“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11)
The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit, but how does that work?
Fleshly Knowledge
The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit, but how does that work? To start with, spiritual knowledge is not discovered by empirical study. You can know about God intellectually, but you cannot really know God without having the spiritual knowledge, and mankind without the Spirit cannot know the things of God. The Apostle Paul said “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11)? Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot know spiritual truths. In our present state, we must say, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). Intellectual knowledge about God changes the head…but the Holy Spirit changes the heart.
Spiritual Knowledge
The Holy Spirit gives us ears to hear and eyes to see. What we hear and see is the need to repent and believe (Mark 1:15) and to see and understand the Word of God which tells us that Jesus is our only hope (John 14:6). The gift of God comes through the Spirit of God (Eph 2:1-2), and only then can say, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (2 Cor 2:12). It is because “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor 2:10). The Spirit from God helps us understand the Word of God and our need for God; specifically, to trust in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit
A person can be used by God as a means to save others. It works like this: A person of God shares the Word of God and then comes the Spirit of God to birth a child of God. It takes the Holy Spirit and the Holy Word of God. If we have any knowledge of God it is because “we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Cor 2:12). We didn’t “figure it out.” God’s Spirit helps our spirit (human spirit) to understand spiritual truths.
The Helper
The Holy Spirit points us to Christ and testifies of Him, but not only that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom 8:26). Jesus reminds us to “not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matt 10:19-20). Much of what the Holy Spirit speaks through us is the Word of God. We can be ready to give an answer to unbelievers when they ask about it. The Holy Spirit even helps us when we sin as He “will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). John 15:26 records Jesus’ promise that “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” The Holy Spirit testifies to our human spirit about Jesus! That’s pretty simple, isn’t it? Not only that, the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit takes God’s truth and communicates it to our human spirit so that we can understand it.
Holy Spirit’s Work in the Human Spirit
We Can Only Bear Fruit with Him (Gal 5:22-23)
We are sealed and kept by Him (Eph 1:13-14)
We live In Him (Gal 5:25)
We evangelize with Him (John 16:13-14, Acts 4:31)
We are renewed by Him (Titus 3:5)
We are shaped, molded and conformed to Christ’s image by Him (Rom 8:1-17)
We are convicted of sin by Him (John 16:8)
He sanctifies us (1 Peter 1:2)
He reveals Who Jesus is (John 16:8-14)
He helps us pray to Father (Rom 8:26)
He speaks to us inwardly (Acts 8:29, 11:12, 13:12)
He creates us as a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17, Eph 2:10)
He helps us understand the Word of God (Heb 4:2)
He reminds us of what to say (John 14:25-26)
He testifies about Who Jesus is (John 15:26)
He leads us (Rom 8:14)
He imparts eternal life (Rom 8:10, 14)
He comforts us (2 Cor 1:4)
He helps overcome sin (Acts 1:5-8)
He prevents us from going somewhere or doing something sinful (Acts 16:5-7)
We can lie to Him (Acts 5:3-4)
We can quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
We can grieve Him (Eph 4:30)
Conclusion
I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
(How Does God’s Spirit Testifies to Our Spirit?)
Article by Jack Wellman / What Christians want to know
Here is some related reading for you: What is the Role of the Holy Spirit?
Jack Wellman is a father and grandfather and a Christian author and pastor of Heritage Evangelical Free Church in Udall, KS [https://modelchrist.org/] & also a Prison Minister. He did his graduate work at Moody Theological Seminary. His books are include: “Teaching Children The Gospel/How to Raise Godly Children,“ “Do Babies Go To Heaven?/Why Does God Allow Suffering?,“ "The Great Omission; Reaching the Lost for Christ," and “Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies & the Bible."
"So we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities. Therefore those who have known God, without knowing their wretchedness, have not glorified Him, but have glorified themselves." ~ Blaise Pascal
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