The Purpose of the Holy Spirit

The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower God’s people to reach the lost and draw people to the cross of Jesus Christ. Just as he convicts us of our sins, he also moves in the hearts of unbelievers, bringing them face to face with their iniquities and failures, with the futility of their lives apart from God.

When Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure from Earth, he told them, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).

Jesus tells us that we know the truth of the gospel because God’s Spirit has revealed it to us through his words. The Holy Spirit has testified to God’s grace and goodness. Our confidence in our position in God’s kingdom comes not from our own hope and imagination, but from the Creator himself, from his gentle whisper in our soul. It’s how we know that God’s love is real and definitive and unwavering.

Jesus went on to explain the Holy Spirit’s role like this: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me” (John 16:8-9).

It isn’t our job to convict people of their sin. The Holy Spirit is already doing that. And we are not here to judge people for their sins. Our role is to simply be there for them, to tell them about Jesus, embrace them in their pain and suffering, and love them into God’s wonderful kingdom.

Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17). Shouldn’t we have the same attitude?

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run.