When the Holy Spirit does his work of regeneration in the hearts of men, he does not come on them with great powerful feelings and emotions which cannot be resisted. He does not possess men as evil spirits take possession of their victims…As among all the doctrines of the gospel, there is none opposed with more violence and subtlety than that concerning our regeneration by the immediate, powerful, effectual operation of the Holy Spirit of grace. John Owen

I recently read this social media post from Costi Hinn, “The Holy Spirit gets some of the worst press imaginable. You don’t need to “activate” Him. You don’t need to “invite” Him. You need to honor Him.” I shared that post on social media, agreeing with the content of this post. Even prior to seeing his thoughts on this, I had growing concerns over some of the ways the Holy Spirit is portrayed and some of the ways He is viewed in man’s understanding versus God’s Word and the revealed truth of this Word. Our understanding of the Third Person of the Trinity is important. I doubt any believer in Christ would disagree.

There are some who view and teach the Holy Spirit as a force or an energy. Some believe or teach or sing that the Holy Spirit needs our permission in order to do things in the earth or that we are to put Him to work.  In his workbook on the Holy Spirit and the gifts, Kenneth Hagin said, “We need to learn how to put the Greater One who indwells us and who has infilled us to work for us.” Who knew we needed to put God to work?

I can recall several years ago singing a song titled When You Walk into the Room. The bridge of this song says “Come and consume God all we are, we give you permission, our hearts are yours, we want You.” Now I understand this may not be what is intended, but we do not give God permission. God does not need our permission to do anything, regardless of what we have been told. If God needs our permission, He is not God. He does not need “legal permission” in the form of human beings to work in the world. There are numerous accounts in Scripture showing us God does not need man’s permission. If this doctrine is foreign to you, I pray it stays that way. The words we say do matter, and whether we realize it or not, they could be revealing bad theology we hold as truth.

Some may believe the Holy Spirit needs to be activated. Some tells stories of carrying on conversations with the Holy Spirit in a nonchalant and irreverent way, almost as if talking to a significant other. Some say things about the Holy Spirit in an irreverent way, such as comparing Him to the genie from Aladdin. Some attribute behaviors to Him, such as jerking, shaking, drunkenness, uncontrollable laughter, and other manifestations. I listened to one individual prophetically declare for 2022 the church has entered the era of the Holy Spirit. I believe the argument could be made the “era” of the Holy Spirit began on the day of Pentecost two thousand years ago.

It is really troubling to see and to hear these things, and as it is important to recognize the error and the concerns, it is even more important to know the truth of the Word authored by the Holy Spirit as He carried men along to write the Scriptures. (2 Peter 1:21) The best way to respond to such practices is to go to Scripture, understanding it matters what we ascribe to the Spirit of God.

God’s Spirit at Work

The Holy Spirit does far more than I can express here, but this will help us in seeing that He is at work in believers in Christ, and He is at work in the world. He needs no activation, no charge, and no button pressed. He needs no batteries, nor does He need a verbal command from us. He is not dependent upon us so that He can do something. He is God. He is the Third Person of the Trinity.

First and foremost, the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus Christ (John 15:26). He does not testify of Himself. He is our Helper (John 14:26). John 3:6-7 tells us He regenerates us. Additionally, Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” He conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). He empowers believers with spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7), leads and guides us into truth (John 16:13, Galatians 5:18,25), and He makes us fruitful (Galatians 5:22-23). One of the fruit of the Spirit in this verse is self-control. He will not negate the fruit and contradict His Word.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our sanctification. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” We are to continually be filled with the Spirit according to Ephesians 5:18, growing in spiritual maturity and yielding to His control. When we do not know how to pray, He intercedes for us (Romans 8:26,27). God has poured His love into our hearts through His Spirit (Romans 5:5). As adopted children of God, we are able to cry out to God the Father because of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). He gives us wisdom in understanding God (1 Corinthians 2:11-13). We also know that the Holy Spirit came to fulfill what Jesus said in John 16:8, which is to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is very much at work.

The Spirit of the Living God is indeed worthy of honor and reverence. It is a glorious thing to understand based upon the Word of God that He is dwelling within us as born-again believers in Christ Jesus and that He is doing a work within us. God has begun a good work in us, and He will see it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). He has no need of us to activate Him, and praise God He is not dependent upon us.

Listen to the latest podcast episode from The Lovesick Scribe podcast about this topic:

Holy Spirit, No Activation Necessary – The Lovesick Scribe Podcast | Podcast on Spotify