Holy Spirit in 1 and 2 Thessalonians

References to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian or in the church are rarely discussed in light of Old Testament revelation about the Holy Spirit. It seems that we take the words of the disciples of John in Acts 19 to mean that little to nothing about the Holy Spirit can be gleaned from the Old Testament, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2).[2] However, their words do not accurately reflect what the Old Testament reveals about the Spirit.

Neither Hebrews nor James has an argument like Galatians 3-4 or Romans 8. The “indwelling” is not emphasized in argumentation before Acts 10. It is not found in the epistles to the “Hebrews.”

The New Testament’s lack of reference to other specific Old Testament prophecies about the Holy Spirit should be of great concern for those seeking to explain the Spirit’s work without a reference to Joel 2. Essentially, they must create a doctrine about the Holy Spirit’s work from a collection of New Testament verses and do so in a way which does not refer back to Acts 2 or Joel 2. Interpreting Acts 3 – Acts 28 without connecting their references to Acts 2 is flawed hermeneutically and practically.