NLMC The Holy Spirit and Salvation
The Holy Spirit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
(1) The Person of the Spirit Gives Us Life and Faith in Order to Accomplish Salvation
Salvation is purposed by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and applied by the Holy Spirit.
Read Ephesians 2:1-9
2:1, 5 - What was the spiritual condition of those who are in Christ?
2:5 - What spiritual condition has God given us?
2:5,8 - By what are we saved?
2:8 - Through what are we saved? How do we get it? What does “And this is not your own doing” mean?
2:9 - How do we not receive salvation? What is the reason given?
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Without the Spirit's agency in salvation, all that Christ has accomplished brings no value to us.
The three persons of the Godhead.
The Father is invisible, but he is a person.
The Holy Spirit is invisible but He is a person
The Son was invisible but then He took on flesh and walked upon the earth, but is currently not visible
The Spirit creates life in the believer and that we might have faith and be able to believe.
(2) The Person of the Spirit Joins Us and Helps Us in Order to Allow Salvation to Do Its Work
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
If the Holy Spirit creates spiritual life which produces faith for salvation
One of my favorite words: συναντιλαμβάνεται syn anti lambanetai “to join” “opposite” “to take to oneself, to undergo, to experience”
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
“help” is a weak translation of a word (συναντιλαμβάνεται) which means “to take something” and has two prefixes, the prefix syn (to do something alongside) and another which means “opposite or over against.” “It is to take something along with but opposite, to lift something that you can’t lift on your own, to stand opposite someone and to carry the heavy end.” This is vital to the pneumatology of Ferguson: “The Spirit doesn’t just take over, the Spirit wants salvation to work throughout the whole of your life and, when you are in need, to be given the strength to serve the Lord. If it’s too big a burden then the Spirit comes and takes the heavy end and by his power he enables us to live for the glory of God.” The Spirit helps us in our weakness.
(3) The Person of the Holy Spirit is the Constant Companion of Those Who are “in Christ”
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Luke 1:26-35 -
What question did Mary ask?
What was the answer?
Who then, was present at the conception of Jesus?
Mark 1:12 - Who was present at the baptism of Jesus?
Mark 1:12 - Why did Jesus go into the wilderness?
What happened there? (Mark 1:13)
How does Luke 4:1 describe Jesus?
Romans 1:4; Romans 6:10; Romans 8:11 - Who raised Jesus from the dead?
There are visible symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible the dove at Jesus’ baptism and a cloud in several Old testament and New Testament passages. With this in mind, who was present with Jesus at his ascension to heaven in Acts 1:9?