Every year, the Church celebrates Pentecost Sunday, commemorating the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, endowing them with spiritual gifts, and fulfilling Christ’s promise to send a Helper. But the Holy Spirit didn’t just fill the apostles; now, the Holy Spirit lives in the followers of Christ, strengthening them, empowering them, and guiding them.
As we prepare our hearts for Pentecost Sunday, we invite you to explore what the Scriptures tell us about the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives.
The Holy Spirit, Our Seal and Advocate
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” – John 14:15-17
“In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.” – Ephesians 1:13-14
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” – Romans 8:14-17
The Holy Spirit’s Presence in Our Lives
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” – Romans 8:26
“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things… If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:22-23, 25
The Holy Spirit Gives Us Peace, Strength, and Wisdom
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” – John 14:26
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit… To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit… All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” – 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7-9, 11
“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.” – 1 Corinthians 2:12-13
“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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:5-6
