Writers usually have a hard time finding introductions but several years ago this one fell into my lap.  It is a newspaper article from the La Crosse Tribune entitled “Deer Loses Head-Butt with Lawn Ornament.”  It says:

A love-struck buck ran out of luck a week ago.

The seven-point buck was killed when it rammed a 640-pound concrete statue of an elk in the backyard of Mark and Carol Brye’s home in rural Viroqua, Wisconsin . . .

Mark Brye, who owns Brye Plumbing in Viroqua, was still laughing about the suicidal buck he found near his elk statue last week . . .

“Our son and daughter gave it to us for Christmas four years ago because we like to hunt elk,” Brye said. “The elk is a nice thing to see every morning. It looks pretty cool, especially on a foggy morning.”

Brye said he knew exactly what happened when he saw the statue tipped over. Although they were about the same height, the statue weighed at least three times more than the 180-pound deer.

He didn’t realize the buck lay dead a short distance away.

“I could tell the buck poked the statue a couple of times by the chipped paint on it,” Brye said, adding that the buck eventually rammed it like a mountain goat.

The buck apparently staggered about 20 feet and fell.

Brye claimed the buck with a tag from the Vernon County conservation warden. He laughed at the warden’s tag note: “lawn ornament fight — lost” . . .

The deer is butchered and in Brye’s freezer. The elk remains on its side.

“I can’t tip it back up until I get a whole bunch of guys to help me,” he said.1

That deer charged after the wrong thing and lost his life.  He committed suicide by attacking a concrete statue.  It was not even a real elk.

I mention that story because a lot of Christians today are doing the same thing with the Holy Spirit.  They are spending their lives hoping He will do what He has never promised to do.  They want Him to lead them through impressions and hunches.  They want Him to speak to them audibly or with some emotion-packed experience.  They want Him to tell them specifically who to marry and where to work and where to live.

One book that encourages this way of thinking is Bill Hybel’s The Power of a Whisper,2 which tells its readers to listen to God’s whispers from Heaven.  This is so important to Hybels that his church website has a section for viewers to post what God is whispering to them.3  The Introduction to the book states:

The Power of a Whisper is the tractor-beam of the soul that that prophets of old heard daily. And in the modern-day cacophony of cell phones, emails and instant messaging, what will distinguish God’s people from others will be hearing and heeding whispers from above . . . Tune yourself to the only frequency that can satisfy your soul. And start today boldly responding as you hear the gentle whispers of God.4

The Bible, however, does not say that the Holy Spirit whispers new revelations to our heart.  The Bible says that the Holy Spirit helps us to obey the old revelations that are already found within its pages.  To misunderstand this is to charge head first into a concrete statue.5

Another way of saying this is that many Christians today are pursuing experience when they should be pursuing holiness.  They are chasing after a warm fuzzy feeling or a voice from Heaven when they should be opening up their Bibles and obeying the Word of God. 

The first article in this edition talked about the ministry of the Holy Spirit known as special grace.  Special grace is “the grace of God that is given to the elect.”6  There is a grace that God gives to everyone, which is known as common grace.7  And there is a special grace that God gives only to those who have been chosen from before the foundations of the earth.8  It is the unique mercy that God gives to certain people because of His foreknowledge and will, not because of their actions in this life.9

One aspect of special grace is salvation.  The Holy Spirit applies Jesus’ death on the cross to our account, He unites us to Jesus, and He gives us eternal life.10  A second aspect of special grace is that of sanctification.  The word “sanctify” means “to make holy” or “to set apart for holiness.”11  Sanctification, then, is “making something or someone holy.”12  If you are sanctified, then you are made holy.  You are made morally right before God.  All of that is tied up in the term “sanctification.”

Before going further, however, it might be helpful to point out that there are two ways to look at sanctification.  The first is what is known as “immediate sanctification.”  Immediate sanctification is “the act of making something holy.”13  It refers to the instant that someone is made morally right before God.

When you are saved, you are immediately sanctified.14  When you are regenerated and indwelt and united to Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are immediately pronounced “holy” by the Spirit of God.  The blood of Jesus is applied to your account and you will never become more holy than you are at that specific moment in time.15

That is the first way to look at sanctification.  Sanctification is immediate.  It is the act of being made holy.

There is a second way to look at sanctification that is known as “progressive sanctification.”  Progressive sanctification is “the process of making something holy.”16  It refers to the process or the steps that someone has to go through to become morally right before God.

This is one of the great mysteries of the Bible.  On the one hand, when you are saved, you are immediately sanctified.  Your eternal standing before God is secured by the union of your soul with Christ’s.  On the other hand, when you are saved, you begin a process. You begin to grow as a believer.  You begin to fight sin.  You begin to pray.  You begin to study the Bible and attend church and worship with other Christians.

You start to put off the old man and put on the new man.17  You start to walk by faith and not by sight.18  You start to feed the spirit and starve the flesh.19  In short, you begin to work to be sanctified.

Philippians 2:12 sums it up well. 

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

A Christian does not work for his salvation.  He works it out.  He works hard to become what Jesus Christ has already become in him.  He works hard to grow in holiness.  That is the idea of progressive sanctification.

Whereas you are immediately sanctified at a specific moment in time, you are progressively sanctified over a long period of time.  Whereas you undergo the act of being made holy, you also undergo the process of being made holy.  And that is a process that will continue for the rest of your Christian life. 

It needs to be said that if more Christians would focus on this, they would avoid the pain of head-butting statues.  If they would stick to the clear teaching of Scripture on how to be holy, they would avoid the frustration of waiting for God to speak where He has not promised to.  God never said that He would tell you who to marry or where to work or where to live.  He said that He would tell you how to be holy.20

To see what this looks like, here are six roles the Holy Spirit plays in progressive sanctification.

I. HE FILLS US 

Ephesians 5:18 says:

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

In the world of the First Century, drunkenness was often associated with spirituality.  Advocates of heathen religions would teach their followers that in order to have a spiritual experience, they must enter into another state of consciousness.  They must turn off their mind and turn on their emotions and the best way to do that was with the help of drugs or alcohol or sex.21

This explains the crowd’s reaction to the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost.  Acts 2:12-13 says that as the Apostles spoke in tongues:

They all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

The crowd thought the Apostles were full of sweet wine because it was a common practice in the First Century to use alcohol in worship.

With that in mind, Paul tells the church at Ephesus: “Don’t worship the Holy Spirit like the pagans worship their gods.”  “Don’t serve the true God like the Greeks serve Zeus.”  “Don’t get yourself worked up into a heightened emotional state where you lose consciousness.”  “Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

Believers are never commanded to be baptized with the Spirit or indwelt with the Spirit but they are commanded to be filled with the Spirit.  This is something that we are commanded to do once we have been saved because it refers to progressive sanctification.

What does it mean “to be filled” with the Spirit?  What does it look like?  Ephesians 5:18-19 says it looks like worship.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.

Paul connects being filled with the Spirit to singing and making music to the Lord.  When you are full of the Holy Spirit, you are full of worship and praise to God.  You are full of the desire to bring glory and honor to His name.

Being filled with the Spirit also means to be empowered.  This is not mentioned in Ephesians 5:18 but other passages speak of it.  Acts 2:4 says:

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Acts 4:8 says:

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people . . .”

Acts 4:31 says:

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

The Spirit empowered the disciples to speak in tongues.  The Spirit empowered Peter to preach.  The Spirit empowered the disciples to speak the Word of God with boldness.  To be filled with the Spirit is to be empowered by Him.

Being filled with the Spirit also refers to living a holy life.  Acts 6:2-4 says that when the Apostles were choosing the first deacons to oversee the distribution of food to the widows of the church:22

So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

The Apostles said to pick seven men who had a good reputation and were full of the Holy Spirit.  Pick seven men whose holiness was evident for all to see.23

This all leads to another question: How is someone filled with the Holy Spirit?  What do we have to do to experience this blessing?

Wayne Grudem has a good answer to this in his Systematic Theology.

Someone might object that a person who is already “full” of the Holy Spirit cannot become more full – if a glass is full of water no more can be put into it. But a water glass is a poor analogy for us as real people, for God is able to cause us to grow and to be able to contain much more of the Holy Spirit’s fullness and power. 

