July 25–31

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 5: Spirit-Empowered Witnessing

Witnessing and witness according to Merriam-Webster are defined in several ways:

• attestation of a fact or event
• one that gives evidence
• one who has personal knowledge of something
• public affirmation by word or example of (usually religious faith or conviction)

These definitions fit perfectly with some of Jesus’ last words to His disciples recorded in Acts 1:8: 

“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

In Peter’s powerful sermon in Acts 2, he makes that very claim—that he and the other disciples were first-hand witnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. (Acts 2:32) That is, they had actually seen and were testifying of the truth of the risen Messiah. 

So what is the role of the Holy Spirit?

In John 20, in some of His last recorded words to the disciples, verse 22 says: “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. The disciples lived in a unique time of transition between the old covenant and the new covenant. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the new covenant had been inaugurated, but the church has not yet been formed. That even would occur on the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2.

It is likely that when Jesus breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit” that they were regenerated—born again—at that moment. They needed the new birth to sustain them between the resurrection and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Then, when we come to Acts 2, we read how the Holy Spirit indwelt them with power for witnessing. They were baptized into the body of Christ. From that time on, every believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit when he or she believes, being immersed into the body of Christ and made alive and empowered for service. The event in John 20, however, seems to be a unique event that the apostles received as they lived in the transition between Israel and the church. Their experience was a one-time, unrepeatable event, and God provided for them in the way they would need for the work He was asking them to do.

Why, you may ask, do I make such a point of this? Because this lesson, using 2,704 words, never seems to understand the significance of John 20:22 and Acts 2 as they relate to the function of the Holy Spirit. In fact, the lesson seems not to understand that the Holy Spirit now indwells believers. He seals them and never leaves them; He literally makes believers’ spirits alive, and He indwells each one permanently.

The lesson, however, makes statements like these:

“One of the prime functions of the Holy Spirit is to come alongside of all believers to empower and to guide them in their witnessing activities.”

“The Holy Spirit is beside us to guide us to those honest-hearted seekers.”

“The Holy Spirit meets people where they are, but He does not leave them there. In His presence, they are changed. Their lives are transformed.”

And never in those 2,704 words does it acknowledge or even seem to understand that the Holy Spirit is so much more than just something that “comes along side” and helps. It treats the Spirit as just some power outside of us that helps us if we ask.

The lesson says:

“The Holy Spirit’s role is not merely to point out how bad we are; it is to reveal how good, how kind, how compassionate, and how loving Jesus is and to mold us into His image.”

And that seems to be the extent of the understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit. Notice the lack of understanding of the new birth which is brought about by the Holy Spirit. In the lesson His work seems to be just letting us know some things about Jesus and telling us how bad we are so that we can become good.

This diminished view is further emphasized in this from the lesson:

“The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Word of God works through the Word to change lives. There is life-giving power in the Word of God because, through the Spirit, it is Christ’s living Word.”

True, it acknowledges that there is power in the Spirit, but that power seems to be located in the Bible, not something permanently indwelling believers.

This “external” understanding of the Holy Spirit is even further emphasized by this question for thought:

“Why is the Word of God so powerful in changing lives?”

This question is followed by Ellen White’s attempt to explain something she apparently does not understand:

“The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the word of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature and re-creates the soul in the image of God.”—Ellen G. White, Education, p. 126.

The Holy Spirit is relegated to the role of “creative energy” and is then considered to be less than the Bible in terms of the power of regeneration. And in place of the incredible fact of the new birth, Ellen White instead makes the Holy Spirit’s work in us just a matter of changing our will. 

The only true part of that quote is the last sentence—it is indeed the Spirit who transforms the nature; but even here, she misses the point. The soul is not “re-created”; instead, the dead soul is given life (see Jesus’ entire discussion with Nicodemus in John 3 and also Ephesians 2:1 and 5).

In the Bible we do learn about God, but it isn’t the Bible that changes us. Unbelievers can, and do, read the Bible and have no understanding at all of its truths, and they are not changed by the reading. It is the Spirit that does the work of changing and giving life to the soul that was dead in sin. (Ephesians 2:1)

It is sad to see the Trinity separated and lessened, but it makes sense to Adventists as their theology considers the Spirit to be just a “force” emanating from God. There seems to be no understanding of the Biblical fact that the Spirit indwells us and seals us from the moment we believe (Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30), and it is the Spirit who convinces hearts of sin and the need for a Savior. This misunderstanding is made even more clear in the Adventist belief that salvation can be lost by bad behavior and must somehow be “re-obtained” by a re-conversion.

In the questions at the end of the lesson, the last three are worth consideration.

1. “The lesson talked about the centrality of the Bible in witnessing.”

The Bible may be central to a witness, but without the Holy Spirit within us, it is just words—and words do not convict the heart of sin, and they have no power to transform a person spiritually.

2. Why is the Bible such a crucial component of our faith and witness?

As suggested by this question, it is ironic to see the Bible being called a “crucial component” of faith when all through Adventist theology, the Bible has been reduced to a secondary status and is used primarily as a means of “proving” the words of Ellen White. She, as the “lesser light” which is supposed to lead us to the greater light (the Bible), is in fact the sole interpreter of that greater light. In that role, whatever she says is accepted as truth even when it adds to, takes away from or openly contradicts the Bible.

In light of that unacknowledged fact, the ultimate irony is found in the third and final question:

“How can we avoid the traps of those who, even while claiming to believe in the Bible, subtly diminish its authority and witness?”

I don’t suppose the author was thinking of the consistent diminishing of the authority of the Bible that happens when you have another “source of truth” that is used to evaluate and interpret the Bible.

In discussions about the Bible and salvation, I have come across some who insist that although we learn about Jesus in the Bible, once we come to Him we no longer need the Bible and, in fact, should avoid it. Somehow they believe that searching the Scriptures is the same thing as listening to the words of others instead of listening to God. They feel that Jesus will speak directly to them, and they are to follow only that leading.

But this idea ignores the clear commendation of Paul for the believers in Berea who, even after they had learned about Jesus and believed in Him by faith, they still searched to verify what they had been taught:

“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). 

They were called “noble-minded” for their determined search of the truth in the Scriptures. And Hebrews 4:12 tells us: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

So please don’t think that I am discounting the Bible as the totally truthful and reliable Word of God. Far from it. My objection to most of this week’s lesson is the attempt to downplay the role of the Holy Spirit to that of some power “beside” us and giving His power to the printed words of the Bible. 

The Holy Spirit is God and has a definite role in drawing us to faith in Jesus, in sealing us permanently in the Body of Christ and, ultimately, in leading and guiding us as He transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

Only after the Spirit draws us and seals us can we begin to understand the wonder and glory of God. And only then do we have something about which we can witness to others. Without any real truth to share, there is no point to any attempted witness. And if one attempts to share what is not biblical, Godly truth is missing and will not bring others to life in Christ. †