CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Many Christian counselors are guilty of ignoring the divine Counselor. It’s time to
rediscover His role.

I think it’s no exaggeration to say that the Christian counseling scene today is in
total shambles. I’m not talking about true Christian counseling–that which trusts
the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit to conform a person to Christ–that kind
of counseling has been successfully changing sinners since the apostolic age. I’m
talking about pseudo-counseling–the attempt to fix people with a blend of secular
psychological theory and the Bible. But have integrationist counselors affected
any real change among evangelical Christians? Are people really fixed?

It has been sad to see so many Christians seek counsel from Christian
psychotherapists who fumble around with theories developed by Sigmund Freud,
Carl Rogers and B. F. Skinner. Psychology and talk therapy are so bankrupt that
many are abandoning them to embrace biological psychiatry. Psychotropic
medicine is the new savior. Problems that were once blamed on dysfunctional
families and Id/Superego conflict are now charged to chemical imbalances and
disorders.

Yesterday’s psychology and today’s psychiatry share the same fatal errors—they
reject the total depravity of man due to sin; they treat the symptoms instead of
the heart; and they aim for change that is not true sanctification.

In spite of obvious failure, the notion prevails within the church that
psychotherapy and psychiatry are more effective agents of change—particularly
in dealing with the most difficult cases—than the Holy Spirit who sanctifies. But
can psychotherapy or psychiatry possibly accomplish something the Holy Spirit

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cannot? Can an earthly therapist achieve more than a heavenly Comforter? Is
behavior modification more helpful than sanctification? Of course not.

Let’s take a few moments to get reacquainted with the Holy Spirit—a Person who
is a stranger to psychotherapy. To do so, we need to go back to the time our Lord
first introduced Him; it was on the night He was betrayed.

Jesus’ crucifixion was drawing near, and His disciples were fearful and confused.
When He spoke to them about going away, their hearts were troubled (John 14:1-
2) and they feared being left alone. But Jesus assured them that He would not
leave them to fend for themselves. He comforted them with the promise of the
coming Holy Spirit.

The Divine Helper: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper– John
14:16

“Helper” is the Greek word parakletos that we transliterate as a word you may be

familiar with—paraclete. It describes a spiritual attendant whose role is to offer
assistance, support, relief, advocacy, and guidance. Isn’t it interesting that the
divine Counselor’s ministry to believers is to provide the very things so many
people vainly seek in therapy?

Jesus called Him “another Helper.” There are two Greek words that can be
translated “another.” One is heteros, which means “a different one, a different
kind” as in, “If that style is not what you want, try another.” The other word
is allos. It is translated “another” in English, but it means “another of the same
kind,” as in, “That cookie was delicious; may I have another?”

Jesus used allos to describe the Holy Spirit—He is “another [allos] Helper [of the
same kind].” The same kind as what? Jesus was promising to send His disciples a
Helper exactly like Himself—a compassionate, loving, and totally sufficient
Paraclete, just like Himself. In fact, Jesus is called our Paraclete in 1 John 2:1: “If
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anyone sins, we have an Advocate [Paraclete] with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.”

You wouldn’t question Jesus’ capabilities in the counseling office, would you? His
ability to get to the heart of counseling issues is unparalleled — as God, He knows
all men (John 2:25). And look at the fruit of His counsel—it radically transformed
the apostles to the point that they turned the world upside down. The Father has
sent another Helper, co-equal with Jesus Christ, to be your Counselor. Don’t
doubt His ability.

The Permanent Dweller: That He may be with you forever… He dwells with you
and will be in you– John 14:16,17

The Lord also promised that the Helper from the Father would take up
permanent, uninterrupted residence within His disciples. That was a New
Covenant promise foretold in Ezekiel 37:14: “And I will put My Spirit within you,
and you will come to life.” The Holy Spirit wouldn’t merely be present with them;
the greater truth was that He would be resident within them permanently.

