Salvation and the Spirit

Salvation and the Spirit
Genesis 46-48 | Psalm 16 | John 16

Today's message will centre around the work of the Spirit in salvation. First, we see from verse 8 of today's reading of John that the Spirit, "will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:" - where Jesus' ministry was to those around Him, the Spirit will move throughout the whole earth, convicting people of their need of the saving work of Jesus. All who trust in Jesus have been convicted by the Holy Spirit of their need for God's grace in salvation through Jesus, a great example of the three persons of the Trinity working towards the common aim.

The presence of the Spirit within believers also (as discussed day 14) enables that believer to grow in holiness and maturity. In this way, the Spirit makes the 'new birth' into God's Kingdom possible, with the creation of a new spiritual life for each believer. In these Spiritual lives, the Spirit establishes a living relationship between the believer and God, and thus fosters understanding and growth in the believer. The Spirit also enables believers to have faith in God: truly the Apostle Paul said, "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph 2:8-9). Even our faith in God is a gift of God and flows from the Holy Spirit.

Indeed we can surely see that to be a Christian - to be in God's Kingdom - we must house the Holy Spirit within us. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot understand our need for God's salvation, we cannot accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour, and we cannot grow in holiness as God desires. Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a seal that marks believers (Eph. 1:13), and truly it could be said that a definition of a Christian is 'one whom the Spirit of God resides within'.

We finally find that the presence of the Spirit within us is a guarantee of our place in God's Kingdom and our eventual place in Heaven. Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a "deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:14). Truly we who are believers are blessed to be forgiven our sins by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and given the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, within us, to help us in our Christian lives and as assurance of God's eternal presence with us!

Praise God again for His gift of the Spirit who worked in you to convict you of your need for Jesus' saving work, thank God for His guaranteed presence with you always and pray that His Spirit will continually empower you to grow in holiness.