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.

A survey of the more than two dozen passages in written prophets of the Old Testament (Isaiah-Malachi) which refer to the Holy Spirit will show that those later prophets of Israel used the same language and their words carried the same meaning as did the words and meaning of those prophets contained in the earlier writings of the Old Testament.

The seal of the Holy Spirit would last until the coming “day of the Lord” which would bring a baptism of fire upon those that rejected Jesus and would bring a vindicating “day of redemption” upon the true children of God. By that time the revelation would be completed and the need for the continuing miracles of the Holy Spirit would have been met. Once the gospel, and so by extension, the people of the gospel had been redeemed and confirmed – once the perfect had come – the miracles of the Holy Spirit and their “in part” manifestation would cease, vanish, and pass away.