In a recent syndicated newspaper article on the Holy Spirit, a charismatic preacher had this to say about the Holy Spirit’s role in a Christian’s life: “We are Clark Kent, but with the Holy Ghost, we become Superman.” Immediately the images of Superman come to mind... superhuman strength, death-defying capabilities, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Spirit-filled Christian?
Fostering the idea of turning into Superman via the power of the Holy Spirit may be very appealing to a culture obsessed with “Extreme Makeovers,” but it certainly has no foundation in Scripture.
In fact, it’s just the opposite. The Apostle Paul’s self-assessment of his own role in ministry stands in stark contrast to any Superman mentality or capabilities. He said... “What after all, is Apollos? And what after all, is Paul? Only servants” (I Cor. 3: 5).
Paul’s humble approach to the Corinthian church is far less than one with Superman-like powers when he said... “I came to you in weakness, and in fear, and with much trembling” (I Cor. 2:3). Superman couldn’t handle his inherent vulnerability and weakness to kryptonite, yet Paul is willing to boast, even delight, about his... “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, and in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Paul hardly sounds like a man of steel in 2 Corinthians 12, yet no honest reader of the New Testament would diminish the fact that Paul’s ministry was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Paul himself confesses that his ministry had little to do with his own abilities... “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom (not even Superman’s!), but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:4).
The Holy Spirit is not an “it” or some inanimate energy force directed by the will of God to perform His bidding. The Holy Spirit is Divine... He has personhood and is part of the Triune God... revealed and engaged with humanity in a very special way. So what does the Holy Spirit’s power look like when active in a Christian’s life?
Study of the Holy Spirit is known as the doctrine of Pneumatology. Over my years of teaching the Bible and writing about various theological topics, I’ve been amazed at how little Christians know about the person of the Holy Spirit. The misunderstandings and published misinformation about “who He is” fills bookshelves in libraries. A lot of attention is given to avoiding the charismatic excesses, than rightfully acknowledging the sovereign Spirit as he presents Himself in the pages of His own inspired Scriptures. Consequently, the majority of teachings on Pneumatology are devoted to establishing what the Spirit does not do, rather than what He does do. For most Christians, we are left wondering what a genuine movement of the Holy Spirit actually looks like in the life of a Christian.
We are scared of anything perceived as supernatural, especially when we don’t understand it. We know God the Father, all His superlative attributes and His holiness. We can relate to the descriptions of God the Father and the imagery used in Scripture to describe Him. We can connect with Jesus the Christ, because he lived among humanity. He’s our savior, redeemer, our intercessor with God the Father. And in Him, by His sacrifice on the cross and by our obedience to the Biblical plan of Salvation we can be saved. We get all that.
However, the Holy Spirit is not as explicitly described in the Bible as God the Father and Jesus our Savior. At least that’s what we think. So, we fear being labeled charismatic, pentecostal, experiential, or even mystical and don’t talk about the Holy Spirit’s dynamic involvement in the everyday living of being a Christian.
Perhaps this is understandable, given the fact that many of us have been faithfully engaged in a battle defending the trustworthiness and accuracy of the Bible. But in so doing we may have unintentionally neglected coming to know and understand the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is more clearly portrayed throughout Scripture than we realize. The Word and the Spirit are one... synchronized to illuminate a path for Christian living. We will never understand the unseen yet critical aspects of the Spirit’s power in our lives until we open ourselves up and overcome what might be called our “Holy Spirit-shyness."
The Holy Spirit is the “supreme insider” in our lives. The spiritual manifestations of Christian living is a “demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (I Cor. 2:4). A careful reading of I Corinthians 2 reveals Paul’s inner condition (weakness, fear, and trembling) precedes the Spirit’s power in his life. Paul’s inner spiritual condition was the soil out of which his Spirit-empowered living grew. In other words, the Spirit’s dynamics were the heat and passion added to the routines of life.
A SPIRIT FILLED-SPIRIT-DRIVEN LIFE is what we want. The Holy Spirit is the explicit driving force behind living in Harmony with Christ... Godly Christian living. The Spirit brings illumination to our lives.
A Spirit-driven life reflects the powerful dynamic of the Word and the Spirit integrated together and evident in how a person lives.
The living truth of some portion of Holy Scripture, becomes a living reality to the hearer as he or she is confronted by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit in matters of judgment, redemption, forgiveness, personal choices and decisions.
The Spirit works in our devotional time, applying the Word like a salve to the hearts of those who hear, read, discuss and do what the Bible says.
Since our minds are being renewed day by day (Romans 12:2), we need the help and illumination of the Holy Spirit so we can see and feel the heat, passion and power of God’s Word and the urgency with which we must apply it to our lives.
Biblically, Jesus foretells the Spirit’s illuminating ministry in John 16:13-14: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” Paul speaks of the need for “spiritual discernment” for understanding the “things that come from the Spirit of God” in I Corinthians 2:14. Perhaps the best illustration of illumination is when Jesus opens the eyes and hearts of the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Notice... the opening of the Scriptures synchronized with the opening of their hearts! Their illumination results in hearts set ablaze and burning within them!
As Christians, if we hope to experience “hearts burning”, we must “open the Scriptures” and be absorbed by its messages (Luke 24:32). Think of it this way: What the Spirit illuminates in personal study, He will empower in daily living.
If you’re not in the Word constantly, then the Spirit is not working in you the way He could be! The Word, The Spirit and Prayer are the cornerstones of a Spirit-led life.
The Word of God must be integrated with the Spirit of God, and, conversely, an understanding of the Spirit of God is inseparable from the concept of God’s Word. The Word is the source of what the Holy Spirit implements, and the Spirit is the breath by which God speaks to us. It is not possible to believe in the Holy Spirit's work without believing in the Bible's inspiration, for all Biblical revelation is the Holy Spirit's written witness... God to man. Nor is it possible to understand the full truth of Scripture and to receive what God wants us to receive unless the Holy Spirit, who by inspiration guided the Word's authorship, also leads us in our understanding of it. The Word and the Spirit must be experienced together, if they are not, our retention of Biblical concepts will be jeopardized. The Spirit leads us down the path of His inspired Word, and the written Word leads us to the Living Word, Christ Jesus.
You should be acutely aware and hopefully convinced that no Christian can rightly anticipate the Holy Spirit’s power unless they are resolutely synchronized to the Holy Spirit’s purpose. What is His purpose? To glorify Jesus Christ through the instrumentality of the Old and New Testament scriptures, both of which point to Him.
In Luke 24, Jesus himself proved that he was at the heart of the Old Testament and the fulfillment of the promise and God’s redemptive plan. Furthermore, Jesus says in John 5: 39-40, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” The combination of Biblical testimony (“Scriptures that testify about me [Christ]”) with the Spirit’s witness (“He [The Holy Spirit] will testify about me [Christ]” (John 15:26) lifts up Christ and changes lives.
No Supermen or Superwomen needed. God wants Spirit-filled and Spirit-dependent “followers” to open the Spirit-inspired Word of God and then live, just live, according to its power! The weaker you are the better!
In order for your life to be a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, you need to seek the Spirit’s empowerment along with the Scripture’s intent (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We must yield to the living divine person of the Holy Spirit as we align our lives with the inspired by Him... living Word!
