“Promise” or “Gift” of the Spirit

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The “Promise” or “Gift” of the Spirit

Introduction: Acts 2:38-39 is a common text to us in which we have placed significant emphasis on being baptized for the forgiveness of sins. However, we have typically not placed equal emphasis on “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” If you were one of the thousands of Jews listening to Peter’s sermon, how would you have heard, “and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”? From what we have studied from OT prophecies and from what we have heard from John the baptizer, we know that these Jews who have been convicted of crucifying their Messiah, would have been absolutely ecstatic to hear that if they responded to Peter’s command, they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We need that same excitement! Therefore, what does it mean for you and me to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?

1. The “Promise” and the “Gift”
   1. Obviously, when we connect Acts 2:38 with verse 39, we readily understand that whatever the “gift of the Holy Spirit” is, is the same as the “promise.” In fact, we will see later in both Galatians and Ephesians Paul using the phrase, “promise of the Spirit” in reference to receiving the gift of the Spirit when we are baptized.
   2. Let’s briefly note some previous texts that will connect the  “promise” and the coming “Spirit.”
      1. Matthew 3:11-12 John announced that Jesus would “baptized you with the Holy Spirit and fire” – announcing both the coming salvation and judgment (vs. 12).
      2. John 7:37-39 Jesus promised the Spirit to his future believers, from which they would become rivers of living water (Isaiah 12).
      3. Luke 24:49 “Behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
      4. Acts 1:4-5 Jesus refers to the “promise” and being baptized with the Holy Spirit as one and the same. Though this context is specifically referring to the apostles, John’s original promise was to all who came to the Lord, just as Joel’s prophecy spoke of the Spirit being poured out on all flesh.
      5. Acts 2:16-21 is Peter’s explanation of the miracles that were taking place and the revealing of God’s word through tongues/languages. Please note that the miracles are not the pouring out of the Spirit but signs that the Spirit would now be poured out on all flesh (remember Titus 3:5-7!). The miracles were always prophesied signs that the Spirit was being poured out. 
      6. Recall that Joel 3:1 stated, “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem…” The pouring out of the Spirit was connected to the restoration of the nation or kingdom.
      7. Acts 2:33 Jesus received from the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and therefore “has poured out this that you yourselves as seeing and hearing.” Therefore, Jesus was pouring out the Spirit, resulting in both miracles and the preaching of the good news of the kingdom.
   3. This is a good time to summarize all that happens when the Spirit is poured out. We can summarize it in three broad descriptions, all of which would happen through the coming and redemption of Jesus:
      1. The restoration of the kingdom (Acts 1:4-6)
      2. The restoration of blessings, which would include regeneration of dead people back to life (Isaiah 32:14-15; Ezekiel 37:14), as well as changing their hearts and spirits to become in his image (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
      3. The restoration of the covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), and therefore a renewed relationship, ownership, and presence of God with his people.
   4. The mechanism of by which this happens is a combination of both the work and words of Jesus. His work of redemption and his words bring us life and image changing.
2. Further References to the Promise
   1. Galatians 3:1-14
      1. The Galatians (Gentiles) fully understood what it meant to receive the Spirit, which was obviously a shorthand way of referring to what God did for them in Christ. They also fully understood that they did not receive the Spirit by the works of Law, but by the hearing of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.
      2. In verse 5, Paul makes a difference between what the Spirit supplies and the miracles the Spirit worked. They were not one and the same.
      3. Verse 5 also reads in the present tense, “Does he who supplies the Spirit…” The Spirit’s work is ongoing. He continues to supply for us the blessings needed for our “renewal” (Titus 3:5).
      4. Verses 7-11 proclaim that the promise to Abraham and the blessings that came from that promise, are included in the promise of the Spirit. This is confirmed in verses 13-14. 
      5. The above is further confirmed by verses 25-29, where becoming Abraham’s offspring through being baptized into Christ, makes us “heirs according to the promise.” –– Please remember that there were three promises to Abraham: 
         1. The land promise: identified by the prophets as fulfilled in the Messiah, which references our perfect protection from Satan and all the enemies of God (Romans 8:35-39).
         2. The great nation promise: identified as the kingdom of Christ, the restored kingdom after the physical nation failed and was destroyed.
         3. The offspring promise: all the world could share in the reversal of the curses and be blessed through the offspring of Abraham.
      6. 4:4-7 “God has redeemed us in Christ so that we might receive the adoption as sons. In so doing, he sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” so that we can now cry, “Abba! Father!”
   2. Ephesians 1:3-14
      1. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. These spiritual blessings came by the work of the Spirit and are outlined in the words following.
      2. Verses 13-14 
         1. “Sealed” implies ownership. God owns us and has taken us his own possession. He will not let any power take us from his hand.
         2. “Who is a guarantee of our inheritance.” The giving of the Spirit is a “down payment” (CSB) of our inheritance. What God has given us presently is only a taste of what is to come.
   3. 2 Peter 1:3-4 Though not mentioning the Spirit, we can see in these words the same blessings of which we have been reading. He has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, so that through these promises we might become partakers of the divine nature.

Conclusion: Every day we should praise God and be thankful that he sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, moving us closer to him and like him through the Spirit’s revelation and his work in us through the trials of life.