The Holy Spirit brings people to faith in Jesus and sanctifies them through the means of God's Word and sacraments. The Spirit uses the gospel message found in Scripture and Baptism and Lord's Supper to wash away sins, turn people from the sinful world to be holy, and create and strengthen saving faith in believers. Without the Spirit's work through these means, no one could come to faith on their own due to our sinful, spiritually blind nature.

1. 14
The Only True God
God the Holy Spirit—The Faith
Worker

2. INTRODUCTION
When you watch the Super Bowl or any
other sporting event, you rarely see the
cameramen and engineers. Yet the work
they do is very important. Why? Is their
“behind the scenes” work any less
important?

3. STUDYING GOD’S WORD
If Christ died for all people, why
don’t all people get the benefits of
what he did?

4. John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.

5. Everyone who believes receives the
benefits of what Jesus did. If I say that
everyone in the room is going to get a
birthday gift from the teacher this year,
you won’t worry even if your birthday is
over the summer. Your teacher said that it
was for everyone. You believe that you
will get it on your birthday like everyone
else. Jesus died for all. No one s left out
no matter what the circumstance.

6. Luke 14:15-24
15 When one of those at the table with him
heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the
man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom
of God.” 16 Jesus replied: “A certain man
was preparing a great banquet and invited
many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet
he sent his servant to tell those who had
been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now
ready.’ 18 “But they all alike began to make
excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a
field, and I must go and see it. Please
excuse me.’

7. Luke 14:15-24
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five
yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them
out. Please excuse me.’ 20 “Still another
said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21
“The servant came back and reported this
to his master. Then the owner of the house
became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go
out quickly into the streets and alleys of the
town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the
blind and the lame.’

8. Luke 14:15-24
22 ”‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered
has been done, but there is still room.’ 23
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to
the roads and country lanes and make them
come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I
tell you, not one of those men who were
invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

9. Many lose the benefits of Christ’s death
because they refuse to believe in him.
You go to the doctor for tests and he tells
you that you have cancer, but it is
contained and you can be cured. If you
don’t believe that you have cancer that it
can’t be cured, whose fault is it if you
die? God gives us the cure for sin for
free. It is the person who rejects it’s own
fault if he or she doesn’t believe it to be
true.

10. Some people don’t receive the
benefits of what Jesus did for
them because they refuse to
believe in Him.

11. Why doesn’t everyone just naturally
have faith in Jesus?
Ephesians 2:1
As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins,

12. By nature we are spiritually dead. If I walk
up to a person who is dead and lying in a
casket and offer her a $100 bill, the reason
she won’t take it is because she is dead.
She doesn’t hear what I am saying and
wouldn’t be able to hold the $100 bill even if
I put it in her hand. That’s what we are by
nature when God tells us Jesus died for us
and offers us the treasures of forgiveness
and the riches of heaven.

13. Acts 26:17-18
17 I will rescue you from your own people
and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to
them 18 to open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among
those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

14. By nature we are spiritually blind. If I’m
standing with a blind person on the top
floor of the Sears Tower and ask the
blind person to look at the beautiful sights
in every direction, that person won’t be
able to because they are blind. God sent
Jesus to ransom everyone. He tells us to
look all around at God’s love for us and
his plan of salvation, but by nature we
can’t see anything that God is talking
about.

15. Romans 8:6-7
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the
mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God.
It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it
do so.

16. By nature we are enemies of God.
Let’s say that I am the quarterback for
my football team and I’m walking up to
the line of scrimmage. If I shout to the
other team that they better look out
because I’m going to throw a long
pass, they won’t believe me. That’s
because I’m their opponent. That’s the
way we respond by our nature to the
good news about Jesus Christ. We
don’t believe God is trying to help us.

17. Everybody doesn’t naturally have faith
in Jesus because all of us by nature
are spiritually dead, blind and
enemies of God.

18. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE
Evaluate this statement - There are some
unbelievers that know more about Jesus
than some believers do.
Agree or disagree and why? There is
always a little bit of good in everyone. No
one is totally bad.

