Some people look to God because they’re racked with guilt or facing a painful trial. For me, it was more a sense of weakness. It was like I was living life with cheap batteries that kept running out. The biggest change I experienced in trusting Jesus was discovering the power He gives. What I came to understand as the work of the Holy Spirit within me was life-changing.
The Bible describes three key ways that God’s Spirit transforms a person. Seeking Him in these areas invites more of the change that He’s pleased to give.
1. He gives the power to confront what you’d prefer to ignore
We all develop strategies for avoiding what makes us uncomfortable. We put off hard conversations and procrastinate with difficult tasks. The Holy Spirit grabs our attention when we’re tempted to look away.
Jesus said that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). Most people justify their sin, explain away righteousness, and avoid any thought of final judgment, but the Holy Spirit works to convince us otherwise. He uses people, circumstances, and the Word of God to help us to confront life as it is, not just as we’d like it to be. Anyone who has come to faith has done so because the Holy Spirit patiently persuaded them.
What Jesus said of the Holy Spirit’s role was in relation to the world—to all people—but when a person trusts in Jesus, the Holy Spirit moves into the believer’s life (1 Corinthians 3:16), and His convincing work is only heightened.
When we justify ourselves and avoid the uncomfortable things we need to deal with, we remain selfish and immature. Seek the Holy Spirit’s conviction in your life.
2. He gives the power to become who you were created to be
When people come to faith, there’s an inward transformation. Paul’s letter to Titus calls it the “regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Dead people are made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5) as they are “born again” by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3). A believer experiences new desires, new motivation, new power, and new hope that flow from a new relationship with God.
The Bible describes the ongoing change in a Christian this way: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we draw near to God and focus on Him, the Holy Spirit makes us more like Him. Your relationships, your career, and your family are all impacted by your character, your habits, and your maturity. Seek the Holy Spirit’s work in making you more like Jesus.
3. He gives the power to do what you were unable to do
Before you learn about the Holy Spirit, it’s easy to settle for what you’ve always done and assume the limitations you’ve experienced are what you’ll always live with. “I’m not very good at that,” we tell ourselves, or “My personality makes things like that impossible.”
While the Holy Spirit never erases someone’s personality, He does redefine their potential. The history of the church is one of God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. The spiritual gifts He gives are part of that (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Each believer is given divine enablement to carry out a unique role in God’s mission through the church.
But the Holy Spirit’s empowering goes beyond spiritual gifts. In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” God’s Spirit gave people who were afraid and withdrawn the courage to speak boldly about Jesus (Acts 4:31).
The same is true of all the areas of God’s will we find difficult. Romans 8:26 puts it like this: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.” When it comes to God’s will, a Christian must completely rethink what they once believed was impossible. We can seek the Holy Spirit to help us do all that God calls us to.
What we’ve seen in these three areas—conviction, transformation, and empowerment—is not a personal theory or a private experience. It reflects the consistent teaching of Scripture. The Fellowship Affirmation of Faith summarizes the Bible’s teaching about the Holy Spirit this way:
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who is fully God, the Lord and giver of life, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son; who convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; with whom believers are baptized into Christ’s body and by whom they are regenerated, sealed, and indwelt; who sanctifies, illuminates, equips, empowers, assists in prayer, and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.
This is the Spirit God generously gives to every believer.
The Christian life isn’t like a computer with a different operating system. It’s more like a computer whose motherboard and CPU have been upgraded. It’s not just new instructions, it’s new power. Seek the Holy Spirit for all He desires to do in your life.
In awe of Him,
Paul
