CHALLENGE 2-A
All studies are available in two formats:
Read the online version of Challenge 2, Part A below.
Or download the book formatted 8.5” x 11” version. You can print this version to keep in a binder as you progress through the study.
CHALLENGE 2: SPIRIT-FILLED
Part A - Ministries of the Spirit
More Good News
One’s heart, faith, and the Holy Spirit are closely related and share at least two significant similarities: they are invisible to the naked eye and they empower us to live as apprentices of Jesus in Kingdom living. The heart can be discerned through our attitudes, desires, and priorities. Faith can be perceived through our actions and words. And, according to Jesus, the Spirit can be detected by what he produces within people. “The Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” (John 3:6). He also said, “the wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
The words in both Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) that we translate as “spirit” mean “moving air” as in breath, wind, or breeze. Jesus explained the Spirit is like wind; you cannot see it moving, but you can feel it moving and see the results of it. You see wind moving trees, bushes, and loose impediments. Often the first thing you notice when the Spirit has been moving is people becoming disciples. Or perhaps even before that, you may see someone become interested in the Bible, Jesus, or prayer. This is confirmation of the Spirit’s presence and activity.
One of the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit is drawing us closer to Jesus. The Spirit works to soften our hearts, making us receptive to the good news about Jesus. When we read or hear about Jesus, it’s as if a seed is planted in our hearts, a seed that has potential to grow into genuine faith, a faith that goes all in for Jesus. But not all seeds that are planted germinate and grow into a living faith. The Spirit nourishes the seed, helping it to take root if we show any inclination or interest in opening our hearts to the Lord. At some point that seed becomes whole-hearted faith when we go all in for Jesus.
If you chose to go all in for Jesus in Challenge #1, it confirms the Spirit had already been involved in drawing you to Jesus, breathing spiritual life into your heart. Your decision to go all in is like a tree bending in the wind, a sure sign of the Spirit’s activity in your life. In other words, if you are a disciple of Jesus, you did not become one by yourself. You had help. You probably had human help; someone who spent time with you and encouraged you. But even more significantly, the Holy Spirit worked in you long before you ever recognized his presence. Your heart was not sensitive enough to recognize the Spirit’s nudging you at that time.
In Romans the Apostle Paul, when discussing how uncircumcised Gentiles could be justified (made right with God), wrote:
No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit.
Romans 2:29
He argued a true believer is not distinguished by obedience to the law (i.e., circumcision), but by “a change of heart produced by the Spirit.” A few chapters later, Paul reinforced this truth:
“For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God.”
Romans 10:10
The Holy Spirit is the One who prepared your heart to go all in by faith.
Paul expressed this a little differently in his first letter to the disciples at Corinth. He stated, “no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). The Apostle was emphatic! “No one” can go all in for Jesus without the Holy Spirit’s assistance. But we only recognize his role later.
This is precisely what God promised would happen through the Old Testament prophets.
“I will put my instructions [law] deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts.“
Jeremiah 31:33“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new Spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
God, speaking through the O.T. prophets, promised to give his people new hearts, and the new hearts would be indistinguishable from the living presence of the Holy Spirit in them. This was fulfilled on Pentecost Day. Receiving the Holy Spirit would be the spiritual equivalent of a heart transplant. Anything less would be inadequate. Remember Jeremiah’s description of people’s hearts?
⁹ “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? ¹⁰ I the Lord search the heart ..."
Jeremiah 17:9-10
The only cure is to receive a spiritual heart transplant. Consequently, God sends his Spirit into the hearts of those who go all in—they receive a new heart. Interestingly, it is also depicted as “spiritual circumcision” (see Rom 2:29, Deut 30:6, or Col 2:11).
So far, we have considered two ministries of the Holy Spirit in Part A of Challenge 2: 1) the Spirit worked to soften your heart so you could believe the message about Jesus, and 2) the moment you went all in for Jesus the Holy Spirit took up residency in your heart. This second ministry is often called “Spirit Baptism” — receiving the Holy Spirit.
In Challenge 1, we considered the good news (gospel) which describes all that God has done on our behalf through Jesus. Our role is to go all in by faith while simultaneously receiving the Holy Spirit into our hearts. From the moment we went all in onward, God lives in us. Or we could accurately describe receiving the Spirit as passing through the narrow gate (Matt 7:13) and beginning our journey on the Jesus Way. First God came to us to be with us in Jesus (Emmanuel, which means God with us). Then God came to live in us forever via his Spirit (Spirit-filled). All of this is Good News. God does it all and we can only receive it as a gift of undeserved grace.
