The Holy Spirit

This segment accompanies chapter 20 of Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God.  It is an overview of the information that is found in the Bible about the Holy Spirit.  It is important that this be a Bible lesson and not just some modern religious teaching.  The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons within the whole of the Almighty God, yet people use the name of the Holy Spirit to teach any number of things that are not biblical.

In Baxter's book, it is easier to read chapter 20 backwards.  The a modified version of the conclusion is a good place to start.  There are different measures of the power that the Holy Spirit has to give.  We can count four such measures in the Bible.  Jesus possessed the power of the Holy Spirit without measure, so that's one level.

The apostles on the day of Pentecost and Cornelius and the people in his household were visited by the Holy Spirit in the baptismal measure, the only two instances ever.  The apostles laid hands on some church members, who received the power of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous measure, although those people could not pass on that measure of the Holy Spirit's power to more and more people, so that measure along with its purpose in establishing the church passed into history.

The only unqualified promise to any and every Christian is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will prevail in a measure of power that we might call the normal or ordinary measure.  So, after the apostolic age, no person has had the power of the Holy Spirit without measure, none has had that power in the baptismal measure, and none has had it in the miraculous measure.

The Holy Spirit is a lifetime friend and guide to the Christian.  We can be fully satisfied with and humbly grateful for the ordinary measure of the working of the Holy Spirit, because of all the wonderful things that involves.

Some of those things include giving evidence of our son-ship in the family of God which is in Christ Jesus; giving us strength in our everyday living; helping us to pray, since we do need that help many times; producing good fruit in our lives, because of that indwelling; giving us a reason to seek after a godly life; giving us a great sense of hope; and providing for us a guarantee of eternal life for faithful Christians.

Just as the love of the Father is still active, work of the church goes on, and the ministry of Christ goes on, the work of the Holy Spirit continues throughout the church today.  With so much to be thankful for, we can lay claim to just what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit and still never use up all the blessings He brings into our lives.