According to Romans 8:9, the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the mark
of all who are truly born again: “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed
the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he
does not belong to Him.” Thus as a believer you enjoy the permanent, continuing
presence of the Holy Spirit living within. His help—all the resources of God
Himself—is always available.

The Truth Teacher: The Spirit of truth –John 14:17

It is noteworthy that Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth.” As
God, He is the essence of truth; as a Paraclete, He is the One who guides us into
truth. That’s why apart from Him, it is impossible for sinful human beings to know
or understand any spiritual truth. Paul wrote,
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To us God revealed [His wisdom] through the Spirit . . . that we might know the
things freely given to us by God… [things which] a natural man does not
accept . . . for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually appraised. (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12, 14)

The unregenerate have no facility for spiritual perception. They cannot

comprehend spiritual truth because they are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1),
unable to respond to anything except their own sinful passions. Believers, on the
other hand, are actually taught spiritual truth by God Himself (John 6:45). In fact,
much of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to you as a believer involves teaching you (John
14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 John 2:20, 27); guiding you into the truth of Christ
(John 16:13-14); and illuminating the truth for you (1 Corinthians 2:12).

Let me add a footnote here. This promise of a supernatural Teacher had special
application for the eleven disciples that it doesn’t have to you. The Holy Spirit not
only helped them understand many things that perplexed them before the
resurrection (cf. John 2:22; 12:16), but He also gave them perfect recall of every
word Jesus had spoken. His ministry to the apostles assured the infallibility of the
New Testament record and guaranteed the purity of the apostolic testimony
(cf. John 14:25-26). If you are a believer, you also benefit from the Holy Spirit’s
ministry. He guides you to the truth of Scripture, teaches you, affirms the truth in
your heart, and convicts you of sin. He even enables you to walk in obedience to
the revealed Word of God (cf. Romans 8:11; Philippians 2:12-13).

As a divinely indwelling Helper, the Spirit of Truth performs a function no human

counselor can ever approach. He is constantly there, pointing the way to the
truth, applying the truth directly to your heart, prompting you to conform to the
truth—in short, He sanctifies you in the truth (John 17:17). Don’t sin against the
Holy Spirit by looking to sinful humans to accomplish spiritual transformation.
Instead, “if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

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 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 BIBLICAL BACKGROUND OF HOLY SPIRIT

 The Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit

In John 14:15-26, Jesus brings clarity to the presence of the Holy Spirit and how
he will direct us. In verse 16 Jesus introduces the role of the Holy Spirit as our
Helper. You could say the Spirit is the big ‘C’ Counselor. He provides assistance,
support, relief, advocacy, and guidance. He is the great Paraclete who offers the
very things so many people vainly seek in counselling. In John 14:17 Jesus
describes the presence and power of the Spirit as being twofold. The Holy Spirit is
with us but also dwells in us. The Spirit’s indwelling leads us toward life, worship,
and conviction. He propels our sanctification and draws our affections towards
Christ.

The power of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is further explored in John 16:5-15. First,
we see Jesus taking the opportunity to shepherd the disciples’ hearts. They were
becoming painfully aware that Jesus would be leaving. He takes the opportunity
to teach them how the Helper will lead them. The Spirit would come and usher in
a power they had not seen (16:7). Throughout the Old Testament we see the
Spirit in different ways. But, the coming of the Spirit that Jesus references here
will be to their great advantage beyond any frame of reference they have known
up to this point.

John Piper compares this to a hydroelectric dam being built on a major river. As
the dam is being constructed the water will continue to collect in a reservoir with
a few tributaries flowing from the reservoir. The benefits of the river can still be
experienced from the tributaries (fishing, irrigation, etc.). Once the dam begins to
function as it was engineered to, then the power that comes from the river will be
used to open up a new range of possibilities that had never been experienced
from the river up to that point.

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The Spirit would continue what Jesus had done (16:9). In so doing the Holy
Spirit’s role would be testifying to Jesus (16:13-15). This is why gospel-centered
counseling is so important. The Holy Spirit’s coming unleashed an indwelling
power that convicts of sin, leads to life and worship, and draws hearts to Christ.
To counsel apart His power is to quench the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s role is to lead
us in these ways. We must be in step with this work.

