I, like many others, lived the first nearly twenty years of my Christian life without being taught in what way the Holy Spirit is our Helper, as Jesus promised. I caught glimpses of Jesus' teaching in the Scriptures; but I was too distracted by trying to measure up to the "church's" doctrines, rules and expectations to really understand the biblical teaching.

I found Dr. Stanley's book in a used book store for a few dollars. Dr. Stanley, like Phillip explained a passage from Isaiah to the Ethiopian, opened my eyes to see the clear biblical teaching about the Holy Spirit.

I always read any book with the realization it conveys interpretation which can be wrong or distorted from the actual intention of those writing the Scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I believe in the authority of the Scriptures as being inspired by God; but interpretation, though necessary, is only authoritative if it is in agreement with God's message to us. We do have to learn to separate what the Scriptures actually say from the way they are interpreted. We can ask God for wisdom and discernment so we can.

God sent his Holy Spirit to give us the power to discern truth from error. We have to be willing to do what God says, not merely, know what he says, in order to grow in understanding spiritual things.

Dr. Stanley writes out of his own personal experience and his considerable biblical knowledge. He encourages living by faith:

"The Spirit-filled life is a life of faith. It started by faith, and it runs on faith. It is faith from start to finish…The Bible never makes a distinction between the faith that saved us from the penalty of sin once and for all and the faith that saves us from the power of sin daily. It is all the same… Faith is believing that God will do as He has promised. Faith is not a power. It's not something we are supposed to drum up inside ourselves. Faith is trusting that God will honor His promises. That is all there is to it. Our part in the faith process is fairly simple. We are to go about our lives---making decisions, handling crises, raising our families, and so on--- as if God is really going to do what He said He would do. That is what it means to walk by faith."

He explains the work of the Holy Spirit in producing fruit, and distributing gifts for service. He emphasizes the need to be close to God in knowing what the Bible says, in prayer with God, in humility of being willing to trust and obey God. He gives some strong warnings as well.