So I say, walk by the Spirit…
Yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit…
Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives
Galatians 5:16

We’ve been looking at the Holy Spirit theologically and so far we’ve looked at Him from the perspective of Academic theology, Historical theology, Spiritual theology, and today we’ll look at the Holy Spirit from Practical theology.

Practical theology asks the “What now?” Given the truths we’ve discovered, how do we personally apply what we know in a hands-on way? How does this change you and me?

1. First of all, the Holy Spirit gives us supernatural power. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. It’s telling that Paul warned us to stay far away from Christians who don’t have power (2 Tim 3:5). Just look at the disciples before and after the Spirit indwelled them at Pentecost (Acts 2ff). What now? What are we going to do with this power?

2. The Holy Spirit gives us supernatural gifts. Too often, people are stuck into positions rather than given room to use and grow in the gifts the Holy Spirit gives them. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of ministries, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of miraculous powers, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work… The very same Spirit works all these, dividing to each one individually as He will.” (1 Cor. 12:4-6,11) What now? What are we going to do with these gifts?

3. The Holy Spirit gives life and strength to our bodies. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that lives in you.” The Spirit brings resurrection life when He lives inside of us. Why don’t more Christians experience that life? We need to tap into that life. We tap in by consciously making ourselves available—by giving the Spirit control. What now? What are we going to do with the resurrection life of the Spirit?

4. The Holy Spirit is our source when we deal with temptation. “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16) When we’re struggling with temptation of any kind, we need to ask the Holy Spirit within us to apply His power. This is as central as it gets in living out the Christian life, because, for Paul, this was the Christian life— walking by the Spirit or being led by the Spirit—living in such a way that the Spirit himself is acting in and through us. Live by the Spirit and the sinful works of our human nature are toast. What now? How are we going to walk out our lives?

The Spirit does a lot more in our lives than we have space to pursue here. But put these 4 “What Now’s?” together and it’s easy to see why people who walk in the Spirit find their whole lives revolutionized. And yes, in the joy and the victory they find in that walk, they sometimes get a little exuberant…and probably why the Holy Spirit is so often associated (positively and negatively) with breaking out of the norms and decorum that have often characterized church.

So I say, walk by the Spirit…