2.1 OUR GREAT ADVANTAGE – THE HOLY SPIRIT AND COUNSELING

There are many advantages of the Holy Spirit coming (John 16:7). Good biblical
counselors submit to the Holy Spirit’s leading so that these advantages are
maximized: The Holy Spirit is the only one who can change hearts. The Holy Spirit
brings about regeneration and with it come the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 3:1-3;
5:22-23).

The Spirit brings conviction. Spirit-wrought conviction brings a good fear of the
Lord that leads to repentance. The Spirit’s conviction can sting, but ultimately it is
sweet to the soul and brings life.

The Spirit helps us discern and understand Truth (John 14:26). Praying for the
Spirit’s illumination of Truth should be a regular part of biblical counseling
preparation and practice. To lead others apart from his leading is to rely on one’s
own wisdom.

2.3 GROWING IN SUBMISSION AND SENSITIVITY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IN

COUNSELLING

There is so much more that can be said regarding the Holy Spirit’s role in
counseling and discipleship ministry. Let me close with a couple questions to
consider as part of being faithfully used by the Holy Spirit.

Have you relegated the Holy Spirit to some sort of bellboy, only calling on him
when you need something? We are tools of the Holy Spirit—not the other way
around. Have you tried to take the role of capital ‘C’ counselor?

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Consider the doctrine of mankind and the doctrine of God. An elevated view of
man by default leads to a lower view of God. It is the same with the Holy Spirit. A
less than biblical view of the Spirit leads to increased self-reliance when
counseling others. Is your ministry marked more by the Spirit’s leading or
something else?

Being adept in biblical counseling is important. Continued skill development

produces more proficiency for the Spirit to use in us. But, as you develop skill
proficiency, you simultaneously run the risk of becoming more self-reliant rather
than Spirit-reliant. In counseling we must be open to the Spirit’s leading.

Overall, who is leading in the care and counsel you provide? Is it completely
Spirit-driven or sustained by your efforts?

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 CHAPTER THREE

3.0 HOW IS THE HOLY SPIRIT INVOLVED IN COUNSELING?

In John 14:26 Jesus said, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I
have said to you.”

The Holy Spirit is a teacher. He will not only bring to our remembrance the
teachings of Christ, but He will also bring to our remembrance things we need to
recall about our counselees. The Holy Spirit will also take the things we have
learned from the social sciences and teach us how to translate them into a higher
realm of spiritual insight. Specifically, if we have an ear to hear what the Spirit
says, He will teach us how to take what we have learned about human
development, mental illness, diagnosis, and counseling techniques to a new level.

At the same time the Holy Spirit is functioning in the mind of the counselor He is
also at work in the mind of the counselee. In John 16:8 Jesus says, “And when he
is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”
(KJV). As you compassionately and lovingly confront the counselee with the
circumstances that brought him to you, you can rely on the Holy Spirit to create
uncomfortable levels of tension within the counselee that will motivate him to
make the redemptive changes Jesus wants him to make to find the healing and
deliverance he needs.

At the same time, you can count on the Holy Spirit to give you the inner strength
necessary to tolerate increasingly intense levels of stress created by the
counselee’s conflicting attempts to simultaneously escape from and deal with his
spiritual and emotional pain. Without the ability to deal with your own mounting
levels of anxiety, your need for comfort may lead you to retreat from issues in the
person’s life that need to be pressed further. At that point the limits of your

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comfort level interfere with the mounting level of stress needed for motivating
change in the counselee. Allowing the Holy Spirit to help you build your tolerance
for rising levels of tension when facing difficult counseling moments will make you
more effective in precipitating the redemptive changes Christ wants to bring to
your counselees.

