God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

/ 7 9

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

The Powerful Presence of the Holy Spirit Part One

page 249 1

Welcome in the strong name of Jesus Christ! After your reading, study, discussion, and application of the materials in this lesson, you will be able to: • Use the acrostic* “RABBIS” to remember the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. • Explain the meaning and theological significance of the Spirit’s role in the regeneration, adoption, and baptism of believers in Christ. • Understand agreements and differences among Christians over the meaning of “baptism in the Holy Spirit.” • Use the Scriptures to show that the work of the Holy Spirit is the means by which God regenerates, adopts, and baptizes those who place their faith in Christ Jesus. Read Matthew 3.1-12. Christians greatly respect John the Baptist (or John the Baptizer) since he is the forerunner of Jesus, and the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. But notice that when John the Baptist preached, he spoke about Jesus the Baptizer. John taught that his own baptism was one of repentance (that is, it would help people show that they were sorry for their sins and that they desired change) but the baptism that Jesus brought would be “mightier” than this. That baptismwould not be with water only but with the presence of the Holy Spirit of God. Like fire that burns up chaff, the Holy Spirit would bring not only sorrow for sin but also the destruction of sin. Notice carefully the symbol that Jesus chose to describe this baptism. He said that it would be a baptism of fire. Water only purifies the surface of an object, fire goes all the way through and purifies in a permanent and lasting way. In other words, Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit as a way of making us brand new. The preaching of John the Baptist reminds us that, from the very beginning Jesus came, not only to die for our sins, but also to make it possible for us to receive the Holy Spirit. Thank God, that he sent us not only John the Baptizer, but also Jesus the Baptizer, in order that we might experience the precious and powerful gift of his purifying Holy Spirit. Jesus the Baptizer

Lesson Objectives

* An acrostic is a word formed by the initial letters of other words or phrases and is used as a way to make ideas easy to memorize. One example of a popular acrostic used in evangelical churches is the word JOY, explained

like this: JOY comes when you put Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.

3

Devotion