Part 2: Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Purpose of this study-

1. Understand the importance of the indwelling for you and others--having the Holy Spirit is a salvation matter.
2. How do we know we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
3. The Spirit is how we know we are a people of God or not a people of God.
4. How do you better understand “being in step with the Spirit?”

Question to ask throughout: What does each passage teach us about the Holy Spirit?

John 1:33

• Spirit descended and rested on Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist.
• Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit--what does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Ephesians 1:13-14 (also 2Corinthians 5:5)

• Sealed with the promised Holy Spirit as a down payment--guaranteeing what is to come!
• Biblically speaking, the point in time when you receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the only mention of a salvation that is guaranteed.
• Where do you receive the Holy Spirit?

Acts 2:4, 38-39 (also see Acts 10:44; 5:32 and Galatians 3:26-27; 4:6)

• The apostles were all “filled with the Holy Spirit,” empowering them to speak boldly and in other languages (on-dwelling of the Spirit, which we will get into more in further studies).
• Ref. apostle Peter’s quotation of Joel in Acts 2:17-21: Outpouring from God’s perspective, baptism (overwhelming) from human perspective (pouring water over a coin is a good example).
• It wasn’t for show, but had a great purpose: getting the gospel out.
• Peter gives them the answer to accepting the gospel personally: Repent (inward transformation) and be baptized (dip, immerse) in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• It doesn’t say they all started performing miraculous signs and wonders, speaking tongues, etc., but the receiving was indwelling.
• This process describes the point that you receive salvation (John 3:5; Romans 8:9; Titus 3:5)
  

1Corinthians 12:12-13

• Here is another description of a baptism of the Spirit (back to John 1:33 and similar passages), where this baptism by the Holy Spirit is when a person is spiritually born into the body of Christ.
• Henceforth, just as a new birth spiritually involves water and the Spirit (John 3:5; Titus 3:5), so baptism is immersion in water (Acts 8:36) and the Spirit (1Corinthians 12:13).
• Where actually three stand as testimony of this guaranteed salvation: Spirit, water, and blood (To be inspired with confidence on high read 1John 5:6-12)
  

Acts 19:1-7; John 7:38-39

• They hadn’t received the Spirit, which accompanies forgiveness of sins.
• They already believed in a sense higher than most people today mean belief. People today do not have nearly the same level of sacrifice by simply professing faith in Christ, whereas Jews in first century Palestine would have a big challenge (John 8:30-32 is what Jesus said to similar Jews).
• They didn’t receive the Holy Spirit when they believed because they hadn’t been baptized into Christ (Romans 6:1-4) and received the indwelling of the Spirit, as we saw back in Acts 2:38-39.
• Apollos and the disciples of John the Baptist were still functioning under the Old Covenant, without a full understanding of the New Covenant salvation through Christ, although all the prophets pointed to Him. Really all of them in this context were shown the way of God more adequately (Acts 18:26).
  
  The Major Conversions in Acts: see how all of them confirm HS guaranteed salvation
  
  A. Conversions
  1. Acts 2:36-47 First Christian in Jerusalem
  2. Acts 8:26-39 Ethiopian Eunuch
  3. Acts 16:22-34 Philippian jailer and his family
  4. Acts 18:24-26 Apollos
  5. Acts 19:1-5 Ephesians
  6. Acts 9:1-22 Paul
  7. Acts 22:3-16 Paul
  
  B. Questions concerning Conversions
  1. What was preached?
  2. What was the person's (people's) response to the message?
  3. How long did the person (people) take to make the decision?
  4. What was their response after baptism?

HOLY POWER WITHIN
1Corinthians 6:19-20

• How does this passage aid you in holy, godly living?
• The Holy Spirit living in you means you are not your own.

Romans 8:9-17 (especially vs.9 for this study)

• What is this passage saying is the significance of the Spirit living in you?
• Of course, you’re living in the (physical) world but are not of the world (John 17:9-16), meaning your life, which is as a sinner, is now hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3).
• In John 14:23, Jesus says, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Ephesians 3:14-21

• How does the Holy Spirit strengthen us from within?

2Corinthians 3:18 and 2 Timothy 1:7

• Two helpful verses hitting on how the Spirit transforms you from the inside out, which we will look at in more detail in the coming lessons, but please be meditating on this in prayer before hand.

SUMMARIZE IN YOUR OWN WORDS {Now ask yourself, has this study accomplished its purpose stated above?}

1. What is the importance of the Holy Spirit living in you?
2. How do you know you have the Holy Spirit?
3. Do you see that your place in God’s family, your adoption as a son or daughter, is confirmed by the Holy Spirit?
4. How does this help you better be in step with the Spirit?

