Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

Commentary and explanation. The Holy Spirit has an essential function in the general work of salvation, and also in the salvation of each individual in particular. You, and me, and each one of us who believe in Jesus Christ, are under the action of the Holy Spirit, even if we are not aware of it.

Christians do not have, generally, any difficulty identifying the Father, as the God Creator and Lord of the universe; nor the Son, made man in the person of Jesus Christ; but, when they come to the Holy Spirit, they do not know who He is, they can't place Him in their minds, and they can't understand His roll in the process of salvation.

The Acts of the Apostles tells us that, when Paul came to Ephesus, he found some disciples and asked them: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him: We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).

This is the situation of many Christians today, who do not know that there is a Holy Spirit, or who He is; for them the Holy Spirit does not count in their lives as something conscious, effective and practical in any way. In this Step and the following, we'll try to understand who the Holy Spirit is, and His relationship with the believer.

1. The Holy Spirit is true God. Let us begin with the most important thing, namely, that the Holy Spirit is true God as the Father and the Son. The Bible does not distinguish between them when referring to the three divine persons.

In the Great Commission Jesus said: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The Holy Spirit is named here at the same level as the Father and the Son. If we believe that the Father and the Son are God, the Holy Spirit is God too. And, as there is only one God and not three gods, then the Holy Spirit is a person in the unique nature of God.

2. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever (John 14:16). These are Jesus' words by which He calls the Holy Spirit Helper, because that is one of His functions: to help, to comfort. In Greek, He is called Paraklétos, that means Helper, Comforter, and in English He can be called Paraclete. Jesus promised that He was going to send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

We find almost the same promise in John 14:26; and, in Acts 1:4, 5, we read that Jesus commanded them (the disciples) not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which, He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

And these other words of Jesus to His disciples: You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (Acts 1:8).

3. Jesus' promise was accomplished, and the Holy Spirit came in a visible way. The book of Acts says this: When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

4. The Holy Spirit is received by the imposition of hands. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that, after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to the people by the imposition of hands, as to Paul: And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him, he said: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17. Compare 8:17).

5. The Holy Spirit is received by faith at the moment of believing. One beautiful example is that of the conversion of Cornelius, that we read in Acts chapter 10; it should be read completely. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word (Acts 10:44).

This fact, that the Holy Spirit comes at the same instant of a true act of faith, is valid always; the Holy Spirit is also received today at the moment of believing. Such an important fact deserves our attention for a few Steps more.

Go to the Steps directory.

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive (John 7:37-39).

Commentary and explanation. In the previous Step, 91, we spoke about the ignorance that many Christians have concerning the Holy Spirit, and about the difficulty they have at identifying Him and saying who He is.

This might be explained because very often they see the Holy Spirit as He is not, and they oversee how He is. In this Step we'll try to explain more specifically how the Holy Spirit communicates with the believer and how the believer relates to Him.

Let us start by saying very clearly that the Holy Spirit is not more and not less than God Himself. He is not a kind of "third entity", as someone different or apart from God. Simply, the Holy Spirit is God Himself in action.

In the text for this Step from the gospel of John, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as an action, as an experience. Jesus does not say rightly who the Spirit is, but what He does and what He produces; Jesus refers to the effects of the Spirit in the believer.

Jesus uses symbols to describe the action of the Spirit in the believer; He says, for instance: whoever receives the Spirit, he will never be hungry, he will never thirst; he will become a fountain springing up into everlasting life (Compare John 4:14). Jesus compares the action of the Spirit with the bread for the hungry, the water for the thirsty, and with rivers of living water. All these are symbols, figures that help us to understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Jesus also says who it is that receives the Spirit: the believer.

Based in this Scripture, and in many others of the New and Old Testament, we can say that the Holy Spirit is a divine power who generates eternal life, life in abundance in the believer. What is characteristic of the Holy Spirit is that His presence is action; He makes Himself present with power; He works, He acts in the believer. And, what does He do?

First of all, He regenerates the believer, creates him anew, makes him a new creature; the Spirit is the one who produces the new birth, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, as we read in John 3:3-8. Nobody is born again to the eternal life and becomes son of God, but by the Holy Spirit.

The whole work of salvation that we have analyzed so far through these Steps, is carried out by the Holy Spirit. It is by Him that we receive faith and we believe; it is by Him that we confess Jesus Christ as the Lord and accept Him as our Savior, to the point that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Being guided by the Holy Spirit is the way that we become sons of God and are able to exclaim: Abba, Father! (Romans 8:14, 15).

These, and many other texts of the New and Old Testament, show that the presence of the Holy Spirit is characterized by action in the believer, and therefore as an experience in the believer, too.

The presence of the Holy Spirit should be experienced. This helped the early Christians to understand the Spirit: that they had experienced Him in their lives. Many times the presence of the Spirit came together with special charisma, as speaking in tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of doing signs or miracles. Thus the presence of the Spirit was something evident, visible, clear and unconfused for them.

Not everybody received these gifts, but a change was produced in the life of each one, when they left Judaism or pagan ways to become Christians. That change was the sign of the presence of the Spirit. We also receive the Holy Spirit at baptism, and with Him we receive His power.

Very often the New Testament tells us the impact produced by the proclamation of the gospel, and how its announcement used to come accompanied with signs of power of the Holy Spirit, as we can see in Acts 2, 4 and 10, and the letters of Paul.

