God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

accepted Christ, and rejoiced with him as he gave his testimony, some of the parents in the church have recently begun to express concerns that he may be a danger to their children. Last Sunday a small group of parents came up to the pastor after church and said that if this man continued to attend the church, they would feel compelled to take their children elsewhere. How should the biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration and adoption guide the pastor as he talks with the parents and as he provides pastoral care for the new convert and the congregation?

I’m Not Sure What to Think

Janice has been a Christian for about two years. She has been a faithful church attender who has “soaked up” the Bible teaching offered through sermons and Bible studies. Everyone at the church would agree that she is a growing Christian who loves Jesus and wants to serve him faithfully. Recently she was reading the Book of Acts and came across Paul’s question to the disciples at Ephesus in Acts 19, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” She comes to you in an obvious state of confusion. She says, “I know that God came into me two years ago and changed me life. I’ve always assumed that was the work of the Holy Spirit but now I’m not so sure. Did I receive the Holy Spirit when I believed? Is there some other experience with the Holy Spirit that I need to have? I just don’t know what to think about all this.” What should you tell her? Why? The Holy Spirit of God is the one who regenerates us (makes us new) and adopts us into God’s family. To be baptized (immersed) in the Spirit of God both unites us to Christ and his Church and also gives us access to God’s power for holiness and witness. Christians disagree about whether the fulness of the Holy Spirit is received at conversion (Reformed view) or whether a distinct experience with the Holy Spirit to give the believer increased power should occur following conversion (Holiness and Pentecostal views).

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Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis