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Lesson 8 God the Holy Ghost Lord's Day 20 - 22 God the Holy Ghost In Lord's Day 11-19, on the basis of articles 2 - 7 of the Apostles' Creed, there is spoken of Jesus Christ and His work. In Lord's Day 20-22, on the basis of the last five articles of the Creed, there is spoken of the Holy Ghost and His work, who He is and what He does in order that we may be partakers in the deliverance which Christ has merited for us.
Q. 53. What dost thou believe concerning the Holy Ghost?
(a) 1 John 5:7, Genesis 1:2, Isaiah 48:16, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, Acts 5:3-4; The Holy Ghost is God The Holy Ghost is not something of God, as our spirit, beside our body, is something of us, a part of our being. The Holy Ghost is also not only a power emanating from God. No, the Holy Ghost is in Himself perfect and true, that is true God. The Holy Ghost is God from eternity unto eternity. He is together with God the Father and God the Son, one God, which for us is an incomprehensible mystery (Lord's Day 8). The Holy Ghost is Himself God and in this way He works in the world and in the hearts of men. Jesus has said of Him, "He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:14). Also Given Me The believer now rejoices: He is also given me! The human spirit has been defiled through sin. From it nothing can come from it anymore that is good before God. But now the Holy Ghost is given in his heart. He renews all thinking, feeling, and willing. In what way does He do so? God Himself says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). The Holy Ghost shows him all his sins and his entire sinful existence. In this way he experiences and confesses that he is a sinner and that he has deserved eternal death. However, the Holy Ghost shows him also that there is forgiveness possible through the blood of Christ. He unites the sinner with Christ. How does He do this? He does this by working true faith in the heart (Ephesians 2:8). Through that faith, there comes communion between the believer and Christ. The Holy Ghost sprinkles the blood of Christ on a guilty soul, so that it will be cleansed (1 Peter 1:2). In this way the believer becomes a partaker of Christ and all the benefits which Christ merited for him: forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Power and comfort in the spiritual warfare This Holy Ghost will always remain in the believer. The believer is still often assaulted by the devil. He must fight the spiritual warfare against the sin which remains in him. However, the Holy Ghost gives the strength to fight. This is the sanctification which He works in the life of the believer. The Holy Ghost also comforts in this warfare and in the persecutions he at times must experiences, and in all sorrows and difficulties. With what does He comfort him? It is by making him partaker in all the benefits of Christ, in that Christ is his Savior, his Redeemer, his King, and also in that he is truly a child of God and will be so forever. Paul said, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).
Q. 54. What believest thou concerning the "holy catholic church" of
Christ?
(a) Ephesians 5:26, John 10:11, Acts 20:28, Ephesians 4:11-13; The fellowship of the believers The Holy Ghost does not only brings about fellowship between a believer and Christ, but also mutually between believers, the fellowship of the Church. In this way there is a unity of all God's children. They were already all elected by God the Father from eternity. They all have the same faith, as it is confessed in the Apostles' Creed. They are gathered by God the Son and God the Holy Ghost out of all mankind. The Church is not the work of men, but of God. The work of the Holy Ghost How does the Holy Ghost work? It is through a powerful calling, in the preaching, through His Spirit and Word, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Ephesians 5:14). Christ merited that God again dwells with men and desires to work in them. It was for that reason that God at Pentecost sent the Holy Spirit into the world in a special manner. It was with the sign of wind - invisible, but powerful, overturning everything, but also life-giving; and of fire - consuming, but also purifying, enlightening, and warming. His work was observed immediately: thousands came to repentance. They were elected by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and drawn by the Holy Ghost. Christ also sends preachers into the world, moved by the Holy Ghost. They proclaim God's Word. The Holy Spirit causes that Word to work powerfully in the hearts, so that sinful and unbelieving people come to repentance and faith. Then that Word is accepted as true and is believed, working a renewal in their entire lives. We read of Lydia, the seller of purple in Philippi, "Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul" (Acts 16:14). In this way, a holy (that is, cleansed by the blood of Christ), catholic (and found throughout the whole world), Christian Church comes into existence. Until the last day of this world sinners will still be added to that congregation of Christ. Abiding grace Christ also defends and preserves all His people by His Spirit and Word. As their King He defends them against all enemies and against all dangers, against all powers, inside and outside, which try to deceive them or forcefully tear them away from God and His service. Christ also preserves His people by giving them food and medicine: they find this in His Word and in the holy sacraments. For Christ loves His Church "which He hath purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). Of this congregation, God's child may say to his great joy, "Of it I am and forever shall remain a living member." He, who by grace becomes a child of God, will remain so forever.
Q. 55. What do you understand by "the communion of saints"?
(a) 1 John 1:3, Romans 8:32, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 1 Corinthians 6:17; The communion of saints The Christian Church is called "the communion of saints." These "saints" are not sinless people, but persons whose sins are forgiven through the blood of Christ and who are renewed by the Holy Ghost, so that they again desire to live according to all the commandments of God. And this is true for all believers. They have, in the first place, communion of faith with Christ, for the same Spirit lives both in Christ and in the believers. The Holy Spirit ingrafts them into Christ through the gift of faith (Lord's Day 7, question and answer 20). And because they belong to Christ, they are also partakers of His riches and gifts. These riches are the benefits of Christ. Paul wrote: "But of Him (that is: through God's grace and power) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). Gifts of the Spirit But Christ also bestows through the Holy Spirit many spiritual gifts. Paul said, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23). He gives them a share of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are in Christ (Colossians 2:3). He also grants them gifts to serve in the congregation, as the apostle wrote: "Whether prophesy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us us wait on our ministering: or he that teaches, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness" (Romans 12:6-8). The mutual communion of saints The communion of saints further infers that the believers employ their gifts which they received for the advantage of other believers. It is their calling to do so. But they also do this - with all the shortcomings that still continues to cleave to them - voluntarily and with joy. He who loves Christ also loves them who are of Christ! And he who is of Christ does not live primarily for himself. He desires to live to the honor of God and to the wellbeing of his neighbor. As Paul wrote: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13, see also verses 14-21). Believers also have need to exercise communion of saints around Word and Sacrament for themselves, in order that their fervor of faith and love will continue to burn. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and unto good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Q. 56. What believest thou concerning "the forgiveness of sins"?
