The Power of the Holy Spirit

            Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10b NKJV).” The power to lead the abundant and victorious Christian life comes from the Holy Spirit. According to John’s Gospel there can be no doubt that Jesus was walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and was operating in all of the gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:1 - 10 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant…To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

When Jesus left this earth, he imparted gifts to each of us according to his will. This impartation was done by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we can have the power to witness for Christ (Acts 1:8). Without said power we would be witnessing in our own flesh and would not possess the tools it takes to witness to a lost and dying world and experience the abundant life.

            Millard J. Erickson explains that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were on this earth ministering together and were in the Father’s will the entire time. Millard writes, “In Jesus’ life we find a pervasive and powerful presence and activity of the Spirit. Even the very beginning of his incarnate existence was a work of the Holy Spirit.”⁵

            John’s Gospel tells us more about the Holy Spirit than any other Gospel.⁶ John also spotlights the power of the Holy Spirit to perform the miraculous. Walter Elwell tells us, “John’s treatment of the miracles is distinctive. He never calls them ‘mighty works’ as do the Synoptists, but ‘signs’ or ‘works’.”⁷

John places his emphasis on “high Christology.”⁸ Christology (from Christ and Greek logia) is a field of study within Christian theology. Define.com defines Christology as, “A treatise on Christ; that department of theology which treats of the personality, attributes, or life of Christ.”⁹ D. Moody Smith says, “The Holy Spirit plays a more prominent part in John than in any other of the Gospels.”¹⁰ Jesus gives the Spirit without limit, which also means he has the Spirit without limit. John 3:34 says, “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” The power of the Holy Spirit is evident in the Gospel of John. We have already seen some of the evidence to prove that, but there is much more.