Remember, until the pain of remaining the same hurts more than the pain of
change, people will prefer to remain the same. Intolerable levels of pain are
essential in moving people from where they are to where the Lord wants them to
be. Developing a higher tolerance for conflict and stress than your counselees will
enable you to move them compassionately through the difficult season of life that
prompted them to seek your help. During those uncomfortable moments in this
process, it is comforting to know that people can deal with unpleasant certainty
easier than they can deal with uncertainty. Successful counseling moves people
through uncertainty to certainty.

3.1 SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN THE COUNSELING PROCESS

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are also valuable resources for the counselor,
particularly for those who are Pentecostal or charismatic. In 1 Corinthians 12:7–
12, the apostle Paul defines three sets of spiritual gifts. Gifts of the mind include
the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and discerning of spirits. There are
verbal gifts: diverse kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy.
Finally, there are the power gifts: faith, working of miracles, and gifts of healing.
All of these gifts supernaturally enrich counseling.

First Corinthians 12–14 deals with the orderly manifestation of these gifts in
public worship and in the believer’s private life. A biblical understanding of how
these gifts function in the counseling relationship can enable us to be more
effective counselors.
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  Discerning spirits

The gifts of the mind can greatly enhance the diagnostic process. A trained
clinician develops skill in using visual, auditory, and tactile senses in diagnosing a
person’s problems. When the gift of discerning of spirits becomes a part of this
process, it takes your diagnostic skill to a new level.

The secular approach to counseling sees a person’s current mental activity as the
natural outgrowth of the interaction between and among his personal history, the
present circumstances of his life, and the neurochemical processes of his brain.
There is no acknowledgment of any spiritual or supernatural impact on this
process. Although Christian counselors acknowledge the important role these
natural elements play in a person’s mental activity, we believe one’s spirit largely
drives the mental process. Thinking is always spiritual warfare.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 Paul makes it clear that the purpose of the body is to
express the presence of God on earth. In Romans 6,7, however, Paul
acknowledges the powerful role sin plays in attempting to make our body the
servant of evil. In Romans 6:16 he states our human dilemma, “Know ye not, that
to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (KJV).

At the same time that eternal life is stimulating the mind to entertain urges,
fantasies, and ideas that would result in an expression of divine life, sin is
stimulating the mind to entertain urges, fantasies, and ideas that will result in the
expression of evil. The human will is caught in the middle of this struggle.

The will determines the expression of the mind or spirit as choices are transmitted
through the brain to be expressed in the body. By observing the attitudes and
behavior expressed through a person’s body you can determine the spiritual
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influence that is winning the battle for the person’s will. The gift of discerning of
spirits is a valuable tool for the Christian counselor for helping understand the
current status of the counselee’s spiritual battle. The clinician does not set aside
his skills in this process; rather, the Holy Spirit augments them.

 A word of knowledge

Excellent clinicians become experts in joining the dots of a person’s history to get
the picture the person presents. However, a word of knowledge from the Holy
Spirit about the person amplifies these skills. Such a word often makes its way
into the mind of the counselor as an intuition or hunch.

This is why a counselor needs to exercise care in determining how and when he
introduces such a word to the counselee. The counselor should never impose this
word of knowledge on the counselee. Presenting it as a suggestion gives the
counselee an opportunity to accept it or reject it.

 A word of wisdom

Anyone counseling people knows there are critical moments in your care of them.
As a counselor, you acquire a natural wisdom for managing times like these.
However, the Christian counselor is not limited to the natural wisdom that comes
from experience. James reminds us that wisdom is available from God to those
who are humble enough to ask for it. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God who gives to all liberally” (James 1:5, NKJV).However, there is a special word
of wisdomthat the Holy Spirit can give us in clinical moments when we need His
guidance. It alters what we would normally say or do. In retrospect, we easily
recognize its divine origin by the healing impact its implementation has on the
counselee.

