The Spirit of Promise

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced.

The Apostle Paul called the Gift of the Spirit the “Promise of the Father” which he linked to the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to Abraham and “his Seed” find their fulfillment in the New Covenant inaugurated by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and with the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, the Age of the Spirit, the “Last Days,” began in earnest.

The Book of Acts documents the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and its impact on that first generation of believers, and the Book presents the arrival of the Spirit as the start of the period known as the “Last Days.” Christ’s Church would be characterized by the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of prophecy (“In the Last Days, I will pour out My Spirit…” – Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:17-21).

[Photo by Biegun Wschodni on Unsplash]

The bestowal of this Gift marked also the time of fulfillment. For example, Gentile believers now become heirs of the Patriarch, “Children of Abraham,” coheirs with Jesus, and members of God’s one people. No longer are Gentiles “aliens of the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” The restrictions and barriers of the old order have been removed by Jesus  – (Ephesians 2:12).

The Gift of the Spirit is an essential part of the Church and its mission. God has provided the means to reconcile men to Himself and one another, and the power to walk in “newness of life” through the Spirit that now dwells in true believers, His End-Time People now charged with proclaiming the Gospel to all Nations.

Paul identified the “Promise of the Spirit” with the “Blessings of Abraham.” The Covenant always envisaged the inclusion of the Nations, a point Paul uses when arguing for accepting Gentile believers in the Covenant Community without circumcision or the other deeds and rituals required by the Mosaic Law.

All men and women who belong to Jesus become “Abraham’s heirs according to promise.” The old distinctions between “Jew and Gentile” no longer apply in the Assembly of God. A new age has dawned in which men and women from every nation are welcomed into the One People of God, and all on the same basis. The inclusion of the Gentiles was never an afterthought or later adjustment to the Covenant - (Genesis 12:1-3, Galatians 3:1-14, 3:29):

• “In whom, you also are hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also believing, were sealed with the Spirit of the promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, for the redemption of the acquisition, for his glorious praise” - (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Gift of the Spirit is the “earnest,” the “down payment” that guarantees our participation in the inheritance when Jesus returns. The references in the Book of Ephesians to “inheritance” and “acquisition” allude to the territory promised by God to Abraham - “I will give to you and your seed all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession” - (Genesis 17:8).

Paul connects the Gift of the Spirit to the Covenant, including its promise of territory. Likewise, Jesus labeled the Gift the “Promise of the Father.” Before his Ascension, he commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit. Only then would they become his “witnesses to the uttermost parts of the Earth” and proclaim his Gospel under the guidance and empowerment of the Spirit - (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4).

FULFILLING PROMISES

In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter declared that the outpouring of the Spirit was in fulfillment of the prophecy in the Book of Joel - “In the last days, God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.” The final period, the “Last Days,” was underway, an era that must continue until the return of Jesus - (Genesis 17:7-10, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:38-39).

The Gift of the Spirit is how men and women receive the “Blessings of Abraham.” By the Spirit, individuals from every nation find themselves blessed with faithful Abraham, heirs of the promises and equal members of the one Covenant Community - (Genesis 12:3, Acts 3:25, Romans 4:13).

The realization of the covenant promises began with the outpouring of the Spirit. Since then, everyone who receives the Gift becomes a “child of Abraham,” and therefore, the old boundaries between Jew and Gentile are wholly inappropriate in the One People of God - (Galatians 3:27-29).

The Mosaic legislation anticipated the need for something beyond the Law. The Torah could not complete what God began through Abraham. Inevitably, the Nation of Israel violated the Covenant. However, after chastisement and repentance, Israel would “return to Yahweh and obey His voice,” and He would gather His people from all nations and “circumcise their hearts to love Him” - (Deuteronomy 30:1-6).

The themes of renewal and the circumcision of the heart were taken up centuries later by the prophet Jeremiah. God would “make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” It would not be like the covenant made at Sinai. With the arrival of the Spirit, God began to write His laws on the hearts of His people, both Jews and Gentiles - (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:6-13).

The Book of Ezekiel added the aspect of the Spirit to the coming “New Covenant.” When Yahweh gathered the children of Israel, He would put “a new spirit” in them, and thereby He would “equip them to walk in His statutes.”

The Book of Ezekiel combines the promises of the Spirit, the circumcised heart, and the New Covenant, making the covenant promises dependent on the receipt of the Spirit by the People of God - (Ezekiel 36:16-28, 37:25-28, 2 Corinthians 3:1-6).

Consistently, the New Testament links the promise to Abraham with the Gift of the Spirit, the “Spirit of Promise” granted freely to Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus based on the “faith of Jesus Christ” rather than ethnicity or the “works of the Law.” The Bible labels this gift the “Promise of the Father” and the “Blessing of Abraham” - (Romans 3:22).

The Gift of the Spirit is the identifying mark of the People of God “in these last days.” The Spirit empowers believers to walk in the New Covenant, fulfill the “righteous requirements of the Law,” proclaim the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the Earth,” and to do so until the moment Jesus arrives “on the clouds of Heaven” to gather his people to himself.

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SEE ALSO:

• Beginning of the Last Days - (The outpouring of the Spirit signaled the start of the Last Days, the Era of the Spirit, and the Time of Fulfillment)

• Salvation for the Nations - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to men and women of every nation and people)

• The Final Harvest - (The outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost fulfilled what the feast symbolized and marked the start of the Final Harvest)