The Role of the Holy Spirit

Good morning everybody, welcome back from our brief break. This morning we are going to cover the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, within the context of our general study of “The Search For Significance”. Before we start into the lesson I want to go over the chart of the four false beliefs (which we have labeled big lies), their consequences, God’s solutions and resulting benefits. It is found on pages 118 and 119, and I have reproduced it on a separate sheet for our convenience, with some added Scripture references. The four false beliefs are:

· I MUST MEET CERTAIN STANDARDS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT MYSELF.

This first lie is about performing to feel worthy.

· I MUST BE APPROVED BY CERTAIN OTHERS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT MYSELF.

This second lie is about getting approval from others to feel worthy.

· THOSE WHO FAIL ARE UNWORTHY OF LOVE AND DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED.

This third lie is about condemnation leading us to feel unworthy.

And lastly we come to the biggest lie of all:

· I AM WHAT I AM. I CANNOT CHANGE. I AM HOPELESS.

This lie is about a sense of personal shame leading us to feel unworthy.

As you can see from column two of our chart these false beliefs lead to fears. Fears of failure, rejection, punishment and the most debilitating fear of all, unworthiness.

In column three we see that through Christ’s finished work on the cross all these false beliefs and the resulting fears can be banished from our lives. God provides us with His answer to the enemy’s lies. He provides us the solutions of Justification, Reconciliation, Propitiation and Regeneration. In column four we see the results of His solutions to our problems of submitting our minds and hearts to the false beliefs. In the last column I have provided scriptures that capture these solutions.

Now we come to the point in our study where we are going to be truly challenged, and this is the challenge:

· Am I going to allow God to help me change?

This is such an important question that I am going to recommend that each of us writes it in the front of our Bible, let’s do it now, and record today’s date. This is so that when you see this question in the future you will be able to tell if you actually did allow God to work in your life.

Let me repeat the question, “Am I going to allow God to help me change?” Now let’s discuss what this means to you. Most of us here will immediately say “yes” to this question, and that is one of the core motivations we have for even coming here this morning to study together. It is an honest answer, but it is also naïve. Let’s look at what this question means from the perspective of practicality and in the context of our “Search For Significance”.

If we ask God to change us we are going to ask Him to do the following things:

· Remove the four false beliefs from our hearts.
· Replace them with His truth about Justification, Reconciliation, Propitiation and Regeneration.

Sounds simple, right? It sounds like something God can easily do, after all isn’t He all-powerful? The question I have for you is will He do it if we ask? The answer is yes and no! Yes He will help us, but no He won’t do it for us. Let us be sure to understand this situation.

We have talked many times about how we were created. We are made in God’s image, and one of the truths that result from this fact is that, just like God, we are persons having a free will. It would violate God’s character through disrespecting our personhood to impose change on us. What He does do is to work, through the Holy Spirit, to help us change. We sometimes even rightly refer to the Holy Spirit as the, “agent of change”! Let’s take a look at three Scriptures from the Gospel of John that speak to this:

John 14:16-17: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. NASU

John 14:25-26: "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. NASU

John 15:26-27: "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. NASU

Jesus called His own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Helper! (In some translations the English words are comforter (KJV) or counselor (NIV) or advocate (NLT)) It has always been God’s plan that the Holy Spirit would come to the earth to be among us to help us change from being children of darkness to children of light. From being people who believe lies to people who believe truth and from people of disobedience to people of obedience. I think it is time to look at how He, the Holy Spirit, works to help us change.

There are two basic mechanisms that God has set in place for the work of His Spirit. The Spirit works from the outside or the inside of a person. It is really that simple! What is important to understand is that the Spirit chooses to work from the outside or inside based on how a person responds. Let me now start to expand these two thoughts of inside/outside work and our responsiveness.

Where the Holy Spirit Starts

The place to start is acknowledging and understanding that every person comes into life as an unbeliever. Scripture has a word that is sometimes used to describe all unbelievers; it calls them “the world”. In Jn 16:8-11 Jesus identifies the primary and initial purpose for the Holy Spirit being sent, let’s read what it says, Jn 16:8-11:

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. NASU

What does this mean (Discuss)? Yes, it is as straightforward as it sounds. The Holy Spirit’s primary role is to inform every person of three things:

· Their personal sin, their individual offenses against God’s holy standards.
· The right way to live a holy life, which was demonstrated by Christ when He lived among us.
· The coming eternal condemnation and punishment through the exercise of God’s perfect justice.

