Letters to the Church

Jesus declared, “ The Spirit makes alive. The flesh profits nothing. The words which I have spoken to you, they are spirit, and they are life .” His statement echoes the principle that life and the Spirit of God are inextricably linked. The “ flesh ” is not inherently evil, but it has no lasting life apart from the Holy Spirit. This principle was demonstrated at the original creation, and now the same Spirit is essential for the bodily resurrection of believers and everlasting life in the age to come.

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 God’s power and wisdom . Overused by both the Church and the surrounding society, the English term ‘spiritual’ has become meaningless. To some people, it is synonymous with the word  religion . To be  religious  is to be  spiritual . To others, it refers to things that are not of this physical universe, things and beings that are supernatural, otherworldly, noncorporeal, invisible, and timeless.

In the assemblies of Galatia, “ false brethren ” preached “ another gospel ,” one that pressured Gentile believers to adopt circumcision and conform to other regulations of the Mosaic Law. Paul repudiated the very idea and sent a series of arguments demonstrating why Gentiles need not be circumcised. This included the fact that believers in Galatia had received the Spirit while still uncircumcised.

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 .”

Apart from the contacts between Jesus and the early church with the priestly authorities from the Temple, the New Testament shows minimal interest in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. More frequent are the applications of temple language to the New Covenant community inaugurated by Jesus and built by his Apostles. What the Temple and the Tabernacle foreshowed is coming to fruition in the “ Body of Christ .”

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 Apostle Paul presents Abraham as the great exemplar of faith. God counted his faith as “ righteousness ” when he was yet uncircumcised, and that meant He justified him apart from the “ works of the Law .” He thereby became the father of all men who are also “ from faith .” Circumcision was added after the promise as the “ seal ” of Abraham’s justifying faith.

Israel’s possession of Canaan was an earlier stage in God’s redemptive plan, which always envisioned something larger than Israel or a small plot of land in the Middle East. With the arrival of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Spirit, the covenant promises began to find their fulfillment in the true “ Seed of Abraham ,” and in his “ brethren ” and “ coheirs ,” the promised inheritance that would include bodily resurrection and New Creation.

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.

According to Paul, there is “ now no condemnation ” for 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 of death .” Moreover, he links our salvation to the inheritance of Christ and the coming redemption of the creation. Adam’s transgression condemned the entire universe to bondage and death, not just humanity. However, “ much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus, abound to the many .”

Disciples wage spiritual warfare through right conduct, acts of love, and proclaiming the gospel . “Spiritual warfare” is a common topic in popular preaching, an idea derived from Paul’s words to the church 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 .”

The “ Promise of the Father ” is the Gift of the Spirit, and Paul links it to the Abrahamic covenant in his letters. The promises made to the Patriarch find their fulfillment in the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus of Nazareth. The bestowal of the Spirit on his Assembly marks the commencement of the “ Last Days ,” the time of fulfillment. Because of his death and resurrection, Gentile believers are full heirs of the Abrahamic Covenant along with believing Jews.

In the Letter to the Galatians , the Apostle Paul links the “ Promise of the Spirit ” to the “ blessing of Abraham ,” the covenant promise that God would bless the Gentile nations in the Patriarch, namely, the Gift of the Spirit received by the Galatians “ through a hearing of faith ” rather than “ from the works of the Torah .” Thus, the bestowal of the Baptism of the Spirit is in fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.

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 .” He wrote elsewhere that believers were “ sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise, the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession .”