Work of the Holy Spirit

• 1.1 The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
  • Definition: The Holy Spirit’s activity in the Old Testament includes creation, empowerment for service, and inspiration of the prophets.
  • Scriptural Basis: “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4); “Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon” (Judges 6:34).
  • Key Points:
    • The Spirit’s role in creation and sustaining life (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6).
    • Empowerment of judges, kings, and prophets (1 Samuel 16:13; Ezekiel 2:2).
• 1.2 The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
  • Definition: The Holy Spirit’s work in the New Testament includes the incarnation of Christ, His empowerment for ministry, and His role in the life of believers and the church.
  • Scriptural Basis: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35); “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Luke 4:1).
  • Key Points:
    • The Spirit’s role in Jesus’ conception, baptism, ministry, and resurrection (Matthew 1:18; Luke 3:22; Romans 8:11).
    • The Spirit’s role in the outpouring at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
• 1.3 The Holy Spirit and Salvation
  • Regeneration: The Holy Spirit gives new life to the believer, often referred to as being “born again.”
    • Scriptural Basis: “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit’” (John 3:5).
    • Key Points: Regeneration is the work of the Spirit in giving spiritual life to the dead sinner (Titus 3:5).
  • Indwelling: The Holy Spirit dwells within every believer, making them a temple of God.
    • Scriptural Basis: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
    • Key Points: The indwelling Spirit assures the believer of their salvation and relationship with God (Romans 8:16).
  • Baptism of the Holy Spirit: The act of the Holy Spirit placing the believer into union with Christ and other believers.
    • Scriptural Basis: “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
    • Key Points: This occurs at the moment of salvation and is distinct from water baptism (Ephesians 4:5).
  • Sealing: The Holy Spirit seals believers, marking them as God’s own and guaranteeing their inheritance.
    • Scriptural Basis: “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
    • Key Points: The seal of the Spirit is a guarantee of our future inheritance and a mark of God’s ownership (2 Corinthians 1:22).
  • Sanctification: The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in transforming believers into the image of Christ.
    • Scriptural Basis: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
    • Key Points: The Spirit produces Christlike character and fruit in believers (Galatians 5:22-23).