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Question:
Does the Holy Spirit convict the believer of sin?
- John 16 tells us that the Holy Spirit conviction the unbeliever of sin. Does the Holy Spirit convict the believer of sin? If so what are the Biblical references?
- RHK
Answer:
(click here to see the answer)
1. Dear Richard,
2. The Bible does say in 1 Th 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit." But there is no biblical reference showing the Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin. However, in Rom 8:12-17, it says something that could be interpreted that the Holy Spirit leads us into truth and away from sin: "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 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. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 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.' 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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."
Question:
Do we have to ask for the Holy spirit.
- Is Luke 11:13 saying that we must ask for the Holy Spirit. If so, how is it that "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Jo. 3:15?
Answer:
(click here to see the answer)
1. Dear Randy,
2. No, we do not have to ask for the Holy Spirit in this dispensation. our dispensation started with the conversion of the Apostle Paul and we are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit as soon as we trust Christ.
3. That's what Rom 8:9-11 says: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 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."
4. In Christ,
5. Bob Hill
Question:
Does the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth?
- Dear Bob,
- You don't know me but I met you briefly at the conference in Cedar Lake last week. I bought your book although it looks like I bit more than I can chew. Anyway, I am reading through a Tim LaHaye book on understanding prophecy and he uses 1 John 2:20, 26, 27 to show that we have the Holy Spirit as teacher that we may understand scripture. I checked my John MacArthur study bible and he confirms this even saying that we "true Christians have a built in lie detector"... because we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. My question is, if this is true why are there so many different interpretations of scripture in our world today? If the Holy Spirit is leading us into all truth as this verse seems to indicate, something is terribly wrong. How do I answer this?
- Sincerely,
- Will Mepsted
Answer:
(click here to see the answer)
1. Dear Will,
2. It certainly says in Rom 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Therefore, we can certainly say that the Holy Spirit is leading us." However, when we read in John 16:13, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.", we have to ask, "Is that passage to us?"
3. If you look in my book, The Big Difference, in Chapter 13, it says:
4. 1 Jo 2:20 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” Because they have this anointing from God, they know all things. There are some religious leaders that profess to have this kind of knowledge, but they only fool their zealous followers. This knowledge was promised by God to Israel. Now, by the time 1 John was written, John can tell those abiding in the word that they have no need of teachers. The anointing they received teaches them concerning all things. But it is for this reason that the fallen of Hebrews 6:6 cannot be renewed to repentance again. They have no excuse for falling away. They have experienced the blessings of the new covenant. In 1 John 5:16,17, we will see that they can experience the same severe death penalty.
5. The most important benefit of the new covenant was the work of the Holy Spirit as described in two passages: Ezekiel 36:26,27, and Jeremiah 31:34,
6. Eze 36:26,27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
7. Jer 31:34 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
8. We can see that the great advantage of the new covenant over the old is the enabling power it has when written on their hearts. Jeremiah 32:40b gives another facet of the enabling power. It is, fear of God. The old covenant failed “because they did not continue in” it. The new covenant will succeed. Since He will put His laws in their minds, write them on their hearts, and put His fear in their hearts, they will have perfect knowledge of the Lord. That is why the punishment for faithlessness is so severe. If they turn from Him when they have that perfect knowledge, “it is impossible . . . . having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance” (Heb 6:4-6). The judgment is so severe because the knowledge is so complete. The warnings seem extreme until we view the content of the covenant and the distressing results of falling away. Compare Hebrews 10:16 with our passage. “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.” The knowledge aspects of the new covenant are in place. In Hebrews 10:28,29, we see that even though they were sanctified, their punishment would be “much worse” than the man “who has rejected Moses’ law”. Notice how this precludes limited atonement. Here is a person who was sanctified (aorist passive) by the blood of Christ. Now he is lost.
9. When we read 1 Jo 2:21, “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”, my previous statements are corroborated by this verse. Their knowledge of spiritual things leaves them without excuse when they break one of His commands willfully. They must be warned, they don’t have to be taught. We need both in this dispensation. We do not have this knowledge of the New Covenant.
10. I might add that you can skip the first chapter of my book. Just read the conclusion of that chapter. If you have any other questions, I’ll be glad to answer them, if I’m able.
11. In Christ,
12. Bob Hill
Question:
Does the Holy Spirit lead us?
