Such an all-inclusive Spirit was needed by Paul in his preaching ministry, a ministry of suffering among human beings and for human beings in the human life. In every case in the Old Testament (28 times), the phrase is always “the spirit of YHWH.” 4 times in the New Testament, this phrase appears, but “YHWH” is replaced by “Lord.” 2 times in the New Testament, “YHWH” is replaced by “Jesus” (Acts 16:7, Philippians 1:19). This is not merely the Spirit of God before the Lord’s incarnation but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit with divinity, after the Lord’s resurrection, compounded with the Lord’s incarnation (humanity), human living under the cross, crucifixion, and resurrection. 079-098), Chapter 1, by Witness Lee). So what are we to make of this? Promise of the Spirit Acts 1:4-5. “Trying to go deeper, however, we are confronted with the problem of whether ‘Spirit of Jesus Christ’ should be taken as an objective or subjective genitive, but it seems to almost certainly be objective (cf. He portrays the Spirit as the activity and presence of God but also as an impersonal force or power (Luke 5:17, Luke 8:46), and, for example, as “the Spirit of Jesus” ().In turn, for Luke, Jesus was a man primarily of the Spirit. The apostles’ statement here, in response to Paul’s stubbornness, simply reflects this apocalyptic conviction. Luke, who allegedly wrote a gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, has more to say about the Spirit than any other biblical writer does. Jesus’ ministry didn’t stop when he ascended into Heaven. The apostles saw the recent events of Christ being crucified … Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. * The power would come when the Holy Spirit came (Acts 1:8). [1] Just before His ascension, Jesus gathered His apostles and commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4-5). The holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25, a compound of olive oil with four kinds of spices, was a full type of this compound Spirit of God, who is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We know that God is living because we have the Spirit as the reality of the living God. This series looks at the book of Acts, considering some of the characteristics of churches that are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps, as Fee (Philippians NICNT, 134-5) suggests, the unusual designation can only be explained by the context: “Paul knows that Christ will be glorified in his life or death only as he is filled with the Spirit of Christ himself. (Acts 21:13–14) Jesus has been made Lord and Christ, and as such he is dynamically overseeing, through the Spirit, from his position at the right hand of the Father, the mission of the apostles and the witness of the churches. Luke carefully records the spread of Christianity in the Roman world, sometimes as an eyewitness. In order for a genitive to be objective or subjective, the head noun (in this case Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) must have a verbal cognate. The Apostles’ preaching was biblical. One of my more perceptive students this week called my attention to the curious phrase “the Spirit of Jesus” (τὸ πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ) in Acts 16.7. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Following F. F. Bruce (Acts NICNT, 327), I take it as more probable that, given the reference to the “Holy Spirit” in the previous verse (16.6), this must be Luke’s way of indicating a different method of communicating the will of the Spirit. I too found this verse to be “stand out.”. The Coming of the Holy Spirit. What Jesus began to do and teach, the Acts of the Apostles tells us what Jesus continued to do and continued to teach through the Holy Spirit on the Earth via the church. In His opening statement Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, and He does this by distinguishing the coming of the Spirit from the baptism of John. The title “the Lord Spirit” may be considered a compound title like the Father God and the Lord Christ. This series looks at the book of Acts, considering some of the characteristics of churches that are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Great events were about to occur! In the book of Acts, the many references to the Spirit are noted below: Acts Chapter 1. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. (Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. How do we know that God is living? After His resurrection and in His resurrection the Lord became the pneumatic Christ. And after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them (Acts 16:7 NASB). In fact, Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:32-33 ...'This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. The pneumatic Christ is identical to the Spirit. To experience the Lord’s humanity we need the Spirit of Jesus. With this Spirit the apostles inscribed upon the saints to make them a letter of Christ written by them. 3:18). The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the reality of the One who lived on earth in humanity and of the One who resurrected from among the dead and who is now both in the heavens and dwelling in the believers and who will be the center of God’s economy for eternity. The interchangeable use of the Spirit of Jesus with the Holy Spirit in Acts 16:6 reveals that the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. Rather he continued his work through many people and church communities. Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” 2 After they asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel,” Jesus … Living Stream Ministry publishes the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, providing the authoritative and definitive collections of treasures from these two servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit’s presence was both a great energiser and great equaliser in the Christian community, the church. Given the close link with Jesus, I suspect that 16.7 more likely refers to some kind of charismatic prophecy in which the speaker is understood to be speaking in the name of Jesus and under the possession of the Spirit. Gal 4.6).”. