What does the Spirit do?

Have you ever been somewhere or done something that you enjoyed so much that you said, “Ah, this is the life”? The idea, when you say that, is “I could do more of this.”

One of the things we often say here at Life Center, kind of one of our little mottos, is: there’s more. No matter how much of God you’ve experienced, there’s more. And that only makes sense — God’s infinite, God’s eternal. Whatever you’ve experienced is just a drop in the bucket. There’s more.

Jesus said something like that. John 10:10:

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

— John 10:10

Jesus came to bring life — and the word here for life isn’t just physical life or existence. It is transcendent life, eternal life, the life of God. And Jesus came to bring that kind of life to us. But then he added that second phrase: not just life, but to the full — overflowing, abundant, extraordinary, more than enough. Life with a capital L. “Ah, this is the life.” That’s what we want more of.

In the second century, there was a pastor in France named Irenaeus, and he made this famous comment: The glory of God is man fully alive. What brings glory to God is when you and I are fully alive. And that’s what Jesus came to bring — life with a capital L, life to the full, abundant life, more and more.

So how does Jesus do this? How does he give us this life? The short answer is: he fills us with himself, with His Holy Spirit. This is week two of a series on the Holy Spirit called Filled. Today we’re going to talk about what the Spirit does in us. The answer is: a lot. We’re going to focus on two really big things — salvation and sanctification. Big twenty-five cent theological words. Let’s unpack them together and make it simple and clear.

1. Salvation: The Holy Spirit Makes Us Alive

To be saved is to be rescued. So the question is: what does God rescue us from? The Bible says he rescues us from our sin, our selfishness, our rebellion, and from death.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.”

— Ephesians 2:1

Paul says we were spiritually dead. What can a dead person do? Nothing. We were powerless to save ourselves, powerless to make ourselves alive again. The good news is that what we couldn’t do for ourselves, God did for us.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.”

— Ephesians 2:4–5

God made us alive. He saves us from death. He gives us life — not just any life, but life with a capital L, life to the full. We are literally reborn. We were dead, but we’re reborn, made alive by the Holy Spirit.

Nick at Night: Born Again

Our primary text today is John chapter 3, verses 1–10. This is a story many of you will be familiar with.

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Nicodemus said, “How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb and be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”

— John 3:1–10

I call this story Nick at Night. And it’s famous for one phrase: You must be born again.

Jesus told Nicodemus — one of the most righteous, most religious, and most respected men in all of Israel — that he needed to be born again to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus took Jesus literally and said, “That’s impossible. A man can’t enter his mother and be born a second time.” And Jesus explained: “I’m not talking about physical birth. Flesh gives birth to flesh — that’s a physical birth. But it’s the Holy Spirit that gives birth to spirit. You need to be reborn spiritually, born of the Spirit.”

So to be born again, to be given new life, to be made alive, is a work of the Holy Spirit. Let me say this as clearly and simply as I can: you can’t become a Christian, you can’t become a new person in Christ, without the work of the Holy Spirit.

Repent, Be Baptized, Receive the Spirit

On the day of Pentecost, shortly after being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter preached his first sermon. The people who heard his message were cut to the heart and cried out, “What shall we do?”

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

— Acts 2:38–39

Look at that verse. They asked, “What should we do?” Peter says there are two things you should do, and then two things God will do. What were the two things they should do? Repent and be baptized.

To repent is to turn from your sin and turn toward God — the idea of doing a U-turn. I’m going this way, walking away from God, following my own path. To repent means I’m aware I’m going the wrong way. So I stop, I turn — away from my sin, my selfishness, my own way — and I start going toward God. That’s repentance.

And baptism? Baptism is a public act of identifying with Christ. Baptism says: my old life died with Jesus, my old life is buried with Jesus — that’s going under the water — and a brand new me, a me with a brand new life, is being raised. We call it raised to new life (Romans 6:4).

Then what will God do? He promised two things: I’ll forgive your sins, and I’ll give you the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the promise, the promise of forgiveness, the promise of the Holy Spirit, is for you — for you, for your children, for all whom the Lord our God will call. It’s a promise, and that promise is for you.

Many scholars point to Acts 2:38–39 as an example of what Jesus meant when he said to be born again is to be born of water and the Spirit. Repent and be baptized — born of water. Your baptism symbolizes and marks the start of a brand new life in Christ, raised to new life. And then the promise: you’ll receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit — born of the Spirit. It’s the start of this new life that Christ promised us. Life with a capital L.

And here is Titus 3:4–6, where Paul writes the same thing to Pastor Titus:

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

— Titus 3:4–6

Paul says clearly: who saves us? God does. And how does he do it? Through the washing of rebirth and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

A Personal Story

When I was thirteen years old, I first heard about Jesus and I repented. I did a U-turn — I turned to God, I turned away from my sin. A couple of months later I was baptized, I was forgiven, I received the Holy Spirit. But I just have to tell you: while all that was going on, I didn’t feel a whole lot different at first. Some people describe their conversion as very dramatic and emotional. That didn’t happen to me.

