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Bible Study - Foundations of Faith
The Holy Spirit
Jesus made it even plainer when he said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (St. Luke 9:23). Following Jesus' example of a holy life-a life of faith, of loving and performing good works-no matter what hardship that life may place upon us, what the Holy Spirit has enables us to do by sanctifying us.
Fruits and Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The people of God who have been called, gathered, and sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, are moved to live new lives. St. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." The new life in Christ, empowered by the Spirit, leads the Christian to produce positive fruits of faith. We read again in Galatians, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law…Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Gal 5:22-23, 25).
It is very clear that a regenerated life is to be different from the old way of living in and for sin. The new Spirit-filled life is performing good and powerful works that show a strong faith through the fruits of the Spirit.
Within the church there are individuals who profess to have special gifts of the Spirit. These extraordinary gifts are spoken of by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another the ability to speak in different tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each man, just as He determines."
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