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THE GIFT OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT
I enjoyed a provocative lesson on Acts
2:38 the other day. The audience was urged to accept individual responsibility
in serving and promoting the Word of God (from the text of “the Gift of
the Holy Spirit”).
The Scriptures support the following facts about
the Gift.
THE
GIFT IS ALSO, THE GIFT OF GOD AND OF OUR LORD
JESUS.
We
should accept that the gift of Acts 2:38 is also
of God and of Jesus since they both sent the Spirit. This we know because Jesus
promised to His apostles in the upper room that the Father and He (Jesus) would
be sending the Holy Spirit as a “comforter”
specifically for them after His death (John 15:26[vi]).
The Spirit was to be the Comforter (Thayer's
Greek: paraclete--"a helper, succourer, aider, assistant”)
to the “orphaned” apostles
(John 14:18[vii]).
The apostles were the only ones present when Jesus made this promise. They would
shortly be losing the physical closeness of their Master Teacher Companion at the
time of their assignment to go into all the world, hence,
“orphaned” and "comforter."
THE GIFT IS ALSO
THE GIFT OF THE TRUTH
In the same context of the upper room, Jesus promised that the
Spirit would be a bearer of the Truth (John
16:13). Jesus in the next chapter (17) identified in His prayer that God's Word was the Truth (John
17:17; ABP+, Greek της “the” αληθειαςG225,
“truth”). Observe
that “the” Spirit is of “the Truth.” Definite article
“the”. “And it is the Spirit that beareth witness,
because the Spirit is [Grk: the= της] truth.” (1
John 5:6b). Whereas Jesus is called the Logos[viii] (Word)
of God (John 1:1), the Spirit is called the Rhema[ix] (Word)
of God (Ephesians 6:17).
THE GIFT IS ALSO THE GIFT OF
LIVING WATER[x]
We should accept that
the gift of Jesus was prophesied as “living water” to “believers.”
John 7:38, 39, “He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” We
should accept that the gift of the Holy Spirit is
the figurative “flowing
rivers of living water.”[xi]
Believers shouldG3195[xii] receive (or, accept, lambanoG2983) the
Spirit. The gift of “living water” is “within the belly of the
believer.” This is predicting the same gift that is to be accepted (lambano) in Acts 2:38.
Later, the apostle would write to Christians, “WHAT! Don't you know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which you have within you from God, and you
are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19, AFV). “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to
him” (Romans 8:9, KJV). The gift
from God is both called “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ.”
THE GIFT IS THE SPIRIT
OF JESUS
We
should accept that the living water is given by Jesus, and He calls it the “gift
of God.” John 4:10, “Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He [Jesus]
would have given thee
living water.” This gift of God is the Holy Spirit's living
water and is the giver is Jesus. After Acts
2:38, Galatians 2:20 (ESV), “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no
longer I who live, but Christ
who lives in me.” Not
only is Jesus the source of the giving, but He Himself will be
dwelling in the recipient. Galatians
4:6, “And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of
his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
Jesus identifies the Spirit with Himself. In John 14:17, 18, speaking of the Comforter
“I [Jesus] will come to you”). Paul emphasizes in 2 Corinthians 4, “Now the
Lord is that Spirit” that ministers the
New Covenant (“the glorious gospel of Christ”, verse 4) through them as a mirror (KJV, glass)
for us “to change [us] into [His] same
image from glory to glory” (previous chapter, 3:6, & 17).
THE GIFT IS JESUS FORMING IN YOU
The gift is a continual ministration
(its future tense is a summary occurrence).
“My little children, for whom I am again in
anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”(Galatians 4:19).
“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
“Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5b).
“For this cause I
bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... That he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man; That Christ
may dwell in your hearts by [the] faith; that ye, being rooted
and grounded in love, ... ” (Ephesians 3:14--17). This is by the means of the faith (Jude 3).
The
Faith is the Truth ministered by the Spirit through His Word. This makes it possible for
Christ to dwell in me (Galatians 2:20). “But
if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin,
the Spirit is life because of righteousness”
(Romans 8:10, ESV). The righteousness is revealed in the Truth, the gospel (Romans
1:16,17). “... the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit” (Romans 8:4).
THE GIFT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, THE FATHER
We should accept that all good gifts are of
God (James 1:17). Jesus said that the gift of the Holy Spirit is one of the “good gifts
of God.”
