5.21.2026 - Scott Elgersma

Thursday, May 21, 2026

The Holy Spirit as Counselor

Ephesians 3:4-5

As you enter your time with God today, take a moment to quiet your mind. Breathe this prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, come. Fill me with your Spirit. Open my heart that you might share your words of life with me.”

We read today from Ephesians 3:4-5. Read the passage now or at the end of this devotion. What does this passage teach us about the Holy Spirit as our Counselor?

In my less generous moments, I’m pretty judgmental. One focus of my judgment is on those who do not believe in Jesus.

I just do not understand how a person can first, deny the existence of God, second, think that the answers to all human realities are found in a broken human race that continues to mess things up, and third, that rejecting the free gift of grace offered in Jesus is the way to happiness. I just don’t get it.

Because humans are (somewhat) rational people, we try to work this out and ‘figure out’ why people do not believe in God and especially Jesus. Lots of surveys, studies, polls, and resources have been expended to determine practices that will more effectively present the gospel to the world. So much of that work is good because it pushes the church to present the timeless truth of grace to culture in more effective way. We want the message of Christ to be presented in a contemporary context so that the world might know him.

But today’s text also confronts us with a reality that we must internalize. This reality should not dissuade us from our efforts to proclaim the gospel but should inspire us to understand the work of making disciples better. 

Because in the end, the grace of Jesus Christ is a gift that is only known through the power of the Holy Spirit.

“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.”

Admittedly, we are jumping into this text midstream, and it is dangerous for us to draw too deep conclusions from proof-texting, but Paul is challenging us to understand something important.

One cannot know the grace of Christ without the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing Christ for who he is.

To say it differently, we cannot discover our own way of salvation. The only way to find Jesus is through…well…Jesus since the Spirit shares only what is spoken through the full Godhead.

Some may hear these words and respond with, “Well, then its time to bring home our missionaries and pull local evangelists out of their contexts. No more VBS or outreach programs for us. Holy Spirit, do your thing!”

And nothing could be further from how we should respond. 

If the Spirit reveals the mystery of grace to those who would believe then we should double down on our evangelism, increase our missionary support, and create more opportunities to present the gospel to an unbelieving world. Our responsibility is not to transform the hearts of others with the grace of Christ when they come in contact with him. Our job is to provide a venue for the meeting.

We can approach a neighbor with the gospel praying that the Spirit leads the conversation to a place of transformation. We can share a sermon podcast with a coworker asking the Spirit to connect the message that brings life to the heart of the listener. We can participate in outreach activities ANTICIPATING that the Spirit will transform hearts because then we are in a place of faith where we’re depending on God to do the work he longs to do. He always wants to bring his children to himself. 

Yes, the Spirit does the work of revealing the mystery of grace. We cannot find our own way to Christ, and we cannot lead others onto that narrow way. 

But we can point them to where it is. We can share enough of Christ that in the hearing, the Spirit intercedes, carries the power of Christ to a broken heart, and changes another eternity for the glory of God. 

Oh, what a gift when we see the Spirit do that work.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his smile towards you and give you his peace.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I love you all. Blessings.

Feel free to share this devotion with others.

To contact the author, please email: elgersma@therivercrc.com