The Holy Spirit’s Work in Witnessing

1 Jn 5:6

1-25-09

 

There are many things the Holy Spirit does in the life of a believer and there are many things that he does when we are witnessing to the lost.  We have listed a few of these things in this lesson to emphasize that the saving work of God in witnessing is the work of the Holy Spirit and not the soul winner.  We are merely witnesses who must witness in the power and filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  He does the saving.

 

These scriptures below are divided into three categories because they each relate to a different aspect of how the Spirit works in witnessing.

 

First, it is the Spirit of God in us who witnesses to the lost when we begin speaking to a soul about salvation in Jesus Christ.  In other words, successful witnessing doesn’t really depend upon our personalities or our education and soul wining program.  It depends upon our yielding to the Holy Spirit in us so that he can speak through us.  Through us, the Holy Spirit:

 

1 Jn 5:6 witnesses

Jn 15:26 testifies of Jesus

Jn 16:8-11 reproves the world

 

Because the Holy Spirit must speak through us, then he must have the liberty to do a work in our lives that allows him to witness to the lost through us.  He is going to be limited in what he can do through us if he doesn’t have complete control of us.  Therefore, in the Holy Spirit must:

 

Eph 5:18 fill us

Acts 1:8 give us power to witness

2 Cor 3:18 change us – so that we have a testimony of likeness in Christ

Rom 8:14 lead us

 

Of course the work of witnessing is never going to be successful without the Bible.  And since the Bible is a spiritual book, the Holy Spirit must give it to us so that we can give it to others.  It goes without saying that if we are not studying and reading our Bibles, the Spirit is going to have little to nothing with which to work through us.  Thus we must study and read continuously.  Through the Bible, the Holy Spirit:

 

1 Pet 1:11 testifies of Jesus Christ

Jn 14:26 teaches us and helps us remember what God said

Jn 16:13-14 guides us into all truth – thus he teaches us truth from error and he teaches us how to respond to a sinner who is in error

1 Cor 2:10-11 reveals the things of God so the sinner can understand and respond to them