Luke 11:13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him?” In its parallel revelation in the
synoptic gospel of Matthew, Jesus said that the giving of the Holy Spirit
is another way of saying, specifically “good things from Heaven.” Matthew 7:11, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good
gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in
heaven give good things to
them that ask him?” [xiii] Since the gift is from God,
we can understand that the gift of Acts 2:38 is the gift of God. Jesus dwells in us
through the gift of the Spirit and so does God.
We are expressly told that God Himself
dwells in us by means of the Spirit. Paul
says the Ephesians were “a habitation of
God in the
Spirit” (Ephesians
2:22), and John affirms, “we know that He abideth in us, by the
Spirit which he gave us” (1 John. 3:24; 4:13). “
For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has
shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV). “
THE GIFT IS OF “THE” FAITH AND OF THE
GIFT OF GRACE
Faith
comes by accepting the Truth from the Spirit. “This only would I learn of you, Received (lambano) ye the Spirit by the works of the
law [of Moses], or by the hearing of faith?” (Galatians
3:2). “So, then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word (rhema; hence, Spirit) of God”
(Romans 10:17).
“For by grace are ye saved through [the] faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians
2:8).
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One might say, "All of this is well and good: the Truth, eventually in the Bible, is the gift of the the Godhead.
But what of the miracles, the signs (Mark 16)? The apostles taught the
Truth but they also had miraculous powers. They prophesied, spoke in tongus, and healed the infirmed.
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THE GIFT
OF AUTHORITY TO IMPART POWERS IS ALSO CALLED THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT
We
should accept that
the gift of the Holy Spirit included the authority given to the apostles to
discriminatingly impart powers upon selected ones (powers called “'grace' -charis- gifts” in 1
Corinthians 12[xiv]). Acts 8:17-19, “Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the
Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the
Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the
hands of the apostles, he
offered them money, Saying, "Give this authority [power] to me also, so that on whomever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:28, “And God Himself has placed certain ones in the church:
first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then miracles; then
gifts of healings; helps; governments; various languages.” These
constituted the special service gifts of power to specific helpers of the
apostles in the church (specific signs to confirm).
ALSO, THE GIFT
OF THE COMFORTER IN GIVING ASSISTANTS
We
should accept that confirmation “signs” were from God through
the Spirit to assist the apostles in confirming the divine source of the Truth.
Mark 16:14, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as
they sat at meat.”
He was upset with them because of their unbelief. He promised signs to them (the apostles)
that would believe [The Lord is received up in Heaven.] Mark 16:20, “And they went forth, and
preached everywhere, the
Lord working with
them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” The believing apostles were the ones promised the signs.
We
should accept that
the Spirit was to specifically to assist the apostles in the great commission. “He will
guide you into all truth (the apostles).” Remember that the Spirit was to be the paraclete [assistant]
to the apostles (John 15:26, see first paragraph). He helped the apostles
with special helpers as needed just as He had helped Moses with the 70 prophets (Numbers 11:24,25).
Not all were desired nor accepted as assistants. The authority was in their laying of hands on with prayer to
bestow miraculous ability to prophesy and other helps listed in 1 Corinthians 12. After the apostles' work was completed and
each finally died there is no record of this discriminating
power given in history. 1 Corinthians 13:9,10,
GW, “Our knowledge is incomplete and our
ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete. But when
what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used.”
“In
affirming that the Holy Spirit dwells
within the child of God, one need not suggest
l that miracles are performed today,
l that the Spirit 'guides' or
'illuminates' us in some way apart from the Scriptures,
l that he operates directly upon the
saint's heart.”[xv]
Conclusion: We should
accept that the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38 includes the
following:
1) The Truth borne by
the Holy Spirit who guided the apostles in Truth in the absence of Jesus on
Earth (John 15, 16, 17). The Truth is The Faith and The
Grace. The gift on the day of Pentecost was the Truth.
2) Rivers of
Living water for
Believers (John 7:38,39). We can “drink” of this gift. Figurative for the
Truth.
3) A source well of water springing up into everlasting life (John
4:14). Figurative for the Truth.
4) Restrictive
authority to apostles exclusively to perform and impart to
selected helpers the “grace” services (1 Corinthians 12:28; Acts 8:17-19).
The Spirit fulfilled His assignment as “Comforter” along side of them.