19. STUDYING GOD’S WORD
How does our spiritual
blindness prevent us from having
faith?

20. Matthew 13:14
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
”‘You will be ever hearing but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but
never perceiving.

21. Because we are blind we don’t understand
the simple message of Jesus. Have you
ever had a teacher or a friend try to explain
something to you - (math, science problem,
joke, etc.) and no matter how many times
they tried to explain it or how simple they
made it, it just didn’t click. That’s what
spiritual blindness does to everyone in
regards to the simple message of Jesus.

22. 1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the
power of God.

23. Our spiritual blindness leads us to conclude
that Jesus’ death is foolishness. Let’s say
that a teacher is handing out $100 bills to
the class. Someone may not take it
because it seems fishy that a teacher is just
handing out money to a class because
nothing is for free. There has to be a catch.
God is handing our salvation freely to
everyone. But by nature we think that there
has to be a catch or we have a foolish God
that doesn’t expect anything back in return.

24. John 15:16a
16 You did not choose me, but I chose
you and appointed you to go and bear
fruit—fruit that will last.

25. Because of our spiritual blindness we could
never choose to believe in Jesus. When
you play the shell game you hide a marble
then shuffle the shells. You would be
suspicious if the person pointed to a shell
and told you it was the one if there was $10
on the line. Why would that person go to all
the work and then tell you? We, by nature
are suspicious of God; enemies of God.
When God tells us to choose Jesus, we by
nature make another choice.

26. Our spiritual blindness makes it
impossible for us by our own thinking
or choosing to believe in Jesus
because what he tells us seems like
foolishness to us.

27. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE
Evaluate this statement - Christ’s work
is useless without faith.
Agree or Disagree and why? I am
saved the minute that I accept Jesus into
my heart.
HYMNOLOGY Hymn 380 Lord, ‘ Tis
Not that I Did Choose You

28. STUDYING GOD’S WORD
How did we come to believe and
so receive the benefits of what Jesus
did for us?

29. 1 Corinthians 12:3b
and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except
by the Holy Spirit.
The only way that we can believe in Jesus
is by the work of the Holy Spirit. What is the
specific work of the Father, of the Son - now
we see clearly the specific work of the Holy
Spirit.

30. Romans 5:5
And hope does not disappoint us, because
God has poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us.
The Holy Spirit coming into our hearts is a
gracious gift of God. What is the best gift
you have ever received? Why is it so
great? What makes you remember it?
Think about the gift God the Holy Spirit
gave to you. Why is it so great? What
makes you remember it?

31. It is only by the gracious work of
the Holy Spirit that we believe in
Jesus and so receive the benefits of
what he has done for us.

32. CHRISTIAN VOCABULARY
Faith: Believing in Jesus - being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see.
Our Natural Condition - We are born
spiritually blind, dead and enemies of
God.

33. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE
Agree or Disagree and why? The
miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the
dead is a greater miracle than the Holy
Spirit bringing someone to faith.

34. How do you know if you have saving
faith or not?
Ask yourself these three question:
• Does it bother me that I have sinned
against the Lord?
• Do I trust that God has cleansed me from
all sin through Jesus’ blood?
• Do I have the desire to serve God out of
love?
If (yes) then be assured the Holy Spirit has
worked saving faith in your heart!!!

35. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Some people find the fact that they
can’t come to faith by their own thinking or
doing to be quite disturbing. You can find it
a great source of comfort. You see, if it
were up to you to “decide for Christ” on your
own, you could never be sure that your
“decision” was genuine or that your
motivations were pure. I know that faith is a
product of the working of the Holy Spirit
alone and it is a gift of God. I can be
absolutely confident in faith and rejoice that
I did not choose Him, but that He chose me!

36. ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT TIME
REVIEWING THE LESSON
1. Review your notes; be sure you understand them. Be prepared for a written or oral
quiz. Don’t forget about the vocabulary words!
2. Make a flashcard for and memorize John 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 1:18. Be able to
put the passage into your own words or answer questions concerning it.
PREPARING FOR THE NEXT LESSON
Ask your parents to help you with the following activity:
1. Complete the Bible History Worksheet.
Learn the Confession of our Faith
Memorize: 3 rd Article up to “or come to him” (in the “What does this mean” section).

