June 3: Carried Along

“25They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: ‘The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet…’” – Acts 28.25
Among the Holy Spirit’s most obvious and important tasks in salvation is His work in producing the scriptures. And the scriptures are necessary for the understanding and faith of God’s people. This New Testament passage in Acts points us to the truth that the Holy Spirit had been at work, speaking God’s Word to the world throughout the Old Testament time. As Peter would later say, “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1.21)
That “carrying along” includes all of what God spoke in the Old Testament. Every word that we read from Genesis to Malachi is the Holy Spirit speaking through Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, David, and the other prophets, revealing God’s perfect character and His perfect plan to save the world through Jesus. When we look at the Old Testament, we see not only the Holy Spirit acting in those stories, but we actually read the very words that God the Holy Spirit wanted for us to have – that we might see God’s work in history, and know Him through that.
1. Why is it important to know that the Holy Spirit – who is just as much God as God the Father or Jesus – inspired the Old Testament?
2. Since the same Holy Spirit that changes our hearts to trust in Jesus inspired the Old Testament writings, how do you think reading the Bible (including the Old Testament) should affect our lives?