5) The gift is the
promised Truth. This Spirit “indwells” the one who accepts this
Truth from Jesus and God, the Father.
a) Can one be
faithful without heeding the teaching of the Holy Spirit
in the Scriptures?
b) Can one be knowledgeable about
choices one makes without the teaching from the Holy
Spirit from the Scriptures?
c) Could a
Christian ever be faithful if he only waited until a “inner voice” within
told him what was true while being ignorant of the Scriptures?
1) A denomination
taught me as a child that it was the Holy Spirit that would tell me not to
go into a bar.
2) How would the
Holy Spirit speak Truth to me aside from the Teaching of the Holy Spirit
in His inspired Scriptures?
The
lesson that I heard emphasized that Priests under the Law were (OT) both
(1) representing the people to God[xvi] in
sacrifices and (2) represented God to the people by the teaching the Word of
God to them ( Leviticus 10:11 [xvii]). Repentant baptized believers of the
Spirit's New Testament are the current Lord's NT holy priesthood (1 Peter
2:4-5). Our “job”, like the priests of old, is to declare the praises of
the Lord (1 Peter 2:9). Would one not have to be taught the Truth from the
Scriptures before properly declaring the praises of the Lord to others? This Truth is
saved for us in the Divine Scriptures which conclusively is a gift of the Holy Spirit, the
Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus
is currently looking today in the 21st century for acceptors
of His Truth, the gift of the Holy Spirit to us, to be NT priests and to
continue in these days to spread forth the Holy Spirit's Truth in their
respective communities.
- GAYLON WEST
THROW
OUT THE LIFELINE,
SOMEONE
IS SINKING TODAY
.
[i] “receive”
- lam-ban'-o, Strong's Greek
Dictionaries, “to take” “active, to get hold of:
- accept ... ”
[ii] “shall
receive”- future indicative middle plural -
-https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%B2%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%89
[iii] Exegetical
Insight, chapter 19 --borrowing from Hebrew idiom, Greek futures can be
used to give a command http://gknt.org/class/bbg-19-future-indicative-active-and-middle/
[iv] https://ezraproject.com/greek-tenses-explained/
[v] https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/inter-tense.htm
[vi] John
15:26, “But when the Comforter has come, which I will send to you from
the Father, even the Spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father,
that one shall bear witness of Me.”
[vii] John 14:18,(ABP+) “I will not leave you orphans;G3737 I am coming to you.” (AFV) “I will not leave you orphans; I
will come to you.” (CEV) “I won't leave you like orphans. I
will come back to you.” (Darby) “I will not leave you orphans, I am
coming to you.”
[viii] Logos.G3056 Strong's:
“something said (including the thought).” Thayer's: “In John, denotes
the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in
union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe,
the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical,”
[ix] Rhema. G4487 Strong's:
“an utterance (individually, collectively or
specifically).” Thayer's: “1. That which is or has been uttered
by the living voice, 2. Subject matter of speech.”
[x] John 6:35;
Proverbs 18:4; Zechariah 14:8; Psalm78:12-16; Revelation 22;1,2. The idea
of God's truth being a stream is common in the Bible.
[xi] Jesus alludes to Isaiah 55:1 and Isaiah 58:11--passages that similarly present the Messianic hope in
terms of life-giving water (cf. Exodus 17:1--6; Psalm 78:15--16; 105:40--41; Proverbs 18:4; Isaiah 12:3; Ezekiel 47:1--11;
and Zechariah 14:8).
[xii] Strong's
Hebrew and Greek Dictonaries: “about to
be, do or suffer something (of persons or things, events; in the sense
of purpose, duty, necessity, probability, possibility, or hesitation).”
[xiii] The expression
“gift of the Holy Spirit” in this passage is a metonomy. 'Metonomy' means 'a figure of speech consisting
of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an
attribute or with which it is associated (such as "crown" in
"lands belonging to the crown").' --Merriam-webster.com
[xiv] 1 Corinthians
12:11, “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will.”
[xv] https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/715-what-is-the-gift-of-the-holy-spirit-in-acts-2-38
[xvi] "For every high priest taken from among men (all
the Jewish priests were taken from the Kohan family of the tribe of Levi)
is appointed on behalf of men (set apart for their work
to represent their people before God) in things
pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices
for sins (priests were able to sympathize with
the people, because they were subject to the same weaknesses, and also
had need of the forgiveness of their own sins)," Hebrew 5:1
(NASB).
[xvii] "And that ye may teach the
children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD
hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses," Leviticus
10:11 .
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