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kodi mzimu woyera uli kuti?>> phunziro 1
Kodi Mzimu woyera uli kuti? - Phunziro #1
Knowing the Lucille Sollenberger. B.S., M. A. Stonecroft Ministries (To be used to assist the translation into Chichewa) Purpose of the Lesson Be prepared to guide effectively by reading “Atsogoleri amatsogolera” This lesson clearly explains salvation and how to become a Christian. It would be wise to have Would You Believe It? booklets on hand to use if anyone has questions concerning salvation. Begin the lesson at the assigned time by welcoming everyone and having them introduce themselves. Prayer Father in Heaven, We have come to study Your Word. Help us to understand what we read. Enlarge our minds to be able to see Your majestic greatness, as well as Your love and mercy. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen. Guide’s Comments Before we start our study on the Holy Spirit, we will take a few minutes to read the Stonecroft Bible Studies Guidelines listed on page 6 in our Study Books.
“There
is no part of the Christian’s Bible teacher John MacArthur
says that every part of the Christian’s life is Since this is true, it is necessary to learn more about the Holy Spirit, who works in perfect harmony and oneness with God the Father and Jesus the Son. We also need to recognize the vital involvement of God’s Holy Spirit in a Christian’s personal life. Who is the Holy Spirit? You may be asking, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” The Holy Spirit is co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal with God the Father and Jesus the Son. He is God and He possesses all the attributes of deity. Look at Question 1 and we will see what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. Assign participants to read and answer Question 1. Give them time to write their own answers in their Study Books.
The Holy Spirit is a person. When we think of a person, we visualize how he looks. But we have difficulty visualizing a spirit because a spirit does not have a body. Most of us have no problem thinking of Jesus as a person. We know Jesus had a body when He was on earth, even though we do not know the details of His appearance. However, it is harder to visualize God and the Holy Spirit as persons because they do not have the limitations of a physical body. Read John 4:24. . . . . We can learn two things from
this verse: God and the Holy Spirit are individual personalities, but they do not have faces or physical bodies that we can picture in our minds. Many people make the mistake of limiting the Holy Spirit to a force, an influence, or a power. To say that He is a force, an influence, or a power is to take away His personality and His ability to do things that human beings can do. The Holy Spirit is a spirit person. Look at Question 2 and see what else the Bible says about the Holy Spirit being a person.
The next question is about what the Holy Spirit does for everyone.
The Holy Spirit proves to the world that they are wrong about what they believe about sin and judgment. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil . . .” The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in our lives. He tells us we are wrong when we think that God will ignore our sin. We want to think that He means only evil people will be judged—not ourselves! But He tells us judgment is coming. See what the Bible says about judgment in Jude 1:14-16 . . . . . God will bring judgment on all who speak against Him and who do evil things. In other words, God will punish those who disobey Him. Read Romans 6:23 . . . . . God says if we sin, we must die to pay for that sin. The Bible says we cannot enter heaven unless we are born into God’s family. An important role of the Holy Spirit is His part in our new birth. He reveals to us that we are sinners who are doomed to die. We are in need of a Savior. The Indwelling Spirit of God When we believe the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross was the full payment for our sins, we ask God to forgive our sins and take control of our lives. At that moment, we are born into God’s family and receive His Holy Spirit into our lives. He takes up residence in our lives to give us guidance every day.
The new birth is the work of God’s Spirit. It happens instantly, not in stages. When we realize our hopeless condition of being separated from God and pray for Him to save us, the Holy Spirit of God enters our life and gives us life that will never end. When you trust Jesus as your Savior, what do you receive? We learn the answer in John 3:16. . . . . (eternal life with God)
Although the Holy Spirit invites everyone, not all become Christians. More than a person’s intellect is involved. To receive the salvation which Christ’s death provides, a person’s will is involved. No one else can make this choice for him or her. It is a conscious act of will. When we surrender to the Lord, He takes our sin-filled life and, in exchange, gives us the righteousness of Christ. For this to happen, it is necessary for our will to be involved. We are born again instantly when we receive Jesus Christ. But even though we are Christians, we do not always see clearly at the beginning of our new Christian life. Our vision is marred by sinful habits of thinking and behaving. Our vision clears as we learn what the Bible says. We must choose to obey what we learn and apply self-discipline. We soon realize that learning how to live as a Christian is a process that takes time. One of the benefits of Bible study is learning to apply God’s Word to our daily lives. The application of this study of the Holy Spirit has to do with our attitude rather than our behavior. Changing an attitude is usually more difficult than changing a behavior. God is One The names and titles of the Holy Spirit reveal His relationship to God and Jesus Christ. Read Romans 8:9 and locate two different names the Holy Spirit is called. . . . . (God’s Spirit and the Spirit of Christ) The Holy Spirit has several different names, but He is the same Spirit. When we study about Jesus,
we learn that one of His names is I Am, which
To completely understand this concept is beyond our comprehension. God is infinite, but our minds are only finite. They are not big enough to understand all that God is. That is one of the reasons God sent Jesus to earth—to reveal God’s nature and greatness in a way that we can understand. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, God gives us His Spirit to teach and guide us. The more we read and study God’s Word, the more we will understand the oneness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has all the divine attributes which God has. The next question reveals what those attributes are.
God saved us through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life. The Holy Spirit enables us to accomplish God’s plan for our lives. We do not know what God’s plan is, but when we invite Him to control our lives, He will fulfill His original, unique plan for each of us. When we first become Christians, we are surprised to find that having Jesus in our lives changes our behavior and even causes us to think differently! We are eager to know what God says and what He expects of us. Many times, we make the mistake
of looking to other Christians and begin to Unless we go to God’s Word and learn what He says we are to do and how to do it, the original creative plan God has for our life is hindered. We must have a personal desire to grow in faith and obedience under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit. He will help us understand His Word. This will prevent us from patterning our life after what people expect, rather than what God expects. When the Lord Jesus Christ is the center of our lives and we love Him with our whole heart, our thoughts naturally turn to God. When we are doing something that does not demand our full attention, our thoughts naturally go to prayer, or praise and worship songs. We think about our relationship with God or what we can do to serve someone whom He wants us to reach with His love. Answers to Question 8 will vary. Give everyone an opportunity to express their answers.
Apply this truth to your life this week—be aware that God is with you. What unspeakable joy it will give you as you live moment by moment in fellowship with Him. To review, consider what we have learned about the Holy Spirit. From Question 1: From Questions 4 and 5: From our discussion: From Question 7: The one and only living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, sent His Holy Spirit to actually enter our being when we receive God’s gift of salvation. As we close, we can thank God for giving us His Holy Spirit to guide us. Closing Prayer Father in Heaven, Thank You for the Holy Spirit. Help us hear Him when He speaks to us. We may not understand everything we have talked about today, but we know that all we have to do is believe. Help us to learn what we need to know as we study the next lesson this week. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen |
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