That night I said yes to Jesus, I’m walking home in my little town, and I prayed my first prayer. I said, “God, I don’t know much about you. All I know is what that speaker had tonight — I want that. So here I am.” The heavens didn’t part. A light beam didn’t come down. I just prayed my prayer, walked home, and went to bed. I woke up the next morning and thought, “What do I do now?” The only thing I knew about Christians is they go to church. So I got up, got dressed, and walked back down to that little church.

That one decision — first, the decision to say yes to Jesus; then the decision to get up and go back — transformed my life. I started to change right away. Even though I didn’t feel anything, I was actually reborn. My friends at school came up to me that next week and said, “What happened to you? You’re different.” I didn’t have any language to describe it, so I said, “Well, I guess I’m religious now.” I almost want to throw up just saying that. That was a really bad answer. Because I wasn’t religious — I was reborn. Big difference. Nicodemus was religious, and Jesus said, “You’ve got to be born again.” A rebirth, a new start. I was literally a new person, made alive, spiritually alive to God.

The reason I describe that whole emotional side of things is this: each of us is unique, and God meets us right where we are with what we need. Please don’t compare your experience to anyone else’s. It’s your experience, and it’s okay.

Born Again, Again

Listen — it’s not just people saying yes to Jesus for the first time who need to be reborn. Sometimes it’s some of you high-mileage units. Some of you veteran Christians who have been around the block a few times and need a new start too. There are some of us who need to be born again. Again. I call my life the ongoing conversion of Pastor Joe. You must be born again.

Think about who Jesus said that to. Nicodemus was one of the most respected men in Israel. A Pharisee — one of a very small group, always fewer than six thousand of them in the nation, men who had devoted their entire lives to knowing and keeping every tiny detail of God’s law. Religious? Check. A member of the Jewish Ruling Council — think of Congress and the Supreme Court combined, seventy men. Powerful? Check. And Jesus calls him “Israel’s teacher” — possibly the most respected teacher in all of Israel. Influential? Check.

Jesus is telling the most religious, most righteous, most respected man in his nation that he has to be born again and start over.

We love to quote this verse to people outside the faith. But Jesus said it to the leader of the church of his day. And it reminds me of another famous verse we love to quote to people outside the church:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

— Revelation 3:20

We love to tell pre-Christian people: friend, Jesus loves you and he’s knocking on the door of your heart. Is that true? Yes. But look again at who Jesus said that to. He wrote it to the church at Laodicea — to a bunch of Christians. He said: I am standing at the door of your heart, outside, knocking, wishing you would let me in. What had happened? They had become lukewarm — so lukewarm that Jesus said, “I’m going to spit you out of my mouth.” Lukewarm, half-hearted, proud, and complacent. And when Jesus confronted them, they said, “We don’t need a thing. We’re fine just the way we are.” And Jesus said, “You don’t realize that you are wretched and pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Who is Jesus saying that to? To the church. To us.

So to religious Nicodemus, Jesus says: you must be born again. To religious Laodicea, Jesus says: I’m outside knocking, let me in. Sometimes we need to be born again. Again. When our love grows cold, when our relationship decays into religion, Jesus comes knocking and says: let me in. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us again, to blow like a fresh wind in our lives.

In fact, Jesus told Nicodemus: the Holy Spirit is like the wind blowing. And sometimes — isn’t this true? — we get a little settled, a little stuck. We’re like a house with all the windows closed. It’s spring. After a long, stuffy winter, I finally get to open the windows and let the fresh air in. And sometimes as Christians we get into a winter season where the windows are closed, there’s not a lot of fresh air in our lives, and we just need to open those windows and invite the Holy Spirit to come blow again and fill us again.

There’s more. No matter what you’ve experienced, there’s more of God to be experienced. No matter how long you’ve been a Christian, there’s more of his power, more of his life, more of his love to be enjoyed. I like to think of the Christian life as the great adventure of the ongoing discovery and experience of God’s love. There’s never a reason to get bored or complacent. There’s always more.

The posture I want to take: Lord, fill me again and again and again. I want more of you. I want everything you have for me.

We end up in trouble when we think, “I’ve got my ticket to heaven punched, I can stick it on cruise control and just slide on in.” Or we receive a gift from the Holy Spirit and think, “That’s it, I’ve got it all now.” The truth is, no matter what you’ve got, there’s more. We end up like small children playing in a mud puddle on the beach, thinking it’s the ocean. We need to look up and remember: there’s a big God in front of us who has more that he wants to do in our lives.

So what does the Holy Spirit do? The first thing he does is he saves us by making us alive. We are born again and again and again. It’s not just “get your ticket punched and you’re done.” It’s an ongoing, growing relationship with the living God who always wants to do more in your life.

2. Sanctification: The Holy Spirit Makes Us More Like Jesus

To sanctify something is to make it holy. Same Greek word: holy and sanctified. What makes us unique and different is that God wants us to become more like Jesus.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

— Romans 8:29

Some of you read that word “predestined” and get a little tripped up. Don’t let that trip you up. All it means is that God picked out a destination for you ahead of time. We do this all the time — you got up this morning, got in your car, and said, “We’re going to Life Center today.” You predestined where you were going. God did that with us. But what did he predestine us for? He predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. This is God’s destiny for you. And it’s a beautiful destiny — he wants to make you more like Jesus. What a destiny.