A better analogy might be a balloon, which can be “full” of air even though it has very little air in it. When more air is blown in, the balloon expands and in a sense it is “more full.” So it is with us: we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and at the same time be able to receive much more of the Holy Spirit as well. It was only Jesus Himself to whom the Father gave the Spirit without measure (John 3:34).24

Thus, we can receive more of the Spirit even though we are already full of the Spirit.

To do this, we must live in a way that pleases Him.  We must obey the commands that He gave us in Scripture.25  We cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit if we are not holy.  We cannot be filled with Him if we are not living a life of prayer and worship and repentance and Bible study.  To be filled with the Spirit is to know the Word of God and apply it.26

II. HE HELPS US

Not only does the Holy Spirit fill us, but He also helps us.  He assists us.  He comes to our aid in a time of need.

Sanctification is a mystery.  We work and the Spirit of God works.  We strive and labor and toil to be holy and the Holy Spirit strives and labors and toils to make us holy. We give it all we have but, at the same time, the Spirit does it all and receives all the glory for it.

A mentor of mine once told me to work like it all depends on you and pray like it does not.  Progressive sanctification is like that.  We do everything we can to grow in holiness but we know that any growth comes from God and not from us.  He gets all the glory.  He gets all the credit for our progress.

In Romans 8:26-27, Paul explains what it means to be helped by the Spirit.  He says:

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.  Particularly, He helps us in our weaknesses as we pray.

We have all had times when we were tempted to sin and all we could say in our prayers was “HELP!”  That is what Paul is talking about here in this passage.  In times of struggle, we cannot put our thoughts into words because they are too powerful.  So we groan.  We cry out.27

Just like creation groans because of sin in Romans 8:22,28 Christians groan because of sin in Romans 8:26.  And the Holy Spirit is there to help us groan.

Verse 27 goes on to say that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.  The idea here is that the Spirit takes our requests to the Father.  Just as God the Son intercedes to the Father for our salvation, God the Spirit intercedes to the Father for our sanctification.29  He serves as a middle man to tell the Father the words that we cannot express.  He translates our needs to God and, in doing so, He grows us in holiness.

There is not a lot of information as to what this intercession looks like, but Paul says in verse 27 that it is “according to the will of God.”  As we groan and cry out to God, we can be assured that the Spirit helps us according to God’s will.  What this means is that the Spirit will never help you to sin.  If you sin, you are on your own.  The Spirit will only help you to do what is pleasing to God.  He only works for our holiness.  He only works to sanctify us.

III. HE COMFORTS US

The Christian life is hard.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, your life cuts straight against the grain.  The world says, “Sin!” and God says, “No!”  The world says, “Just do what you feel” and God says, “Do what I command.”  The world says, “Live for the moment” and God says, “Live for eternity.”  As we strive to please God, we get frustrated.  We want to quit.

In John Bunyan’s famous work Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian fell into the Swamp of Despondence and wanted to stop his journey towards the Holy City.  He lost all hope that he would ever arrive at Heaven.30  We have all experienced that because sanctification is hard.  Growing in holiness takes work.

The good news is that we are not alone.  We can be encouraged because the Holy Spirit is our Comforter. He helps us is by comforting us.  In John 14:16, Jesus says:

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.

In John 15:26, He says:

When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.

The word for “Helper” in these verses could be translated “Comforter” or “Counselor.”    It comes from the Greek word parakleitos, which is a compound word: para meaning “alongside” and kleitos meaning “called.”  A parakleitos is “one who is called alongside.”  The Holy Spirit is the One Whom God the Son has called to come alongside His disciples and help them.31

There are several ways in which the Holy Spirit does this32 but one way is by assuring us that we are saved.  He assures us that we are children of God.  Romans 5:5 says:

And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 8:14 says:

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Galatians 4:6 says:

Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

These verses say the same thing in different ways: the Holy Spirit comforts us by assuring us that we are saved.  He gives us confidence that when we die, we will be forgiven of our sins and experience the favor of God in Heaven.

