Doctrinal

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?

Overcoming this prejudice was the first major hurdle for Christianity. The prophets proclaimed the universal nature of the body of Jesus. All nations would come to be a part of this body (Isaiah 2:2-4). The Gentiles who were not God’s people would be His people in this church (Amos 9:11-12, Acts 15:16-18). Until this was accomplished, the church would not fulfill God’s eternal purpose to unite all things under the authority of Jesus.

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.

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.

The Holy Spirit is the one who is credited with revealing the truth of the mystery to man (1 Corinthians 2:8ff). So it is in this sense that through the Holy Spirit the unification of all man in one body is called the “unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3).

Our tendency in reading through Joel’s words is to emphasize the prophetic terms contained within them. However, to do so is to miss the point. The words that need our attention come before the mention of prophecy, dreams, and visions and are repeated afterwards as well. What makes Joel’s prophecy so amazing is that the promised prophetic abilities are guaranteed to “all flesh.”

The first two references to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament point to His work in the creation of the body of Jesus. His work in these verses is clearly a direct expression of the divine power and is in line with what is seen in the rest of the gospel accounts.

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.

The Bible’s doctrine about the work of the Holy Spirit with man begins in Genesis. It is described nearly one hundred times in the Old Testament. The Spirit’s work in the New Testament is built upon these sure, concrete, and easy to understand examples. The brightest and clearest of all of these examples is the “promise of the Holy Spirit” in Joel 2.

Does this new prophetic ministry teach some new doctrine about the work of the Holy Spirit? The survey of the some two dozen passages that follow will show that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit’s work in the gospel accounts remains in complete harmony with the testimony of the Old Testament. Among God’s people, the Holy Spirit is the source of miraculous power and prophetic revelation.