“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5)
The Holy Ghost is given unto us. What a profound Gift this is! In John 14:16-18 and 26, the Lord Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the “Comforter“, that is, the Holy Spirit to them. Sometimes referred to as the “Paraklete” (from the Greek word rendered Comforter in this passage from John’s Gospel), the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, our Consoler, our Helper, our Advocate, our Intercessor. He is God the Spirit and He is the very Presence of God in the life of the Christian.
In Chapter 5, Verse 5, we have the first reference to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, in the Book of Romans, but He will figure prominently throughout the coming chapters, particularly Chapter 8. The presence of the Spirit of the Lord is a wonderful Gift, for it is by Him that we feel God in our hearts, yet He also plays a most crucial role in the walk of the believer, for it is by His empowering that the Christian is able to overcome the indwelling power of sin.
For the moment, however, His role as the bringer of the reality of God’s love into our hearts is what is in view. As the Lord Jesus prepared for the Crucifixion and His departure from this earth, He assured His disciples that He would not leave them comfortless (John 14:18). They had followed Him for more than three years, walking directly beside the presence of God. He let them know that they would do so again through His Holy Spirit. They would experience the love and presence of God that they had felt walking beside the Lord Jesus Christ when the Holy Spirit was sent to them at Pentecost.
Though we never walked with the Lord Jesus while He was here on earth in the flesh, we, too, have the privilege of walking with Him by His Spirit, just as the Apostles did. His Spirit was given, not only to them, but to us as well. When the Apostle Peter was challenged by the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem concerning his ministry to the Gentile house of Cornelius (Acts 11:2-3), he declared to them that the Holy Spirit fell on them (the Gentiles) just as He had on the Jewish believers (Acts 11:15). Peter summarized by saying:
“Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:17)
The Lord Jesus has given the Gift of His Holy Spirit to all who believe on Him. What a Gift He is! The indwelling Holy Spirit is yet another part of what we have in Christ.
To God goes all glory. In service to Him,
Loren