37. 15
The Only True God
God the Holy Spirit—The Power Source

38. If you are studying mathematics, there are
certain terms you need to understand. If
you don’t know what these terms mean,
you won’t know what is going on, and as a
result, you will get every problem wrong.
For example, give several reasons why
you need to know what the words
“multiply” and divide” mean. Or the words,
“divider and “dividend.” What is true of
mathematics is also true of Bible study. In
today’s lesson, there are two expressions
in particular that it would be good for us to
understand. Those expressions are
“sanctify” and “means of grace”.

39. STUDYING GOD’S WORD
Why is the Holy Spirit’s work
called sanctification?

40. 1 Corinthians 6:11
And that is what some of you were. But you
were washed, you were sanctified, you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

41. It is called sanctification because he
washed our sins away by bringing us
to faith in Jesus’ saving work. Let’s
say you have a pair of white pants
that have grass stains. Mom washes
them carefully and gets them out. So
too Jesus, took our sins (stains) on
himself and washed them clean in
his blood. The only way he does this
is when H.S. sanctifies us - brings us
to faith.

42. 1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be
holy, together with all those everywhere
who call on the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ—their Lord and ours:

43. Bring us to faith, the Holy Spirit calls us
away from the sinful world to be holy
together with all other believers.
Remember the story of Zacchaeus being
brought to faith (Luke 19). He was a tax
collector who was so attracted by money
that he turned his back on being one of
God’s people in or to work for the Roman
government and make lots of money. By
the work of H.S. he was called back to
being one of God’s people. Sanctification+
H.S. calls us away form sinful treasures and
pleasures of the world to be holy.

44. The Holy Spirit’s work is called
sanctification because by bringing
us to faith he washes all our sins
away and turns us away from the
sinful world to be holy with all
believers.

45. Brought to Growth in
Faith Faith
Sanctification Sanctification
begins increases
What “means” does the Holy Spirit use
to bring us to faith and sanctify us?

46. Romans 10:1
Consequently, faith comes from hearing
the message, and the message is heard
through the word of Christ.
John 17:17
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is
truth.

47. The Holy Spirit brings us to faith and
sanctifies us by means of His Word which
is the truth. The Holy Spirit doesn’t swoop
down on people like a net dropping on a
person. He doesn’t put a gun to our head
and tell us to believe or else. No, the Holy
Spirit enters people’s hearts as they read
and hear God’s Word. That’s why it is so
important that we share God’s Word with
people who don’t know Jesus, It is only
as they hear this word that the Holy Spirit
can begin to work the miracle of faith in
them.

48. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
13 But we ought always to thank God for
you, brothers loved by the Lord, because
from the beginning God chose you to be
saved through the sanctifying work of the
Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He
called you to this through our gospel, that
you might share in the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ.

49. To be more exact, the Holy Spirit brings
us to faith and sanctifies us through the
Gospel. Remember what the law says -
SOS - shows our sin. Remember the
what the Gospel shows - SOS - shows
our savior. Shows how much God loves
us. This is the good news the Holy Spirit
uses to turn us away from the sinful
world to trust in Jesus.

50. Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.

51. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us by the
gospel in the sacrament of Baptism.
God’s Gospel is connected through the
water and word of Baptism. The Holy
Spirit uses Baptism as a means of
working faith. It reminds us of how God
also washed our sins away.

52. Matthew 26:26-28
26 While they were eating, Jesus took
bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave
it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat;
this is my body.” 27 Then he took the cup,
gave thanks and offered it to them, saying,
“Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins.

53. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us by the
gospel in the sacrament of the Lord’s
Supper. The Gospel is given to us in
outward things - bread and wine -
along with the assurance of Jesus’
true body and blood. The price that
was paid for our sins. The Holy Spirit
uses this visible Gospel to sanctify us.

