Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead (i.e. Third Person of the Trinity). The Holy Spirit’s primary focus is personal and intimate – He focuses all our attention on Jesus (John 15:26) whose work saves us from our sins. In John 16:4-15 Jesus tells us what the Holy Spirit does:
- It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict (or convince) the world concerning sin - that we have not merely made “mistakes” in life but that we are, in fact, sinners in hateful rebellion against God and who have earned the just penalty of eternal death (Romans 3:28).
- Without the Holy Spirit, we are incapable of even perceiving how truly depraved we are, and we will be successful in justifying ourselves (self-righteousness) and making excuses for our moral failures. True righteousness is found only in the birth, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. He pleads before the Father on behalf of the whole human race as the only truly Righteous One. Everyone who has been buried in Baptism and has had their lives buried in Jesus, are seen by the Father as righteous with a righteousness not their own, but rather a righteousness that belongs to Christ (imputed to us).
- The Holy Spirit comforts us that our sin is truly set aside so long as we are buried in Baptism with Christ. In contrast, Satan works to accuse you of your sin and to draw you away from the comfort of Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Yet Jesus has drunk the cup of the Father’s wrath for us on the cross, and so Satan’s accusations have no power against the faithful who trust the promises of God. Jesus has already paid the penalty for all our sins in full.