 Tongues, interpretation, and prophecy

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These verbal gifts put at the counselor’s disposal a level of fluency beyond his
natural ability. This is especially helpful in disciplining and directing the
counselor’s dialogue with the counselee. The private gift of speaking in other
tongues also provides the Pentecostal or charismatic counselor a delightful means
of debriefing himself after each session. During this time he can release tensions
and stress from previous sessions to the Lord that would be difficult to articulate.
He may also use this personal gift to make intercession for his counselees
according to the will of God (Romans 8:26,27).

 Faith, working of miracles, and gifts of healing

According to Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen” (KJV). If counselors are to be effective, they must be
people of faith. Even secular counselors must be able to inspire hope in people.

Notice the relationship between faith and hope. Faith grows out of hope. One of
the early priorities of the counseling process is to inspire hope in the counselee.
Hope inspired by the Holy Spirit can give birth to a gift of faith that enables both
counselor and counselee to believe that the recovery hoped for will become a
reality. On rare occasions there is a divine breakthrough that goes beyond faith
and hope — a miracle.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 THE COUNSELOR’S ROLE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT’S COUNSELING

This is an outstanding chapter that could produce a paradigm shift in our

counseling, or perhaps return us to where we started out but have drifted from
through self-reliance or method-reliance. The most memorable quote of the
chapter is: Rather than asking about the role of the Holy Spirit in counseling, we
should be asking about the counselor’s role in the Holy Spirit’s counseling!

There are also two excellent sections on (1) praying throughout the counseling
session and (2) how the counselor’s skill and method works together with
dependence upon the Holy Spirit. The basic point of the chapter is that while we
want to offer quick practical help to suffering people, and we also want to go on
to help change some of the messes in people’s lives; if we want to see people
themselves changed, we need more than Scripture and skill. We need the Holy
Spirit.

4.1 WHY DO I DEPEND ON HOLY SPIRIT DURING COUNSELLING

This quote is necessary at this stage of this project “Counseling that lacks this
dependence on the Holy Spirit ceases to be Christian.”

“If the Holy Spirit is the primary counselor, then biblical counseling is not merely a
dialogue between a counselor and a counselee. Rather it is a trialogue in which a
counselor participates in the Spirit’s work already underway in the counselee.”

“The Spirit is actively engaged in counseling, working directly on the counselor

and the counselee, and through each to help the other.”

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“The goal of biblical counseling is to promote communication between the Spirit
and the counselee.”

“It is the Spirit alone who opens the eyes of our hearts to the revelation of God,
and it is He who accomplishes something in us by this revelation.”

“To be counseled biblically is to receive God’s Word more and more deeply as the
Spirit drives it deeper into the heart.”

“The Spirit illuminates the Word for believers so that they might understand it
spiritually, leading to a knowledge of God and to Christ dwelling in their hearts by
faith.”

“The Spirit works to drive the seed that is God’s Word deep into the heart where
it will take root and produce life.”

“The Spirit gives us impetus to pray as well as the words and spirit of prayer.”

4.2 GOD'S SPIRIT: THE POWER FOR COUNSELING

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

The Holy Spirit brings the believer to salvation, pricks his conscience, convicts him
of sin, and reveals his need for wisdom. Thus Paul exults in “him who is able to do
far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work
within us” (Eph 3:20). Instead of the Spirit assisting the counselor, the counselor
assists the Spirit who has long been at work in every believer’s life. The counselor
must seek the Lord’s wisdom (Jas 1:5), listen with compassion (v. 19), and ask
good questions. He must prayerfully understand each person’s story as

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embedded in God’s greater story, for the Spirit opens hearts and minds to know
God through his Word (e.g., Acts 16:14). Apart from the Spirit, unbelieving man
cannot know spiritual truth at all, for God’s Spirit interprets God’s Word for God’s
children (1 Cor 2:12-14; 12:3). Unbelievers cannot comprehend spiritual truth
because they are spiritually dead (Eph 2:1). They do not honor God’s Word or live
in right relationship with God. Thus true and lasting change only comes by the
renewing power of the Spirit and the Spirit only comes by conversion (Titus 3:5-6;
Ezek 36:26-27). Consider four ministries of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word,
prayer, the counselor, and the counselee.

