

As we grow and mature in Christ, the evidence of the Holy Spirit will also be seen in a greater desire to know God’s word and obey his commands, a passion for prayer and praise, a love for people, and a commitment to share the good news and to work for mercy and justice in the world. Because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we can live joyfully, confident of our sure place in a future that holds unimaginable glories.  

The Holy Spirit is the ongoing presence of Jesus in the world—the one who makes intimacy with God possible and enables us to experience the fullness of the abundant life Jesus made possible. Life in the Spirit—depending on the peace and power we need for our lives— is the only way to live our life as we follow Jesus our Lord. 

As I look back on my life, I realize I would have never chosen or been able to step out of my comfort zone to serve as a campus minister or missionary to Russia in my 20’s. I could never have endured the dark night of the soul I experienced in my 30’s. I could never have thrived while becoming a parent of young children and then a pastor at Vienna Presbyterian Church in a new large church in my 40’s…. You get the picture.  

I look back on my life with gratitude for the Holy Spirit’s presence and power and peace through all the ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and twists and turns of life. And we can all be confident that whatever comes, the Holy Spirit will always be with us helping us in the way we need. Thanks be to God!