I Believe in the Holy Spirit (Apostles' Creed 7)
On the night before Jesus went to the cross, his disciples were distraught that he was leaving them. But there’s no way he was leaving them. He promised to be with them forever:
If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (John 14:15-18).
Far from leaving his disciples, Jesus would send them the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit is not a power but a divine person who brings the presence of Jesus to his people.
Jesus called the Holy Spirit, in the original Greek language, the Paraclete. Paraclete is a rich word that can be translated by at least four different English words: Advocate, Comforter, Counsellor, and Helper. Each teaches something important about the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, someone who speaks on our behalf. In fact, the Spirit of Jesus prays perfect prayers to God the Father on our behalf: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26).
The Holy Spirit is our Comforter. In our struggles and distress the Spirit opens our eyes to see the love of Jesus for us; and opens our hearts to own that love:
Romans 5:5-8 God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Holy Spirit is our Counsellor. Within the Old Testament temple, the seven-branched menorah represented the perfect light and truth of God. (The number seven represented perfection). The Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of God’s Word, which is a lamp unto our feet. “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit is our Helper. If we are going to survive our three great enemies, the godless world, our own sinful flesh, and a fierce and cunning devil, then we need all of God’s help. The Christian life is not just about knowing certain things, it is about having the Holy Spirit living within us, giving us strength to resist these enemies, and inspiring us to love and trust Jesus more every day.
The Holy Spirit strengthens us in this way as we read and understand God’s Word. That is why the Scripture is called “The Sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). It is the weapon the Spirit uses to cut down the devil’s lies.
Before the world was made, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”, and it was the Spirit who brought light, order, and life to this world (Gen 1:2).
The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see the truth about Jesus to make us Christians (2 Corinthians 4:6). The Holy Spirit enlivens us day-by-day to live as Christians (Romans 8:11). The Holy Spirit gives us gifts to serve our brothers and sisters in the church (1Corinthians 12:7-11). The Holy Spirit makes our spirit and soul stronger even as our bodies grow weaker: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Every Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9).
Jesus has not left us as orphans. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, lives within his own.