Before leaving Acts 2 and looking at other texts that give "the promise of the Holy Spirit" a broader meaning than receiving the Spirit, we want to make some further observations concerning the context of Acts 2:38-39, focusing in on verse 33.

 

As Peter's thought unfolds in verses 22-40, we see that what he says in verse 33 about Christ's "having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit" bears directly on the meaning of "the gift" and "the promise" in store for others in verses 38-39.

 

But what is meant by "the promise of the Holy Spirit" in verse 33?  Does it mean receiving the Spirit personally, or receiving something promised by God of which the Spirit is the agent related to the Spirit’s Christ-centered mission?  Which view will the context support?

 

If we see verse 33 as a reference to Christ's receiving the Holy Spirit (at the beginning of his earthly ministry, Mk.1:10), we have overlooked the immediate context of Acts 1-2. For instance, in Acts 1:4-8 the language used by Christ in promising the Spirit to his apostles closely re­sembles Peter's language in Acts 2:33 concerning Christ's receiving the promise of the Spirit.  In Acts 1:4 the apostles were told to wait for "the Promise of the Father," which, in that context, is a reference to their receiving the Holy Spirit in their immediate future—not some three years in the past.  In this same connection see John 14:16-18; 15:26, 27; 16:7-15.

 

But is "the promise of the Father" for the apostles in Acts 1:4 equivalent to what Christ is said to have "received from the Father" in Acts 2:33?  Similar language may be found in both passages, but from a contextual viewpoint the apostle's situation in Acts 1:4-8 is as far from that of Christ's in Acts 2:22-40 as east is from west.

 

With respect to the apostles, the Holy Spirit is the subject in Acts 1:4-8.  But with respect to Christ it is clear that resur­rection is the subject in Acts 2:22-40.  From David's resurrection/messianic testimony in the Psalms (16:8-11), Peter shows that God had promised to raise Christ out of Hades to sit on David's throne.  While the promise was spoken to David, he under­stood the reference was not to himself but to Christ - "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrec­tion of the Christ" (verse 31).  Therefore, the con­text deals with a promise that had been received of Christ "from the Father" through the agency or power of the Holy Spirit. (In this connection, see John 6:62, 63; Rom.1:3; 8:11; 1 Pet.3:18).

 

The resurrection is central in Peter's thought in verses 32-35. God's "raising up Jesus" in verse 32 is precisely that which Christ (not David) had received "from the Father" in verse 33—a promise that is "of the Holy Spirit" in view of his role in New Testament resurrection.  Christ's resurrection is the subject of "the promise" in verses 34-35.  Peter emphasized this by ruling out David as the recipient of what God had prom­ised with an oath.  "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"' (vv.34-35).

 

If Christ's being "raised up by God" (verse 32) was not the event that fulfilled his "receiving from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit" (verse 33) then what Peter said in verse 34 to rule out David is absolutely pointless.

 

David did not receive what Christ received "from the Father" because David did not "ascend into the heavens."  Now if “receiving the promise” in verse 33 means receiving the Spirit, and David is disqualified because he never as­cended "into the heavens," on what grounds could Christ be said to have received the Spirit before he ascended to heaven?  Did he as­cend to heaven at his baptism (Mk.1:10)?  The pattern of Peter's argument would require this if “receiv­ing the Spirit” is the meaning of receiv­ing "the promise of the Holy Spirit" in Acts 2:33.  Therefore, the refer­ence is to Christ's resurrection.  Christ, not David, was the recipient of this prom­ise.

 

Now let us see the significance of the latter part of verse 33.  Peter contended that as the result of having been raised up Christ had "poured out this [the Holy Spirit] which you now see and hear."  When the outpouring of the Spirit is tied to Christ's resurrection rather than to his having received the Spirit (at his baptism in Mark 1), Peter’s resurrection theology adduces two significant points.

 

First, as we have seen in past ar­ticles, the Spirit could not be poured out until after Christ's ascension (see again John 16:7).  The Spirit’s mission of showing the things to come could not begin until Christ was posi­tioned in his own world wherein these things would be made manifest.  They didn't belong to the "world below"—the world into which Christ entered when he was made like his brethren in all things (Heb.2:17; Gal.4:4).  His presence in Old Covenant Is­rael meant that the time had come for the world of the Old Covenant order to give place to "the world to come" foreshadowed in the Law (Heb.10:1).  Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension sig­naled the emergence of a new world order.  It marked the beginning of his age-changing reign.  That is the signifi­cance of Peter's words in Acts 2:33, "having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit [i.e., now that Christ has been raised up, now that he is in the world above], He poured out this which you now see and hear."  From that perspective, the coming of the Spirit was conclusive testimony that Christ had received the promise that God made through David, "For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (Psa.16:10)—i.e., resurrection.

