Come, Holy Spirit

A long time ago whenever sanctification was talked about, or preached, someone would speak of it as  "a second work of grace."  It was commonly used to refer to a subsequent spiritual experience that naturally followed "the first work of grace" which was salvation.  The old time holiness folks who talked in such a way believed that conversion was followed by a second spiritual crisis which could only be resolved by the believer coming under the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. 

The Scriptural model comes from the Day of Pentecost.  Prior to that moment of spiritual power being unleashed, the disciples were followers of Jesus, but they lacked the kind of power that we see manifested in their lives after Pentecost.  Before Pentecost they were timid compared to the boldness we see in them after that day.  Prior to Pentecost there was nothing about them which would suggest that they would change the world which is what they accomplished after those moments when the Spirit came.  Of course, the difference is not that they took some short course at the local college on leadership, but that they came under the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Many a believer starts the spiritual journey dependent on their own will power, determination, and effort and they soon run dry. Human energy alone will not sustain us for the journey.  Only the Holy Spirit is able to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  Only the Holy Spirit is able to make of us what God desires for us to be as His new creation.  The moment of coming to terms with this human inability is experienced by many as a crisis of faith which can be used by the Holy Spirit to bring us into a deeper, more dependent walk with God.