54. The means the Holy Spirit uses to bring us
to faith and sanctify us is God’s Word,
specifically the gospel in the word and
sacraments (Baptism and Lord’s
Supper).
HOW SANCTIFICATION WORKS
God’s Word (Bible)
Your
God’s THE GOSPEL Heart
Means of Grace
Reservoir
Forgiveness
Sacraments New Life
Forgiveness
New Life Salvation
Salvation

55. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE
Evaluate this statement - The Holy
Spirit hasn’t sanctified me yet because I
am still attracted to the treasures and
pleasures of this world.
Agree or Disagree and why? The
fact that the Holy Spirit only works
through the Gospel in the Word and
sacraments really limits the amount of
mission work we can do.

56. CHRISTIAN VOCABULARY
Sanctification: (to set apart, to make holy)
The Holy Spirit calls someone to faith and
leads them to hate sinful things and live a
life pleasing to God
Means of Grace - The Gospel in Word
(written and spoken) and Sacraments
(Baptism and Lord’s Supper)

57. STUDYING GOD’S WORD
What change in attitude did the
Holy Spirit work in us as he
sanctified us?

58. Psalm 119:104
I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
The Holy Spirit leads me to hate my every
wrong and sinful path. Like a dog returning
to its vomit or a pig to its mud pit, is what we
do when we return to sin. Holy Spirit leads
us to hate everything that makes us spiritual
dirty of the disgusting thing that comes out
of our sinful flesh.

59. Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It
teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright and godly lives in this present age,
13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the
glorious appearing of our great God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself
for us to redeem us from all wickedness and
to purify for himself a people that are his
very own, eager to do what is good.

60. The Holy Spirit leads me to be eager to
do what is good and what God desires.
Not like a lazy or spoiled child that resists
or hates to do anything for mom or dad,
but with a new attitude that serves
willingly and eagerly. That is the new
attitude the Holy Spirit works in us at the
time brings us to faith.

61. When the Holy Spirit sanctifies us,
he changes our attitude so that
we now hate sin and are eager to
do what is good according to
God’s will

62. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE
The sinful world tempts us toward
materialism - toward wanting desperately
what we cannot afford to have. How exactly
does the Holy Spirit help us combat this
idolatrous sin?
The sinful world tempts us toward
hedonism (love of pleasure) - toward
wanting desperately the so-called fun that
illegal drugs, alcohol abuse, or forbidden
sex that is contrary to our Savior’s will
seems to provide people. How exactly does
the Holy Spirit help us combat this

63. STUDYING GOD’S WORD
What motivates us to do what is
good according to God’s will?

64. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because
we are convinced that one died for all, and
therefore all died. 15 And he died for all,
that those who live should no longer live for
themselves but for him who died for them
and was raised again.

65. The Love Christ shows us
motivates us to do God’s will. Two
people that love each other do
things for each other naturally
because they love each other. No
one is forced. Neither does God
force us to do good things—people
that love him do good for him.

66. Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or
deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him.
We thank God for all his goodness to us. If
you fell through the ice and were pulled to
safety by a nearby fisherman, you would
feel the need to thank him somehow. You
wouldn’t be paying him back, but your
deeds and gestures would show him thanks
for all that he already did for you.

67. What motivates us is our love for
Jesus who loves us and our thanks
for all the goodness Jesus has
shown to us.

68. GOD’S WORD IN MY LIFE
Agree or Disagree and why? You
can tell a good Christian from a bad
Christian by the number of good works each
does in their lives.
Agree or Disagree and why? A
Christian finds it easy to do good works
because he is filled with love and thanks for
God’s goodness to him.
HYMNOLOGY Hymn 186 O Spirit of Life, O
Spirit of God

69. ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT TIME
REVIEWING THE LESSON
1. Review your notes; be sure you understand them. Be prepared for a written or oral
quiz. Don’t forget about the vocabulary words!
2. Make a flashcard for and memorize and 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. Be able to put the
passage into your own words or answer questions concerning it.
PREPARING FOR THE NEXT LESSON
Ask your parents to help you with the following activity:
1. Complete the Bible History Worksheet.
Learn the Confession of our Faith
Memorize: 3 rd Article in its entirety.