6f Christian Foundation – The Holy Spirit Produces Jesus in us
So far in our blog we have been discussing the Christian Foundations on who the Holy Spirit is, His character, nature and work in the Old Testament. Then we continued with His work in the New Testament and in Jesus Follower’s lives. In doing this research, I personally and continually will be amazed at how the depth and strength of our faith rests in the amount we allow the Holy Spirit to be in our life! We have that choice!
In this post, we will continue with the work the Holy Spirit was sent to do – for the Lord’s body, the church and again in our own life. Then we will jump right in the middle of the debate on the Baptism with/in/through the Holy Spirit. This is a preparation for another post which emphases the Biblical teachings and personal experience in this area.
Remember as we have said before, there is a difference between the church as a building and the people that the Lord has gathered together that are the church. His church doesn’t always have to met in ‘a church’, the building.
G. THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH/PEOPLE
1. The Holy Spirit Selects Leadership
It is God’s intent that the Holy Spirit be the “Leader” of the church today. Since the Spirit established the church on the day of Pentecost, He has maintained the church throughout history. He is the One who is meant to be our power Source.
| The Spirit came at Pentecost – Acts 2:1-4 He dwells in the church – 1 Corinthians 3:16, Ephesians 2:22 He is to appoint officers – Acts 20:28
He is to direct decisions – Acts 15:28 He was the One who Chose missionaries – Acts 13:2 He directs the mission work – Acts 8:29, 39, 16:6-7 He brings forth fruit – Galatians 5:22-23 He equips the saints – Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-13 |
2. The Personality of the Church body of people is being Built by the Spirit
The Spirit was involved in Church leadership from the beginning. The church is built on the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus as the foundation or the “cornerstone that the builders rejected”, Ephesians 2:20-22. The selection of the church’s current leadership is also to be guided by prayer and seeking the wisdom of the Spirit.
The power Source to reach the lost came from the Spirit in the early church and is meant to be our power-source today for witnessing: “… you will receive power…”, (Gk dunamis), Acts 1:8.
3. The church as a body is meant to work in Unity with the Holy Spirit
There is no limit to the power of unity as we see in the book of Acts. The early church was “.. all in one accord…”, Acts 1:14. They were united in purpose, concern and power. They were willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel, Acts 5:40-41. Persecuted they were, but God used this to fan the flames of the gospel to other parts of the world.
H. THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK IN OUR REPRODUCTION
1. He is sent to build character
He is developing the fruits of the Spirit in us. He teaches us patience, perseverance, gives us joy, builds faith, brings peace, helps us be faithful, practice goodness and faith.
“… because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance … so that you will be mature, not lacking anything.” James 1:2
2. He brings conviction – Acts 16:30-31, John 16:7-14. He leads towards holiness – Romans 15:16. He causes compassion – Acts 20:31. He Continues in healing us – Isaiah 53:5. Helps overcome us Satan – Ephesians 6:10-18, Mark 16:17. He gives gifts – 1 Corinthians 12:1, 8-10. He produces fruits – Gal 5:22.
3. We are commanded to be full of the Holy Spirit – Ephesians 5:18. He helps us love God – John 4:24. Helps us love others, Matthew 5:44, John 13:35, Ephesians 5:25-33. Why? …..to reach the lost, the build the body of Christ, the Church – and we as individuals – must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Forms and rituals will not accomplish the Great Commission given by Jesus, Mark 16:15-16.
I. THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Once we accept Jesus Christ as the Saviour, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. The baptism of the Spirit is different than salvation or water baptism (compare John 20:22 with Acts 2:4). Sad to say, no other single topic has divided and confused believers in our time than the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
So we gently approach the topic with the following points:
1. The purpose – to bring the power to witness, Luke 24:49, Acts 1: 4:31, a “dynamite” power to preach, teach and share the gospel with others. The disciples were commissioned to carry on the work of Jesus but they needed the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this work.
2. All believers have the Holy Spirit – Without His witness to us, we would not know the reality of the existence of God or of the work of Jesus.
3. We were given ‘The promise’ – Joel 2:28-29 predicted the Spirit being given “… to all flesh…”. Jesus repeated this promise as being the “promise of the Father”. This ‘PROMISE’ was not fulfilled until the day of Pentecost when the first 120 people knew His power.
4. It is a Sign of the Holy Spirit – Supernatural happenings witnessed to the believer, John 7:38-39 and to the “pre-believer”, in 1 Corinthians 14:22. Tongues confounds the mind, stretches our Faith and inspires our worship of God. This “badge” helps us “be built up in the spirit”, to become a stronger Christian, 1 Corinthians 14:4-5. We sahll address the issue of ‘tongues‘ and ‘other languages’ in a later post.
5. The Baptism is for all people – We are told “… not to forbid tongues…”,1 Corinthians 14:39. The act of the Holy Spirit in baptising people has not “been done away with” since the day of Pentecost. It is still valuable and available for us today. We will develop this topic in more detail in our next post
J. THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
Another area that causes confusion among believers is what Jesus meant when He talked about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Matthew 12:31-32. This is a sin that cannot be forgiven. “….and so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven….”. As a counsellor, I have had people ask, “Is He talking about adultery as though that cannot be forgiven, or lustful actions or …..” Usually if people have to ask, they have not committed ‘the unforgivable sin’. It has to do with hearing and obeying the convictions of the Holy Spirit.
The context suggests:
1. Attributing the word of the Holy Spirit to the devil, or
2. Ignoring and repeatedly denying the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible makes it plain that God, for the sake of Christ, forgives every sin for which we repent. ….but since it is the Spirit who gives conviction and teaches us about Christ, the sin against the Spirit involves consciously and wilfully resisting His attempts to draw us to Christ. In other words, this is the sin of persistent unbelief that Jesus is referring to. God’s voice is weaker and weaker for those who continue to resist His call, Isaiah 28:15-18, and “He gives them over……” to fulfil their lusts, Romans 1:24, until those lost ones are ready for the reality of God.
K. CONCLUSIONS
The celebration called Pentecost began the early church. Within thirty-two years, most of the Western world had heard about Christ. The early believers had no printing press, literature, church buildings or even the Bible to spread the gospel. The “Holy Ghost Power” was the moving force Who gave them their direction and they turned their world upside down.
In our next post, we continue the viewing the work of the Holy Spirit by looking at the New Birth. What does it mean to be “born again” and how does this happen? Join us next week and explore “The New Creation Reality”.
Thanks for joning us and I hope these posts on the Work and Character of the Holy Spirit has caused lots of thoughts, discussion and seeing what the Word says about this very important Person in your life,
Susanne Fengler, Blog Author
www.christianfoundations.jesus-treeoflife.info
Tags: part 3 Holy Spirit
Filed under: Foundations of our Faith
Thanks Marcie for your encouragement! It is good to know people are reading and enjoying my blog. You might also enjoy reading my other blog: http://www.hearinggod.mentorsnotebook.com/blog or a new blog: http://www.conflictsolutions.mentorsnotebook.com or my newest one: http://www.totalwholeness.mentorsnotebook.com My prayers for you – that the info and truth you received can get from your head to your heart, Susanne
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