The Spirit of Promise

The gift of the Spirit is one of the blessings of Abraham that God promised to bestow on His people through His Messiah.

Paul refers to the “promise of the Spirit” in his letter to the Galatians. He equates this gift with the blessing of Abraham. Jesus came under the curse of the Law to redeem us, so that now, “the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” – (Galatians 3:13-14).

The Hebrew Scriptures promised that God would pour out His Spirit on His people, a promise confirmed by Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry, then granted by him after his death, resurrection, and exaltation. And in his Letter to the Galatians, Paul links the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Abrahamic Covenant – (Isaiah 44:3-4, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26, Joel 2:28, John 7:37-39 [Luke 24:49, “Behold! I send forth the promise of the Father upon you!”]).

Elsewhere in his letters, Paul declares that we are “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 and guarantee of our future possession of the inheritance - (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Greek term translated in Ephesians 1:14 as “purchased possession” echoes the promise of territory that God made to Abraham. The Patriarch and his seed would receive the land of Canaan for an “everlasting possession.” Thus, Paul links the gift of the Spirit to the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant - (Genesis 17:8).

[Promise - Photo by Peggy Sue Zinn (Michigan) on Unsplash]

Similarly, the Apostle Peter finds that the covenant promises made at Mount Sinai are fulfilled in the Church of Jesus Christ):

• “But you are AN ELECT RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, AND A PEOPLE OF GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; who, in time past, were NO PEOPLE, but now, you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD, who had NOT OBTAINED MERCY, but now have OBTAINED MERCY” – (1 Peter 2:9-10. Note the citations of Exodus 19:5-6, Hosea 1:9-10, 2:23).

Jesus called the gift of the Spirit the “promise of the Father.” Before his Ascension, he commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received this gift, which occurred on the Day of Pentecost. The arrival of the Spirit signaled the commencement of the last days, the time of fulfilment. The promises of the Hebrew Bible were coming to fruition, including the outpouring of the Spirit - (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 2:16-21, Hebrews 1:1-4):

• “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they will be my people, and I will be their God” – (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

• “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. And on my servants and on my handmaids in those days I will pour out of my Spirit” – (Joel 2:28-29, Septuagint version).

Certainly, this promise was not limited to that first group of believers on the Day of Pentecost or, for that matter, to the biological descendants of Abraham. The gift of the Spirit is for “your children, and to all that are afar off, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL SUMMON” – (Acts 2:39. See also Joel 2:32).

For example, chapter 10 of the Book of Acts describes the opening of the Gospel to the Gentiles. During Peter’s sermon, the Spirit fell on the Gentiles, and they “began to speak in tongues.” The Jews with Peter were amazed since uncircumcised Gentiles had received the Spirit, “just as we did at the beginning.” This last clause refers to the earlier outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost - (Acts 10:44-48).

In response to his critics in Jerusalem, Peter pointed to the gift of the Spirit received by Cornelius and his household as the indisputable evidence that God accepted believing Gentiles without the rite of circumcision. The Gentiles received the same gift as did the circumcised and Torah-observant Jews who followed Jesus; therefore, Gentiles are not required to undergo circumcision – (Acts 11:1-18).

GALATIA

In his first argument to the churches of Galatia, Paul applies the same logic as Peter did. Since Gentile believers had received the Spirit “from faith” while they remained uncircumcised, why were they now contemplating the addition of circumcision and other “works of the Law” to complete their faith? After all, they already had the gift of the Spirit – (Galatians 3:1-4).

Adopting circumcision would obligate the Galatians to keep the entire Mosaic Legislation, and inevitably, they would fall under the Law’s curse. But God gave them the Spirit “through the hearing of faith,” and not “from the works of the Law,” which included circumcision – (Galatians 3:5-10).

Next, Paul presents an argument from the life of Abraham. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant. Nevertheless, the Lord declared the Patriarch righteous from his faith before he commanded Abraham to be circumcised, as well as his male descendants after him - (“And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness” – Romans 4:3).

In contrast to believing Abraham, those men who insist on being justified on the basis of the rites and works required by the Torah will find themselves under the Law’s curse, sooner or later:

• “For as many as are from the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO CONTINUES NOT IN ALL THINGS THAT ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAW, TO DO THEM. Now, that no man is acquitted from the law before God is evident: FOR THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE ON THE BASIS OF FAITH. And the law is not from faith; but he who does them will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO IS HANGED ON A TREE, that upon the nations might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” – (Galatians 3:10-14. Note the citations from Deuteronomy 21:23, 27:26, Habakkuk 2:4).

The promises are for Abraham and “his seed, who is Christ.” Therefore, the inheritance is based on promise, not the law; otherwise, the promise is rendered invalid. Since the Law came after the covenant was confirmed by God, the Torah cannot add to, subtract from, or otherwise “cancel the promise” – (Galatians 3:15-21).

The Law was added to deal with transgressions, not to justify us, and the Law’s jurisdiction was to endure only “until” the “seed came.” The time element is pivotal to Paul’s argument. The previous administration under the Mosaic Law was in force only until the arrival of the Messiah. Since the faith has arrived in Jesus Christ, believers are no longer under the guardianship of the Torah – (Galatians 3:22-25).

All believers become “sons of God through the faith of Christ Jesus.” Therefore, no longer can there be “Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.” The old distinctions have no place in the Church founded on the death and resurrection of Jesus – (Galatians 3:26-28).

The gift of the Spirit was not unforeseen or something that became necessary due to later events. The promise of the Spirit was an integral part of the blessing of Abraham for the nations, and all men who receive the Spirit become the children of Abraham and heirs of the covenant promises.

The arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, means that the time of fulfillment is now in effect, and everyone who repents and believes the Gospel will receive the Spirit – (Acts 2:36-39 [Galatians 4:4, “When the fullness of time came, God sent his son…”]).

The New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus was never intended to replace the Abrahamic Covenant; rather, it is the fulfillment of all the covenant promises, including the promise of the Spirit.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Son of Abraham - (Jesus is the Son of Abraham, the heir of the promises, and the Messiah who implements the inheritance for his people)

• The Life-Giving Spirit - (The Son of God gives the Spirit to men and women, without which there is no enduring life. His words are spirit, and they are life)

• The Blessing of Abraham - (The gift of the Spirit is part of the covenant promises made to Abraham, including blessing the nations of the Earth)

• The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)