The Holy Spirit and Me

Pastor Phil Vance

Highlights:
1.) Under the Old Covenant, the LETTER of the law KILLS. Under the New Covenant, the SPIRIT gives LIFE!

2.) Truth applied without Grace brings death.

3.)The Letter of the Law shows us our sin but it is powerless to Help us Out of It. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that helps is out of sin.

Discussion Questions:

1.) How were you raised? We’re you brought up in a Grace filled environment or did you grow up in a law based home?
– Rules don’t mean a lack of grace. How is this possible?

2.) How about you, do you think your relationship with God is better described by Grace or the Law and why?

3.) Do you have a current record of wrongs against someone else?
-What about the way you treat. others?
-Are you operating according to a code of conduct or by the giving of grace?

4.) Describe how the Law has pointed you to grace and grace, by the Holy Spirit, has lead you to relationship with Jesus.
-When did the veil fall away for you? Have you had an Ahah! moment where you began to understand and experience the grace of God?

Key Scriptures:
Revelation 2:7a NLT
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

2 Corinthians 3:4-18 NLT
We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

John 1:14 NLT
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

Hebrews 8:10 NLT
But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the lord : I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Exodus 34:29-30 NLT
When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the lord . So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.