IV. HE ENABLES US

The Holy Spirit also enables us to minister to other believers.  He provides us with supernatural skills to contribute to the Body of Christ.  He gives us spiritual gifts.33

Sometimes these gifts reflect a man’s gifts before he is saved.  Some men were gifted administrators before they were converted to Christ and they were gifted administrators after they were converted.  Some were gifted servants before and they were gifted servants after.  They have always been service oriented.

At other times, the spiritual gifts do not reflect a man’s gifts before he is saved.  Some men are very stingy before they saved but, afterwards, they are very giving. Other men are cruel and heartless before and merciful and compassionate afterwards.

However the gifts are expressed, it is important to recognize that they are given to us by the Holy Spirit.  They are received after salvation and not before.  They are part of the sanctification process.  A man may be an administrator before he is saved but he does not have the gift of administration until after he is saved.  Spiritual gifts are only for spiritual people.34

Until a man is saved, he does not have the Spirit of God.  He does not think of spiritual things.  He is carnal and fleshly, and so are his gifts.  But, after the Holy Spirit enters a man’s life, the Spirit gives him spiritual gifts.

Romans 12:4-8 lists some of the gifts this way:

 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy,according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

First Corinthians 12:8-10 also provides a list of the gifts:

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

In relation to the spiritual gifts, First Corinthians 12:11 says: 

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

The Spirit gives gifts to whomever He pleases.  It is His prerogative to grant us whatever gifts that He wants.

First Peter 4:10 says:

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

We should use the gifts we have to serve others.  Spiritual gifts are not for our benefit.  They are for the benefit of other people within the church.

The word for “gift” in this verse is charisma,35 which means “a gift.”36  The spiritual gifts have been given to us freely by the Holy Spirit of God.  He gives them to enable us to serve.

V. HE GUIDES US

John 16:12-13 describes another ministry of the Holy Spirit that was performed with the Apostles.  In the words of Jesus:

I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide them.  Verse 13 says the Spirit will guide them into “all the truth.”  The Holy Spirit guides them to teach and to write the Scriptures (where truth is found).37  He will convict their consciences to learn and obey the Word of God and to write it out for posterity.38  He will also supernaturally remind them of the words of Jesus as John 14:26 says:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

While that is an amazing promise, it is a promise for the apostles at the Last Supper and not for Christians today.  New Testament Commentator Merrill Tenney explains it this way:

Jesus told his disciples that the revelation to date was incomplete. They were not sufficiently mature to understand all he wished to impart . . . In this promise lies the germinal authority of the apostolic writings, which transmit the revelation of Christ through his disciples by the work of the Holy Spirit. He would conduct them into the unknown future as a guide directs those who follow him into unfamiliar territory.39

The Holy Spirit guided the apostles to write His words in the Bible.40  He guided them in other ways as well.41

Unfortunately there is not a lot of information as to how this guidance looks today, which raises some important questions.  One question it raises is: Does the Holy Spirit guide us in things that the Bible does not mention?  In other words, does the Holy Spirit tell me who I am going to marry?  Will He guide me in that way?  Will He reveal to me how many children I am going to have or what kind of house I should live in or whether I will be rich or free from cancer?  Will He guide me to do mission work in Zimbabwe or Tibet or Afghanistan? 

We would all say that there are times when we would like to know more than what God has revealed to us in the Bible.  So does the Holy Spirit guide us into all of that?

From what is said and not said in Scripture, the answer appears to be, “No.”  The Holy Spirit definitely could reveal Himself that way, but He chooses not to.  He could tell us what job to take or what city to move to with a “whisper.”  But the time for extra-biblical revelation is over.  God revealed Himself in extra-Biblical ways in the past but He does not do that anymore.42

Most Christians do not think through what it means to say that God “told me” to do something.  For instance, a man informed me a few summers ago that God told him to go to seminary.  At the time, however, he was not going to seminary.  Does that mean that he was in rebellion against God?  Does that mean that he was sinning and that he needs to be disciplined and put out of the church?  After all, to disobey God is to sin.  So should I have brought him before his church to be publicly rebuked for failing to attend seminary?

Saying that God “told me” something is dangerous stuff.  Cults start that way. 

