The ministry of the Spirit

What if we are meant to interpret Isaiah 54:13, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:24-26 and Joel 2:28 literally?  Then from looking at the contexts of these passages, it seems to me that the full accomplishment of these prophesies is still in the future — namely the millennial kingdom.   

 For example, look at what is specifically prophesied in these verses:

...So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you. Nor will I rebuke you...All your sons will be taught of the LORD; and the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you (Is 54:9-17).

…And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules… (Ezek 36:22-38).

…And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD... (Jer 31:31-34).

…And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions… (Joel 2:18-32).

Certainly this is all more than what He's doing today. For example, look at Ezekiel 36:26-27; "cause" seems to be saying "make," doesn’t it? In fact, the Hebrew word used here is `asah (aw-saw'); it is a primitive root, meaning to create, do, or make. In English, "cause" used in this way is a transitive verb and means "to bring about or compel by authority or force." But the Holy Spirit isn’t making or compelling us by force to follow His commandments today. He convicts and we can appropriate His power by faith, but “causing to obey” is different — something more.

And in Jeremiah 31, it will no longer be necessary to teach anyone about the Lord because they will all know Him? Certainly this isn't true today either. This comes right after it says "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts." When we put Ezekiel 36 together with Jeremiah 31, it makes sense. But again it’s different, and more.

But another question has been niggling at me for quite some time now: Did the Holy Spirit work somewhat differently when He first came than how He works in us today?  Notice the immediate change that took place in the behavior of the Pentecostal believers in Acts 2-4. Not only did they prophesy and speak with tongues (Joel 2:28), but they all began living for one another. Was the Holy Spirit causing them to do this? Was He working "differently" and "more" at that time? I rather think He was. If He wasn't, then the Pentecostals are right in trying to model the Church today after Acts 2, are they not? 

Stam suggests that the Holy Spirit could not have been working the same then as now and for these reasons:  At Pentecost the Lord Jesus was the Baptizer, baptizing His people with, or in, the Holy Spirit (Mk 1:7-8), but today the Holy Spirit is the Baptizer, baptizing believers into Christ and His Body (Gal 3:27-28; 1 Cor 12:13).  He also makes the point that only Jews were baptized with, or in, the Spirit at Pentecost, so how could this have been the baptism by which "one Spirit" baptizes believers "into one body, whether they be Jews or Gentiles"?

The reason the Holy Spirit worked the way He did at that time is pretty easy to answer — it was prophesied — but why and when it changed to how He works today, not so much. So when did the change take place?  Perhaps it began right after the stoning of Stephen.

Before Stephen was stoned, Scripture tells us that "all who believed were together and had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need (Acts 2:44)" and "there was not a needy person among them" (Acts 4:34). Looking back in the gospels we see that Jesus had commanded, in connection with the kingdom, to “sell all that you have and give to the poor" (Matt 19:21; Mk 10:21; Lk 12:33). And in Acts 2 — when the Holy Spirit came — we see that they all did exactly that.  There was also the case of Ananias and Sapphira sinning against the Holy Spirit and being put to death for it (Acts 5). Going against the Holy Spirit would certainly be a very deliberate deliberate and more serious offense if He were compelling obedience at that time.  Is this how it will be when He comes "to rule with a rod of iron"? (Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).

But shortly after Stephen's stoning “there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria" (Acts 8:1), and later we see Paul bringing relief to them in Rom 15:25-26. Were they no longer selling all they had and sharing among themselves?  There were certainly needy people among them by that time.  It seems the stoning of Stephen was the last straw, so to speak, for Jews in Jerusalem, the seat of Israel’s government, to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Perhaps this is the reason why it changed.  It was also not long after that that the Spirit came upon the Gentiles, apart from the Jews and water baptism (Acts 10).

Looking at it from a little different perspective, in Acts 2:4 we are told that the believers at Pentecost "were all filled with the Holy Spirit," but the Apostle Paul never says anywhere that all the members of the Body of Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit.  Clearly the Corinthians and the Galatians were not filled with the Spirit because Paul's letters to these churches contain a lot of rebuke and correction. It's also evident that believers today are not — even the best of us — wholly filled with the Spirit. The filling with the Spirit is now a goal that is set before us. We are not all filled with the Spirit as a matter of fact, as were the Pentecostal believers. While the Spirit does indeed dwell within us by God's grace, we must daily appropriate His help by faith.  This is why Paul told believers to "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18) just as he prayed for them, that they may be "filled with the fruit of righteousness" (Phil 1:11); "filled with the knowledge of His will" (Col 1:9); "filled up to all the fullness of God" (Eph 3:19).

So why does all this matter? Well if true, it certainly removes every underpinning upon which the Pentecostal movement rests.  We should not be trying to model the Church today after the Acts 2 church.  With Israel's full rejection of Messiah (Acts 13:46; 14:27; Rom 11:25-31), that time has come and gone, though it will come again after the rapture of the Church.

It also gives further evidence that salvation is now by faith alone rather than faith plus works; the time for that has also come and gone, to be reinstated after the rapture of the Church — when He will rule with a rod of iron.  If Ezekiel 36:27 is being fulfilled today, then belief and works would have to go hand in hand; there couldn't be one without the other.  But, if we aren’t being compelled to obey His commandments today and instead must appropriate His power by faith to resist temptation and sin (put off the old man, put on the new), then we need not, and should not, be continually looking to our works for assurance of salvation. (How many works does it take to be absolutely sure we’re saved anyway? After all unbelievers do good works, too.)  Rather, we should be resting in Him and His promises (Rom 3:21-22; 4:5, 23-25; 10:4).

With a conclusion like this, I always assume people will think I'm advocating license; that it doesn't really matter how we live.  I'm not!  As I've said in an earlier post, "Don't grieve the very Spirit who in love and mercy has sealed you forever as His own. Don't repay such love with such ingratitude."

So what do you think?  Did the Holy Spirit work somewhat differently when He first came than He does today?  These are my current thoughts on the matter, but I have to confess I'm still struggling with it all.