This means that every day, every non-believer is convicted of these three things until they either become a Christ follower or physically die.

The question I want to pose and answer is how does the Holy Spirit actually do this, how does he convict a non-believer? Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

The Basics of the Soul

To try to understand this we must first remember what our being is made of, and we have talked about this in class a few times. We are a “soul” created in God’s image, carried around in a physical body that was manufactured for just that purpose. (Genesis chapter 2 has the story of the creation of man)

It is generally agreed upon that the soul of a human, which is the part of us made in God’s image, has three parts to it, the mind, heart and will. The mind is where knowledge, understanding and wisdom reside, the heart is where values, attitudes and beliefs are found, and in the will we have the attributes of choice, control and the gate. It is this gate found in the will of each human that is vitally important to understand. This gate is the boundary of our soul. Before I talk more about this gate, let us look at a scripture that might bring us all an “aha” moment of new understanding. In Jn 10:7-10 we see an important statement about a gate, which is called a door in some versions:

So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. " I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. NASU

Jesus calls himself the gate or door, meaning he is the way into God. Being “in Christ” means you have walked through that gate. Just as God has a gate, so do we, and it is an important thing to know. Let’s look at it and do it in the context of how the Holy Spirit works in the life of the unbeliever first.

From the moment of conception you open and close your gate to things. Mostly we open our gates to let in things when we are young, we often call this learning. As we get older we start to discriminate about what we let in and what we let out. We have already stated that the Holy Spirit is constantly communicating conviction to an unbeliever. The message of conviction is one of many received by an unbeliever every day. Each day the unbeliever chooses to allow, or disallow, these into his or her soul through the gate. These messages are then tested within the soul by comparing them to what the person “knows” and “believes”. The unbeliever then either rejects, as in ejects out of the gate, or accepts the message.

When an unbeliever rejects the message of the Holy Spirit, he or she is simply denying the truth. As a person gets older he or she develops the ability to reject the message of the Spirit more easily, this is often called a hardened heart. This message rejection is often accompanied with anger, as all of the convicting messages challenge a non-believers belief system. This is why people sometimes get upset when you witness to them.

The Holy Spirit has many ways that He can deliver His messages of conviction to a non-believer’s gate, can you think of some?

· An audible voice.
· Through a believer’s testimony.
· Through witnessing.
· Through circumstances.
· By TV or radio.

There is really no way we could list every possible way that a convicting message could be delivered to a non-believer. They all have something in common, and that its that the non-believer has to choose to accept the conviction of the Holy Spirit by allowing the message to reach his or her heart so that can be changed. The gate must be opened, the message received and a profession of faith stated as described by Rom 10:9-10:

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. NASU

That is then how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a non-believer. He delivers convicting messages, and that is all. God will never invade the soul of a person who doesn’t choose to open his or her gate; it is always the non-believers choice.

How About the Holy Spirit’s Work in the Believer?

This is much more interesting! Why do you think I might say that? (Discuss) It is because for a non-believer the Holy Spirit has to work from the outside only, for the believer He can work from the inside of the soul and from the outside. Can you think of some of the implications for us? Let’s look at some important ones.

Conviction – Even though we are saved we will still sin. Having the Holy Spirit inside us allows Him to convict us without us putting up an external barrier. He is able to speak directly to our minds and hearts to show us where we let ourselves down. The Spirit will help us by pointing out where we slip into unrighteousness so we can change direction, which the Bible calls repenting, and live a more righteous life.

While this subject could be a study all by itself, I do want to point out by simply reading the Scripture what our part is, in responding to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let’s look at 2 Pet 1:5-8:

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. NASU

In this passage Peter tells us to do the things he has listed for us so that we might become “fruitful” and “effective” in God’s service. Some people have asked God, “What can I do for you”. What we have just read is part of God’s answer and I am going to translate it here for you. Imagine that this is God speaking directly to you, close your eyes and listen if you would like.

Do the things I’ve listed here as a response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, then I can use you. The more you work and build these qualities into your daily life the more I can use you. And the more you do this the more I can fill you with my Holy Spirit, which will bring you power to accomplish more of my purposes in you.

Do you see how it works? The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin and unrighteousness, you respond by repenting and going to work on these virtues. God sees you responding in accordance with His instructions so He, through the Holy Spirit’s power, begins to make you more effective in His service. God will always do His part in this process, will you?

