Disciples Global Network

The promise of the Spirit is vital to the redemption of humanity and the Covenant of God with His people, the Church of Jesus Christ . The New Testament links 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 part of the Covenant promised to Abraham, and the Apostle Peter connects this gift to “ the blessings ” for the nations, the Gentiles, in his sermon preached on the Day of Pentecost.

The Spirit of God descended on Jesus, equipping him for his Messianic mission. He baptizes his followers in the Holy Spirit and Fire . John proclaim ed   a baptism in water  “ for the remission of sins ,” and  he  announce d  the arrival of  the  “ Coming One .”  John was the Forerunner sent before  the  Messiah as promised in the  Book of Isaiah  -  “ Behold,  I send my messenger before  your  face, to prepare your way … .” Jesus is the King of Israel who baptizes his people “ in Spirit and Fire .”

John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah, the herald of the Good News of the Kingdom of God  – Mark 1:4-8. All four gospel accounts apply the same passage from the  Book of Isaiah  to John the Baptist, the messenger who called all Israel to repent in preparation for the Messiah’s arrival. The  quotation identifies John as the forerunner who was expected before “ the day of the LORD ”:

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced . The Bible describes the Gift of the Spirit as “ the Promise of the Father ” and links it 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, and the Spirit bestowed on us is “ the earnest ” of that inheritance.

The national sins of Israel caused her expulsion from the Land of Canaan. God, however, foresaw her failures and determined to institute a new covenant, one energized and characterized by His Spirit . It would include the salvation of the nations and culminate in the resurrection of the dead and the “ New Heavens and the New Earth .” With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the time of the New Covenant commenced.

Peter summoned his audience in Jerusalem to repent and be baptized “ in the name of Jesus Christ .” He concluded his sermon on a note of fulfillment and with a foretaste of things to come . Peter began with a citation from the Book of Joel , and he finished his message with a clause from the same passage, thus neatly bracketing his sermon.

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 refers to “ the Promise of the Spirit ” in his Letter to the Galatians, and he equates the Gift of the Spirit 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 .”

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.

The description of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost stresses the theme of fulfillment. On that day, what was foreshadowed by the ancient feast began to receive its promised substance. The bestowal of the Spirit was an epochal event that marked the start of the Age of the Spirit, and the Gift of the Spirit fulfilled what the annual Levitical feast symbolized.

The Gift of the Spirit is one of the Covenant promises to bless the nations of the Earth through Abraham and his Seed, Jesus of Nazareth . When Matthew’s Gospel declares that Jesus is “ the Son of Abraham ,” it links the Man from Nazareth to the Abrahamic Covenant. The New Testament is filled with scriptural citations, stories, and apostolic teachings demonstrating that Jesus came to fulfill the Covenant. He is the expected “ seed of Abraham ” and the heir of all the promises of the Covenant.

By his Death and Resurrection, Jesus formed one covenant community - One New Man - based on faith in him  – Ephesians 2:11-22. The Apostle Paul is adamant. There no longer can be “ Jew or Gentile ” for disciples of Jesus. The old distinctions are inappropriate among the One People of God. By his shed blood, he “ dismantled  the middle wall of partition ” that separated Jews and Gentiles so “ he   might reconcile them both in one body for God through the Cross .” God is building both into one building,  one habitation of God in the Spirit founded on Jesus .