Inherent in cult worship is the elevation of some authority to or beyond an equality with the Biblical revelation. Frequently, this takes the form of some special revelation claimed by the cult leader . . .43

While the man that I talked to could not be considered “cultic,” he is heading in that direction when he claims that God told him to do something that the Bible did not say.  He is adding extra revelation to the Bible.  He may not mean to do that, but it is the logical conclusion to his statement.  He is saying that the Bible is for everyone else but God spoke to him in a special way and commanded him to go to seminary.

Arthur Johnson wrote a helpful book on this subject called Faith Misguided.  In describing the misguided thinking of Christians on the voice of God, Johnson writes:

When either the psychological attitude alone, or the more complete philosophical grasp, is translated into theological terms, the resulting view leads the person to equate his inner impressions or subjective states with the voice of God. Such a person, if he is a Christian, tends to believe that the activity of the Holy Spirit within us is expressed primarily through emotional or other noncognitive aspects of our being. Having and “obeying” such experiences is what “being spiritual” is all about.44

The last sentence probably sums up the issue: many Christians think that being spiritual is about emotional or noncognitive (non-mental) experiences.  And they are wrong.  Being spiritual is about being guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth and truth is found in the Bible.  Truth is found with an open heart and an open mind.  Truth is not found with an open heart and a mind that has been turned off.

So who am I going to marry?  Where should I live?  What is God’s plan for my life?  Augustine used to answer these questions this way: “Love God and do whatever you please.”  The Holy Spirit’s job is to help you to love God.  In that sense, He guides you.  He pricks your conscience to obey the commands in the Bible.  He helps you to remember Bible passages that apply to specific situations that you are going through.  He works in your mind to enable you to understand what you are reading in the Scriptures.  He works in your heart to cause it to feel guilty over sin and to feel innocent over righteousness.  But, in areas where the Bible is silent, there is freedom to do what you please. 

While God is sovereign over our decisions45 and while the Holy Spirit guides us to live in a way that is pleasing to God,46 He gives us the freedom to choose in areas that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible.  If you want to know who to marry or how many kids you will have or whether you should serve as a missionary overseas, the answer is simple: “Love God and do whatever you please.”  “Do what He commands and then do whatever you like.” 

Several years ago, the President of the seminary I attended was asked the question: “What should we be praying for as we prepare to graduate?”  “What should we be looking for as we get ready to leave this school and enter into full-time ministry?”

The President answered, “If you believe that God is sovereign, then you know that wherever you are is where you are supposed to be. So honor God with your life and then do whatever you want.”

The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth but, afterwards, He gives us freedom to do whatever we want.

VI. HE PURIFIES US

It only makes sense that the Holy Spirit purifies us.  He makes us holy.  He does everything He does to remove sin in our lives.  He fills us and helps us and comforts us and enables us and guides us in order to sanctify us.  He is constantly working to rid us of every evil deed and to produce good works in us for the glory of God.

This is what Romans 8:5-10 talks about.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

As Christians, the Holy Spirit lives in us to make us dead to sin and alive to righteousness.  He purifies us.  He makes us holy through the process of progressive sanctification.

This relates to grieving the Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 4:30 says:

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

To grieve the Holy Spirit is to resist Him in this work of sanctification.  It is to sin.  He experiences sorrow when we work against Him and frustrate His efforts to purify us.47

To say all of this another way, do not expect the Holy Spirit to fill you and comfort you and enable you without, at the same time, purifying you.  Do not expect the Holy Spirit to give you wonderful spiritual gifts so that you can use them to sin.  God does not bless us so we can indulge in our lusts.  The Holy Spirit does not work that way.

CONCLUSION

While some consider the Holy Spirit to be the forgotten member of the trinity, He does not need to be.  His role in sanctification is essential.  He fills us, helps us, comforts us, enables us, guides us, and purifies us in order to make us holy.

If more Christians pursued this instead of inner impressions and hunches, they would avoid the frustration of running into statues.  It is a guarantee that the Holy Spirit will work in you to make you holy.  It is not a guarantee that the Holy Spirit will give you a whisper from heaven that is not found in the Bible.  To chase after that is to head butt a stone elk.