 

Second, what Christ receives from the Father in verse 33 sets the stage for what others joined to him would re­ceive in verses 38-39.  Peter said, "Re­pent, and let every one you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the re­mission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."  That which Peter said "you shall receive" in verses 38-39 follows from that which Christ received in verse 33.

 

Christ was the first to receive the promise of resurrection (1 Cor.15:20), thereby becoming the forerunner (the resurrection and the life) with respect to "those that are his."  This is the force of Peter's call to repentance and bap­tism in verse 38. "The promise" in verse 39 draws its meaning from "the promise" first received by Christ in verse 33 in his being raised up.

 

The implication of resurrection for others in Christ's outpouring of the Spirit is clear.  In the words of Paul, "if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Rom.8:11).  The "quickening" or "raising up" function of the Spirit (Christ first, afterward those who are his at his coming) constitutes the very core of the gift and the promise in Acts 2:38-39.  We see this from the context in that Christ could not pour out the Spirit un­til after he was raised up.  Paul attests to this when he said that the Spirit was poured out to raise others in the "likeness" of Christ's resurrection (Rom. 6:3-6).

 

The fact that "resurrection from the dead" was central in the preaching of the apostles surfaces immediately following the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit.  The priests and the Sadducees, for example, were "greatly disturbed" because Peter and John "taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:1-3).  Note the wording of this text carefully.  The temple elites were dis­turbed by more than the preaching that God had raised Jesus from the dead.  They were bothered because the apostles were preaching "in Jesus" the resurrection from the dead.  In the words of George Eldon Ladd: “Jesus’ resurrection is not an isolated event that gives to men the warm confidence and hope of a future resurrection; it is the beginning of the eschatological resur­rection itself” (A Theology of the New Testament, p.326).

 

Jesus' resurrection and the consequent outpouring of the life-giving Spirit meant nothing other than that the resurrection had begun with respect to those joined to him.  Be­lievers in apostolic time (the transi­tional period) represented the "firstfruits" of the harvest that stood ready to be gathered at the “consummation of the age.”

 

Having established resurrection as the centrality of "the promise of the Holy Spirit" in Acts 2:33 with respect to Christ first and afterwards in due time to those joined to him (vv. 38-39), we now draw attention to other texts that expand on "the promise of the Spirit" as being directly related to "life" (resurrection life) and "righteousness" through Christ, the promised seed of Abraham.  We will concentrate on Galatians 3.

 

First, in Galatians 3:13-14 Paul wrote, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having be­come a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the prom­ise of the Spirit through faith.”

 

Here again we encounter "the prom­ise of the Spirit."  Traditionally, focusing back on Paul's words in Galatians 3:2-3, it has been understood as a reference to receiving the Spirit, "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"

 

However, a careful examination of the text will show that the Galatians’ re­ception of the Spirit by the hearing of faith (in verse 2) was with the view of their receiving the promise of the Spirit through faith (in verse 14).  Verse 2 establishes the Holy Spirit as the agent, not the subject, of verse 14.  The difference in phraseology in verses 2 and 14, receiving "the Spirit" and receiving "the promise of the Spirit," is not without significance in Paul's train of thought.

 

From the context and what follows in verse 14, we read that "the promise of the Spirit" to be re­ceived "through faith" (in contrast to "the Law") refers to what God had promised Abraham in Christ through the New Covenant.  Paul continues, "Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man's cov­enant, yet if it is confirmed, no one an­nuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inherit­ance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise" (Gal. 2 15-18).

 

Notice how Paul equates "the inher­itance" with "the promise" in verse 18.  His argument, (which stems from "the promise of the Spirit" in verse 14) was not, "If the Spirit is of the Law, the Spirit is no longer of promise."  Paul contends that if the inherit­ance is of the Law, the promise (which centers in Christ and the New Cov­enant and of which the Spirit is the agent) is "of no effect," that is, "it is no longer of promise."

 

In this same con­nection Paul wrote, "For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righ­teousness of faith.  For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect" (Rom.4:13, 14).

 

If the Spirit rather than Christ is made the focus of "the prom­ise," the gospel ceases to be a message about the emergence of a new order of life in a new world or creation under the lordship of Christ.  The Spirit's role with respect to the promise was that of glorifying Christ.  All that the Spirit does in bringing about covenantal transformation is centered in Christ.  The Spirit is the Spirit of "the promise," and hence, the Spirit "of Christ."  The Spirit’s mission was to show "the things of Christ" (the "things to come") that constituted the "inheritance" that God had promised beforehand to Abraham and his seed.