(a) 1 John 2:2, 1 John 1:7, 2 Corinthians 5:19; The forgiveness of all sins The true Christian believes the forgiveness of sins. How has this forgiveness become possible? It is because Christ has given satisfaction for sin: for all believers He has sufficiently satisfied, that is, totally satisfied the demand for punishment upon the transgression of God's law. Although He Himself was innocent, yet He bore the penalty for sin. He endured the punishment for God's children, in their stead. Therefore their sins are forgiven them. That consists of the greatest comfort imaginable. David said, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). This forgiveness not only applies to all sins which have been committed in the past, but also all sins which regrettably will still be committed. For the Christian still retains his sinful nature, that source from which all sins come forth, until the moment of his death. That is the greatest grief in his life. He does strive against it all his life, but he does not completely conquer it. In the midst of his grief it is now his comfort that God has also forgiven that sinful nature. It is covered by the righteousness of Christ, for Christ has paid for the sins he has committed and for those he will yet commit. Because of that perfect payment, God will therefore also forgive his remaining weakness. And he knows that at his death God will deliver him from this. Sinful and yet holy Paul, sighing because of his sinful flesh, groans, "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But immediately after that, he may, by looking at the coming deliverance, exclaim with joy, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:23-25). In the last judgment, God will also not hold the believer accountable for his sins and his sinful nature. Therefore God's child will not be condemned in the judgment. On the contrary, God gives him, imputes to him, the perfect righteousness (that is, the perfect obedience to God's law) of Christ. It is as if he had not committed any sin, yes, as if he had done nothing else all his life but been obedient to the whole law of God. This can be called nothing but grace.
Q. 57. What comfort does the "resurrection of the body" afford thee?
(a) Luke 16:22, 23:43, Philippians 1:21, 23; The comfort of faith in the resurrection of the body The article of faith concerning the resurrection of the body is especially full of comfort. Our flesh is our body, which is, through sin, subject to infirmities, sickness and death. When a man dies, his body becomes subject to decay. Sometimes slowly, in the grave; sometimes quickly, for instance, by burning. On occasion, the ashes will even be scattered. This sometimes happened with the ashes of Christians who were burned because of their faith. However, when Christ returns on the clouds, all the particles of such a body will be brought together again by God. Unbelief says, "Is that possible?" But would He, who created the whole world out of nothing, not be able to do this? He will from the dust put the body together again. Then the body will arise from the dead and live again, never to die again, but to continue forever in eternal bliss or eternal damnation. For all those who have died outside of Christ, it will be an eternal terror! In hell they will in soul and body eternally be under the wrath of God, without any relief or comfort. However, God's children also shall then, in body, enter into the eternal joy, into eternal life in the new Paradise. Already at their death, their soul immediately entered into heavenly glory. There is no type of sleep by the soul, also not a purgatory. The Lord Jesus said to the malefactor on the cross next to Him, "Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt thou be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). At the resurrection, soul and body will again be united to be forever with God. When Job, the great sufferer of the Old Testament, looked beyond death and the grave, he said, "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:26). The resurrection of believers Believers who are still living when Christ returns will be changed in the twinkling of an eye from corruptible into incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Christ at His ascension was taken up into heaven. But He shall one day return to cause all the dead to arise, and as Judge to judge the living and the dead who then are resurrected, and to take up His Church into heaven. Paul said, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Glorified with Christ At the resurrection of believers, their bodies will be made like unto the now already glorified body of the risen Christ, "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Philippians 3:21). Then the body will be perfect, without any infirmity and without a handicap. It will then no longer be mortal. Then it will again be as when God first created it. We read in Paul's words, "It [the body] is sown (as a seed in the field) in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power" (1 Corinthians 15:42-43).
Q. 58. What comfort takest thou from the article of "life everlasting"?
(a) 2 Corinthians 5:2-3; A glimpse into eternal glory To his inexpressible amazement, while he was still living on earth the apostle Paul once was given a glimpse of the eternal glory in heaven, with God (2 Corinthians 12:1-4). What he saw was inexpressible: so much joy and so much glory! He could not, nor was he permitted to say what he had seen. for each human word would not clarify, but only make it more obscure. Human language and the human imagination would fall short. It is a perfect salvation, a perfect fullness of blessedness. It is perfect, because God's children will there be able to serve and praise God without any sin, and they will experience blessed communion with each other and with the angels. Then life will again be perfect, and there will be on the new earth perfect righteousness and peace. A foretaste of eternal glory The apostles Paul and John were granted a glimpse of that glory. However, God's children also here sometimes have a foretaste of that glory. Then God, their heavenly Father, causes them to experience His love in a special way. This powerfully strengthens their faith and hope. The Bible calls this "seeing God's countenance." Then they see and experience the rudiments of the peace which they have with God: "In Thy presence is fullness of joy," said David (Psalm 16:11). Then, in principle, they have a foretaste of the eternal joy. And because they sometimes experience this, they can live comforted, also when the love of God is not felt as strongly. They live comforted and with desire: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20). Questions for Lesson 8 (Lord's Days 20-22).
1. Is the Holy Ghost something of God, for instance, a power emanating from God?
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