Lesson 8 The Third Article - The Holy Spirit and Holy Christian Church Questions 153-173

A. Carefully read and think about Questions 153-173 in the Small Catechism

B. Write down at least 5 Important Things that you discovered in your reading 1.

C. Agree-Disagree Questions: Read and think about each of the following Agree-Disagree statements. Answer each statement and write a brief reason to support the answer you gave.

___ 1. The Holy Spirit is the least known and least powerful member of the Holy Trinity.

___ 2. When we use the word “sanctification” in its most complete meaning, we are referring to everything that the Holy Spirit does to create, nurture, direct. and preserve our spiritual life as Christians.

___ 3. Before a person becomes a Christian, he is caught up in a perilous condition of being spiritually blind, spiritually dead and defiantly hostile to God.

___ 4. The Holy Spirit uses a person’s natural abilities and desires to accomplish His sanctifying work.

____ 5. Conversion and surrender are two of the words commonly used to describe the Holy Spirit’s work of bringing a person to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

___ 6. When the Holy Spirit brings a person to saving faith, He creates a new believing nature in that person that trusts and loves God and hates and resists sin.

___ 7. God judges the goodness of a person’s deeds in the same way that most people in the world judge deeds.

___ 8. Along with the gift of saving faith, the Holy Spirit also gives Christians a variety of spiritual abilities to better serve God and His people.

___ 9. The Holy Spirit brings people to faith in Christ, but then Christians must rely on their own spiritual abilities to remain in faith for the rest of their lives.

___ 10. God’s greatest desire is that all people would be saved and have eternal life as a gift of His grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior.

___ 11. The Holy Christian Church is a magnificent creation of God, whose members are all the people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

___ 12. The Holy Christian Church is described as “invisible” because only God can look into the hearts of its members and know that they truly believe in Christ.

___ 13. If a person never becomes a member of the Holy Christian Church, it is still possible for him to be saved and go to heaven.

___ 14. The Holy Christian Church is called “holy” because all its members stop sinning and become morally perfect before they die and enter heaven.

___ 15. The Holy Christian Church is called “Christian” because it is based on the person, redeeming work and teaching of Jesus Christ.

D. Reflection Questions

  1. Explain why it is impossible for a person to bring himself to saving faith in Christ.

  2. What role do good works have in the life of a Christian?

  3. Why does a person who believes in Christ still have to be concerned about remaining in faith?