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.

The Apostle Paul refers to the “promise of the Spirit” in his letter to the churches in Galatia. He identifies this gift with the blessings of Abraham for humanity. Jesus of Nazareth came to redeem us, so that “the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” – (Galatians 3:13-14).

The Hebrew Scriptures promised that God would pour out His Spirit on His people, a promise confirmed by Jesus during his earthly ministry, and granted by him after his death, resurrection, and exaltation. In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul links the promise of the Spirit to the Abrahamic Covenant – (Compare Isaiah 44:3-4, Jeremiah 31:31-33, Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26, Joel 2:28, John 7:37-39, and especially Luke 24:49 [“Behold! I send forth the promise of the Father upon you!”]).

And so, in Galatians 3:13-14, we find a specific example of God’s covenant promises fulfilled by Jesus Christ. In this case, the promise to bless the Gentiles in Abraham, and “in his seed.” The gift of the Spirit brings salvation, new creation, and everlasting life to men and women from every nation, beginning with Israel but not ending there – (Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18).

• “You are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED. Unto you first God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities” – (Acts 3:25-26, quoting Genesis 12:3).

• “Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, AND TO YOUR SEED, which is Christ” – (Galatians 3:16. Note the citation of Genesis 12:7).

[Photo by Ahnaf Piash (Toronto) on Unsplash]

Elsewhere in his letters, Paul declares that we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.” The gift of the Spirit is the down payment and guarantee of our future possession of the inheritance - (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Greek term translated in Ephesians 1:14 as “purchased possession” echoes the promise of territory that God made to Abraham. The Patriarch and his seed would receive the land of Canaan for an “everlasting possession.” Thus, Paul links the gift of the Spirit to the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant - (Genesis 17:8).

Similarly, the Apostle Peter declares that the covenant promises made at Mount Sinai are fulfilled in the Church of Jesus Christ:

• “But you are AN ELECT RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, AND A PEOPLE OF GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; who, in time past, were NO PEOPLE, but now, you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD, who had NOT OBTAINED MERCY, but now have OBTAINED MERCY” – (1 Peter 2:9-10. Note the citations of Exodus 19:5-6, Hosea 1:9-10, 2:23).

Jesus called the gift of the Spirit the “promise of the Father.” Before his Ascension, he commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received this gift, which occurred on the Day of Pentecost.

The arrival of the Spirit signaled the commencement of the last days, the time of fulfilment. The covenant promises were coming to fruition, including the gift of the Spirit - (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 2:16-21, Hebrews 1:1-4):

• “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 11:19-20).

• “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. And on my servants and on my handmaids in those days I will pour out of my Spirit” – (Joel 2:28-29, Septuagint version).

• “But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour” – (Titus 4:4-6).

Certainly, this promise was not limited to that first group of believers on the Day of Pentecost or, for that matter, to the biological descendants of Abraham. The gift of the Spirit is for “your children, and to all that are afar off, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL SUMMON” – (Acts 2:39. See also Joel 2:32).

For example, chapter 10 of the Book of Acts describes the opening of the Gospel to the Gentiles. During Peter’s sermon, the Spirit fell on the Gentiles, and they “began to speak in tongues.” The Jews with Peter were amazed since uncircumcised Gentiles had received the Spirit, “just as we did at the beginning.” This last clause refers to the earlier outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost - (Acts 10:44-48).

In response to his critics in Jerusalem, Peter pointed to the gift of the Spirit received by Cornelius and his household as the indisputable evidence that God accepted believing Gentiles without the rite of circumcision. The Gentiles received the same gift as did the circumcised and Torah-observant Jews who followed Jesus; therefore, Gentiles are not required to undergo circumcision – (Acts 11:1-18).

GALATIA

In his first argument to the churches of Galatia, Paul applies the same logic as Peter did. Since Gentile believers had received the Spirit “from faith” while they remained uncircumcised, why were they now contemplating the addition of circumcision and other “works of the Law” to complete their faith? After all, they already had the gift of the Spirit – (Galatians 3:1-4).

Adopting circumcision would obligate the Galatians to keep the entire Mosaic Legislation, and inevitably, they would fall under the Law’s curse. But God gave them the Spirit “through the hearing of faith,” and not “from the works of the Law,” which included circumcision – (Galatians 3:5-10).

Next, Paul presents an argument from the life of Abraham. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant. Nevertheless, the Lord declared the Patriarch righteous from his faith before he commanded Abraham to be circumcised, as well as his male descendants after him - (“And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness” – Romans 4:3).

In contrast to believing Abraham, those men who insist on being justified on the basis of the rites and works required by the Torah will find themselves under the Law’s curse, sooner or later:

• “For as many as are from the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO CONTINUES NOT IN ALL THINGS THAT ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAW, TO DO THEM. Now, that no man is acquitted from the law before God is evident: FOR THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE ON THE BASIS OF FAITH. And the law is not from faith; but he who does them will live by them. 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 nations might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” – (Galatians 3:10-14. Note the citations from Deuteronomy 21:23, 27:26, Habakkuk 2:4).

The promises are for Abraham and “his seed, who is Christ.” Therefore, the receipt of the inheritance is based on promise and faith, not the law; otherwise, the promise is rendered invalid. Since the Law came after the covenant was confirmed by God, the Torah cannot add to, subtract from, or otherwise “cancel the promise” – (Galatians 3:15-21).

The Law was added to deal with transgressions, not to justify us, and the Law’s jurisdiction was to endure only “until” the “seed came.” The time element is pivotal to Paul’s argument. The previous administration under the Mosaic Law was in force only until the arrival of the Messiah. Since the faith has arrived in Jesus Christ, believers are no longer under the guardianship of the Torah – (Galatians 3:22-25).

• “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 a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God” – (Galatians 4:4-7).

All believers become “sons of God through the faith of Christ Jesus.” Therefore, no longer can there be “Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.” The old distinctions have no place in the Church founded on the death and resurrection of Jesus – (Galatians 3:26-28).

The gift of the Spirit was not unforeseen or something that became necessary due to later events. The promise of the Spirit was an integral part of the blessing of Abraham for the nations, and all men who receive the Spirit become the children of Abraham and heirs of the covenant promises.

The arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, means that the time of fulfillment is now in effect, and everyone who repents and believes the Gospel will receive the Spirit – (Acts 2:36-39).

The New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus was never intended to replace the Abrahamic Covenant; rather, it is the fulfillment of all the covenant promises, including the promise of the Spirit.

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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)

• The Evidence of Sonship - (The gift of the Spirit demonstrates beyond question who belongs to the covenant community of Christ, and who does not)

• Doing the Whole Law - (Anyone who is under the Law is obligated to keep all its required deeds and rituals, and therefore, risks coming under its curse)

• Promesse et Réalisation - (Le don de l'Esprit est l'une des bénédictions d'Abraham, que Dieu a promis d'accorder à Son peuple par Son Messie)