The Work of the Holy Spirit
God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. Ephesians 3:16
As we consider the work of the Holy Spirit, we have examined His work of calling us by the gospel, enlightening us with His gifts, and sanctifying us. These aspects of His work are done by bringing us to faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. However, the work of the Holy Spirit continues even after we are brought to faith. If left to ourselves, we would revert to living in the spiritual darkness of sin, for we are sin-addicts by nature. Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s work continues by keeping us in the true faith of Jesus Christ as our Savior. He strengthens our weak and floundering faith so that with His aid we can defeat the attacks of the devil, the evil world, and our sinful flesh. Through the strengthening of our faith, the Holy Spirit renews our desire to produce fruits of faith.
The Apostle Paul prays that God would grant that the Ephesians’ faith will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. We ask that God would grant our faith also to be strengthened. Paul’s prayer references the spiritual fight in each of us as the forces of evil battle against God’s Spirit within us that desires to do the will of God. The Holy Spirit fights against the forces of evil, namely the devil, the evil world, and our sinful flesh. Since this spiritual battle will continue until our dying moment, the Holy Spirit’s work of keeping us in the true faith continues until we reach eternal life in heaven. Strengthening us in our faith in Jesus Christ is a continuous work of the Holy Spirit as He causes us to grow spiritually.
Thou holy Light, Guide Divine, Oh, cause the Word of Life to shine!
Teach us to know our God aright And call Him Father with delight.
From every error keep us free; Let none but Christ our Master be
That we in living faith abide, In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The Lutheran Hymnal 224:2