Disciples Global Network

The Gift of the Spirit is for every man who repents, even to those afar off, and in fulfillment of the promise of the Father . After completing his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter summoned his audience to repent and be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ.” But something more than a call to accept the Gospel was transpiring - he concluded his sermon on a note of fulfillment and with a foretaste of things to come. The apostle’s sermon began with a citation from the Book of Joel, and he finished it with a clause from the same passage, thus neatly bracketing Peter’s message.

At the Jordan River, John proclaimed a baptism in water “ for the remission of sins ,” and he announced the arrival of the “ Coming One .” John was the forerunner of the Messiah of Israel as promised in the  Book of Isaiah  - “ Behold, I send my messenger before your face… The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord .” This  Coming One  is the long-promised King of Israel who now baptizes his people “ in Spirit and fire .”

All four gospels apply the same passage from the Book of Isaiah to John the Baptist. He summoned all Israel to repent “ for the remission of sins ” in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. And that passage identifies him as the forerunner who was expected before the “ Day of Yahweh ,” the one who would call the faithful “ to prepare the way of the Lord .”

The gift of the Spirit is part of the New Covenant, the first fruits of the New Creation, and the promised gathering of the nations . The history of Israel includes national sins that caused her expulsion from the land of Canaan. But God foresaw her failures and determined to institute a new covenant, one  ENERGIZED AND CHARACTERIZED BY HIS SPIRIT  and one that would include the nations and culminate in the New Creation. With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the Age of the Spirit commenced.