The word of God and the Spirit

Call to prayer

Title: The word of God and the Spirit

By: Michael Ntow 

Date: 25/05/2021

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
                          1 PETER 1:23

In order to do His work, the Spirit uses the Word of God. First, He reveals, through the Word, the great love of God to sinners in general: “God . . . for his great love wherewith he loved us . . .” (Ephesians 2:4) and so on.

Second, He presents and offers salvation in Christ; through His people, He states the facts about Christ. That is the business of preachers of the Gospel. It is to give the record of the life, the death, the resurrection, and the resurrection appearances of our Lord. What is preaching? It is proclaiming these facts about Christ. Not only that it is an explanation of the fact, the meaning of the facts, how these facts constitute salvation and are the cause, the means, of salvation.

So in the preaching of the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, these facts and their interpretation are presented. Then the Holy Spirit calls us to repentance. He calls everyone to repentance, all men and women everywhere, because of these facts, because of “that man whom he hath ordained,” by whom the whole world is going to be judged in righteousness (Acts 17:31).

And finally the Holy Spirit calls us to faith in Christ. Take again those words of Paul in his farewell message to the church at Ephesus. What did Paul testify? What did he preach? It was “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). He called men and women to faith in Christ in order that they might obtain forgiveness of sins and inherit eternal life. That was the way in which our Lord commissioned Paul on the road to Damascus. He said that He was going to send him to the people and to the Gentiles “to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (Acts 26:18).

A thought to ponder 

The Spirit uses the Word of God.

Prayer point

Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will call us to faith in Christ Jesus and help us grow in grace as well.

God bless us all