3 Reasons You Need to Study the Holy Spirit

I grew up in a Baptist Church and like most Baptist churches we didn’t talk much about the Holy Spirit. Don’t get me wrong we knew he was there but we did not want to appear like our charismatic friends who often mistook great music and powerful emotions as the moving of the Holy Spirit.

This post is part of a series which you can find here.

Playing down the role and the person of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches is not a good idea. Here are three reasons why you should pick up your Bible and maybe a good theology book and seriously study the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4)

The knowledge of God is one of the most important aspects of the Christian life. Our understanding of who God is instructs us how to live our daily life, The better we know God the closer our relationship with him will be. If the Holy Spirit is God then we should do everything we can to know who the Holy Spirit is and how he works in our life.

The Holy Spirit lives in every believer (I Corinthians 6:19)

Don’t you want to know who lives inside of you? When a Christian doesn’t know about the Holy Spirit it’s like having someone who lives in you’re home that you’ve never taken the time to get to know. He has the keys to your house the keys to your car and everything else in your life! You don’t have to read far in the New Testament to find out that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life and growth to every believer.

The Holy Spirit is the author of God’s Word (2 Peter 1:21)

When someone writes a bestseller everyone wants to know who the author is. What kind of person is he? Where does he live? Where did he go to school? Learning about the author can often help us gain a better understanding of what he wrote.

The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible and when we know the Holy Spirit he helps us to understand what he has written, he even helps us apply it to our lives and that’s something very few authors are willing to help me with personally!

A false understanding of the Holy Spirit can be harmful to your spiritual growth, although you can’t ignore the Holy Spirit and expect to grow spiritually either.  A correct understanding of the Holy Spirit is essential for spiritual growth and this can only come from a careful examination of Scripture.

Resources

If you want to study further, and I hope you do, here are a few books that I have read and found helpful in gaining a biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit and his work.

The Counterfeit Revival by Hank Hanegraaff is a classic book the covers some of the false teaching that is often taught in the charismatic movement. The book deals with much more than just false teaching about the Holy Spirit.

Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God by Gordon Fee is also not a new book but certainly worth reading. Fee deals with the Apostle Paul’s many references to the Holy Spirit in his epistles.

Finally, for a full treatment of the subject in a straight forward style you need to pick up The Holy Spirit by Charles Ryrie.

Question: What aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work have you found specifically helpful in your life?