Promise and Spirit

The Gift of the Spirit is one of God’s promises to Abraham to bless the nations in the Patriarch’s Seed, Jesus Christ.

Peter and John prayed for a man who was “lame from his mother’s womb” as he was begging for alms near the Jerusalem Temple. Rather than money, the apostles commanded the man to walk “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” Immediately, he stood up and began to walk. Afterward, he was seen and heard by many “leaping and praising God.”

Many Jews that day observed this miraculous incident as they entered and left the Temple, filling them with “wonder and amazement.” This provided Peter with an opportunity to preach the Gospel – (Acts 3:1-11).

[Waterfalls Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann (Germany) on Unsplash]

The Apostle Peter attributed the healing of the lame man to the “God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,” and to faith in the name of Jesus, the “Servant” whom the Father raised from the dead, as promised by the Prophet Isaiah:

• “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of whom we are witnesses <…> But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Messiah should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old. Moses indeed said, A prophet will the Lord God raise up for you from among your brethren, like unto me. To him will you hearken in all things whatever he will speak unto you” - (Acts 3:13-22).

Peter identified Jesus as the Servant of Yahweh of the Book of Isaiah. He was also the greater “prophet like Moses.” The theme of fulfillment in Jesus is pronounced in the story of the beggar’s healing. The Jews present that day were the “sons of the prophets” and heirs of the Covenant with Abraham, the Patriarch in whom “all the families of the earth would be blessed” - (Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Isaiah 42:1, Acts 2:17-38).

Thus, Peter linked the Resurrection, Ascension of Jesus, and the outpouring of the Spirit to the Abrahamic Covenant, especially the promise to “bless” all the nations of the Earth in the Patriarch’s “Seed” - (Genesis 12:1-3).

• “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed later, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days. You are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, by turning away every one of you from your iniquities” - (Acts 3:24-26).

• “I will bless them that bless you, and him that curses you I will curse. And in you will all the tribes of the earth be blessed” - (Genesis 12:3).

• “And the Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles from faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations be blessed” - (Galatians 3:8).

The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts allude to this same “Promise of the Father” and the mission of the Church to announce the “Good News” to the Nations:

• “Thus, it is written; that the Messiah should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you. But wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” - (Luke 24:45-49).

• “He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father <…> For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit after not many days. <…> But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth” - (Acts 1:4-8).

• “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to him” - (Acts 2:39).

And so, Luke identifies this “Promise of the Father” with the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and he links it to the Covenant with Abraham and its promise to “bless all the Nations of the Earth.”

The bestowal of the Spirit on the saints assembled in Jerusalem demonstrated that the age of fulfillment had commenced following the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The newly exalted and enthroned Lord had begun fulfilling the covenant promises by pouring out the Gift of the Spirit on his People.

THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER

Similarly, the Apostle Paul equates the “Promise of the Spirit” with the “Blessing of Abraham.” The covenant always envisioned the inclusion of the Gentiles. Jesus was the “Seed of Abraham,” and all men who belong to him become the “children of Abraham” and “heirs according to Promise,” that is, heirs of the promises made by God to Abraham and his “Seed” - (Galatians 3:13-14):

• “Wherefore remember, that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by that which is called ‘Circumcision’ in the flesh, made by hands, that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition” - (Ephesians 1:11-14).

The Abrahamic promises are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, beginning with the Gift of the Spirit, the “Promise of the Father.” The exalted Messiah now gives this gift freely to Gentile and Jewish believers, regardless of their biological relationship to Abraham or whether they are circumcised.

Including “Gentiles” in the Covenant was never an afterthought or a later ad hoc measure. By granting the Spirit to everyone who believes, God is implementing the “Blessing of Abraham” for the nations as the Gospel is proclaimed, beginning in Jerusalem but certainly not ending there.

The long-awaited Gift of the Spirit was being poured out with its inherent blessings as the result of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The Book of Acts documents the first decades of this process as the disciples announced the Gospel in much of the Roman Empire under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit would lead the Church to open the Gospel and membership in the One Covenant People of God to the Gentile nations:

• “If God gave them the same gift as he did also to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God? And when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also has God granted repentance for life” - (Acts 11:17-18. Compare Acts 10:44-48).

The announcement of the Good News began in Jerusalem, but only after the disciples were “endued with power from on high” when they received the “Promise of the Father,” the “Blessing of Abraham.” This gift equips, leads, and motivates the Church to take the Good News to the “uttermost parts of the Earth.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Spirit and Mission - (Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to his people, empowering them to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom to the Nations of the Earth)

• The Promise of the Father - (The Promise of the Spirit is one of the blessings of Abraham promised by God for the nations and the children of the Patriarch)

• Humanity's Salvation - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and true life to men and women of every nation and nationality)

• Spirit and Covenant - (The promise of the Spirit is vital to the redemption of humanity and the Covenant of God with His people, the Assembly of Jesus Christ)