 Ministry through God’s Word

First, God’s Spirit ministers through the Word he inspired: “For no prophecy was
ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:21b). God’s Spirit works through God’s Word to
change believer’s hearts. Thus a Spirit-filled person (Eph 5:18) is a Scripture-
saturated person (Col 3:16-17). The Spirit teaches sound doctrine (1 John 2:27),
rebukes those who stray (John 16:8-11), reveals truth to his disciples (vv. 13-14),
corrects the crooked (Gal 5:22-23), and trains up in righteousness (vv. 16-18; John
17:17). He comforts and encourages as the “Wonderful Counselor—the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of
knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isa 9:6; see 11:2). The Spirit ministers
through the word of Christ and speaks the truth in love out of submission to
Christ.

God’s Spirit also offers God’s hope through God’s Word as Paul prays, “For
whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through

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endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have
hope. . . . May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that
by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rom 15:4, 13). As Jesus
promised his disciples, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I
have said to you” (John 14:26).

 Ministry through Prayer

Paul exhorts all believers to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17), “in the Spirit,
with all prayer and supplication” (Eph 6:18a). Therefore, biblical counselors are to
pray with and for counselees as an act of humility before an all-wise, all-powerful
God. Prayer acknowledges God’s sovereign presence and recognizes the
indwelling Spirit’s power to comfort in the midst of affliction (2 Cor 1:3b-4a),
establish confident hope in Christ (Eph 1:18), help deliver from temptation (Luke
22:40, and set captives free (Isa 61:1). The Spirit convicts the world concerning sin
(John 16:8) and elicits repentance and confession by pricking the guilty
conscience. Prayer reminds believers that lasting change and restoration only
occur by the Spirit of Christ (2 Cor 13:7-9; Phil 1:9-11; Col 1:9-12).

 Ministry through the Counselor

God’s Spirit ministers through his Word and through prayer, yet God has also
chosen to work through human agents as instruments in his redeeming hands. He
does this by first transforming the character of the counselor (2 Cor 3:17-18).
Daily, Christ changes his children to be more steeped in his Word and more
dependent on him in prayer. His indwelling Spirit produces a new creation (2 Cor
5:17) by renewing the mind in the likeness of Christ’s (Rom 12:2). God’s Spirit
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then informs the counselor’s wisdom (Eph 1:17) and enables the church to help
others so “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (3:16). In this
way, the Spirit energizes each person’s specific training, ministry experience,
knowledge of the Word, and compassionate heart. He does not replace skill any
more than a farmer’s dependence on God (1 Cor 3:6-7) replaces the need to
cultivate soil, study weather patterns, plant in the proper season, and protect the
crops from harm (Luke 8:11-15). God’s Spirit works through the counselor’s
competence to listen well, ask good questions, and love people the way God
does. He brings to mind sufficient Scripture for every situation and opportunities
for application (Matt 10:20; Luke 12:12). Paul Tautges concludes, “Men and
women who are walking and growing in the Spirit are those who are qualified to
come alongside sinning brothers and sisters to gently restore them to the spiritual
blessing that flows from obedience. Without the Holy Spirit, biblical counseling
cannot exist.” Thus believers are indwelt, instructed, and empowered by the Spirit
to counsel one another.

 Ministry through the Counselee

One great encouragement when counseling fellow believers is knowing that God’s
Spirit already works within them. Christians have the choice to either walk with
God or to appease sinful desires (Gal 5:16-17), yet even the struggle against sin
shows assurance of salvation. At the cross, Jesus took sin upon himself and
imputed his righteousness to believers, making possible new life and victory over
sin (Rom 8:2-4). Thus Paul exhorts, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the

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Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (v. 9). Although Christian living demands
hard work, Paul argues that divine effort develops growth in godliness: “Let me
ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with
faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected
by the flesh?” (Gal 3:2-3). Clearly, Christ’s word richly dwelling in the believer
produces the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23) instead of the works of the flesh (vv. 19-
21).

