And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Luke 24:49.

Christ promised us power, but power for what? How shall this power of the Holy Spirit be interpreted? What manifestations should we expect? The New Testament gives two areas in particular where the power of the Spirit is to be exercised: first, it is His work to fill the lives of Christians with the fullness of God, the fruit of the Spirit; and second, to fulfill the gospel commission to the world.

The fundamental fallacy is to interpret the power of the Holy Spirit in terms of experiences, manifestations, sensations, that the Spirit never promised to perform. Many people are not content unless they possess power to perform magical feats. Actually, the closer we get to the power of the Holy Spirit, the less we will talk about the power revealed in us. The Spirit does not turn us back upon ourselves to determine what is truth or what it means to be baptized with the Spirit. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7). Is there anything more than this we could wish for from the Spirit? Think what it would mean to find in our experience adequate love for every situation and a sound, balanced mind, an integrated mind that functions at full capacity. This is the power God promised, complete adequacy available twenty-four hours a day to meet every experience and every situation.

The power of the Spirit provides us with the fullness of Christ to meet all the demands in life, power to live victoriously and radiantly.

The issue is this: How can we live like Christ in the modern world? How can we live to the glory of God and not for ourselves? It is quite possible to lack the power of the Holy Spirit but have great confidence in our own strength, capacities, and abilities. We read that to live by the Holy Spirit is to have all the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22, 23). There is so much that should belong to our daily lives that we do not yet possess.