The Holy Spirit is a gift from God that we receive after repentance, baptism, and laying on of hands (Acts 2:38; 8:17). While most people have heard about the Holy Spirit, only a few really know its role in our lives. Understanding how the Holy Spirit works will help us appreciate the love of God and His plan of salvation.
In this post, let me share with you 10 of the essential functions or roles of the Holy Spirit.
Table of Content
- The promised comforter
- What’s wrong with our human nature?
- The need for a new heart
- Ten roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives
- The Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God
- The Holy Spirit guides us to the truth
- The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin
- The Holy Spirit helps us understand deeper the Word of God
- The Holy Spirit allows us to bear righteous fruit
- The Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts
- The Holy Spirit comforts us
- The Holy Spirit ends the curse
- The Holy Spirit gives us power
- The Holy Spirit enables us to be God’s children
- Final words
The promised comforter
When Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was still living here on earth as a human being, He promised that the Holy Spirit would come after His departure.
We read:
16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18).
The Helper here Christ referred to was the Holy Spirit. When Christ was about to be taken up in Heaven, He instructed His disciples to remain in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit as what we can read in Luke 24:49:
49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Thus, on the Day of Pentecost, the followers of Christ received the promised Holy Spirit:
1 “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).
The pouring of the Holy Spirit to those people who are under the New Covenant fulfilled the prophecy of Prophet Joel as written in Acts 2:17-18:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
Thus, in the New Covenant, anyone who accepts Christ’s atoning sacrifice, who has repented of their sins, is baptized, and has hands laid upon them by God’s ministers, receives the Holy Spirit.
What’s wrong with our human nature?
As humans made of flesh and blood, we have a lot of weaknesses. Now, Satan is a cunning and crafty evil spirit that takes advantage of our weaknesses and influences us to commit various sins.
Because of our human nature, our hearts can easily deceive us. The Prophet Jeremiah lamented of this in Jeremiah 17:9:
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
As a result, our selfish and fleshly nature leads us to perform the works of the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 lists some of these problems:
19 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The problem with human nature is it is naturally hostile against God’s laws and anything that has to do with God’s way of life:
5 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8).
We can’t fight our human nature. We may be able to succeed once in a while but the natural tendency is for us to follow our fleshly desires and rebel against God.
The need for a new heart
One of the main differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is the availability of the Holy Spirit. That’s why the focus of the New Covenant is to change the heart and that can only be achieved through the infusion of the Holy Spirit in us.
We read in Ezekiel 36:26-28:
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
We can’t develop God’s character by simply relying on ourselves. We need His Holy Spirit, which enables us to produce the fruit of being under God’s authority.
Send me a message to Joshuainfantado@gmail.com to request your free copy of
“The Shocking Biblical Truth About the New Covenant.”
The role of the Holy Spirit in our lives
The Holy Spirit is a gift from God that we receive after repentance, baptism, and laying on of hands (Acts 2:38; 8:17). While most people have heard about the Holy Spirit, only a few really know its role in our lives. Understanding how the Holy Spirit works will help us appreciate the love of God and His plan of salvation.
To help you better understand how the Holy Spirit works, here are its 10 most important roles or functions according to the Bible.
1. The Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God
“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (I John 3:24).
The Holy Spirit helps us to stay connected with God. When we have the Holy Spirit, we can develop a more intimate and loving relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Now, this function of the set-apart Spirit is vital in our Christian life. You see, it is the Holy Spirit that abides us to the Most High and His Son, Yahshua or popularly known as Jesus Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit, it is difficult, if not impossible, to stay connected with God.
Notice how important it is for us to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
Let’s read John 15:5-6:
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
The Holy Spirit helps us to stay connected with God. When we have the Holy Spirit, we can develop a more intimate and loving relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
2. The Holy Spirit guides us to the truth
“However, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all TRUTH; for it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears it will speak; and it will tell you things to come” (John 16:13).
Now, here’s a vital role of the set-apart Spirit. It guides us ALL truth. Without the Holy Spirit, we won’t be able to know the truth. We won’t be able to understand it. We won’t be able to comprehend it.
When Pilate tried Yahshua, he asked a vital question in John 18:38.
He asked:
What is truth?
You see, brethren, truth is rare nowadays.
It’s difficult to find an honest person. From government offices to social media, from schools to churches, lies and fake news are everywhere.
