Have you ever thought about the gap between choosing something and enjoying it? Pastor Josh White opened his message on September 26, 2021 with this observation: between the proposal and the wedding, between the last day of work and retirement, between setting the table and actually eating Thanksgiving dinner — there’s a delay. Everything is prepared, the moment is set, but you haven’t arrived yet.
That’s exactly how it works with salvation. God the Father chose us in eternity past. Jesus paid the price through His death and resurrection. But between that eternal plan and our actual experience of being God’s children, something has to happen in time. That something is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:1–2: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” Right there in the middle — the sanctifying work of the Spirit. That phrase captures what the Holy Spirit does to put our salvation into effect. And as Pastor Josh walked through four specific works, he encouraged us to think back and remember when each one happened in our own lives.
1. The Holy Spirit Convicts Us — Producing Repentance
Before anyone can be saved, they need to know they are a sinner. Not just intellectually, but deeply — convicted in their conscience. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job.
Acts 11:15–18 describes Peter explaining to the Jerusalem church how the Gospel came to the Gentiles: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning… If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard these things they fell silent and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” — Acts 11:15–18
Second Corinthians 7:10 says it this way: “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
Sometimes when we feel that conviction, our instinct is to run. But the Holy Spirit grieves us so we’ll turn around and run to God instead. Repentance isn’t just feeling bad — it’s a change of heart that leads to a change of action. And we can be used by the Spirit to speak truth that He uses to bring others to that same place of conviction.
2. The Holy Spirit Empowers Us — Producing Faith
Why do you believe in Jesus? Not just because the evidence is compelling — though it is — but because the Holy Spirit has opened your heart to receive it.
Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” — Ephesians 2:8
In our unregenerate state — dead in sin — we have no capacity to trust God on our own. The Holy Spirit empowers us with the ability to believe. That faith itself is a work of the Spirit. If you’re here today and you’ve placed your faith in Christ, you didn’t generate that faith on your own. God granted it to you.
3. The Holy Spirit Regenerates Us — Producing the New Birth
Regeneration. Being born again. The old is gone, the new has come. This is the Spirit’s work.
Titus 3:4–7: “When the goodness and the lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” — Titus 3:4–7
Jesus explained this to Nicodemus in John 3: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” — John 3:5–8
When you’re born again, your eyes are opened. You see spiritual reality. You see the world differently. You recognize spiritual warfare. You understand God’s Word in a way you couldn’t before. You have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13).
4. The Holy Spirit Adopts Us — Producing Sonship
Romans 8:14–17: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” — Romans 8:14–17
This was particularly meaningful to Peter writing to believers scattered across Asia Minor who were about to face severe persecution. Whatever they were going through, they could hold onto this: they were God’s children. Not just tolerated — adopted. Beloved. And the Spirit testifies within us that this is real.
Bonus: The Holy Spirit Seals Us — Producing Guarantee
After doing all this work in our lives at the moment of salvation, the Spirit also seals us. This is the down payment — God’s guarantee that our full redemption is coming.
Ephesians 1:13–14: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” — Ephesians 1:13–14
So What?
Pastor Josh closed with a personal question: Do you remember when any of these things happened in your life?
If you were saved as a child, maybe the memory is faint. If you came to Christ later — in your teens, twenties, thirties — you might remember the specific moment the Holy Spirit worked in your heart. You can look back and see God’s hand.
And maybe today there’s someone here experiencing the Holy Spirit’s work for the first time. You feel convicted — not to run from God, but to turn to Him. You realize God is calling you to be His child. If that’s you — if you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus — the invitation is simple: believe. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved (Romans 10:9–10). The Holy Spirit will put all of this into effect right now.
And if you already know Jesus — remember what God did. Share it. The Spirit can use your testimony to bring someone else to that same repentance that leads to life.
Scripture References
- 1 Peter 1:1–2
- Acts 11:15–18
- 2 Corinthians 7:10
- 2 Timothy 2:24–26
- Ephesians 2:8
- Titus 3:4–7
- John 3:1–8
- Colossians 1:13
- Romans 8:14–17
- Ephesians 1:13–14
- Romans 10:9–10