Holy Spirit A Bible Study Course for Adults by John F. Vogt Leader s Guide Lesson One The Holy Spirit Is True God... 5 Lesson Two The Holy Spirit s Divine Names and Qualities...10 Lesson Three The Holy Spirit in Old Testament Times...16 Lesson Four The Holy Spirit s Work in the New Testament...22 Lesson Five The Holy Spirit s Main Work: Sanctification...28 Lesson Six Good Works from a New Nature...33 Lesson Seven Preservation of the Saints...40 Addendum 1 Foundational and Confirmatory Gifts...46 Addendum 2 Continuing Gifts for the Good of the Church...52 All rights reserved. New edition, 2008 Northwestern Publishing House 1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI 53226-3284 1998 by Northwestern Publishing House. Published 1998 Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-8100-0764-2
Holy Spirit Leader s Guide Page 2 To the Leader The leader has three resources for preparing to teach each lesson: this leader s guide, the resources or references on the computer disk included with this Bible study kit, and the book Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is part of the 25-volume series People s Bible Teachings, published by Northwestern Publishing House. References to Holy Spirit appear at the beginning of each lesson. The leader will want to have a copy of this book. This study has been written for classes in which class members are not expected to prepare in advance. It is not necessary for the class to have the book in order to benefit from the lessons. However, the leader will want to inform the class of the availability of the book Holy Spirit and may want to have copies of the book available for purchase. Class members will greatly benefit from reading the book as they work through the lessons. On the other hand, the leader may set up the course with the idea of working through the book Holy Spirit by using these lessons as a study guide. In that case, each class member will want to purchase his or her own book before the class begins. Each lesson begins and ends with a suggested prayer. The leader may want to write his own prayer or have an ex corde prayer. The prayers that are supplied have been written with the lesson for the day in mind. The opening prayer looks ahead to the lesson to be studied, and the closing prayer is directed toward application of the truths learned. Goals are offered for each lesson. The goals state the truths to be learned, along with ways in which these truths can strengthen our faith and life. The leader should keep these goals in mind as the lesson is being taught and discussed in order to keep the proper focus for each lesson. Most student questions follow the passages. Where there are two or more passages with one question following them, the leader will want to read all the passages and then discuss the question. However, in some cases the question precedes the passages and applies to each of them. In this case the leader is to treat each passage separately and discuss how the passage answers the question. The leader will want to note those sections in advance. The format should make it clear which approach is to be used. Each lesson has been designed to fit into a 45- to 60-minute class session. Two lessons on the gifts of the Spirit are provided as supplemental lessons. Depending on the amount of time available for the class, they can be omitted or inserted between lessons six and seven. Or, coupled with lesson six, they can serve as a short three-session standalone class on spiritual gifts. A sign-up sheet for class members to order the book Holy Spirit is included in this kit. Class leaders can place an order after the first class period and distribute the books at the second. See the sheet for details. John F. Vogt
Holy Spirit Leader s Guide Page 3 Using the computer CD included in this Bible study kit Thank you for purchasing an NPH Bible study kit. The computer CD included with this Bible study offers resources to help you prepare to teach God s Word to his people. What will I find on the CD? Each CD contains two text files, GUIDES.TXT and RESOURCE.TXT, and two directories, GUIDES and RESOURCE. Read the short text files first. The GUIDES.TXT file tells you what is in the GUIDES directory. It lists the various formats for the student s guide copy masters. The RESOURCE.TXT file tells you what is in the RESOURCE directory. It contains a list of articles and resource material you may find helpful in preparing to teach the course. How do I open the text files? There are no programs on this CD. In other words, there is nothing you need to install on your computer and run. These are simple files, such as a letter or sermon you might save on your hard drive. To use these files, simply open them as you would any other file. Most word processors have a window in which you can navigate to various places to locate files. You will need to tell your word processor that you want to find a file on the drive in which you inserted the Bible study CD. This will usually be drive c: or d:. If you are using a Windows word processor, click on drive c: or d: in the Open File window. When you have selected the appropriate drive, it will list the files and directories that are on the Bible study CD. What if no files or directories appear? Some word processors are set to show only files created by or for that program. You need to indicate that you want to see all the files on the CD. A pull-down menu in the Open File window gives you the options for the types of files you want the program to list. Choose all files or the equivalent. All the files and directories on your CD should appear. At this point you should be able to open the two text files. By navigating to the GUIDES and RESOURCE directories, you will be able to view the file names and open their contents as well. How do I use the files in the GUIDES directory? The GUIDES directory contains the student s guide copy masters and leader s guide. The files in the GUIDES directory are provided in both RTF and PDF formats. We have made every effort to provide you with the capability of adapting this Bible study to your needs. However, some degree of reformatting may be necessary to use the RTF files on your computer.