The Holy Spirit, Part 1: In step with the Spirit!

Introduction of topic-

Ÿ         What is the key factor to spiritual growth when you read through the Acts of the Apostles?

Ÿ         The Holy Spirit is the greatest factor of spiritual growth in the first century.

Ÿ         I am going to refer to the Holy Spirit with the pronoun "He" for reasons we will get into more later, but just to let you know now He has a mind, will, and affections (Romans 8:27; 1Corinthians 12:11; Romans 15:30)--and many bible versions use that pronoun as well.

Ÿ         So, He is the key character in the book of Acts, the One who miraculously works spiritual growth!

Ÿ         His power is true in the lives recorded in the bible, and it is true for us here today!

Ÿ         The bible calls these fruits of the Spirit--spiritual fruits. <Please be turning to that passage-Galatians 5:16-26>

Ÿ         I want us to begin seeing the importance of noticing the Holy Spirit, where you emphasize Him in an increasing way in your life!

Ÿ         This will be Part 1 of a series

 

In step with the Holy Spirit

Purpose of this lesson-

1.      We must go from acknowledging the Spirit in our lives to actually following Him in a very evident way.

2.      We will touch on the importance of producing fruit.

3.      Realize the Spirit characterizes your life-style as a Christian.  Everyone has a life-style.  That is what is meant by the "stepping" idea.  Our life-style in the kingdom of God is in step with the Spirit.

 

Read Galatians 5:16-26

Ÿ         What does "fruit" in this passage convey?

Ÿ         The "byproduct" or "result" of Him in our lives.

Ÿ         Jesus says something important about this in…

Matthew 7:15-20

Ÿ         He is mostly talking about how to recognize false prophets, people who appear to lead us to God but actually do not.

Ÿ         He does compare a good and bad tree--a prophet of God from one that is not of God--both are recognizable by their fruit.

Ÿ         I think this passage is hard because we're all sinners, and the leader who takes arrogance lightly should be avoided the most!

Ÿ         But I think this passage starts to indicate more of what is meant by fruit when we ask the question: what is the key difference between a true prophet and a false one?

Ÿ         Simply the result of a true prophet's teaching and life leads you to God, whereas and the other does not.  The former is a deeper connection to God, knowing God more and reflecting His will more.  The latter is becoming more delusional about God, more unlike Him, less of the person you see in Jesus and more like the person who rules this world.

Ÿ         Good news is 1John 4:4: You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 

Let's go back to Galatians 5...

Ÿ         Do you see a good fruit/bad fruit comparison in this chapter?

Ÿ         So the fruit of the Spirit is…

Ÿ         But is that all?  Is that an exhaustive list?

Ÿ         No, the point isn't to categorize all that comes from the Spirit because He works in so many awesome, wonderful, and even mysterious ways, such as saving someone from their sins--providing purification of those sins (the whole process of bringing someone into Christ is the Spirit's doing!).

Ÿ         We can also know each one of these in more detail.  For example, John 13:34-35, helps us see it as the love of Christ.

Ÿ         But we do know from this passage that the Spirit leaves an indelible mark on us.

Ÿ         But what does verse 25 say is God's will for us?

Ÿ         Since the verse says, "If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit," we must go from acknowledging the Spirit to actually following Him in a very practical, a very real way!

Ÿ         We have this passage and the real life example of Philip (Acts 8), where he was led by the Spirit…

Ÿ         Do you think being led by the Spirit is different for us than the people we read about in the book of Acts?  If so, how?

Ÿ         Being in step with the Spirit is an expression of our relationship with God.

2 Illustrations:

Ÿ         <picture a jogging in step with someone>  If the two people are "in step," they are matching one-another stride for stride.  How is this similar with our relationship to the Spirit?

Ÿ         <picture a yoke of oxen>  This concept is used 60 times in the bible.  Jesus to take His yoke upon us (Matthew 11:29-30), whereas the apostle Paul tells us not to be yoked with unbelievers (2Corinthians 6:14).

Personal Questions (for reflection and deeper personal bible time):

Ÿ         How are you sensing the Spirit's movement in your life?

Ÿ         How are you not in step with the Spirit? 

Ÿ         What "steps" is the Spirit calling you toward that you have been reluctant to step in?

Ÿ         Do you see the connection between producing the Spirit's fruit and being in step with the Spirit?  "If I am doing what the Spirit is doing, then I am going to have similar results the Spirit would have?"