Challenge 2 states: “Disciples live Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered lives.” Receiving the Spirit empowers us to live as apprentices (disciples) of Jesus in kingdom living. We cannot live this way relying on our own strength, determination, and wisdom. Good intentions and persistent effort are not enough. We need divine help. God gives us that assistance through his Holy Spirit who lives in us. Only by depending on his presence and power that comes to us through his Spirit, can we live under God’s rule, surrendered to his authority, and daily growing more and more like Jesus. We must be transformed, and it starts with the Spirit changing our hearts and giving us the desire to follow the Jesus Way.
We will see in the remaining three parts of Challenge 2, that Jesus lived and ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit. And if Jesus needed the Holy Spirit’s help, how much more do we? Here is the principle: God always empowers us through the Spirit to do whatever he asks us to do. On the flip side, God never asks us to do anything that he will not help us do through his Spirit. Kingdom living becomes possible only with the Spirit’s help.
Additional Insights on the Spirit
In the OT, the Spirit was given to only a few people who were called to accomplish specific tasks by God.
In the OT, the Spirit could also be taken from them. But since Pentecost (Acts 2), the Spirit lives in disciples as a permanent resident and will never leave us.
The Spirit is Divine, part of the Triune God.
“Spirit” is a feminine noun in the original languages but is always referred to in Scripture with a masculine pronoun.
The Spirit is personal, a person – not a “force” or an “it.” He, not it, loves, speaks, listens, and grieves. He participated in the creation.
The Spirit is called by many names, including the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, the Paraclete, Living Water, the Spirit of Christ, and many more. They all refer to the same Being.
Jesus was the promised Messiah (Hebrew) or “Christ” (Greek). “Messiah” literally means “Anointed One” (anointed with the Holy Spirit).
Living people breathe, continually inhaling and then exhaling. Breathing moves air. The Spirit is sometimes referred to as “the breath of life.” The Spirit, as part of the Trinity, is the source and sustainer of life.
Some theologians suggest that when we inhale slowly and attentively and then exhale the same way, we speak God’s name: “Yah” (inhaling) and “Weh” (exhaling). If so, with every breath we take between birth and death, we speak the name of the living God, Yahweh.
Because the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, it is accurate to say that Jesus lives in our hearts, or Jesus lives in our hearts through the Spirit. It is also true that the Father lives in us through the Spirit.
The Father and the Son send the Spirit to those who will receive him.
The Spirit also gives Spiritual gifts to those he dwells in.
The fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are considered virtues of the Kingdom of God. Without a new heart and the Spirit’s assistance they remain beyond our reach.
Jesus was filled with a measure of Spirit that was described as “the Spirit without limit.”
Jesus ministered and did miracles by the power of Holy Spirit who resided in him.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark of the Christian Church. Without the continuing presence of the Spirit there is no church.
The presence of the Holy Spirit is a distinguishing characteristic of every disciple and empowers disciples to do whatever God requests them to do.
No teaching or summary tells the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit better than the words shared in the second chapter of the book of Acts. Read them now and join in the wonder of that day.
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
¹ On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. ² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
⁵ At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.
⁷ They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” ¹² They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other. ¹³ But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”
Peter Preaches to the Crowd
¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. ¹⁶ No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
¹⁷ ‘In the last days,’ God says,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
²¹ But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’
²² “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. ²³ But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. ²⁴ But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.
²⁵ King David said this about him:
‘I see that the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
²⁶ No wonder my heart is glad,
and my tongue shouts his praises!
My body rests in hope.
²⁷ For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.
²⁸ You have shown me the way of life,
and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’
²⁹ “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. ³⁰ But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. ³¹ David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.
³² “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. ³³ Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.
³⁴ For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,
‘The LORD [God] said to my Lord [David],
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
³⁵ until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”’
³⁶ “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
³⁷ Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
³⁸ Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” ⁴⁰ Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
⁴¹ Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
THINKING IT THROUGH
“May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.” Psalm 143:10
THE TRUTH: Jesus promised his disciples he would not leave them alone when he ascended,
but they would be filled with his presence and power through the Holy Spirit after he left them.
THE CHALLENGE: Disciples live Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered lives.