Christ abides with believers by his Spirit (1 John 4:13) and empowers victory over
sin once “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires” (Gal 5:24; see 2:20; 6:14; Rom 6:6). All who belong to Christ
have had their sin cancelled and nailed to the cross (Col 2:14). Yet succumbing to
the flesh is like returning to the cross by cover of darkness, pulling out the blood-
stained nails, and cherishing those sins for which Christ died (see Heb 6:4-6).
Instead Paul commands, “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to
him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”
(Col 1:10; see Eph 4:1). Christ has already purchased victory by the Spirit’s power
over the flesh, for sin was crucified on the cross and will one day be eradicated.
Therefore, “if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal
5:25; see vv. 16, 18). A believer follows God’s marching orders when the same
Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead is alive in him, putting to death the
sinful flesh (Rom 8:9-11). The Spirit takes charge of the believer’s life and
guarantees he will one day stand before the Lord holy and blameless and above
reproach (Col 1:22). No true and lasting change takes place apart from God’s
Spirit.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 The Holy Spirit Is Praying for You

We need God’s grace in our times of weakness. But we also need the Spirit to
pray for us because our knowledge is not complete—we are ignorant of some
things. Matthew Henry writes, “We are not competent judges of our own
condition … We are short-sighted, and very much biased in favour of the flesh,
and apt to separate the end from the way … We are like foolish children, that are
ready to cry for fruit before it is ripe and fit for them.” One of my young daughters
loves to eat pears, but she does not know how to tell when they are ripe. As a
result, she will often grab a hard, green pear off the kitchen counter, take one
bite, and leave the rest behind, claiming “it is too hard.” We often do the same.
We want the “fruit” that God is preparing for our future (we may even know what
it is), but we want it now, before it is ripe and before we are ready. We are
ignorant of what is best for us because we are not fully aware of our weakness,
and may not be aware of the maturing process God is performing within us.
The Spirit’s “Wordless” Prayers
We don’t know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit is not ignorant—and he
prays for us according to perfect knowledge. He prays with “groanings too deep
for words” (Rom. 8:26). A better way to translate this is “wordlessly.” The Spirit
pleads on our behalf in longings that are inexpressible in words. This is non-verbal
prayer. The prayer ministry of the Holy Spirit—his groaning for us—is silent.
The Spirit’s Knowledge Is Perfect
The Holy Spirit prays for us because God’s knowledge is perfect (Rom. 8:27). The
passage continues, “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the

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Spirit is.” This speaks of the omniscience of God. When David charged his son
Solomon to serve God he reminded him, “the Lord searches all hearts, and
understands every intent of the thoughts” (1 Chr. 28:9). To the church at Thyatira,
Jesus described himself as “He who searches the minds and hearts” (Rev. 2:23).
God the Father already knows what the Spirit is thinking. That’s why there is no
need for the Spirit’s groaning to be verbalized. He prays for us “according to the
will of God.” What great confidence this brings! The Spirit of God knows the
thoughts of God (1 Cor. 2:11), and the Father knows the thoughts of the Spirit.
This means the two are always in full agreement. Since the thoughts of God are
revealed by the Spirit in words (1 Cor. 2:13), his prayers never contradict God’s
written Word, the Bible.

5.1 CONCLUSION

Holy Spirit : also known as: Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Truth,
Paraclete, a Comforter, the Counsellor, etc. He is the 3rd Person of the Trinity.

…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My [Christ] name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. —
John 14:26.His personality is proved……from the fact that the attributes of
personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him (John 14:17, 26;
15:26; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11; 12:11). He reproves, helps, glorifies, intercedes
(John 16:7-13; Romans 8:26)

He executes the offices peculiar only to a person. The very nature of these offices
involves personal distinction (Luke 12:12; Acts 5:32; 15:28; 16:6; 28:25; 1
Corinthians 2:13; Hebrews 2:4; 3:7; 2 Peter 1:21)

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