 

1. www.lacrossetribune.com as of 5/23/14. [↩]
2. The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God. Having the Guts to Respond (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010). [↩]
3. This can be seen at www.willowcreek.com/whisper as of 5/6/14. [↩]
4. The Power of a Whisper, 14. [↩]
5. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit does not encourage us to do things like evangelize or pray. This is to say that the Holy Spirit does not do things like tell us to move to a different part of the country or work at a different job.  Those things are not mentioned in Scripture and, therefore, the Holy Spirit does not move us to pursue them one way or the other. He gives us freedom to do what we want to where the Scripture is silent. For more on this, see Gary Gilley’s Is that You Lord? (Darlington, Del.: Evangelical Press, 2007). [↩]
6. This is my own definition. Wayne Grudem provides another one in his Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000 ed.) 1254. There he says that special grace is “the grace that brings people to salvation.” [↩]
7. This is my own definition. Wayne Grudem defines common grace as “the grace of God by which he gives people innumerable blessings that are not part of salvation” (Ibid., 1238). [↩]
8. Eph 1:3-4. [↩]
9. Rom 9:14-18. [↩]
10. For more information about the connection between special grace and salvation, see “The Holy Spirit Today, Part 1.” [↩]
11. Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, ed. by William D. Mounce (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 611. The Greek word is hagiazo, which means “to make holy, sanctify, consecrate.” In some instances, it means to set apart. [↩]
12. Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1999 ed.) 630. This definition is mine but Charles Ryrie provides a more comprehensive definition when he writes: “[Sanctification is] God setting the believer apart for Himself: positionally at salvation, progressively throughout life, and ultimately when the believer arrives in His presence in Heaven.” [↩]
13. Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008 ed.) 723. This is my definition. Immediate sanctification can also be taken to mean that “the believer is positionally sanctified; he stands sanctified before God.” [↩]
14. C. J. Mahaney, Living the Cross Centered Life (Colorado Springs, Col.: Multnomah Books, 2006) 118-119. This is also known as justification. C. J. Mahaney explains the difference between justification and sanctification this way: “Justification is being declared righteous. Sanctification is being made righteous – being conformed to the image of Christ . . . Justification is immediate and complete upon conversion You’ll never be more justified than you are the first moment you trust in the Person and finished work of Christ. Sanctification is a progressive process. You’ll be more sanctified as you continue in grace-motivated obedience.” [↩]
15. 1 John 1:7 says: “But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin. His holiness is given to us and our unholiness is given to Him to die for on the cross (2 Cor 5:21). In this sense, we can never be more holy than we are at the moment we first believe. [↩]
16. The Moody Handbook of Theology, 723. This is my own definition. Progressive sanctification can also be taken to mean that “the believer grows in . . . sanctification in daily experience.” [↩]
17. Eph 4:20-24. [↩]
18. 2 Cor 5:7. [↩]
19. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; 6:8. [↩]
20.  

