Beauty From Chaos

What is the true work of the Holy Spirit? How do you know where the Spirit of God is working? Maybe you have seen or participated in a “worship” service in which people are dancing, running around, and speaking in “tongues.” “This,” they would say, “is the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit.” But those who say and believe this are deceiving and being deceived.

Today I want to focus on two passages of Scripture that present the true work of the Holy Spirit: Genesis 1 and Acts 2. In Genesis 1, we find the Spirit of God “hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). At that time, “The earth was without form and voice, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” It was the work of the Spirit of God to renovate that formless, void mass into something orderly and beautiful to the glory of God. In Acts 2, we find the apostles obeying Christ by remaining in the upper room in Jerusalem. The Spirit of God descended upon them mightily and prompted them to preach the Gospel. Through their preaching, thousands were saved. Through their words, the Spirit of God created a community of believers. By the end of Acts 2, we find a healthy, growing fellowship of believers functioning to the glory of God. This was the Spirit’s creation.

You see, the work of the Spirit of God is not to create chaos. It is his work to transform chaos into order and beauty to exalt the Name of Jesus Christ. He does this naturally, corporately, and individually. If you have the Spirit of God living within you – and you must if you are truly redeemed by Christ – the evidence of this is not spasmodic exuberance, it is a quiet renovative work. The work of the Spirit is to transform an individual, sin-corrupt man into a beautiful, self-disciplined human being to the glory of the Name of Jesus Christ.

Yes, sometimes we may wince when folks refer to us Presbyterians as the “frozen chosen.” We know, however, that within us is the white-hot heat of the Spirit of God convicting us of sin, enabling us to repent, and empowering us to live to the glory of Christ Jesus. That is the true work of the Holy Spirit. The other stuff is not his work, but the work of Satan, fooling folks into thinking he is actually from God.