If you’ve been following along, you know that my local church in Metro Detroit has been preparing for Easter by doing a deep-dive study on the Apostles’ Creed. We’ve been talking about it both on Sundays and in small groups. Each week, I’ve been sitting down with pastors and other members of church staff to have conversations about these fundamental truths of the Christian faith. This entire process and study has been such a blessing to me and, by God’s grace, in both group discussions and personal reflections of others. For that, I’m deeply humbled and thankful.
Following along with this study (my first with Ward), I’ve been using this digital space to share some behind-the-scenes ministry work and personal reflections. As I’ve been visiting small groups to go through this study, several people have spoken up to say something like, “I wish I could see an answer key!” or “I’d love to hear your answers to these questions,” and today I want to honor those voices (while reminding / encouraging these same voices: You’re called to love God with your mind, not mine!).
So, this week we’re on Session 5 of 7: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Here, I’ll share my writing from the workbook, as well as some of my initial thoughts with the discussion questions. (Note: What follows was written to be a week’s worth of devotional study. Each day’s work will be separated by a three-dot divider.)
Let’s go!
Intro
This week, we come to the line of the Apostles’ Creed in which we affirm, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” This is not the first time the Spirit has come up in our study: When we looked at God the Father as “Maker of Heaven and Earth,” we saw “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2), ready to speak life where there was no life. We also affirmed that Jesus–God the Son, the Life of the world, was “conceived by the Holy Spirit.”
That the Creed explicitly names the Holy Spirit’s life-giving work before ever arriving at the line, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” speaks to a really important truth: Every act of God is triune. That is, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are One God, eternally sharing in every attribute and work.
Because father-and-son is a relationship we see in our world, we can tend to focus more on the Father and Son, leaving the Spirit as more of an afterthought. This is to our detriment, and this week’s study will focus on making us more balanced trinitarian thinkers by focusing our attention on “the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14), who is fully God.
Devotional 1: The Third Person
Following the lines about God the Father and God the Son, this line of the Apostles’ Creed–“I believe in the Holy Spirit”–highlights the order that exists within the Godhead. (After all, 1 Corinthians 14:33 teaches us that God is a God of order.)
What do we mean by that?
The Father is said to be first in order, because He is the unmoving source of all things. The Son is eternally begotten by the Father (see p. 29 of the workbook), and the Father sends the Son into the world and into time to save His people. So, the Son is said to be second in order.
Now, the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father through the Son (see, for example, John 15:26), and He is sent throughout the world to apply the Son’s work of salvation to God’s people. So, the Spirit is said to be third in order. When the Spirit is described as “the Third Person of the Trinity,” this is what it means. Not third place in importance, or in power, or in Godness. Third in order.
Before ascending into heaven, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send “the Comforter” to them (John 14:26). In Latin, com means “with” and fort means “strength,” so we understand the Spirit to be the One who has been sent to us with strength, empowering us to “live and move and have our being” (Acts 1:28).
Since Pentecost, the day when the Spirit was poured out to dwell in and with all believers (Acts 2), we have experienced the Spirit in a way Scripture tells us is better than any age has ever known.
For Personal Study
- When you hear the word “spirit”–whether in a religious context or otherwise–what comes to mind?
- Some words that come to my mind are: spirit, ghost, unbodied beings, ethereal, the dead, energy (as in, a “spirited” person; “that’s the spirit!”)
- When you think about God, do you most often think about God as “Father”? As “Jesus”? As “Spirit”? Something else? Why do you think you tend to think of God like that?
- I’ve noticed I sometimes conflate “Jesus” and the “Spirit” in my everyday thinking. I think of verses like Philippians 1:10, where Paul writes, “I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.” Elsewhere, Paul writes to the church at Galatia, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father.” Acts 16:7 mentions “the Spirit of Jesus” not opening a doorway to ministry in Bithynia.