    1 Peter 1:13-16 says: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” [↩]

21. William Hendriksen, Ephesians in New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004 ed.) 240. William Hendriksen writes: “By the ancients, moreover, an overdose of wine was often used not only to rid oneself of care and to gain a sense of mirth but also to induce communion with the gods and, by means of this communion, to receive ecstatic knowledge, not otherwise obtainable.” [↩]
22. James Montgomery Boice, Acts: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997) 114. The word “deacon” is not mentioned in this passage but many scholars believe this is the first reference to the office. As James Montgomery Boice puts it: “These men then became the first official body of officers in the church other than the apostles, who were appointed by Jesus Christ.” Since there were only two official offices in the church (elder and deacon), this must have referred to the office of deacon. [↩]
23. A Christian can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and live in sin for a period of time. He can be indwelt by the Spirit and not be filled with the Spirit. However, the Apostles told the disciples to pick seven men who were filled.  They were to pick men who were consistently living a holy life.  They lived in such a way that their holiness was evident. [↩]
24. Systematic Theology, 782. [↩]
25. It only makes sense that the Holy Spirit will not fill an unholy life. To be filled with the Spirit, we must make sure that we are obeying the Word that He inspired in the Bible. For more information about inspiration, see the JTST Theological Question “How is the Bible Inspired.” [↩]
26. For more information about this, see the JTST Theological Question, “What Does It Mean to be Filled with the Spirit.” [↩]
27. Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans, Volume 3 in Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, n. d.) 142. Donald Grey Barnhouse writes that this weakness is sometimes where we need to be when striving to please God. “This weakness is just the atmosphere that the Lord likes to find in us. For it is against such infirmity that He can best display His power. If we wish the Lord to work in our lives, there must be a clear recognition of sovereign grace. If the work is to be truly effective, we must realize our weakness; the atmosphere must be one of known difficulty. If the work is to be outstanding, we must realize utter nothingness; the atmosphere must be one of known impossibility.” [↩]
28. Romans 8:22 says: “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” [↩]
29. Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1967) 529-530. The intercession of Christ refers to Jesus “drawing near to God and pleading in behalf of men. Thus, in harmony with the idea of intercession, he is called our Advocate. The prayers and praises of believers are acceptable to God through Christ’s intercession.” Romans 8:26 is the only passage that mentions the intercession of the Holy Spirit but it seems that, in some way, it plays a similar role to Christ’s interceding. The Spirit gives aid to believers “that they may offer truly appropriate prayers.” [↩]
30. John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress in Modern English (Gainesville, Flo.: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2001) 9-15. [↩]
31. Joseph H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1996) 483. [↩]
32. There are numerous ways that the Spirit comforts Christians.  A few of them include: encouraging us to continue in the work of ministry (Acts 9:31), giving us peace (Rom 8:6), assuring us of a future resurrection (Rom 8:11), teaching us truth (1 Cor 2:13), and freeing us to understand God’s Word (2 Cor 3:17). [↩]
33. J. I. Packer, Concise Theology (Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1993) 227. J. I. Packer defines spiritual gifts as “an ability in some way to express, celebrate, display, and so communicate Christ. We are told that gifts, rightly used, build up Christians and churches.” [↩]
34. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” [↩]
35. Grudem, 1237. This is where the term “charismatic” comes from. According to Wayne Grudem, charismatic is “a term referring to any groups or people that trace their historical origin to the charismatic renewal movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Such groups seek to practice all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament but, unlike many Pentecostal denominations, allow differing viewpoints on whether baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to conversion and whether tongues is a sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit.” [↩]
36. Mounce, 283-284. [↩]
37. In other words, the Holy Spirit will teach the disciples new revelation. [↩]
38. D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John in The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991) 539-540. Concerning this passage, D. A. Carson writes: “Jesus himself is the truth (14:6); now the Spirit of truth leads the disciples into all the implications of the truth, the revelation, intrinsically bound up with Jesus Christ. There is no other locus of truth; this is all truth. The notion of “guidance” in all truth has nothing to do with privileged information pertaining to one’s choice of vocation or mate, but with understanding God as he has revealed himself, and with obeying that revelation . . .” [↩]
39. John in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981) 158. [↩]
40. 2 Pet 1:20-21. [↩]
41. For example, Acts 13:1-4 says: “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.” [↩]
42. For more information about this, see the JTST Theological Question: “Do People Still Speak in Tongues” and the JTST Article: “The Close of the Canon” in Issue 2.  Also, see Jude 1:3 and Revelation 22:18-19.  Jude says that our faith has been “once for all handed down to the saints.”  It is not continually being handed down. The Book of Revelation warns us not to add to what has already been written in the Bible. John’s prophecy in Revelation is the last prophecy for the church age. [↩]
43. Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Greenville, S. C.: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002) 121. [↩]
44. Faith Misguided: Exposing the Dangers of Mysticism (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988) 26. [↩]
45. Psalm 139:16 says: “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” [↩]
46. Section VI below talks about the purifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works to make us dead to sin and alive to righteousness (see Rom 8:5-10). [↩]
47. Andrew Lincoln, Ephesians in Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 42 (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990) 307-308. Tying Ephesians 4:30 into the verses above it, Andrew Lincoln writes: “Believer’s sinful words and deeds are all the more grievous to the Spirit because they have been sealed in the Spirit for the day of redemption . . . Through their reception of the Spirit, associated with their baptism, believers are those who have been stamped with the holy character of their owner . . . Using hateful words against one’s sisters and brothers in the community of faith distresses the Spirit who binds that community together.” [↩]