THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Lesson 12 for March 25, 2017

He gives us the assurance of salvation Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Helper. He also told us that His main work is to convince the world. In addition, this week we studied two more aspects of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our favor. He convicts… of sin of righteousness of judgment “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8) “…after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation […] you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.” (Ephesians 1:13-14) He gives us the assurance of salvation “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) He fills us with hope

“of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” (John 16:9) CONVICTION OF SIN “of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” (John 16:9) What’s the difference between convicting of sin and accusing? The work of the enemy is to accuse us of sin before God. The Spirit convinces us of our sin. The Spirit goes beyond convincing us of specific sins. It goes to the source of sin— getting away from God—and gives us a solution: Jesus. We must believe in Jesus so we may repent and receive salvation. We cannot usurp the Holy Spirit’s or do the enemy’s work. We are not called to accuse or convict of sin. We are tools that the Spirit uses to tell the world about Jesus.

CONVICTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.” (John 16:10) I GO TO MY FATHER. Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25. Our best acts of righteousness— fulfilling the Law—are “like filthy rags” before God (Isaiah 64:6). Jesus is the only human being that fulfilled “all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). After He ascended to Heaven, He intercedes on our behalf and brings the only righteousness that the Father accepts. The Holy Spirit convicts us so we may not seek our own righteousness but Jesus’. Therefore, we can make His righteousness ours by faith in Christ.

CONVICTION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.” (John 16:10) YOU SEE ME NO MORE. Galatians 2:20. Jesus said that it was to our advantage that He went the Comforter might come (John 16:7). Jesus went, but Paul said that Christ was living in Him. Jesus lives in us when we open our heart to the Spirit. When that happens, we begin to walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:4) and we receive new life by His power (Galatians 3:2-5; 5:16, 18). The Father accepted the righteousness of Jesus in His expiatory sacrifice. He made sure Jesus would live in us through the Holy Spirit. When we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, we grow in Christ every day according to His righteousness.

CONVICTION OF JUDGMENT “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:11) Which judgment was Jesus talking about? That wasn’t the Last Judgment—that He also mentioned on other occasions—but the judgment of Satan. In Calvary, the devil was defeated, judged and condemned to eternal destruction. He knows he has short time (Rev. 12:12) and he “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1P. 5:8). He tries to intimidate us with his “roar” so we abandon our relationship with Jesus and take the easy path. Nevertheless, Peter invites us to cast all our anxiety on Jesus, to be sober, to be alert, to resist and to stand firm in the faith (1P. 5:7-9).

THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14) The guarantee Paul is talking about was given to close contracts or agreements. The “contract” here is to give us salvation, “the redemption of the purchased possession” through the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the seal God puts in our heart as the guarantee of the fulfillment of His promise. “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘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 joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:15-17)

THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11) Let’s study the process of salvation and how the Holy Spirit acts in it according to Romans 8:10-17. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus. His expiatory dead has reconciled us to God 01 Jesus’ forgiveness gives us new life as the adoptive children of God 02 We are no more enemies of God but walk according to the Holy Spirit 03 Our thoughts are focused on the Holy Spirit’s 04 The Holy Spirit testifies that we are heirs of God 05 The same life that lifted Jesus from the dead is active in us now 06 We have heard and believed the Gospel. Now we are sealed with the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our salvation 07

HOPE “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) The Holy Spirit gives us the wonderful hope of Jesus coming again and taking us to His heavenly home. That hope is based on God’s faithfulness. He promised and He’ll fulfill. He promised to bruise the head of the serpent in Eden, and He fulfilled it at the cross. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” (Joshua 21:45). Because He is trustworthy and He doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). His immutability and His truth are the foundation of our hope.

“At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith. Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer.” E.G.W. (The Desire of Ages, cp. 73, pp. 669, 670)