- Since taking a course on Systematic Theology with Dr. Scott Swain (one of this generation’s leading trinitarian thinkers), and especially since reading Gilles Emory’s The Trinity, I’ve come to appreciate much more the idea that every work and every attribute of God is shared equally and eternally by each Person of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Spirit are eternally Life itself. I’ve thought about how the Bible attributes different characteristics and works to specific Persons, in order to highlight truths about God to us. All this is to say, I’ve been thinking about God more and more as Trinity in the past year or so.
- Have you ever described yourself, or heard others describe themselves, as “spiritual” rather than religious? What do you understand that distinction to mean?
- I’ve been asked countless times whether I’m “religious,” and a lot of people in my generation shy away from that word. Truly a countless number of people I’ve met would describe themselves as “spiritual” rather than “religious.” More and more, I’ve understood that to mean something like, “I enjoy finding deeper meaning out of my surroundings and experiences. I’m open to the idea that there’s a higher power, but I don’t think it’s one God. I believe we all create meaning for ourselves, and we’re all just doing the best we can.” Put simply, I understand “spiritual” people to be defining religion on their terms, rather than accepting and submitting to God’s terms.
- From what you know, why is “the Holy Spirit” mentioned third in the Apostles’ Creed, following God the Father and God the Son?
- I think it’s really cool that the “Spirit” comes up earlier in the Creed, when talking about the conception of Jesus. That really drives home the idea that each Person of the Trinity is eternally at collaborate work. And I think it’s really cool that we get the ordered statements, “I believe in God the Father…and in Jesus Christ, His only Son…I believe in the Holy Spirit…” That’s what brought to mind the 1 Corinthians 14:33 line, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” God is not a God of disorder, and so the Holy Spirit is ordered third.
- I also think of this line in terms of what Scripture calls “the fullness of time.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” In Genesis 15:16, God told Abram that it wasn’t for his generation to go into the Promise Land, “for the iniquity of the Amorites [was] not yet complete.” Then, for so many generations, Israel waited for a Messiah to bring salvation and hope. Galatians 4:4 tells us that it was “when the fullness of time had come” that “God sent forth his Son.” The Son was the first to be sent into time. After accomplishing that saving work, Jesus promised His disciples that He’d go and ask the Father, and He would send the Spirit to us (John 14:16-17). So, the Spirit was the second to be sent for major work in history. Now, Hebrews 10:13 tells us Christ is seated at the Father’s right hand, “waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” Luke 21:24 tells us God patiently waits “until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled” for this. In all of this, it’s clear that God works in human history in perfect, orderly fashion.
Devotional 2: The Spirit Gives Life
The Hebrew רוח (ruach) translates to wind, breath, or spirit. The Greek πνεῦμα (pneuma), too, means breath or spirit. Both of these words are used in Scripture to speak of God the Spirit.
As a Person, God the Spirit is often called “the Breath of Life.” As we’ll see in our study, all the work of the Spirit is connected to life: The Spirit gives life, and the Spirit guides life. Today, we’ll focus on the Spirit giving life–to humanity in general, and to Christians in particular.
For Personal Study
- Read the following passages and note what they teach about the Spirit giving life to humanity in general:
- Genesis 2:7: “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
- Job 34:12-15: “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him the whole world? If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.”
- Thoughts: All humans are alive because God has breathed Life into them. All humans remain alive because God sustains them with breath. In, out. In, out. All God. Breath itself belongs to the LORD, and He has every right to do with life what He wills. (Because He’s perfect, He approaches this perfectly.)
- Read the following passages and note what they teach about the Spirit giving life to Christians in particular:
- Ezekiel 36:26-27: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
- John 3:5-8: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
- Romans 8:9-17: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
- Some Thoughts: When we’re dead in sin, God breathes life back into us! When he says, “I’ll put a new spirit within you…my Spirit,” and “[I’ll] cause you to walk in my statutes,” and “The wind blows where it wishes,” it’s clear that this is all God-initiated work–the life-giving work of the Spirit.
- In one sentence, in your own words, what does it mean that the Spirit gives life?
- The Spirit breathes and enables our existence and our fruitfulness, both at our first creation (when we’re born) and at our Christian creation (when we’re born again).