 

Paul labored to show the Galatians that Christ, not the Law of Moses, determines the true seed and the true inheritance relative to what God promised the fathers of Is­rael. "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ…And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the prom­ise" (Gal. 3:26-29).

Next, we call attention to the com­prehensiveness of "the promise" in Galatians 3.  In verse 18, the promise includes all that is contained in "the inheritance" that Abraham and his seed were to receive through Christ.  “For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”

 

Abraham was promised and inherited Canaan through his physical lineage, but that was not the greater inheritance of the better promise that was to be received through his spiritual seed, Christ, and the New Covenant. Included in this in­heritance are such things as the New Heavens and Earth (the heavenly coun­try in contrast to earthly Canaan) and the New Jerusalem (the heavenly city in contrast to earthly Jerusalem). See, for example, Hebrews11:13-16; 12:22 and Revelation 21:1-2.

 

In addition to linking “the promise” to “the inheritance,” Paul addresses "the promise" from the perspective of "life" and "righteousness" in Galatians 3:21-22.  "Is the law then against the promises of God?  Certainly not!  For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righ­teousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all un­der sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

 

The fact that inheritance, life, and righteousness inhere in the promise that was confirmed in Christ does not pre­clude any reference to it as "the prom­ise of the Holy Spirit."  To the contrary, the Spirit’s mission to show, reveal, or disclose the things that Christ said "are mine" (John 16:13-15) confirms the Spirit as the Spirit of the promise that God gave to Abraham in Christ.  This becomes clear in what follows.

 

From the standpoint of Paul's time (the covenantal transition period), "the promise" had a futuristic consummation that hinged on the completed work of the Holy Spirit. This future was the focus of Paul's statement in Ga1atians 3:14, "that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."  The same future is found in Peter's statement in Acts 2:38, "and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Likewise, the "gift" or "promise" that is for everyone in Acts 2:38-39 is identical to the Abrahamic promise that is extended to all nations in Galatians 3. See Gal. 3:8, 26-29 in particular).

 

The future of the promise is drawn out clearly in Paul's question to the Galatians, "Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh"? (Gal 3:3).  This statement presupposes a futur­istic perfection that would be reached by the Spirit, not "by the flesh" (i.e., not by the works of the Law).  This perfection would not be a receiving of more of the Spirit, but more of that which the Spirit was sent to reveal relative to "the things of Christ."  In this sense, the Galatians had "begun in the Spirit," but to be "made perfect" they must continue in this way (apart from the law) until the work of the Spirit is completed.  Consequently, "being made perfect" in the Spirit rather than by the flesh is parallel in meaning to the coming of "that which is perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:10, or at­taining unto "a perfect man, to the mea­sure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" in Ephesians 4:13.

 

Thus, "having begun in the Spirit" in Galatians 3:3 establishes the "al­ready" of the promise, whereas the continuing action of "being made per­fect" points to a futuristic consumma­tion of the promise in terms of the Spirit's completed work.  This theology of the Spirit, the promise, and perfection in Paul's thought is understandable when one considers that every aspect of "the promise" in Galatians 3 (inher­itance, righteousness, and life) plays a central role in the gospel's eschatological future.  To this, we make two observations.

 

First, the inheritance in 3:18 is fu­ture, but not wholly future as seen in Ephesians 1:11-14. In Ephesians 4:11 Paul speaks of their having "obtained an inherit­ance" in Christ, but in verses 13-14 he speaks of "the Holy Spirit of promise" as "the guarantee of our inheritance un­til the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." It is common for Paul to speak of what the firstfruits church of his time had obtained in Christ in view of the "decisiveness" of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascen­sion. This does not, however, rule out the future of these things related to the "disclosing" mission of the Spirit that would be consummated at the end of the age.  In this sense, the Spirit was the guarantee of a heavenly inheritance that was yet to be made manifest through the ultimate fulfillment of the earthly, typical inheritance.

 

Second, there is a fu­turistic dimension of righteousness in Galatians 3:21.  Paul argues that if the Law could have given life, then righ­teousness would have been by the Law.  How then is righteousness obtained, if not by the Law?  Hear Paul again on this matter. "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe" (Rom.3:21-22).  And again, "that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk ac­cording to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (8:4).

 

The gospel (the faith of Christ) brings the righ­teousness (and therefore the "life") that the law could not give.  This stands out clearly in the Pauline writings.  But what about the time frame of fulfillment of this righteousness?  Paul wrote, "For we through the Spirit [the Spirit of promise] eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith" (Gal.5:5).  Paul’s use of "hope" and "eagerly wait" tell us something about the "not yet" dimension of righteousness that was crucial to the faith of the Galatians.  Paul said that "hope that is seen [realized] is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees. But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance" (Rom.8:24-25).

