Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Study With Me - Acts Lesson 8

I’m still working through some of the teachings regarding the Holy Spirit in the Epistles. This all started with a study of the book of Acts and I thought it important to investigate what the epistles teach.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. That is, the Holy Spirit sets us apart for God’s exclusive use. In the Old Testament, items that were going to be used for the service of God were dedicated and set apart for use in the temple. Once they were dedicated in this way, they were not supposed to be used for ordinary purposes. In our lives, the Holy Spirit is the one who sets us apart for God’s use. I Peter 1:2; 2 Thess 2:13 and Gal 5:22

The Holy Spirit prays for us. Romans 8:26 tells us that we don’t know what to pray for and so the Holy Spirit prays for us according to the will of God. I used to think the verse said that “when” we don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit prays. But Scripture says that we definitely don’t know what to pray for and therefore the Spirit has the ministry of praying for us. He knows what the will of God is and He knows what our heart needs. That should be a great encouragement to us.

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