We know the author of lies and that is Satan who is called the father of lies (John 8:44).
Thus, to counteract the great falsehood in this world, we need the Holy Spirit.
If you don’t want to get deceived, you need the Holy Spirit.
If you want to discern biblical truths, then you need the Holy Spirit.
We read in the John 4:24:
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
We can see here that without the Holy Spirit, we can never worship Yahweh properly. In effect, for true worship to happen, we need the Holy Spirit.
We also read in John 8:31-32:
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Without the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to know the truth. The Holy Spirit will guide us to discover the truth and see the Bible as to how God intended it to be.
3. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin
“And when He has come, It will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8).
Have you ever wondered why so many people today are callous, that they don’t have a conscience anymore? It seems that lying, stealing, killing, and breaking God’s law are just normal to them.
Why is it that no matter how hard you try, some people just don’t listen, that they don’t see the need to change, that they don’t recognize the sin in their lives?
How come some people are so convinced that they can live together without marriage?
Why are so many people convinced that the Sabbath is no longer in effect, but rather it is on Sunday? Why it is so many people think that it is okay to eat pork, celebrate Christmas and Halloween, and give a thumbs up to homosexuality, abortion, and atheism?
Why?
Here’s why: it’s because of the lack of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit tells you what is right or wrong. It tells you when you have committed a sin or not. It tells you to change. It tells you to correct your wrongdoing and stop going on the path of sin.
Without the Holy Spirit, nothing will really convict us. You might feel bad about doing something, but after a few days or weeks, you’re back to normal again.
Can you now see the importance of the Holy Spirit in your life and the role it plays?
Thus, brethren, I hope that this opens our minds to why we should and must have the Holy Spirit.
4. The Holy Spirit helps us understand deeper the Word of God
“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the DEEP things of God… Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, THAT WE MIGHT KNOW THE THINGS that have been freely given to us by God” (I Corinthians 2:10-12).
Perhaps, the most popular verse in the Bible is John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Now, a lot of people know about this verse, but only a few really understood its deep meaning. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit guiding your thinking, you won’t be able to know what it really means for God to give His Son.
You won’t be able to understand what it means to truly believe in Christ. You won’t be able to know what everlasting life really means.
As a whole, brethren, we really can’t know exactly what the Scripture says without the Holy Spirit guiding us.
Here’s the truth we must understand:
Academic knowledge of the Bible will not enable us to think, speak, and act like God. We need the Holy Spirit to achieve this.
No matter how much you study the Bible, you will not be able to sincerely appreciate its real value, significance, and meaning without the Holy Spirit.
This explains why so many people misunderstand the Bible. Though they might study the Bible, enroll in a theology class, and memorize the scholarly concepts of the word of God, it will all be in vain without the Holy Spirit working in them.
This explains why the brightest minds in this world can’t comprehend the Bible. This explains why even the top students of Bible schools, those people with PhDs, advanced studies, and scholarly knowledge can’t fully understand the Bible.
Without the Holy Spirit, we can’t fully understand prophecies, parables, doctrines, and God’s plan of salvation. Thus, we must always be thankful for the gift of the Holy Spirit to understand these things.
5. The Holy Spirit allows us to bear righteous fruit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Holy Spirit possesses a TRANSFORMATIVE power that enables us to become more like God.
If you notice, all the qualities of the fruit of the Holy Spirit are all qualities of God as well. Through the Holy Spirit, we will be able to develop these godly traits and reflect God’s character in our lives.
We need to realize that the positive spiritual transformation will not happen without the help of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it transforms us from being carnally-minded individuals to spiritually-minded Christians.
With the set-apart spirit, we become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.
Now, if you are still trying to bear these fruits, which is true for all of us, we can pray for more of God’s spirit. Do you want to be more loving? Pray for more of God’s spirit.
Do you want to be more peaceful? Patient, Kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled, then there’s one answer to that — pray for more of God’s Holy Spirit in your life.
6. The Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts
“There are diversities of GIFTS, but the same Spirit… But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (I Corinthians 12:4-12).
All of us, no matter who we are, we are all given spiritual gifts through God’s spirit.
We must therefore use these gifts for the glory of God. Yahweh didn’t give us the gift simply to use it for selfish gains or that we don’t even use it altogether.
