The Time of the Spirit

The gift of the Spirit is foundational to the New Covenant. It is the beginning of the New Creation and the gathering of the nations.

The history of Israel includes descriptions of the sins that caused the expulsion of the nation from the Land of Canaan. God foresaw the failures of Israel, and therefore, He determined to make a new covenant, one that is energized and characterized by the Holy Spirit.

This new covenant includes the salvation of the nations, and it will culminate in the “New Heavens and the New Earth.” With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the time of the Spirit and fulfillment commenced.

The death and resurrection of the Messiah inaugurated a new era in salvation history. The period known as the “last days” began, and therefore, all the promises of God are now being fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

[Cascade - Photo by Trac Vu (Austin, TX) on Unsplash]

The four gospel accounts describe the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus of Nazareth from the very start. The Spirit of God caused the Virgin Mary to produce the Son of God. At his baptism in the Jordan River, the Spirit anointed Jesus and identified him as the beloved Son of God and the Servant of the Lord. The Spirit empowered Jesus to preach the Gospel to Israel and to perform his miraculous deeds – (Matthew 1:21-23, 12:28, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 1:35, 4:1, 4:18).

• “How God ANONTED JESUS WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him” – (Acts 10:38. Note the allusion to Isaiah 61:1).

Moreover, Jesus now baptizes his people in the Holy Spirit, as promised in the Scriptures. He is the Lord who possesses the right to dispense the Spirit to whomever he pleases:

• “I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” - (Mark 1:8).

• “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, FROM WITHIN HIM RIVERS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW. But this he spoke of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” - (John 7:37-39. Compare Isaiah 44:3, 55:1, John 16:7).

• “This Jesus did God raise up, of whom all are witnesses. Therefore, being exalted BY THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this, which you see and hear” - (Acts 2:32-33. Note the verbal allusion to Psalm 110:1).

According to the promise given through Moses, when Israel repented wholeheartedly, God would gather the dispersed tribes “from among all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.” He would multiply Israel beyond anything her forebears had known, and “circumcise your hearts to love Him with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live” - (Deuteronomy 30:3-6).

Two things are especially noteworthy from Deuteronomy 30:3-6. First, God will multiply Israel beyond her forebears. The English term “multiply” translates the same Hebrew verb found in the call to Adam to be “fruitful and multiply,” and in God’s promise to multiply Abraham’s seed - (Genesis 1:28, 17:2).

Second, the restoration of Israel will occur when God circumcises the nation’s heart and inscribes His law on it, an internal change promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and actualized in the New Covenant by God’s Spirit - (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 11:19-20).

However, the promised restoration will be far more glorious than anything Israel ever imagined. The Spirit of the Lord will enable His people to fulfill their covenant obligations and walk in righteousness. The same Spirit that created the Universe will intervene to change the People of God, beginning from the inside. Moreover, the effects of this new covenant will reach far beyond the nation of Israel and the Land of Canaan.

The Scriptures promise nothing less than a new creative act by God, and this change will impact the nations and the entire Earth, if not the Cosmos - (Isaiah 65:17-18, Revelation 21:1-3. Compare Romans 4:13, “Abraham will be the heir of the world [‘kosmos’]”).

• “Thus says the Lord: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. <…> 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 11:17-20. Compare Ezekiel 11:17-20, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Hebrews 8:6-13).

The promised new covenant became reality with the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Having established the “new covenant in his blood,” Jesus is now building his new holy community as his disciples proclaim the Gospel to the nations, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit - (Matthew 5:17-21, 12:6, 12:28, 12:41-42, Luke 22:20, Acts 1:8).

Jesus became the Servant of the Lord who “confirmed the promises to the fathers so that the nations might glorify God for his mercy.” The promise of “blessing for the nations” made to Abraham is fulfilled by Jesus and the Spirit, for the gift that is received freely by Jewish and Gentile believers alike is that blessing - (Romans 15:8-9):

• “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 Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” – (Galatians 3:13-14. See Deuteronomy 21:23).

The gift of the Spirit confirms the status of believers. Whether Jewish or Gentile, they become the “children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” Everyone who receives the Spirit becomes part of his new community regardless of ethnicity or gender, and every believer is under the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus and secured by his sacrificial death - (Hebrews 7:22, “Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant”).

THE FULLNESS OF TIME

In the Gospel of John, Jesus links History’s pivotal moment to himself and the gift of the Spirit, which would be given to his followers after his death and resurrection. With the arrival of the Messiah, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” – (John 4:23):

• “Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who hears my word and believes him that sent me has everlasting life, and does not come into judgment, but he has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear will live” – (John 5:24-25).

• “But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you” – (John 14:26).

• “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” – (John 16:7).

• “Truly, truly, I say to you: Except a man is born from water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born from the flesh is flesh; and that which is born from the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said to you, You must be born from above. The wind blows where it will, and you hear its noise but know not from where it comes and where it is going. So is everyone that is born from the Spirit” – (John 3:5-8).

God sent His Son “in the fullness of time” to bring salvation to humanity and the gift of the Spirit to every man and woman who repents and believes the Gospel. The arrival of Jesus in Galilee, and especially the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, signaled the start of the age of salvation and the time of the Spirit. This theme occurs multiple times in the New Testament. For example:

• “The season is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel” – (Mark 1:15).

• “But this is that which has been spoken through the prophet Joel: AND IT WILL BE IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH…” – (Acts 2:15-17. Note the quotation from Joel 2:28-32).

• “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL SUMMON” – (Acts 2:38-39. Compare Joel 2:32).

• “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that you are no longer slaves, but sons. And if sons, then heirs through God” – (Galatians 4:4-7. Compare Hebrews 9:26).

Jesus inaugurated the Age of the Spirit, the period before his return, when the Gospel is proclaimed, and the people of God are gathered into the Kingdom. The New Covenant, with its promised gift of the Spirit, commenced following the resurrection and exaltation of the Messiah. This process must continue until the Son of Man arrives to gather his elect, resurrect the dead, overthrow the last of his enemies, Death, and consummate the Kingdom of God – (Matthew 24: 29-31, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

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

• Promise and Fulfillment - (The gift of the Spirit is one of the blessings of Abraham promised by God to His covenant community, which is now implemented by Jesus)

• Coheirs with Jesus - (The covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus, the Heir of the Patriarch and his Seed, including the possession of the Earth – Romans 8:1-23)

• L'âge de l'Esprit - (Le don de l'Esprit est fondamental pour la Nouvelle Alliance. C'est le début de la Nouvelle Création et le rassemblement des nations)