The Spirit Who Makes Us Holy
Communion, Likeness, and the Unity of the Church
It is common to view the descent of the Holy Spirit as simply another historical moment, but the reality is that it is just the beginning of a total, cosmic transformation. The Spirit doesn’t enter the world just to dazzle and sparkle, but to dwell. Not to stir the air, but to sanctify creation. The mission of the Holy Spirit is the renewal of humanity through communion with God!
As a child, I was taught that the Holy Spirit was more of an inanimate vapor which could be found floating around the universe. Not a personal being that we can know intimately. Good news! The Spirit doesn’t show up as some random abstract force, but as the personal presence of divine love, sent by the Father through the Son to indwell those who believe. In this indwelling, humanity is not simply comforted… it is conformed to Christ. The goal is holiness. Not a legalistic, stale self reparation, but a radiant participation in the life of the Holy Trinity.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” ~ 2 Corinthians 3:18
The Spirit Makes Us Like Christ
Holiness is not an escape from the world, nor is it an achievement we attain. And Thank God. It is a participation in the divine life. What could set a human apart from fallen humanity more? The Spirit, especially working in and through the Church, draws us into the very holiness of Christ. This is not mere moral improvement, but the transfiguration of the whole person. In realizing this union, and through the inward groanings of the soul, the image of God within us begins to take on the likeness of God. In other words, we begin to become who we already are in Christ by faith.
“The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and the life of man is the vision of God.” ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyons
By grace, we are lifted from survival and slavery to sonship. We become children of the Father, not by nature, but by participation. Through faith in the Son (and of the Son) and the work of the Spirit, we are drawn into the joy of divine adoption. Not just a “I guess I’ll choose this one” top of adoption, but as the Greek language signifies “divine sonship.” The Spirit makes us holy not by suppressing our humanity, but by restoring it.
“You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” ~ Romans 8:15
Communion, Not Isolation
Those made holy by grace are not scattered pieces of an abstract collage, they are a constellation. In the Spirit, the faithful are gathered into divine communion. The truth is that holiness is never a private possession. Those who are filled with divine love naturally become part of a larger mystery: the eternal communion of saints!
In every generation, there have been those who, by grace and struggle, have entered deeply into the life of God. Some are known mystics and martyrs, and many are not. But they all have one thing in common: They live(d) in the fellowship of the Spirit. The Church is not merely an earthly gathering, it is a communion across time and space, with Christ at the center, and those united to Him encircling in unbroken praise. This is our reality as an eternal priesthood of sons and daughters!
This communion is not sentimental, it is sacramental. It is revealed each time we gather in worship, drink and eat of Christ together in holy communion, where heaven and earth are joined and the living and departed are united in a single act of divine love. The western Christian world desperately needs this beautiful and very biblical revelation.
Why Unity is Important
Unity doesn’t necessarily mean that we agree on every remote detail, but that we continue to dwell together in a united spirit. After all, true unity among believers is not based solely on human organization or administrative centers. It is found in shared truth, shared life, and shared participation in the Spirit. This reality mirrors the divine unity of God Himself. The Holy Trinity is not solitary, but communion. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Three Persons, one essence, one undivided love. In God, unity and holiness are never separate. And so in the Church, which is His Body, unity is not enforced but revealed through love, truth, and transformation.
“He who does not have the Church as his mother cannot have God as his Father.”~ St. Cyprian of Carthage
The Church of Jesus on earth is a people being made holy, a people gathered not by preference but by presence; by Pentecost power. A people becoming radiant with divine light, united not by slogan or tribe, but by grace.
~ R. Alvin
I use to think, believe that I could worship ALONE and it was fine. That I didn’t need four walls of a church for belief in my God. Oh I was very wrong. While praying alone is fine, the truest power of prayer is when we GATHER together and offer up our prayers. Father , Holy Spirit, showed me and told me to teach people to pray. I was shown like I am outer space and looking at the earth and you can’t see the light of one candle(aka “prayer” ) but when many of the candles lit in an area on earth it could be seen from space. Easily, it can be seen like a million lights in an area just as prayer is more powerful when many of us in faith come together. I was told to teach people to pray as we are fighting Satans army and the power and strength we convey through prayer is needed to bring people to Father in faith wth Love, Agape.