Sanctification – This can be thought of as the second level of salvation. It is the cleaning up process we go through for our entire lives as Christians. Paul puts it this way in Ph 2:12-13:

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. NASU

This is part of the work of the Holy Spirit in every believer, the cleaning up of the mind and heart. The removal of lies and replacing them with truth. This is what this entire study has been about. Did anybody recognize that they were being sanctified by the Holy Spirit during the last few weeks? How does it feel to know that he was working away inside your soul alongside you as you studied, helping to guide your heart and mind into new and improved states? (Discuss)

Revelation – I’m not talking here about the kinds of things John wrote about in the last book of the Bible. I’m talking about ordinary everyday life.

Another work of the Holy Spirit is the revealing of a truth to you that you would otherwise not know. This is a revelation and it is a miracle, a supernatural working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. It can happen to you at any moment, and it will always happen in God’s timing, and it will always happen to serve God’s purposes.

Before I speak more to this, I want to ask if anybody has some experiences with these kinds of personal revelations and is willing to share them.

While it is true that God can reveal, through the Holy Spirit, anything to any person at any time and in any way he chooses, it is also true that there are some ways He chooses more frequently. Let’s list them:

· Thoughts.
· Senses, or emotive stirrings.
· Dreams.
· Visions.

Let us all understand this accurately. The things I’m talking about can only happen to believers, and this is why. The thought, sense or other revelation being given comes from inside of the soul through the power of the Holy Spirit. They are actually the Holy Spirit’s thoughts or dreams, and we experience them. They are meant for the good of the receiver or the good of the body of Christ, and always for God’s purposes. The best example of this in scripture is the revelation of Christ to Peter. It is found in Matt 16:13-17:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. NASU

Simon Peter received the revelation through the Spirit, and Jesus confirmed that through His verbal acknowledgement. Technically speaking Peter didn’t receive this from the Spirit inside him, because Jesus hadn’t sent Him yet, but Peter did receive this message through God’s Spirit, which was in Jesus who was standing right beside him. It is still an example though because today the Holy Spirit stands beside any person who is a believer, only it is no longer a physical positioning, it is a spiritual position.

Every one of us here can receive personal revelations. I say that we ought to expect them, look for them, and be ready to respond to them in Godly ways.

Giftings – At the moment of salvation a new believer is given at least one spiritual gift, this is detailed out in 1 Cor 12:1-12 which we are not going to read. Our concern here is how the Holy Spirit works in and through us using the gifts we have all been given.

This is the deal. You have been given a gift, and you are to use it for the unifying and edifying of the body of Christ. In other words, to make the church a wholesome place and to build and strengthen it. If you are leaving the gift unused, then the Holy Spirit will respect your choice and not work through you. The church is at its best when all the believers are using their spiritual gifts together; this is because that is when empowerment of the Holy Spirit is at its maximum. Paul speaks to this subject in Eph 4:11-12:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; NASU

The last thing I want to say is this. If you want to experience the power of God in your life, you must exercise your spiritual gifts. You have control over whether you do this; God supplies the spiritual energy, you supply the willing heart. God wants His Holy Spirit to empower you, and He will respect whatever choice you make.

Finally today I am going to connect all I have been teaching about the Holy Spirit to our “Search”.

Our “Search” has been about finding out where we incorrectly try to get our self-worth, or sense of who we are, from. We have discovered that our self worth is deeply affected by four major personal fears. These fears are failure, rejection, punishment and exposure. We have seen how God has provided the antidotes to these fears through the sacrifice of His son. The antidotes are Justification, Reconciliation, Propitiation and Regeneration.

It is the Holy Spirit who will convict us of incorrect thinking, and encourage us to match our thoughts and beliefs against the word of God. It is the Holy Spirit who will help us to become sanctified by cleaning up the garbage we have in our minds and hearts that limits our ability to lead an abundant Christian life. It is the Holy Spirit who will reveal things to us as we get more and more in tune with the mind of God, demonstrating that God is with us, that we are never alone or abandoned. It is the Holy Spirit that first brings us at least one spiritual gift, and then shows His power in us as we use it or them for God’s glory.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us our faith is enhanced, and built up. As we become more and more filled with the Holy Spirit through His actions in and through us, the fears of this world will begin to fade away. As all these things take place in our lives we will see nine things growing in our lives. Let us see what they are, they are found in Gal 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. NASU

With these fruits in your life, how can you worry about how others perceive you, after all God is helping you to bear these fruits through His Holy Spirit.

That is all for today, next week, which is our last “Search” lesson, I will be teaching about some of the nuts and bolts of how to move from false beliefs to healthy beliefs.