What Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit

If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

–Romans 8:11

Are you familiar with the rule of three? Movies and plays often have three acts. Many jokes start with three people walking into a bar. Decorators arrange furnishings in groups of three. Yet here’s the interesting twist: Although all three members of the triad are equal, one usually takes a subsidiary role. Think about the Three Stooges: Moe was the leader, Curly was the funniest, and Larry took a back seat.

In our study of the ten core beliefs supporting historic Christianity, we’ve reached the fourth pillar: the Holy Spirit. Like Larry in the Three Stooges, the Holy Spirit often seems to have a subsidiary role compared to God the Father and Jesus the Son. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The Holy Spirit may not be as prominent as the Father or the Son, but He is just as important.

The Holy Spirit is equal to God. In Acts 5, when Ananias and Sapphira lied about the money they were giving to the church, Peter said, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? . . . You have not lied to men but to God” (vv. 4–5). Peter was equating lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God Himself.

Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit was instrumental in creation. In Job 33:4, Job’s friend Elihu said, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” It is the Holy Spirit who gives us physical and spiritual life. In fact, after David sinned with Bathsheba, he prayed, “Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). Have you experienced a power outage? When the electricity goes out, you feel helpless, wandering around in the dark. The only thing worse than losing electrical power is losing spiritual power. It was unimaginable for David to live without the Holy Spirit.

We see the Holy Spirit at work throughout the Bible. He empowered people like Gideon and Samson to do mighty works for God. The Holy Spirit moved the prophets to speak the Word of God (2 Peter 1:20–21). The Holy Spirit was responsible for the conception of Jesus (Luke 1:35). And the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). The same Spirit works in your life to give you the power to say no to sin and yes to God. Understanding the Holy Spirit is key to experiencing God’s power in your life every day.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “What Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.