The Holy Spirit is too often left on the sidelines in the circles of the church that I run in. Unlike Jesus, who we can picture in our mind’s eye as he walked the earth in a physical human body, the Holy Spirit is a mysterious being that makes us feel a little uneasy and leaves us confused—kinda like the smoke monster from Lost.

OK, so maybe you don’t picture the smoke monster when you think of the Holy Spirit, but I’m sure each of us has had moments of confusion and unease as people talk about the Holy Spirit. There is a lot of confusion and passion swirling around discussions on the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts, tongues, and baptism in the Spirit each incite passionate debate, but if we jump to these topics, we’ll miss what is absolutely clear concerning the Spirit in Scripture.

He’s the third person of the Trinity, and we certainly shouldn’t ignore Him. In fact, Jesus actually said it was better for him to go away so we could live with the Holy Spirit. So while we may not be able to describe some aspects of the Spirit, God has revealed why the Spirit has come to the earth to fill His people. We can be sure of His purpose, and His mission is incredibly good news for us.

The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us through the Word and empowers our witness for Christ.

Throughout the book of Acts, but especially in this week’s small group passage [Acts 2 – Pentecost], one finds that the Holy Spirit isn’t into doing crazy miraculous things for the WOW factor. Instead, each and every time, His actions are meant to point back to Jesus.

In Acts 2, Peter makes that incredibly clear when he explains in his sermon that the Old Testament told about the day that the Holy Spirit would come upon and save “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.” Who is that Lord? Peter quickly transitions from a focus on the Holy Spirit’s work of tongues to WHO that miracle was meant to lead people to call upon: Jesus, the Savior the Jews had been waiting for.

Ultimately, it’s the work of Christ that the Holy Spirit brings attention to and the people find themselves embracing. Sure, they were still amazed by what happened there that day, but they were changed by the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit revealed Christ through the sharing of Scripture, and without His work in the sharing of the Gospel, people will not be “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37), people will not see Jesus for who He really is, and they will not call upon the Lord and be saved.

Paul makes this very clear in the following passage:

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
-1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

We can share the Gospel all we want, but unless the Holy Spirit is with us, we have no hope of anyone responding. The good news is that the Holy Spirit is with every single believer in Jesus Christ. We can share the Gospel confidently, knowing that He is the one that will do the work on people’s hearts. We don’t get people into the Kingdom of God through our charisma or tightly wound intellectual arguments, but rather by simply witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. For, this is the very reason He has come to be with us: empowering us for mission.

So may we go with confidence and witness to our Savior, knowing that we’re united in purpose with the Spirit of the Almighty God.