I grew up in Kansas. The wind always blows–well, almost always. It blows all day and continues all night. It finds its way into the corners of the house and whines eerily in the darkness. When one is not used to the sound of the wind gushing around and through a house, the sound catches …
Category Archives: Holy Spirit
The Gifts of the Spirit Are Gifts
I share a quote from Jerry Lynch: “It took me quite a while to realize that the “spiritual gifts” (patience, kindness, and so forth) were simply that, gifts, and not to be employed as behavior modification mandates, or how a Christian should act. It is this shouldistic attitude toward life in the spirit that Christ …
Study Eight: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Unity
The presence of the Holy Spirit among God’s people is to be a source of unity. Christians are to maintain the “unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3). The HS binds God’s people together in a bond of peace. Every Christian has access to God through the same Spirit (Eph. 2:19), another evidence that all are …
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Study Seven: The Spirit Promises, a role in expectation
In Acts, the HS clearly has a role in expectation, a role that continues throughout the New Testament since the new Christian era is to be characterized by the continuing presence and work of God’s Spirit. The HS is connected with water baptism (2:38; 19:1-3). The promise of the HS is connected with baptism and …
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Study Six: The Holy Spirit Guides, Leads, and Influences
In Acts 16, positive direction from the Spirit came by means of a vision to Paul. The text says that a conclusion was drawn based on various factors that converged in Paul’s second missionary journey. Did Paul know that the Holy Spirit was involved? Did Paul recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit? Luke, who …
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Study Five: The Holy Spirit Empowers and Equips [various NT texts]
When people in Acts were filled with the Holy Spirit, the first thing they did was speak! An important part of the work of the HS in Acts and in the NT deals with the need to equip the early church with special gifts to assist with the spread of the gospel. This may be …
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Study Four: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Salvation [various NT texts]
The role of the Holy Spirit in salvation can be summarized in three concepts: Renewal, Transformation, and Liberation. These three concepts we will study, using three pairs of NT texts. The Spirit Renews In John 3, Jesus talks about two births — the first a birth of the flesh (a fleshly birth), the second a …
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Study Three: The Holy Spirit Brings Spiritual Words [1 Corinthians 2-3]
A careful study of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts focuses on three aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit — confirmation, empowerment, and expectation. This lesson explores the way the Holy Spirit worked in fulfillment, to confirm and validate God’s word for the first century believers. [If you have not already …
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Study Two: The Holy Spirit Confirms, Equips, and Promises [Acts 2-11]
The Holy Spirit Makes Clear the Presence of the Spiritual World in the midst of this Physical World! God has powerful ways of announcing his plans. He has powerful ways of accomplishing his will. Holy men of God spoke through the Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20-21). As God prepared a few reluctant, doubting disciples for the …
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Study One: The Holy Spirit–Who is He, What does He do? [John 14-16]
Overview In these studies, I hope you will find encouragement in the fact that the Holy Spirit is eager to work in your life to draw you closer to God. I have previously demonstrated in an academic paper (link appears below) that the primary roles of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts were …
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