Promise of the Spirit
The Apostle Paul referred to the “Promise of the Spirit” which he equated with the “Blessing of Abraham.” Jesus subjected himself to the “curse” of the Law to redeem believers so that the “Blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith.” He wrote elsewhere that believers were “sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise, the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.”
The Gift of
the Spirit is the down payment, the guarantee of the coming full possession of
the inheritance by all men and women who respond positively to the “faith of
Jesus Christ” - (Ephesians 1:13-14).
[Photo by Luke Vodell on Unsplash] |
The Greek term translated as “purchased possession” in Ephesians echoes the land promise made to Abraham. God gave the Land of Canaan to him and his “seed” for an “everlasting possession.” Thus, Paul linked the Spirit to the covenant promises, including the possession of Canaan - (Genesis 17:8, Ephesians 1:13-14).
Jesus called the
Gift of the Spirit the “Promise of the Father.” Before his ascent to
heaven, he commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the
“Promise of the Father,” and it was granted to the Church on the Day of
Pentecost when the promised era of the Spirit commenced - (Luke 24:49, Acts
1:4, 2:16-21).
But the Promise
was never limited to that first group of believers or the events of the Day of Pentecost.
Instead, the Gift was for “your children, and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him” – (Acts 2:39).
Chapter 10 of
the Book of Acts describes the opening of the Gospel to the
Gentiles. At the height of Peter’s sermon, the Spirit fell on the Gentiles, and
they began to speak in tongues. The Jews who accompanied Peter were amazed
since the Spirit fell on uncircumcised Gentiles “just as on us at
the beginning,” referring to the earlier outpouring of Pentecost -
(Acts 10:44-48).
In response
to his critics in Jerusalem, Peter pointed to the Gift of the Spirit as indisputable
evidence that God had accepted believing Gentiles into His covenant community without
the rite of circumcision. The Gentiles had received the same Gift as the circumcised
and Torah-observant Jewish followers of Jesus. So, how could anyone
insist that Gentiles must also be circumcised?
GALATIA
In his first
argument to the Assembly of Galatia, Paul applied the same logic as Peter.
Since the largely Gentile Galatians had received the Spirit “from faith”
while yet uncircumcised, why were they contemplating the addition of circumcision
and other “works of the Law” to “complete” their faith? –
(Galatians 3:1-4).
Rather than “completion,” adopting circumcision would obligate them to keep the entire Mosaic legislation. Inevitably they would fall under its “curse,” yet God gave them the Spirit “through the hearing of faith,” and not “from the works of the Law,” including circumcision.
Next, Paul
presented an argument from the life of Abraham. The underlying issue in Galatia
was circumcision, the “sign of the covenant” given to Abraham. Nevertheless,
Yahweh declared the Patriarch righteous from his faith BEFORE the
rite of circumcision was even commanded by God - (“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness”).
In contrast
to believing Abraham, “as many as are from the works
of the law are under a curse…
cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the law.” Fortunately, Jesus “redeemed us from
the curse of the law,” therefore,
believers receive the promised Gift of the Spirit through faith, and not from
the deeds and rituals required by the Mosaic Law – (Galatians 3:10-14).
According to
Paul, the promises were for Abraham and
“his seed, Christ,”
and the “inheritance” was from “promise,” not “from the Law,”
otherwise, it would be voided. Since the Law came after the covenant promises confirmed
by God, it could not add to, subtract from, or otherwise “disannul the Promise”
– (Galatians 3:15-21).
The Law was
added to deal with “transgressions,” not to justify anyone or undo the promises,
and only “until” the “Seed came.” The time element is pivotal in
Paul’s argument. The previous administration under the Mosaic legislation was in
force only UNTIL the arrival of the Messiah. Since the “faith”
has arrived in Jesus Christ, the true “Seed of Abraham,” believers were
(and remain) no longer “under the custodian,” that is, the Law of Moses –
(Galatians 3:22-25).
[Plowing Fields by Xavier von Erlach on Unsplash] |
All believers become “sons of God through the faith of Christ Jesus,” both Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, no longer can there be “Jew or Greek, bond or free, male and female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.” The old distinctions are now wholly inappropriate in the Assembly of God – (Galatians 3:26-28).
Thus, the Gift of the Spirit poured out on the Day of Pentecost
was not something unforeseen or made necessary by later events. The “Promise
of the Spirit” was always an integral part of the “Blessings of Abraham”
for the nations, and all men who receive it become the “children of Abraham”
and heirs of the covenant promises.
The New
Covenant inaugurated by Jesus was never intended to replace the Abrahamic
Covenant, but to fulfill it.
RELATED POSTS:
- The Life-Giving Spirit - (Jesus dispenses the Life-Giving Spirit without which there is no enduring life. His words are spirit, and they are life)
- The Heir of Abraham - (Jesus is the true Son of Abraham, the heir of the promises, the Anointed One who fulfills and implements the inheritance for his people)
- The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, the blessing for all nations promised to Abraham has commenced)