Quotes About Spirit

where Paul first refers to "the Spirit of holiness" as involved in Jesus' resurrection (v. 4), and then to serving God "with my spirit [in] the gospel of his Son" (v. 9 NRSV).

major emphasis in the NT is that the Spirit is now freely given by "God" and so is powerfully and regularly operative in the lives of believers individually and collectively. There is a rich variety of verbs used to describe the divine

reiterate the point that all these are actions of personal agency, giving the Spirit an intensely personal quality.

The most explicit such passage is, of course, Acts 2:14-21, which as previously noted includes an extended citation of a portion of Joel (2:28-32) that predicts that "in the last days" God will "pour out" the Spirit and that this will signal "the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.

that the Spirit is now freely bestowed on those who embrace Jesus as the divinely designated "Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2:36),

Romans 8:22-23, where Paul refers to believers as having received "the first fruits [aparch?] of the Spirit," a present inward impartation of new divine energy that makes them also long earnestly for the completion of their salvation in "the redemption of our bodies.

The first of these is that in the NT "God's" Spirit is much more prominently mentioned than in the OT or the texts of Second Temple Judaism.29 One

Earliest Christians believed that they were experiencing the fulfillment of biblical prophecies of an eschatological outpouring of "God's" Spirit (e.g., Acts 2:14-33). So it is little wonder that in their religious discourse reference to the Spirit of "God" features prominently.

NT writings the Spirit is linked specifically with Jesus in a remarkable and unparalleled closeness.31

noteworthy feature of the NT references to the Spirit is the strong connection with Jesus.

It is those who live "according to the Spirit" and in whom the Spirit now dwells who are thereby enabled to fulfill "the just requirement of the law" (8:4 NRSV).

and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3 NRSV). The basic thrust of the statement is that the divine Spirit

1 John 4:1-3: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God" (NRSV). In yet another text, Revelation 19:10 declares that "the testimony of [or to] Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (NRSV).

Revelation itself. The opening words describe the text as "the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:1) and a "prophecy" (1:3) that came to the author as he was "in the Spirit" (1:10),

and the words of Jesus for the seven churches of Asia in 2:1–3:6 are at the same time "what the Spirit is saying to the churches" (3:6 NRSV).

In Paul's discourse about the new situation of believers in Romans 8, it is very interesting to note how he interweaves references to Jesus and the Spirit. He proclaims "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (8:1 NRSV) and summons them to live "according to the Spirit" and set their minds on the Spirit (8:4-6). Paul declares that they are "in the Spirit" and indwelt by the Spirit (8:9, 11) and also that "Christ is in you" (8:10).

Paul identifies "those who belong to Christ" as summoned and enabled now to live and be guided by the Spirit (Gal 5:24-25).

In John 7:37-39, the author explains Jesus' statement about "rivers of living water" as anticipating the reception of the Spirit by believers, which would be made available only after Jesus was "glorified.

this authority assigned to Jesus to dispense or send the Spirit is particularly important in reflecting what he calls a "divine christology," Jesus understood as in some real sense participating in the authority and roles of "God.

Along with statements in this material that "the Father" will give or send the Spirit-Advocate (14:16, 26), we have other statements that Jesus himself will send the Spirit (15:26; 16:7). In 15:26 there is an interesting link of Jesus and "the Father" in jointly sending forth the Spirit, with Jesus portrayed here as promising the Advocate, "whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father" (NRSV).

God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba, Father!' " (Gal 4:6).36 Not

Romans 8:9 we have an equally strong statement. Indeed, in two consecutive sentences in this verse, Paul directly refers to the divine Spirit as also "the Spirit of Christ." "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his." In

This connection is such that "the Spirit of the Lord" (3:17) is the means by which Jesus is revealed as glorious to believers and also how Jesus is powerfully present in their lives.

Fatehi proposed that Paul's link of the Spirit and the risen Jesus should be understood as "a dynamic identification," the Spirit acting to communicate Jesus' presence, power, and glory to believers and Jesus in some real way "actually present and active through the Spirit."44 This seems to me to be a cogent characterization.