There is no way at all we should minimize the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but there are so many who are being led astray by wrong teaching about the Spirit. It is imperative that we know what the Bible teaches about this matter.
The Pentecostal/Charismatic movement in our day has elevated the Holy Spirit to a place which far supersedes even the exalted position God gave to Jesus. In the Divine plan, the Spirit was never the source of truth. Jesus said, “He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak . . .” (John 16:13). The work of the Spirit was to be the means by which the Spirit delivered the truth to the apostles and prophets who spoke and wrote these heavenly words. These words from the Spirit changed the lives of men. Paul described it this way, “By revelation He made known to me the mystery . . . by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:3-4). Our knowledge of the mystery of Christ does not come from direct operation of the Spirit “whispering” truths in our ears in the midnight hours of our meditations, but from reading the actual words of the Spirit found in a holy book!
Note also that the coming of the Spirit was never intended to result in the promotion of the Spirit. Jesus also said, “He will glorify Me . . .” (John 16:14). Yet in our day many, in their teaching on TV and in the books they sell, exalt the Spirit and His work far above Jesus and His work! It is not enough to have the Savior of the world within our hearts. We have missed it all without the relationship with the Spirit. They have relegated Jesus to a secondary place and exalted the Spirit far above Him.
Hear the exaltation the Bible gives to Jesus both in heaven and on the earth. “God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). “And He [God dj] put all things under His [Christ dj] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church…” (Eph. 1:22). “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers…that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:16-18). “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18).
The point is obvious. We are not living in the age which glorifies the Spirit. We are living in the age where the Spirit Himself revealed that we must honor Jesus!