Devotional 3: The Spirit Gives Gifts
It is the Spirit who gives life, and it is the Spirit who enables that life to flourish. When we are enabled to flourish in a particular way, we say that we are gifted.
Sometimes, we say this about people in general. For example, when we see a young athlete who can step into any sport and excel, or when someone can pick up different instruments with ease, or when cooking just seems to come naturally to someone, we typically explain their talents by saying, “They’re just really gifted!” Scripture teaches, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). That includes what we’d call our “natural” abilities or talents. Even these are Spirit-given.
Now, just as we discussed the Spirit giving life to humanity in general and to Christians in particular, we can also speak of Spiritual gifts that God gives specifically to Christians. God gives these gifts to equip Christians for the work of expressing and sharing God’s goodness and truth.
Regardless of what kind of gifts we’re talking about, Scripture teaches that God gives gifts with purpose. The Apostle Peter writes, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10). Whether it be an instance of “common grace” (a term we use to speak of God’s kindness toward all creation and people) or “special grace” (used to speak of God’s kindness toward His people specifically), we are called to be “good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10).
In other words, we are called to use our gifts for good and to give God the credit (what Scripture calls “the glory”) for it (2 Corinthians 10:17).
For Personal Study
- Read the following passages and note what they teach about the Spirit giving gifts:
- Exodus 35:30-36:1: “Then Moses said to the people of Israel, ‘See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.’ Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”
- Judges 15:14-17: “When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. And Samson said, ‘With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.’ As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.”
- Luke 16:19-31: “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
- Some Thoughts: In the Exodus passage, the Spirit gifted people with “skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship” to accomplish this grand building project. Whenever there is a good work that needs done, God equips people for it. He did that in the story of Samson, too. The whole book of Judges speaks of leaders God “raised up” to deliver Israel: God made sure the right people were born and gifted with the abilities to lead and accomplish the good works He had for them. Finally, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus tells us that God doesn’t just equip Christians; He equips everyone. The rich man is told that he “received his good things” during his lifetime. He was gifted, but he did not acknowledge the true source of those gifts.
- Read the following passages and note what they teach about the Spirit giving gifts:
- Acts 5:27-32: “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’”
- Ephesians 4:1-16: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:1-11: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
- Some Thoughts: In the Acts passage, the Apostles reference “the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” The Spirit is Himself a gift, and He opens the eyes of those He chooses. The Ephesians passage, too, speaks of “grace…given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” According to Paul, these gifts are given “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” So, they’re given with purpose: to continue the work of Christ here on earth, until He comes again. With the Corinthians passage, Paul clarifies that there are many different kinds of gifts, and all of them are necessary for us to as a Church to accomplish the work before us.
- In one sentence, in your own words, what does it mean that the Spirit gives gifts?
- All of our creative and productive abilities are given by the Spirit, including the Christian’s ability to accomplish Kingdom work.
Devotional 4: The Spirit Guides–Illumination
Having looked at the Spirit as the giver of life, we’ll now look at the Spirit as the guide of life.
While worldviews like Deism teach that God created everything and then stepped away, Scripture teaches that God remains actively involved. As the prophet Isaiah writes, “The LORD will guide yo always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame” (Isaiah 58:11). God acts, “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into ways of peace” (Luke 1:79).
This is the illuminating work of the Spirit: Shining light into the darkness, saying, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
The Spirit guides us, illuminating truth for us in this life and preparing us for the next life. Today, we’ll focus on the Spirit’s guiding illumination (also called inspiration).
For Personal Study
- Read the passages below, making note of what Scripture teaches about the Spirit’s work of illumination / inspiration:
- Isaiah 59:21-60:5: “‘And as for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord: ‘My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,’ says the Lord, ‘from this time forth and forevermore.’ Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”
- John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
- John 16:13-15: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-16: “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.
- Ephesians 1:16-19: “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might…”
- Acts 4:23-31: “When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed”—for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
- Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-55: “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking… Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”
- Some Thoughts: Isaiah speaks of the words God puts in our mouths. John records Jesus’ words, telling the disciples that the Spirit would cause them to remember the core truths they needed to know, and that the truths the Spirit would guide them into would be God’s truths, which the Father and Son and Spirit equally and eternally share.