You are given that gift for God’s glory. Spiritual gifts are very important for the ministry of the church. Through the Holy Spirit, these gifts are given so that we may use them for the will and purpose of God.
Whatever gift you may have, be it in speaking, listening, singing, arranging flowers, encouraging others, comforting one another, teaching, admonishing, or whatever it might be, use it for the glory of the Almighty.
7. The Holy Spirit comforts us
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [or comforter and counselor] that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16).
God knows that being a Christian is tough, and we can easily get discouraged. For this reason, God sent the Holy Spirit to help us overcome trials and challenges in life. Pure and genuine comfort can only come from God, and this is made available to us through the Holy Spirit.
Having the Holy Spirit gives us a different mindset that we rarely see in this dying world. Though life may be hard and tough, Christians can still stay confident and hopeful because they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
8. The Holy Spirit ends the curse
Let’s go to John 14:16:
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [or comforter and counselor] that it may abide with you forever”.
This is how the majority of Bible translations today render John 14:16. The word Helper here came from the Greek word parakletos, which means an intercessor, consoler: – advocate, comforter.
Well, here’s where things get more interesting, if we believe that John was originally written in Aramaic, then we discover another truth about the Ruach HaKodesh.
Helper in this verse actually came from the Aramaic word that means “redeemer” or “one who ends the curse.”
So, going back to John 14:16 the Hebraic Roots Bible Translation rendered it like this:
And I will petition the Father, and He will give you another one which will end the curse, that He may remain with you forever.
In Aramaic English New Testament translation, it reads:
And I will ask of my Father and He will give you another Redeemer who will be with you forever.
This gives us another fresh and new insight into the role of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Hebrew of the Holy Spirit) in our lives.
It shows us that through the set-apart spirit, we are redeemed from our sinful nature. Through the death and sacrifice of Yahshua, the Holy Spirit was given to us and thus, the curse of the law was broken. By living in God’s spirit, we are no longer under the curse of the law, which is death.
That’s why, brethren, we read what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:14:
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
As you can see, the Holy Spirit, God’s power, ends the curse of the law and serves as a downpayment for eternal life. What a wonderful truth that God has revealed unto us!
Sadly, people pervert this truth by saying we don’t need to keep God’s laws anymore because we are under grace. Of course, that’s true, we are under grace, but we are still to keep God’s laws.
What Paul actually means is that when we have the Holy Spirit, the one that ends the curse, we are no longer under the curse of the law, which is death.
For more details, please read, “Romans 6:14: What does not under law but under grace mean?“
9. The Holy Spirit gives us power
The Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit is not a separate entity in God’s Family. It is not a person. It is never as well true that God is a trinity.
Throughout the Scripture, we read the Holy Spirit is God’s power:
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).
God’s holy spirit is the same power that He used to create this whole universe.
It’s the same power He used to part the Red Sea; the same power He used to make the sun stand still; the same power He used to make all unbelievable miracles we read in the Bible, and the same power He used to resurrect Yahshua and give eternal life to everyone who follows Him.
And that same power, brethren, is being given to us as a gift. Thus, we need to understand its role and function in our lives. Without this understanding, we can’t fully take advantage of God’s set-apart Spirit in our lives.
Acts 1:8 clearly tells us:
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We could see how the Holy Spirit empowers us to do God’s will, commandments, and purpose in our lives.
We further read:
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
We are not to be fearful. Fear is what the enemy gives us. On the contrary, it is power, love, and sound mind that God’s us.
10. The Holy Spirit enables us to be God’s children
We read in Romans 8:14-17:
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
These Bible verses are so impregnated with significant meaning.
First off, the children of God are led by the His Spirit. If we are not by God’s spirit or if we don’t let it lead us, but rather, we let our human nature leads us, then obviously, we don’t become God’s children.
We read that the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of adoption. That’s why we can now call God our Father in the most intimate way. We are called the children of God and thus, this made us joint heirs with Christ!
Praise be to Yahweh for revealing to us these surprising and powerful roles of the Holy Spirit.
Final words
Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the power of God (Luke 1:35). When we receive the Holy Spirit, we also receive a portion of that POWER (Acts 1:8). It is through the Holy Spirit that we can be called true Christians and children of God (Romans 8:14-17).
For this reason, we all must strive to obtain the Holy Spirit through the process of baptism. And when we finally have the Holy Spirit within us, let us all strive to keep it ever burning in our hearts.