We Need The Help Of The Holy Spirit
June 2018
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It can’t be overstated how much we need the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples in Jn. 15:5, “Without Me you can do nothing.” The same could be said of the Spirit: without the Spirit we can do nothing. There are many things we can pull off in the flesh—things that can look and feel like God—but nothing that’s truly of God can be done without the help, power, wisdom, and leading of the Holy Spirit. That was the mindset of the early church in the book of Acts. We desperately need to return to that mindset in today’s church.
People change, culture changes, fads change, and what’s “relevant” in people’s views changes, but our need for the help of the Spirit never changes. The reason why is because at the core of men’s hearts the problem hasn’t changed. The problem is sin. More specifically, Adam’s sin, which left the entirety of humanity with the inbred sin problem—the sin nature (Rom. 5:12). We were born in sin and its effects on our whole being. We are weak, frail, and completely incapable of accomplishing anything right before God. Sounds discouraging doesn’t it? Well, here comes the gospel—the good news: God sent His only Son Jesus (God in the flesh; Jn. 1:14) to be our perfect substitute, the perfect Man. Jesus was born without sin, lived His life without sin, carried out His ministry without sin, and died for us without sin (II Cor. 5:21). Jesus, as a man, did everything with the help of the Spirit (Jn. 3:34). If Jesus who was sinless needed the help of the Spirit, how much more do we?
The ultimate reason why Jesus died and rose again was to save us from the penalty, power, and eventually the very presence and effects of the sin nature within us. His finished work on the Cross also provided the means by which we can receive the indwelling of the Spirit. And not just the indwelling presence of the Spirit, but also the baptism with the Spirit and the help of the Spirit in every area of our lives. No matter what the need is, the Holy Spirit is well able to meet the need.
What is our responsibility to receive the help of the Holy Spirit? First and foremost, we need to know and believe that we have nothing in ourselves that can accomplish anything for God, and along with that believe that Jesus provided the Holy Spirit to us through His death on the Cross (Rom. 8:32). Second, we must ask God for the help of the Spirit. When Jesus gave His teaching on prayer in Luke 11:1-13, He first gave the Lord’s Prayer. Second, He gave a parable on prayer. And finally, He closed this particular teaching by stating, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Jesus was not referring to the indwelling of the Spirit that we receive when we get saved. He was referring to the help of the Spirit that we need in every aspect of our lives. If you need the baptism with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues, then believe and ask God to give it to you. If you need to be refilled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), then believe Jesus already paid for it, ask Him, and receive afresh the power of the Spirit. If you need power, wisdom, direction, clarity—anything—then believe that Jesus already paid for it, ask Him, and receive it in Jesus’ name.
Again, no matter what the need, God has provided us the help we need through the working of the Spirit. A verse that brings some clarity to that truth is Rom. 8:26 which says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Sometimes this verse is limited to the Spirit helping us in prayer, which He will do, but His help is not limited to our prayer life. The word infirmities means “lack of strength or ability to accomplish what is needed.” It can also be translated as “weaknesses.” If we truly know ourselves, we know that we are completely helpless without God (Rom. 7:18).
The word helps refers to a person coming to aid another person carrying a load. The person doesn’t take the entire load, but helps the other person in his endeavor. This shows us that when the Spirit helps us in whatever area it is, He won’t pray, preach, speak, etc. in our place, but He will lead us, show us, illuminate us, and empower us to do what God has called us to do.
Come Holy Spirit, we need You!
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