Read Acts 5:32. Why is obedience to God’s Word an important condition for receiving the Holy Spirit? Then, as now, the Holy Spirit is granted to all who obey God. In the Bible, love and obedience go hand in hand, and true faith is expressed in obedience. If we trust God with all our hearts, … Continue reading –>
God’s Word points to certain conditions needed for the Spirit to abide in us. We will look at some important ones during the next two days. Read Acts 2:37-38. What is the first condition for receiving the Holy Spirit? One condition for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is repentance. Hearing the Word of … Continue reading –>
Read Ephesians 5:18, Acts 13:52, and Romans 8:9. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? How does being filled with the Spirit happen in our lives? Once we are baptized and belong to Christ, we should live in the power of the Spirit. For this to happen we have to be … Continue reading –>
Read Mark 1:8 (compare with Matt. 3:11, Luke 3:16, and John 1:33), Acts 1:5, and Acts 11:16. What other rite of initiation goes together with the baptism of the Spirit? In the New Testament there are only seven passages that speak about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Four of those passages go back to … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Mark 1:8; Eph. 5:18; Acts 13:52; Luke 11:8-10; Acts 5:32; Gal. 5:16-26. Memory Text: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10, NIV). As Christians, we must be filled with the Holy … Continue reading –>
Read Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 669-672, where she speaks about the Holy Spirit. Also read Evangelism, pp. 613-617. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the … Continue reading –>
The question of the personality of the Holy Spirit is of utmost importance, and it has highly practical implications. “If He is a divine person, and we think of Him as an impersonal influence, we are robbing a divine person of the deference, honor, and love that is His due.”-LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Coming of … Continue reading –>
Read John 14:6 and John 17:17. What is the meaning of truth in these passages? In the Gospel of John, the word truth is a key term. Our contemporary understanding of truth often is very abstract and theoretical. In the Western world it has been shaped by Greek philosophy. However, in the Bible, and particularly … Continue reading –>
A challenge we face in understanding the Holy Spirit is that we can imagine God as a Father in a somewhat tangible way. Many also have a concrete picture of Jesus, as He is described in the Gospels. He took our human nature and appeared to us in human form. The Holy Spirit, however, is … Continue reading –>
As you read the following texts, ask yourself if they sound as if they are talking about an impersonal force or about a divine Person. Rom. 8:14-16, Romans 8:27; Rom. 15:30; 1 Cor. 2:10; Acts 8:29; Acts 10:19-20; Acts 28:25. Can an impersonal force intercede in our behalf? Does an impersonal spirit or power have … Continue reading –>