- In one sentence, in your own words, what does it mean that the Spirit illuminates / inspires?
- All true knowledge and wisdom comes from the Spirit.
- Have you ever experienced or witnessed the Spirit’s illuminating work in a particularly vivid or memorable way? If so, what was that like?
- Absolutely! Most recently, I think to a few weeks ago, when I was reading the account of Jesus’ burial. When I read the line about Joseph of Arimathea wrapping Jesus’ body in linen and laying it in a tomb, it brought to mind the scene of Mary wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes and laying Him in a manger. I thought a lot about how those two events were fitting, meaningful bookends to Jesus’ life on earth. As I reflected, it was really clear to me that my eyes had been open to seeing that. It didn’t have anything to do with my own ability to connect dots; it was a gift of illumination, guiding me to see that. How cool!
Devotional 5: The Spirit Guides–Sanctification
The Spirit guides us into goodness and truth through illumination/inspiration. Over time, the Spirit causes us to increase in light and life: He guides and shapes our hearts, our minds, and our lives to be more like Jesus. This process is called sanctification. (The word “sanctification” indicates that we’re being ‘made into saints.’ More on that later in our study!)
It’s important to remember: Our starting point is total darkness. Scripture teaches that we are spiritually “dead…following the course of this world” (Ephesians 2:1-2), and our hearts are “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). For that reason, telling someone apart from God to “follow their heart” can actually be a self-destructive idea. The Apostle Paul explains, “[T]hose who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,” and “to set the mind on the flesh is death,” for “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:5-7). Naturally caught up in the darkness of our own hearts, we all need God to step in to guide and transform us.
That is what the Spirit does as He applies the work of Christ to our hearts: Those who believe that Christ died to pay the penalty for their guilt are freed “to put off [their] old self, which belongs to [their] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of [their] minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:20-24). Put another way, “[A]t one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
Now, instead of hopelessly following the dark impulses of our own hearts, we are freed and called to following the dark impulses of our own hearts, we are freed and called to follow the Spirit: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14). The process of putting to death the darkness in us and living by the light in us is both life-long and wonderful. Through the Spirit, we are being made “worthy of his calling” (2 Thessalonians 1:11), that we might one day “present [ourselves] to God as those who have been brought from death to life” (Romans 6:13), from darkness to light. This is the promise of sanctification.
For Personal Study
- Read the passages below, making note of what they teach about the process / purpose of the Spirit’s guiding work to sanctify us:
- Romans 6:20-23: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Galatians 5:18-25: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:14-18: “But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
- John 16:7-11: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
- Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- Some Thoughts: There are life patterns that are fruitless, and there are life patterns that bear much fruit. It is through God’s blessing that it is possible for us to leave the former in pursuit of the latter. Over time, we are transformed more and more into the image of Light and Life–into the character of Christ. If God has started that work in you, you can be confident He’ll finish that work in you. You’ll one day rest in the loving presence of God.
- In one sentence, in your own words, what does it mean that the Spirit guides us through sanctification?
- God graciously makes us more like Jesus, in preparation for dwelling with Him forever.
- Can you identify the Spirit’s sanctifying work in your own life? (For example, is there a destructive pattern you used to have that you have been able to walk away from, or that you’ve begun to sincerely want to walk away from because God has shown it to be destructive to you?)
- Yes! I notice this most in major life changes. For example, the decision to leave Japan and move back to the U.S. The ending of any relationship. The call I felt into ministry. My growing desire to dwell in the fellowship of other Christians, to regularly attend church and get more involved, to be engaged in corporate prayer…These have all come from a sincere desire to walk in step with the Spirit and to abide in God during this lifetime.
If you’d like to access this workbook material to print and go through for yourself, you can do so here.
The accompanying teaching video for Session 5 is here:
And Terence’s message from Sunday is here:
If you’d like to share any of your own reflections below, or with me directly, don’t hesitate to reach out! I pray this study is a blessing to you. May God draw you closer to Him as we draw closer to Holy Week.
Detroit, Reformed. 
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