What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

Last updated on: February 11, 2016 at 8:23 am by Anne Kennedy

What Does the Holy Spirit Do? 2016-02-11T08:23:00-04:00 Anne Kennedy

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

So I guess I inadvertently came out as a cessationist last week. Everyone has to have their moment of shame, apparently. But also, in the guessing game of life, I’m going to swing out there wildly and say that I just don’t get it. I don’t get all the great, to me unfathomable, need for the Holy Spirit to say a lot of stuff to me as an individual person.

Now, I know, more than anyone, that reading the bible can be a real drag. I know that it can be used as a battle axe. I know that it can be really impossibly difficult to understand (or feel like it). I know that a lot of churches are filled with a lot of inarticulate preachers who struggle to read it themselves, who are worn out and don’t have time to study Greek, and who exhaust themselves on all the minutia of church leadership and have very very little left when it comes to Sermon Time. The bible has been sidelined for a couple of generations now. “Bible Believing” really just means “For All That Is Good And Holy Will You All Just Try Not To Be So Evil”. In other words, there’s not a lot out there for an ordinary Protestant to hold their body together with their soul.

But hearing special stuff from the Holy Spirit just for you in the vagaries of your spirit? Really? How do you know, For Sure, that it’s God? And, more also, why you and not the dumb brick next door, like me? I have the teaspoon full of faith that everyone else does. I’m not worse off. I love God heaps and heaps. And yet, in the most shocking manner ever, God has never vouchsafed to me his future will in groanings barely perceptible by my open and receptive spirit.

Really, I feel the onus is on the non-cessationist to prove that it is really God speaking and not something else. And also, to explain why the bible’s not good enough for All the Christians. Why would God take the trouble of thousands of years and lots of separate people to organize such a vast, rich, gorgeous witness of who he is, what he is doing, what he has already said, and why he did and said it, and then, two thousand years later, say, ‘oh never mind, I’m just going to go whisper into Anne’s ear some stuff that sounds sort of like the bible but is not nearly as good’….? Why would he do that?

See, the Holy Spirit has a big pile of work without running around giving everyone a special prophecy just for them (not that he couldn’t, being God and all. The question is, why would he want to?) He has to regenerate, convict, move, direct, organize, sanctify, build, encourage each and every believer, and all for the glory of Christ. The church is brought into being, person by person, generation by generation, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Individuals are given the ability to do actual work to build up that same church. Each and every individual believer has to be bonded together with every other single believer to form a body. And all for the glory of Christ. It makes a whole lot of sense to me that that same body, corporately and every individual member in it, would have to struggle to understand the Same Text.

Because the Bible, being, you know, written by God, is a strange document. Unlike the constitution, which isn’t what might be considered “living”–it doesn’t breathe life into the heart of every American, making them super American, it’s just there, for information–the bible, when it is read by someone who “has the Holy Spirit” just to be crass, does become a living thing. The Word enters into your soul, by the Holy Spirit, and gives you life. When you hear it, or read it and hear it spiritually, you are given life.

So, to take an example, I keep chattering on about the sermon from this Sunday, but the reason is that I was, as I like to say, Helped. James has always been my least favorite book of the bible. It’s that book that if you want to get in good with other Christians, you can memorize it. But I didn’t memorize it, because I’m kind of a jerk deep down. I hated that I was supposed to “be joyful”, that I was supposed to get a handle on my sharp tongue. I knew, growing up, that nobody thought I was a Christian, and that James was constantly there to bash me. (How does it go? Faith without crying at the right moment during the altar call is dead.) Only I was a Christian, even though decent people couldn’t tell.

So here comes the sermon series on James–and let me just say, what an incredible grace to be able to listen to the preacher, even being married to him, because God help me if I had to lie every Sunday, and say “Good Sermon Dear”–and, shock of all shock, it turns out that James is talking about the same Jesus that Paul is. James isn’t about me being good, it’s about Jesus. And Jesus saving me from my jerk self. But it takes work to understand that. A surface reading doesn’t cut it. Hearing the gospel come out of Even James just completely undid me. The Holy Spirit did his special illuminating dance to bring to light something that I needed to hear, and used it to heal and restore some dark moment I had carefully shoved away.

Was it a new word? No. Was it special to me? No. And. Yes. Was it the Holy Spirit? Yes. Was the transformation brought about by the hearing of the word miraculous? Not if you see me sitting there looking sour in my pew, but yes if you were to see my interior mountains brought low.

That the word ‘cease’ is right there in the word ‘cessation’ is too bad. Because the Holy Spirit hasn’t ceased to occupy the heart of every believer. Nor has he ceased to wield the sword of scripture, bringing a person from death to life. Nor has he ceased tying individual people tightly together and remaking them into the image of the Son, so that when they try to run away from each other, they find they are forced back to work it out. Why is more than these remarkable activities required?

And if there are good and kind answers, I will definitely allow them in the comments. But if you call me a dumb brick, even though I myself said it, I shall delete you.

Previous Post

February 10, 2016

Ashes for Glory

Next Post

February 12, 2016 7 Super Quick and Boring Takes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Children in Conversation culture watch Daily Devotions Demotivations with Anne faith alone for the grandparents GAFCON In conversation with children In the News Kitchen Notes Lambeth Learning Notes Life Going On Men are Human Notes from Home Pictures Reading the Bible Saturday Links Sermons Signs of the Apocalypse The Bad Word Association The Prayer of Jonah Travel Notes Uncategorized Witless Wednesdays Work and the Christian

Select a Month June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who taught, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul James John Jesus

Books by This Author Books by Anne Kennedy

See All Titles »