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.

Understanding who the Judaizers were and their connection back to the Pharisees (Acts 15:5) is going to provide great insight into Paul’s use of the word “spirit” in Galatians, Romans, and the rest of his epistles.

God devoted three chapters of Acts to explain the temporary, prophetic work of the Spirit among the Gentiles. Should we not find it very strange that in the same book He did not devote even more attention to the permanent, non-prophetic work of the Spirit, which is at the heart of most modern teachings about the Spirit?

The key to understanding Peter’s words is found in allowing the Bible to define its own “ages.” There are various interpretive systems among Bible students today that describe the stages of the biblical story. The dispensational pre-millennialist has at least seven dispensations or ages in which God has and will work. Another common division of the Bible ages has three main ages: the Patriarchal Age, Mosaic Age, and Christian Age. The problem for both of these approaches is that the Bible never uses any such structure or labels to describe its own ages.