When most people become Christians, they know instinctively that they had nothing to do with it. I’ve walked alongside many people as they were just starting to put their faith in Christ, and I can’t count how many times people have told me that God dragged them kicking and screaming into his family. They always use those words “kicking and screaming” because they know they were running the opposite direction from God until he hunted them down and invaded their lives with his grace and love.

If you’re a Christian, you know you weren’t saved because of anything you did or even anything you decided, it was all because of Jesus, through the power of the Spirit. But then, after a little while, you wanted to grow in your faith. So you asked someone how to make that happen. And someone gave you a list of things to do. They taught you to pray and read your Bible. They helped you join a community group for fellowship. They taught you how to fight against sin.

All good things. But the idea you started to get in your head was, “Jesus got me in to this club, but it’s all on me to keep moving up in this club. The Spirit helped me enter the faith, but now it’s all on me to advance in the faith.”

Paul has a question for you: “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). You started with the Spirit, right? You know it’s the Spirit who saved you, right? So do you think you’re advancing beyond the Spirit now? You think you don’t need the Spirit anymore? You think you can do better than the Spirit? Seriously?

The Bible says you’re completely dependent on the Spirit. For everything. There are dozens of things the Scriptures say you need the Spirit for. Here’s three:

1. The Spirit makes you holy.

It’s the Spirit who makes you more godly. As Peter says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises” (2 Peter 1:3-4). God has given you his power, and it’s come through very great promises. Peter’s referring back to the sermon he preached at Pentecost in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers. Everybody around was weirded out by what they saw in the believers, but Peter said this is exactly what God promised.

God’s power has come to us through the Holy Spirit inside us, and this power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Life and godliness. In other words, the Spirit will make you more godly in every area of your life. In your family. With your roommates. At your job. At your school. Even when you’re all alone, and nobody else is looking. Only the Spirit can make you holy then.

2. The Spirit gives you guidance.

The Spirit shows you where to go and what to do. As Jesus said to the disciples, “When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The truth is in God’s Word, and the Spirit helps you experience the truth so you can appreciate the truth and then apply the truth. Without a guide, the truth is just theoretical.

For example, I could tell you all about this incredible place in Vietnam called the Marble Mountains. I could tell you how they were formed by intense geological pressure on limestone deposits in the soil, and then a series of earthquakes pushed them up out of the ground into mountains, and then rainwater seeped through and formed these caves that are hundreds of feet tall. And you would say, “Hmmmm…. that’s really interesting. … I wonder what’s new on Instagram?” It’s all theoretical!

But if I actually take you along with me to Vietnam as your guide, you can see the Marble Mountains for yourself. These huge slabs of marble going hundreds of feet straight up into the air. I can guide you into these huge caverns that are like cathedrals inside the mountain. You’ll put your hand against the wall, and you’ll say, “Amazing! How in the world did this incredible place come into existence?” And I’ll say, “Well, funny you should ask. They were formed by intense geological pressure on limestone deposits in the soil, and then a series of earthquakes pushed them up into mountains.” And you’ll say, “No way! That’s amazing!” That’s how the Spirit guides you into the truth of God’s word, so you can live out the truth of God’s word.

But then, there are times when you need guidance about things that aren’t in God’s word. Like in Acts 13, when the church in Antioch wanted to send out some church planters, but they weren’t sure who to send. They were praying and fasting, and it says “The Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'” (Acts 13:2).They didn’t have a Bible verse to tell them who to send, so they needed the Holy Spirit to guide them into God’s will. There are many times when we’re in the same boat, so we need the Spirit to give us guidance.

3. The Spirit gives you gifts.

The Spirit empowers you to serve God, the church, and the world. As Paul says, “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1 Corinthians 12:5-6). In other words, do you want to serve God? That’s great, but it’s God himself who has empower you to do that. And he does it through the gifts of the Spirit.

And you need to understand that there are varieties of gifts, all from the same Spirit. Maybe you think the preacher needs the Spirit, but you’re just taking down chairs after the service. Do you really need the Spirit for that? Absolutely. You need the Spirit empowering you to serve with joy when others flake out. You need the Spirit empowering you to serve with perseverance when the work gets tough. You need the Spirit giving you servant-hearted compassion for people when it just seems like a task to be fulfilled.

You need the Spirit for everything.