Holy Spirit Leader s Guide Page 4 The files included on this disk can be used by both IBM and Macintosh systems. If you have any questions about using the CD, please call NPH at (414) 615-5773. Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Holy Spirit Leader s Guide Page 5 Lesson One The Holy Spirit Is True God Holy Spirit, pp. 9-20 Now this is the true Christian faith: We worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God, without mixing the persons or dividing the divine being.... So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; yet they are not three Gods, but one God. (Athanasian Creed) Goals 1. To learn that the Holy Spirit is a distinct and separate person, yet full God and equal with the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity. 2. To be able to recognize incorrect ways of thinking about the Holy Spirit. 3. To learn that since the Holy Spirit is a person, we can pray to him and rely on his help. Opening Prayer Holy Spirit, you work in people through the powerful Word of God. As we begin a new course of Bible study today, we ask that you would be with us. Help us grow in our understanding and appreciation of you and your work. Use this study as a means to strengthen our faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and our ability to serve him with our whole lives. Amen. Introduction Read the quotation above from the Athanasian Creed. What do these words teach about God? The above quotation expresses the Scriptural truth that God is three persons in one God. There is only one God. First Corinthians 8:4 says there is no God but one. But the Bible speaks about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and tells us that each of them is the true God. Christians believe in one God, not in three Gods or three one-third Gods joined together. The early church expressed this truth by calling God triune (three-in-one) and by using the word person to speak about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By using these terms, they were not trying to solve the mysteries of God but to clearly express how God reveals himself to us. In this lesson we will learn that the Holy Spirit is one of the persons in the triune God and that he is full God himself.
Holy Spirit Leader s Guide Page 6 The Holy Spirit is a distinct person of the triune God A person exists not as a part or a property of another but as that which exists of itself. A person is a separate and distinct being who can speak, hear, think, will, and act. The definition in quotation marks above is taken from the Augsburg Confession. How does each of these three passages teach that there are three persons in one God? How does each passage tell us that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person in the Trinity? 1 Peter 1:1,2 To God s elect... who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 1:1,2 the believers are referred to as God s elect. Peter then describes how God the Father chose them, God the Spirit sanctified them, and God the Son, Jesus Christ, became their Lord. Read Matthew 3:16,17 In Matthew 3:16,17 three separate and distinct members of the triune God are identified and play a role at Jesus baptism. Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10:38 three distinct beings are again identified. God in this verse is most easily understood as the Father. He anointed the Son with the Holy Spirit. Some interpret God here as referring to the entire Trinity. In that case the verse tells us that the triune God carried out his plan of salvation through Jesus, who was empowered by the Holy Spirit. In either case the Holy Spirit is clearly identified as a separate being. The Holy Spirit has his own emotions and performs distinct activities The Holy Spirit s distinct emotions and activities tell us that he is a person, separate from the Father and the Son. What emotions or activities of the Holy Spirit do the following passages describe? Ephesians 4:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit grieves. 1 Corinthians 12:11 He gives them [spiritual gifts] to each one, just as he determines. The Spirit has a will, that is, he determines how he wants to give out his gifts. Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God s children. The Spirit testifies. Read Romans 8:26,27