The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament - 2

Dispensationalism—The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

In contrast to the theology of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament presented in later dispensational writers such as Walvoord and Pentecost, Darby’s understanding of it was not laid in the systematic style; therefore, it is much more difficult to assign, with concrete evidence, as particular an understanding.  When developing a an understanding of this theology in dispensational terms, it would be negligent to ignore what the “Grandfather” of Dispensationalism had to say about the topic.  At first, one might read the descriptions from Walvoord and Pentecost above and ask the question, why wouldn’t Darby believe the exact same thing, they are as dispensationalists, right?  But, just like any other system of theology, it has its variations and differences result when different men apply the system to the whole of Scripture.  Dispensational Premillennialism, more so than many theological systems, has in its short history, suffered from a constant and evolving multifaceted-ness, thus making the presentation of several variations on the topic necessary.  Below are some conclusions I’ve come to about Darby’s thoughts on the difference of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the two testaments, based on a few of his musings.

·         The indwelling Spirit is the seal of redemption in love and the earnest of glory, and our bodies are the temples thereof.

·         Christ as the head of the body (the Church) is a relationship brought in anew by the raising of Christ from the dead, ushering in the age of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

·         The Spirit is ministered to each saint since the occurrence of redemption in time.  Before, the Law required righteousness from man, but after, righteous is ministered to him by the Spirit.

·         The Spirit brings antecrucis Christians into a peculiar blessedness whereby the affections of the believing heart are “of the Spirit”.

·         The “ministration of the Spirit” began when Christ was glorified.  Until then the “things of Christ” were not revealed and no power to have it applied was present prior to the Spirit’s coming.

·         Because Christ is now seated at His Father’s throne, the Spirit testifies to His righteousness and applies it to believers (a fact, according to Darby, that no one would know except that the Holy Spirit has come down, thus endowing them with a “present heavenly character”): not only being attracted to Christ but being also made to suffer along with Him.

·         In this age (in contrast to the “ministry of condemnation” or the ministry of God to the children of Israel through the Law) the Holy Spirit ministers righteousness; the power of the Spirit of God reveals the glory of Christ to the saint.—paraphrased from the article written by Darby titled, “Indwelling of the Holy Spirit”.

So we can summarize Darby’s understanding of the Holy Spirit’s dealings with believers after the cross in contrast to His dealings with those believers before the cross by categorizing them in two groups: A) the believer’s position and B) the believer’s sanctity.  Included in the former group of teachings, Darby believed these things to be true: 1) God’s Seal is upon believers who live after the cross, 2) believers have righteousness ministered to them, 3) they enjoy a special blessedness and 3) the power of the “things of Christ”.  As for the items in the later group: 1) praetercrucis believers are endowed with a “present heavenly character” 2) whose bodies are made the temples of God, are 3) made aware of the application of Christ’s righteousness, and 4) they have the glory of Christ revealed to them.