Letters to the Church

Jesus grants the Life-Giving Spirit to men and women without which there is no enduring life. His words are spirit, and they are life . “ The Spirit makes alive.   The flesh profits nothing. The words which I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life. ” Christ’s declaration echoes the biblical principle that life and the Spirit of God are inextricably linked. The flesh has no lasting life apart from the Holy Spirit as was demonstrated in the original creation. The Spirit is essential for the bodily resurrection of believers and life in the coming age – (John 6:63).

With the outpouring of the Gift of the Spirit, beginning on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced . The Apostle Paul calls the Gift of the Spirit the “ Promise of the Father ,” and he links the promised Gift to the Abrahamic covenant . The promises to Abraham and “ his Seed ” find their fulfillment in the New Covenant inaugurated by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Paul links the bodily resurrection of believers to the New Creation. Both events are vital for our complete redemption – Romans 8:1-23. There is “ now no condemnation ” of anyone who is “ in Christ Jesus .” This happy condition exists because the “ law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death .” In his Letter to the Romans , the Apostle Paul links our salvation to the inheritance of Christ and the coming redemption of our bodies and creation itself .

Since his Death and Resurrection, Jesus has been forming one new covenant community - One New Man - based on faith in him  – Ephesians 2:11-22. Paul is clear and uncompromising. Considering what Jesus accomplished on the Cross, no longer can there be divisions between Jews and Gentiles, “ for you all are one in Christ Jesus .” Through his sacrificial death, he “ dismantled  the middle wall of separation ” that divided Jews from Gentiles so “ he   might reconcile them both in one body for God through the Cross .”

The Gift of the Spirit is vital to the redemption of humanity and the New Covenant of God with His people . The New Testament connects the “ Promise of the Spirit ” to the “ Blessings of Abraham ,” the promise that God will bless the nations through the Great Patriarch. The Spirit is the gift believers receive “ through the hearing of faith .” It is one of the promises given to Abraham and finds its fulfillment in the “ New Covenant ” inaugurated by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

The jurisdiction of the Mosaic regulations over the covenant community reached its limit with the arrival of Jesus, the Seed of Abraham . In responding to claims that Gentiles must be circumcised, Paul appealed to the common experience of the Spirit received by the Galatians.  Did they receive the Gift through a “ hearing of faith ” or “ from the works of the Law ?”  Having begun in the Spirit, why did they seek the “ completion ” of their faith based on “ flesh ” by submitting to circumcision?

The Gift of the Spirit is part of the New Covenant, and the first fruits of the New Creation and the gathering of the nations .  The history of Israel includes national sins that caused her expulsion from the Land of Canaan. However, God foresaw her failures and determined to institute a new covenant, one energized and characterized by His Spirit. This covenant included the salvation of the nations and would culminate in the “ New Heavens and the New Earth ” at the end of the age. With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the Age of the Spirit had commenced in earnest.

The spiritually minded man understands that the proclamation of Christ Crucified is the Power and Wisdom of God - 1 Corinthians 2:14. Overused by the Church and society, the English term ‘spiritual’ has become meaningless. To some, it is synonymous with religion . To be religious is to be spiritual . To others, it refers to supernatural things not of this physical universe, creatures that are otherworldly, noncorporeal, invisible, and live beyond the realm of time.

The Gift of the Spirit demonstrates beyond question who belongs to the Holy Covenant Community of Jesus, and who does not . In the assemblies of Galatia, “ false brethren ” were preaching “ another gospel ,” pressuring Gentile believers to adopt circumcision and conform to other regulations of the Mosaic Law.   Paul repudiated the very idea and sent the Galatians a series of arguments demonstrating why Gentiles need not be circumcised.

In  Romans , Paul presents the “ Gospel ” in detail. It is the “ power of God for salvation .” God provides salvation through the “ faith of Jesus Christ ” for everyone who responds to the message with faith. Death passed from Adam to all men, whether “ within the law ” or “ apart from the law ” because “ all sinned and lack the glory of God .” However, now, “ apart from the law ,” the “ righteousness of God ” is being revealed for “ all men who believe, for there is no distinction .”

The New Testament applies temple language from the Hebrew Bible to the Body of Christ, the habitation of the Living God . Except for contacts between Jesus and the early church with the priestly authorities, the New Testament shows little interest in the Jerusalem Temple. Instead, we find that terminology and imagery from the Temple are applied to the New Covenant community of Jesus. What the Temple and earlier Tabernacle foreshowed has come to fruition in Christ and his Church.

The Gift of the Spirit is clear evidence that a person has been justified by God and made a part of His covenant people. In Galatia, “ false brethren ” were preaching “ another gospel ,” one that claimed Gentiles must be circumcised to “ complete ” their faith. Paul would have none of it, and he appealed to the presence of the Spirit among uncircumcised Gentiles as proof positive of their justification and acceptance by God.

The Gift of the Spirit is the First Fruits of the bodily resurrection and the Guarantee of our participation in the coming New Creation . The Apostle Paul presents Abraham as the great model of faith. God counted his faith as “ righteousness ” when he was uncircumcised, which means that God justified the Patriarch apart from the “ works of the Law .” Thus, he became the father of all men who are also “ from faith .” Circumcision was added after the promise as the confirmation of Abraham’s justifying faith.

The disciples of Jesus are the Heirs of Abraham, and the future possession of the full inheritance is guaranteed by the Gift of the Spirit . Israel’s possession of Canaan was an earlier stage in God’s redemptive plan, which always envisaged something larger than Israel and a small plot of land in the Middle East. With the arrival of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the covenant promises found their fulfillment in the true “ Seed of Abraham ,” and therefore in his “ brethren ” and “ coheirs .”

In  Galatians , Paul addresses a growing danger. Certain “ men from Jerusalem ” claimed that Gentiles must keep the deeds of the Mosaic Law to “ complete ” their faith, or at least, some of its statutes and rites. They were “ compelling Gentiles to Judaize ” by adopting circumcision, calendrical observances, and perhaps the Levitical dietary restrictions.

“Spiritual warfare” is an idea based on the Apostle Paul’s words to the Assembly in Ephesus - “ Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers… against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places .” So, how do believers wage war against these unseen forces of darkness?

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations of the Abrahamic Covenant commenced . The “ Promise of the Father ” is the Gift of the Spirit, which the Apostle Paul links to the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises made to the Patriarch are fulfilled in the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus Christ. The bestowal of the Spirit on his Assembly on the Day of Pentecost marked the commencement of the “ Last Days ,” the Age of the  Spirit when the promises of God are  achieved . Because of his Death and Resurrection, Gentile believers become full heirs of the Covenant along with believing Jews.

The New Testament links the “ Promise of the Spirit ” to the “ Blessings of Abraham ,” the promise that God would bless the nations through the Great Patriarch. The Spirit is the gift believers receive “ through the hearing of faith .” It is part of the covenant promises given to Abraham, and Peter connected this gift to the “ blessings ” for the nations during his sermon on the Day of Pentecost.

The Gift of the Spirit is one of the blessings of Abraham promised by God for the nations and the children of the Patriarch . The Apostle Paul referred to the “ Promise of the Spirit ” which he equated with the “ Blessing of Abraham. ” Jesus subjected himself to the “ curse ” of the Law to redeem believers so that the “ Blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the Promise of the Spirit through faith .”