Paul tells the Romans: For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has accomplished through me, in word and deed... in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God (Romans 15:18, 19). And in Corinthians he says: My speech and my preaching were... in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:4). And in Thessalonians: Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

The announcement of the gospel comes full of power, and who receives it by faith, receives the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in Him would receive (John 7:39).

Go to the Steps directory.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, —John Baptist said,— but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11).

Commentary and explanation. These words of John Baptist, the prophet who prepared the way of the Lord (Matthew 3:3), were repeated by Jesus himself as we read in Acts 1:5, and introduce us to the final stage of the history of salvation, the New Testament. And as long as the New Testament lasts, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is necessary, we want to participate in the fruits of redemption which are in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the same —with different words— that the new birth that Jesus told Nicodemus was necessary: I say to you: Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the same as the newness of life after being baptized into Christ Jesus, of Romans 6:3, 4 (Step 21); it is the same as the new creature, of Corinthians 5:17 (Step 22); and the same as the new man which was created according to God, of Ephesians 4:24.

All these are different expressions of the same reality: the transformation effected in the believer through faith, at the moment of believing; and it is called baptism in the Holy Spirit, to let us understand who is the real Actor who produces this transformation.

Literally the word baptism means immersion, or to immerse; to be baptized in the Holy Spirit means then to be immersed in the Holy Spirit; it is as if the believer may be invaded by the life of God which is in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a radical change of the person of the believer; it is to pass from a state of sin to the kingdom of grace, and hence it is called conversion; and, in essence, is no other than faith.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is death to the world, and surrender and dedication to Jesus Christ. He or she, who has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, is a hallowed and consecrated person; he or she does not belong to himself, to herself: he or she is God's property, set apart for God. (See Step 66 about Sanctification).

The believer's transformation is spiritual and invisible, but the effects of this transformation should be visible, because they affect the whole person and the whole life of the believer. These manifestations vary from one to another believer, but every Christian should show the life of Christ in his, her own life.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit incorporates also the believer into the Church, the Body of Christ; we can use here the same word immersion that we used before, and say that the believer is immersed in the Body of Christ, the Church, for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Go to the Steps directory.

Concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant... Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all... But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-7, 11).

Commentary and explanation. With these words Paul introduces his teachings about the gifts of the Spirit. He says to the Corinthians that it is not good to ignore the gifts that the Spirit bestows upon the believers; we also shouldn't ignore them.

All Christians are equal in dignity, that is, that in the Church there is no one above the other; the greatest of the saints, or the holiest and splendorous pope, all have the same dignity as the most humble believer. Before God there is no difference, because all of them are His children. This is the fruit of the work of Christ in us. (See the Position of the believer in the sphere of grace, Step 80).

But the believers are different among themselves, one, by the gifts they have received, since each one receives different gifts; and two, by the ministries, functions or duties that each one has in the body of the church, which are also different.

According to Paul, to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 27); nobody is excluded; everybody receives. What the believers can not do is to choose which gift, because the Spirit distributes to each one individually as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11).

The gifts that the Spirit bestows to the church are, sometimes, talents or qualities that He gives to the believers; or, sometimes, persons who have received already some of these talents, or who have been enabled for a particular office in the church. First Corinthians talks about the gifts that the Spirit bestows, and Ephesians talks about the persons equipped with these gifts for the service of the church.

It can not be said that the power of the Spirit is limited only to the gifts enumerated by the Apostle in his letters, since the power of the Spirit has no limit, and He is able to give and distribute more and more gifts; but, for our instruction, here are the gifts that he enumerates:

The word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, working miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, ministry (which is service), teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy (See 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30; Romans 12:6-8).

Persons endowed by the Spirit with particular qualities, mentioned by the Apostle, are: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers (Ephesians 4:11).

One must distinguish between the gift of the grace of God, by which the believer is justified, and the gifts that the Spirit bestows for the ministry and service of the church.

The gift of the grace of God is personal, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). This is the gift which makes the believer a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17), and comes with the fruits of the Spirit that are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22).

The other gifts of the Spirit are not for personal benefit, but for the ministry or service of the church. Everybody has a ministry in the church, that is, everybody is called to serve and help the body of Christ in some way.

Peter says: As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:10, 11).

Go to the Steps directory.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22).

Commentary and explanation. We should understand that the gifts and fruits that the Holy Spirit produces in the believer are not limited to a few. Jesus said: The wind blows where it wishes... So is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). The believer is under the action of the Spirit as we are to the wind.

Paul teaches also that the same Spirit works and distributes to each one individually as He wills, as we said in Step 94 (1 Corinthians 12:11).

The gifts beautify and enrich the soul, and the fruits are the manifestation of these gifts, that is, that the gifts of the Spirit are revealed and manifested through some habits or attitudes of the believer called fruits of the Spirit by the Scripture.

The quotation for this Step mentions in particular the fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These manifestations of the Spirit positively affect the relationships of the believer, with God and with human beings.

The gifts of the Spirit produce in us some effects or fruits that could be added to those mentioned in the Scripture.

— The wisdom gift enables us to understand what is pleasant to God.
— The knowledge gift enables us to understand the Scriptures.
— The counsel gift teaches us what should be done.
— The science gift teaches us to distinguish the good from the evil.
— The courage gift make us firm to resist the devil.
— The piety gift keeps us united with God.
— The fear of God gift makes us to revere and please God.

Go to the Steps directory.