 

If the eager anticipation and the hope in Galatians 5:5 does not point to an immediate future in Paul's day, and if this hope still is being "eagerly awaited through the Spirit" some 2000 years later, then Paul's argument that "the faith of Christ" rather than the Law fulfills the promise of life and righteous­ness, has no validity.  The upshot would mean that we must look for something beyond the New Covenant for receiv­ing the righteousness "witnessed by the Law and the Prophets."  If this is not acceptable, then we must consider the futurism that fulfills the "hope of righteousness by faith."  What time did Paul have in view in his striving to "be found in Him (Christ), not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Phil.3:9)?

 

Third, there was a futuristic dimen­sion of Life with respect to "the prom­ise." As seen in Galatians 3:21 (as well as many other passages of scripture), the connection between life and righteous­ness is so tight that the former is the essence of the latter.  Torah-zealous Jews, in striv­ing after righteousness by the Law (Rom.9:30f; Gal.2:16), were striving after life. But neither life nor righteousness was possible under the law because "the Scripture has con­fined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Gal.3:22).

 

It follows that to "eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith" (through the Spirit) equals waiting for the life con­tained in "the promise" of God to Abraham.  Therefore the future tenses in Romans 5:9; 6:5-8; 2 Timothy 2:11-12 are genuine futures (from Paul’s perspective)—not logical or gnomic futures.

 

Paul addressed a future (from his point in time) eschatological consummation on the sure ground of that which was “already” by virtue of Christ's "having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit."  He wrote of Christ's death, "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5:9).  Also, "If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the like­ness of His resurrection" (6:5), "if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (v. 8).  And finally "If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:11-12).

 

We have seen a definite futurism (from Paul's stand­point) in three basic aspects of "the promise" that predated the Law. This brings us to an important question: What is the time frame and historical setting for all things to be summed up in Christ?  In other words, when is the ministry of the Holy Spirit consum­mated with respect to the Spirit’s showing the "things to come" that were given to Christ of the Father?  What is the his­torical situation of gospel inherit­ance, righteousness, and life?

 

It is clear from the context (especially the Galatian letter) that Paul rules out the Law as the basis for receiving the promise con­firmed in Christ.  He argues against Law-zealous believers who op­posed a Torah-less gospel.

 

In this con­nection, it is important to see that the real threat and power of the Judaizing movement stemmed from the fact that the future of the promise in terms of fullness, completion, or consummation (hence Christ's Parousia or presence) had not yet been reached "through the Spirit."  This, coupled with the contin­ued existence of the Old Covenant economy (including a zeal for the Law by "many myriads" of Jewish believ­ers, Acts 21:20), greatly enhanced the efforts of Judaizers to intermingle the Law and the gospel with respect to "the promise."  But the Judaizing movement would not have had this leverage had the things predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24 already occurred (pre-70 AD).

 

Matthew 24 provides the frame­work for the gospel's futurism relative to the bringing in of the promised in­heritance, righteousness and life in Christ.  Jerusalem and the temple, the heart of the Old Covenant economy, had not yet passed away when Paul wrote Galatians.  For various reasons, God permitted the Old Order to remain until the work of the Spirit in revealing the new order of life in Christ was completed.  The consummation of this work represented the arrival of the perfect in 1 Corinthians 13:10; this was the eschatological future of the promise "eagerly awaited through the Spirit."

 

The same Spirit who revealed "the things to come" also revealed the increasing immanency of the consummated change as the first century progressed and the time drew near for the old order to "vanish away" (Heb.8:13. See also Rom.13:11-12; 1 Cor.7:29-31; Heb.10:25, 37; 1 Pet.4:7; 1 John 2:18; Rev.1:1-3; 22:6-10).

 

In this historical setting, the Spirit (through the writer of the Book of Hebrews) warned believers adhering to a Torah-free gospel who were tempted to return to the Old Order that was still standing, "For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not delay" (10:36-37).

 

This passage points our attention to "the already" but "not yet" of "the promise in Christ by faith."  The receiving of the promise through the Spirit must be read and understood against the biblical background of the Law and the passing away of its system of things that served as "shadows of things to come" (Heb.10:1), of which Christ is the sub­stance (Col.2:16,17).  The future tense in Hebrews10:36 with respect to receiving the promise blends with the future tense in Acts 2:38-39 with respect to the promise that is received through the imparted Spirit.

 

In the next article we will conclude this series by showing the connection between "righteousness" and "resur­rection life" as set forth by Paul in Philippians 3 a futurism of the promise in Christ that fulfills his Parousia or presence, and thus brings redeemed humanity into the presence of God (John 14:1-3; Rev.21:1-3).