- I was reading the Bible yesterday, and I came to a passage in Acts 16 that created a lot of questions that I thought I would ask you about in light of your sermon on Sunday. I was wondering how you view the Holy Spirit's actions in Acts 16:6-10 where Paul and Silas "were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia" and were not permitted to go to Bithynia. Do we have any way of knowing why this occurred? Does this fall into the transition period and, therefore, does not apply to our period of time? Or would the Holy Spirit hinder us from doing anything? The other thing that got my attention was the story about Lydia (Acts 16:11-15). In verse 14 it says, "The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul." I was then wondering which aspect of the Trinity "the Lord" was referring to. I was also wondering about this for the use of "the Lord" in Acts 16:10 when Paul concluded that "the Lord had called [them] to preach the gospel" to those in Macedonia. Was "the Lord" Jesus Christ? Or was "the Lord" the Holy Spirit who was mentioned in verses 6 & 7? I was just thinking that if "the Lord" who opened Lydia's heart was the Holy Spirit then I am a little confused about your sermon on Sunday.
- I hope you don't mind all of these questions. It just seemed like I was coming up with more questions than answers as I read this passage. If you can clear up any part of my confusion, I would really appreciate it.
- Teri
Answer:
(click here to see the answer)
1. Dear Teri,
2. Thank you for your questions. As always, they are very good. In this case, I believe you have already answered them. I will quote you. "Does this fall into the transition period and, therefore, does not apply to our period of time?
3. We know that God was still producing great miracles through Paul at the time before Paul was incarcerted in Rome. I see God directing Paul, in no uncertain terms also, at that time. I can understand why people want to believe that God is leading them here or there because I thought that up until very recently. But what caused me to reconsider my belief was all the times that I thought He was leading me, but most of those times did not turn out as His "leading" had informed me.
4. When I tried to validate what I believed, I couldn't even find proof in the pre-prison epistles let alone the prison epistles.
5. Thanks for asking,
6. Bob
Question:
Does God speak to us?
- Dear Bob,
- I've heard a lot of times that people say that GOD spoke to them when in prayer and he would say something, now, my question is; Should I believe anything people say if they say God told them, how do I know it was God and not a bad spirit?
- Thanks,
- Maria
Answer:
(click here to see the answer)
1. Dear Maria,
2. According to Rom 8:14-16, we are led by the Holy Spirit. However, I have researched this idea, and I have not read any Scripture for this dispensation that says we will hear an audible voice or have the Holy Spirit speak to us. I believe we can sense the leading of the Spirit in our lives if we are in constant prayer and meditating on God's word. Here's what it says in Rom 8:14-16: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ 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." ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
3. In Christ,
4. Bob Hill
Question: ...do you think there's a point when the Holy Spirit gives up, or ends longsuffering?
- From Carl
- Thu, 6 Jan 2000 14:16:42 –0600
- If someone has heard the Salvation Message over and over and continues to reject Christ, do you think there is a point when the Holy Spirit gives up, or ends the longsuffering?
Answer: (click here to view the answer)
1. No! But we don’t have much biblical information to back it up either way. We must look more at the nature of God. Psa 136 tells us 26 times that God’s mercy endures forever. Isa 54:7,8 says: 7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. 8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
2. In the NT, in John 16:7-11, Jesus told His disciples, “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 depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Further, we Christians can grieve the Holy Spirit, even though he seals us: Eph 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Question: What role DOES the Holy Spirit play in one’s salvation, if any, or is it man's pure free-will?
1. From Carl
2. Thu, 6 Jan 2000 14:16:42 –0600
3. What role DOES the Holy Spirit play in one’s salvation, if any, or is it man's pure free-will?
Answer: (click here to view the answer)
1. Man has free-will, but was dead in sin. However, we find from John 1:9 that Christ lightens every man: John 1:9 “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. We also see that God the Father and the Son both draw everyone: John 6:44,45 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to Myself.”
2. Since the Pauline Scriptures are silent on the ministry of the HS in this dispensation in regards to His movement upon unbelievers, I would say He has the same work that our Lord stated in John 16:8, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
Question: If there is a role of the Spirit, is it an “emotional tugging” i.e.-“driven by our feelings”...?
1. From Carl
2. Thu, 6 Jan 2000 14:16:42 –0600
3. If there is a role of the Spirit, is it an “emotional tugging” i.e.-“driven by our feelings”, or what?
Answer: (click here to view the answer)
1. I think it would be a conviction in our soul.
Question: So many people... are CONSTANTLY saying they "felt impressed by the Lord"...?
1. From Carl
2. Thu, 6 Jan 2000 14:16:42 –0600
3. So many people, including the ones at the church I attend, are CONSTANTLY saying they “felt impressed by the Lord”, or the “Lord told them”, to do such and such. I feel that this is extremely pernicious ground. What do you think??
Answer: (click here to view the answer)
1. According to Rom 8:14-17 the Holy spirit is very active in the lives of Christians. He is always leading us, but we have to be sensitive to His leading. Rom 8:14-17 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 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.’ 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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.”