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make up a two-part work, Luke–Acts, by the same anonymous author, usually dated to around 80–90 AD, although some experts now suggest 90-110. The Holy Spirit acts as the messenger of truth regarding Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is a general title of the Spirit of God in the New Testament. Quick outline of Acts The only other usage of this construction in the NT is found in Phil 1.19, in which Paul implores the help of τοῦ πνεύματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7) see also Galatians 4:6. In fact Jesus continues to act directly as in the case of Stephen, and the Holy Spirit makes this known (7:55). The Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God and refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross. To experience the power of the Lord’s resurrection we need the Spirit of Christ. Change ). The Lord, the pneumatic Christ, is the Spirit, and the all-inclusive, life-giving, compound, processed, and consummated Spirit is actually the Lord Himself. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Acts is a book of theology. In his suffering Paul experienced both the Lord’s suffering in His humanity and the Lord’s resurrection. … Acts of the Spirit Jesus’ ministry didn’t stop when he ascended into Heaven. 2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Acts is a book of biography and human relationships. Trying to go deeper, however, we are confronted with the problem of whether “Spirit of Jesus Christ” should be taken as an objective or subjective genitive, but it seems to almost certainly be objective (cf. The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of the Father (Matthew 10:20). In Act 16:16-18, the evil spirit in the girl was proclaiming Paul and his companions to be slaves of the Most High God. Then, at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. Jesus returned from Jordan "full of the Holy Spirit," and by that. It was the Holy Spirit who next led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Such a Spirit has and even is the bountiful supply for a person like Paul who was experiencing and enjoying Christ in His human living and resurrection. ( Log Out /  ( Log Out /  Rather he continued his work through many people and church communities. We must, of course, remember that a fully-fledged Trinitarian schema did not develop for quite some time even after the writing of the New Testament; in particular, the distinction between the Son and the Spirit lagged considerably behind efforts to distinguish the Father from the Son. The Promise of the Holy Spirit. But today Jesus is real to us because we have the Spirit of Jesus as the reality, the realization, of Jesus. This is similar to the many times when Jesus would not permit the demons to proclaim that He was the Son of God (e.g. In the Book of Acts we read of the Spirit of Jesus. In the New Testament the Spirit is also called the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. The living God here is the Triune God, the One who has passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection and has now been consummated in the life-giving, life-imparting, and life-dispensing Spirit. but the Spirit suffered them not; the Alexandrian copy, and Beza's most ancient copy, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read, "the Spirit of Jesus": so that it was not an evil spirit, or Satan, that hindered them, who sometimes did; but they were under the direction and guidance of the divine Spirit, called, in the preceding verse, the Holy Ghost; however, the Gospel was preached here … Acts is a book of history as it records the acts of Jesus Christ by His Spirit through His Church. The Acts of the Apostles, often referred to simply as Acts, or formally the Book of Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian church and the spread of its message to the Roman Empire. Jesus is always the centre when God acts, Jesus is always the theme of God's actions - as Paul said in Romans 11:36: 'For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. The only other usage of this construction in the NT is found in Phil 1.19, in which Paul implores the help of τοῦ πνεύματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Thus, there is no possible verbal cognate it could take. Just as the Spirit of Christ is the reality of Christ, so the Spirit of Jesus is the reality of Jesus. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all followers of Jesus—on both men and women—who had been waiting in Jerusalem in obedience to Jesus’ instructions (Acts … “saved”—hence the Spirit (in Luke-Acts) has sometimes been called a “donum su-peradditum”; literally, “an additional gift” (“additional,” that is, to the grace of sal-vation) or “second-blessing.” One has only to consider the reception of the Spirit by Jesus (Luke 3:21-22) and by the apostles (Acts … 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. In Philippians 1:19 Paul says, “I know that for me this shall turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit mentioned in John 7:39. When Paul says that the apostles inscribed a letter with the Spirit of the living God, this does not mean that the Spirit of the living God is only the Spirit and not God Himself. Hence, there is no way to divide the Lord from the Spirit or to separate the Lord from the Spirit, for the Lord and the Spirit are one. However, this may not, upon further reflection, be the best way to tackle this text. From the start, in Acts 1:2, the reader is reminded that the Ministry of Jesus, while he was on earth, was carried out through the power of the Holy Spirit and that the "acts of the apostles" are the continuing acts of Jesus, facilitated by the Holy Spirit. Thus when the apostles are recorded in Acts as performing miracles, which are an outworking of their spiritual power, the acts of power are attributed to the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:6; 4:10; 9:34). 10. All rights reserved. Acts shows us that Jesus was true to His word: the Holy Spirit came to the disciples and empowered them to work miracles and preach the good news throughout the world. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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