You’re a Work in Process

I have a story. Ollie quit farming and moved to a new town, and he quickly discovered he was the only Lutheran in his little town — all Catholics. They got on great with the neighbors. The only problem was, every Friday night he would barbecue beef, and all his Catholic neighbors were not allowed to eat red meat on Fridays. The tempting aroma of steaks barbecuing was getting the best of them. Finally they got together and confronted Ollie: “You’re the only Lutheran in this whole town. There’s not a Lutheran church for miles. We think you should join our church — become a Catholic like the rest of us.” Ollie thought about it and said, “Yeah, that’d be great.” They talked to the priest, got it arranged. The big day came. The priest had Ollie kneel, put his hand on Ollie’s head, and said, “Ollie, you were born a Lutheran. You were raised a Lutheran. But now,” he said as he sprinkled some incense, “you’re a Catholic.” Ollie was happy. The neighbors were happy. All was good.

But the following Friday evening, the aroma of grilled steak wafted from Ollie’s yard. The neighbors went to talk to him, and as they approached the fence, they heard Ollie saying something strangely familiar as he sprinkled salt on the steak: “You were born a beef. You were raised a beef. And now — you’re a fish.”

Don’t you wish it worked like that? You were born a sinner — now you’re like Jesus! Wouldn’t it be awesome if you got baptized, went under the water a sinner, and came out looking like Jesus? You know what happens? You go under the water a sinner and come out a wet sinner. You are reborn, yes — but it’s not a single act. It’s a process.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

— 2 Corinthians 3:18

Notice the tense: we are being transformed. The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, making us more like Jesus day by day, moment by moment. One step closer each time. And when will the job finally be done? When we’re in heaven.

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

— 1 John 3:2

When will the process be complete? When will we finally be like Jesus? It’s when we see him face to face. And that’s what we have to look forward to.

Sometimes I get frustrated with myself. I’m seventy-four years old. I’ve been following Jesus for sixty-one years, and there are moments where I go, “Lord, sixty-one years into this deal — you’d think I’d have this figured out by now. Look what I just did. Look what I just said. Look what I just thought.” And the Lord reminds me: I’m a work in process. He’s still at work in my life. I’m still under construction. God isn’t done with me yet. Someday I’ll see Jesus and I’ll be like him.

Someone asked Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth, what she wanted inscribed on her headstone. She told them, and it’s actually what’s on there. It says: End of construction. Thank you for your patience. We’re all in process right now. But one day we’ll see him and be like him.

Walking in the Spirit

Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, producing the character of Jesus, always working to make us more like Christ. Galatians 5:16–25 portrays two different ways of life. We can walk in the flesh — just walk in our own sinful human nature. Or we can walk in the Spirit. Two different ways of living. If we walk in the flesh, the results are not pretty. But when we walk in the Spirit, something else happens — something beautiful.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

— Galatians 5:22–23

Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. How many of you would like more of those? Those are just the character of Jesus. And that’s what the Holy Spirit’s producing in you day by day, minute by minute, as you walk with him.

If you look in Galatians 5, it says we live by the Spirit, we are led by the Spirit, we keep in step with the Spirit. All these phrases point to the same thing: we live in a relationship with the Spirit who lives in us. And in that relationship, we’re constantly attempting to yield the leadership of our lives to him. Instead of a self-run life — me just doing my own thing — I’m trying to consciously say, “God, what do you want to do? Not my will, but yours be done.” As we yield to the Spirit’s leading, as we yield to the Spirit’s work, as we try to follow his lead, God’s Spirit is at work every day in our lives, making us more like Jesus.

Friends, it’s about the relationship. And there are no shortcuts. It’s about day by day relationship with Jesus through his Spirit.

Mistaken for Jesus

There’s a legend about a missionary who was lost at sea and washed up on a beach, half dead from starvation and exposure. He was found by the people of a village near that beach, and they nursed him slowly back to health. He ended up living among these people for the next twenty years. When people were sick, he tended them — sitting long into the night. When people were hungry, he fed them. When people were lonely, he was a source of company. He taught the ignorant. He took the side of those who’d been wronged. Twenty years of this.

After twenty years, some missionaries came from the sea to this village and began talking to the people about a man named Jesus. After hearing about Jesus, the people of the village insisted that Jesus had lived among them for the last twenty years. “Come,” they said. “We’ll introduce you to this man you’ve been talking about.” And they introduced them, of course, to their fellow missionary, whom they thought was long dead.

Wouldn’t you love to be mistaken for Jesus? But if you’ve ever tried to be like Jesus on your own, you know how frustrating it can be. We need the Holy Spirit.

Where We Leave Today

What must we do? Friends, where I want to leave you today is this: every day, get up and yield your life again. Every day, just start by saying: Lord, fill me. Holy Spirit, lead me. Use me. Work in my life. That’s what we need to do. And he’ll do it.