Each part of every four-part challenge concludes with a “Thinking it Through” segment which consists of a list of Scriptures related to the topic being considered, questions for group discussion and personal reflection, and notes. Each of the twelve challenges will end with an exercise to guide you through the process of naming lies, believing the truth, and clarifying the personal implications and applications of the truth to your life. Truth, if believed, must be lived, and living the truth brings personal transformation (Kingdom living). Please consider this section as a tool to help you to understand the truth, not as a test or as busy work.
Related Scriptures
Galatians 3:2 ² Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
Galatians 3:14 ¹⁴ Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Genesis 1:2 ² The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Judges 6:34 ³⁴ Then the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon with power.
Zechariah 4:5 ⁵ “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.
1 Corinthians 12:13 ¹³ We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Job 33:4 ⁴ For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Psalm 139:7 ⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
Exodus 35: 30-32 ³⁰ Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— ³² to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze.
Numbers 11:25, 29 ²⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him [Moses], and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.
²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
Judges 6:24 ²⁴ Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
1 Samuel 16:13, 14 ¹³ So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David from that day on. ¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul….
Psalm 143:10 ¹⁰ Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
Isaiah 11:1-2 ¹ Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. ² And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord
Isaiah 44:3 ³ And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.
1 Thessalonians 1:5 ⁵ For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true.
Isaiah 59:21 ²¹ “And this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!
Questions
You are encouraged to use these questions for group discussion or personal reflection. Respond to the questions that are most relevant or interesting to you (I urge you to write your responses in a journal or notebook).
Before reading Step 2-A, what words or associations would describe your understanding of who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does?
If you attended churches in the past, what was taught about the Holy Spirit?
Reread three prophecies about the Spirit (2nd page of Part A) and write in your own words what each of them promises.
The heart is mentioned in those prophesies multiple times on the proceeding pages. It seems closely related to the ministry of the Spirit. When the Spirit changes a person’s heart, what happens?
Review the two main ministries of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Part A. Then describe the relationship between Challenge 1, “All In,” and Challenge 2, “Spirit-Filled”? Can you live “all-in” without being “Spirit-filled” or be “Spirit-filled” without going “all-in”?
1 Corinthians 12:3 states, “… no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” Write a brief explanation of what this means.
The Jewish tradition is to celebrate Moses returning from the top of Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments at the Festival of Weeks, also called Shavuot or Pentecost (See Notes below). This means the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers in Jerusalem (Pentecost, Acts 2) was the same day the tribes of Israel (Exodus 20) received the Ten Commandments (Shavuot, Exodus 20) more that twelve hundred years earlier. The crowds of pilgrims that filled Jerusalem on Pentecost were there to celebrate the OT Law, but over three-thousand of them received the Holy Spirit. Reflect on this. Do you think this is a coincidence or God’s plan? And if it is God’s plan, why is it significant?
Review the bullet points in “Additional Insights on the Spirit”. What is new to you? What excites you? What puzzles you?
Slowly reread the Story of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41). In your journal record all the insights you receive about the Holy Spirit in one column and questions that surface in a second column.
The Story of Pentecost is often referred to as the “birth of the church.” Why is that an appropriate description and what does it tell you about the church?
Notes
Three OT feasts (religious holidays) required people to travel to Jerusalem to participate in the festivities. They resembled modern music festivals that lasted for days without the drugs, carousing, and rebellious associations. Instead, they were joyous religious celebrations to honor God. The three mandatory feasts were 1) the Feast of Unleavened bread/Passover in the spring, 2) fifty days later was the Festival of Weeks (or Shavuot) following the first harvest, and 3) the Festival of Shelters (or Ingathering) after the final harvest (see Ex 23:14-17). As time passed the Festival of Weeks (Shavuot) became known as Pentecost (Greek: Penta means fifty) because it was fifty days after Passover. My Hebraic friends tell me that this holy gathering also commemorates the reception of the Ten Commandments (the Law) at Mt. Sinai.
Jesus was crucified during Passover week, when Jerusalem was filled with tens of thousands of Jews. He rose three days later and ascended forty days later (Acts 1:3-11). After ten more days, the feast of Pentecost occurred and again Jerusalem was flooded with tens of thousands of visitors camping out to celebrate the Festival of Shelters or Pentecost. Consequently, the visitors were Jews coming from all over the Roman Empire speaking many diverse languages as their mother tongue. Understanding this context may help you appreciate the account of Pentecost in Acts 2.