Malankara World

Pentecost - The Birthday of Church

The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and She conceived by His Power Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ [Luke 1:35]. While She was visiting her cousin Elizabeth, at hearing the voice of Mary St. John the Baptist was sanctified by the Holy Spirit in the womb of her mother and leaped for joy.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said who am I that the Mother of my Lord should visit me, among all women you are blessed and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Mary answered by praising God in the beautiful song of the Magnificat [Luke 1:39-56].

Before Jesus started his public ministry, He went to the Jordan river where He was baptized by John the Baptist. Then The Holy Spirit descended upon Him and was visible to John in a form of a dove. He then went to fast in the desert for forty days, where he overcame the temptations of the devil. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit as promised in the book of [Isaiah 11:1-2] and began His ministry calling everyone to repentance, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of Heaven, healing the sick, and casting out devils. John the Baptist said to everyone I baptize you with water for repentance of your sins but Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire [Matthew 3:11] .

Jesus taught that all sins shall be forgiven except sins committed against the Holy Spirit [Luke 12:10].

He also taught that we only have to ask and it shall be given, knock and the door will be answered, search and we shall find, and that if a father here on earth, even though being wicked knows how to respond to the need of his children, how much more will our Heavenly Father give us the Holy Spirit if we ask !, so the Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father and the Son that sanctifies us and we must ask for it. It is the most precious thing that we can ask for and our good Heavenly Father will grant us our petition if we ask, knock and search for it.

We are temples of the Holy Spirit and to be filled with the Spirit of God we must cleanse our temples with the waters of repentance through baptism. However we are supposed to stop sinning in order to receive the fire of the Holy Spirit. So this promise of God is conditional to our repentance. A humble and contrite heart is the place where God wants to dwell [Isaiah 66:2] .

God the Father and God the Son will come to dwell in Spirit in those who love Jesus and keep His Word [John 14:23]

Jesus promised that whenever we are put on trial for proclaiming the Good News we will speak what is given to us by the Holy Spirit [Mark 13:10-11].

See Also:

Introduction to Holy Spirit
God is only One, but He has revealed Himself very distinctly as three persons, so that we mere creatures can come to a better understanding of Him, however we are unworthy to know God completely and He remains the greatest mystery of our faith.

Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is a fire of Divine Love that comes to touch us and refine us in an ardent desire to possess God. It gives us a passion for God, it destroys all the earthly affections because it opens our spiritual eyes to see how precious God is.

Promises of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament
God saw our need to have His Holy Spirit, otherwise we would be doomed. For this reason He made a promise in the Old Testament which was fulfilled with the coming of Christ, He spoke through different prophets.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

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