The Ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament - 4

Covenant Theology—The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Several items of disagreement must first be pointed out: 1) the position held by Walvoord and Pentecost and probably by Darby, assumes that the Old Testament records for us all the accounts of the Spirit’s indwelling, 2) (regarding Pentecost’s words specifically) that the words uttered in David’s prayer are words of didactic emphatics, and, 3) (in answer to Pentecost’s objection in #2) regarding the New testament, there is a shortfall of commentary in their theological camp which addresses the set of passages that pose the paradox of a believer’s guarantee of eternal life, and the words that warn them to continue and persevere for fear of eternal damnation.

To the first point, that the Old Testament testimony includes all events of Holy Spirit indwelling; this is a difficult position to argue.  Even the dispensationalist must admit that all the words spoken to men by God may not have been recorded, even though orthodoxy demands we believe that all the words He would have subsequent generations hear, have been recorded.  Consider the fact that God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve many times other than those taken down by Moses in Gen. 2-3, or the occasions when Paul was taken up in the Spirit…he repeatedly declined to tell what he saw or heard, neither were these words recorded and we are no less adherents of inerrancy for saying so.  So why must we believe that every time the Holy Spirit dwelt “in a person”, it was recorded for all subsequent generations to observe as history, or that just because the nature of that indwelling was not revealed as permanent or universally applied to all believers in every case, that we must conclude that it necessarily was not so?  We surely must not.  The mandate I believe we have regarding our systematic study of any topic, the doctrine of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in creation not withstanding, is to use all of God’s specially revealed Words to inform us; and use the later of those to guide in our understanding of the former; and to use the simpler to guide us in our understanding of the more complex this idea is discussed in more detail elsewhere on this blog under the Covenantal term, “the analogy of faith”).

To the point that the portion of David’s prayer in Psalm 51:10-12 has the intention of teaching God’s people that the Old Testament saint, in contrast to the New of course, could lose the indwelling Spirit, is paramount to claiming that because David claims that his sin was against God only (51:4) it was not a sin against anyone else.  But we know that this type of language is hyperbole based on the collection of other passages (New Testament included) that speak to our sin against others (Ex. 20:12-17; Matt. 18:15).  The point is not that David’s sin was altogether and only against God, as the text appears to say at first blush, but that it is primarily against God because ultimately it is His wrath that endangers the man (Luke 12:5), and the sin is against man because it takes place in time and produces consequences that affect another image bearer.  Likewise with the choice of phrases in verse 10 and 11, there are four in the ESV: “Create in me a clean heart”, “renew a right spirit within me”, “Cast me not away from your presence”, and “take not your Holy Spirit from me.”  The first two seem to involve the condition of David’s own soul, represented by his heart and spirit—not that these two should be separated but rather that this is a parallel way of saying the same thing—David could have asked in either instance for God to sanctify him from wickedness.  And the second pair appears to take into account the condition of the relationship between David and his God, wherewith he is asking the same thing twice, “do not forsake me God!”  Is this not a real fear for all of us, even the most sanctified in this present age; do we not all fear God’s judgment of our souls when His Law is brought down in all its force on our sin?  Yes, this is the weight that the holiness of God should impress on us with the Law when it highlights our utter inability to keep it perfectly.  But upon our repentance we all, the Old Testament saint included, are to immediately run to the gospel, with whatever amount of light is shining on it depending on the progress of its revelation, and in the full glory of God’s gracious mercy, cling to the promise of His faithfulness manifested in the passion of Christ and the proposition of His resurrection.

As for the third point of disagreement, the neglect—by dispensational (and most present Evangelical) commentators—of the New Testament warnings given to Christians in this age, I will list many of them here and highlight several below (Matt. 10:22; Rom. 11:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:1-2; Heb. 3:14; 6:4-8; 1 John 4:20-21) to prove the point that even in the face of the promised Spirit of God, the one who claims to believe the gospel should fear for his very soul—just as David feared for the removal of the seal of the Spirit which God had placed on him, making him His own—if he does not persevere in that belief and repentance that has so graciously been manifested in his life before, then in the midst of that continued unrepentance of a professed child of God, he should heed such warnings!

1 Corinthians 15:1 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.”

Paul attaches an undeniable condition to the effectiveness of the gospel in this passage, “…if you hold fast…”, claiming that it is possible that they had believed  He had preached the gospel to the people in Corinth and some were saved and were being saved however, that local church was rife with scandal, thus Paul’s warning to those claiming to believe; if you do not hold fast to the gospel that was preached to you, then you are in danger of vain belief which will (evidently) result in your not ever having been regenerated.

Hebrews 6:4 “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned”

Verses 4-6 give us a vivid depiction of those who have benefited greatly from the preaching of the gospel; from the ministry of Word and Sacrament; those who had been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift and the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and shared in the Holy Spirit.  But if those very individuals fall away, they will not be restored to repentance.  So we must conclude that one can benefit from all of those things yet not finally inherit the Kingdom.  Also, we must all rely on the grace of God, not only for our justification and faith, but also for our sanctification and repentance.  Following these descriptions the author paints us a picture of this situation, those described in verses 4-6 are like the fields that receive God’s rain of faith by grace, yet they produce with that gift, thorns of unbelief and thistles of unrepentance and they will not be restored but they will be burned.  But they who receive that rain and produce the fruit useful to the ones who till the ground will experience restoration and life.

1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

The Apostle John here displays the necessity of the believer’s obedience to God’s Law.  James too reminds us that a faith that is not accompanied by works is dead—as a matter of fact, it is no faith at all, at least not faith in God—the faith that leads to life.  Therefore we are warned—those of us who profess a love, a spiritual affection for God who we can’t see, but who do not demonstrate it by a love for those who occupy our immediate presence, are in danger of condemnation.

Based on the conclusions I’ve drawn regarding the reality of the warnings given to Christians in Scripture I’ve developed the following syllogism.  Believers persevere in faith by struggling against sin; unbelievers will be tormented by eternal fire: If you do not continue to struggle against sin, then you will be tormented by eternal fire.  I believe this argument preserves both the assurances given to believers about the reality of Christ's righteousness imputed to them, and the reality of the warnings given to those who do not persevere in faith.

As Walter Kaiser rightly points out, John 14:17 and 16:7 appear to be the salient verses regarding this discussion.  Dispensationalists see the phrase in John 14:17, “…for he dwells with you and will be in you.” as a distinction between two administrations of the Spirit’s work in two different ages, however, covenant theologians for the most part, agree that this phrase describes the present work of the Holy Spirit in those believers to whom Jesus was speaking, and the assurance of His continued work.  As for the preceding verse, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…” this is a statement of the varying personhood of God the Son and God the Spirit—indicated by the word translated, “another”.  It is not Christ’s person who will indwell believers, but the person of the Spirit.  Jesus ends verse 16 with, “…to be with you forever…”  His disciples had yet to understand the reality of His death much less His subsequent resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father.  So, like in 16:7, Jesus asserts the necessity of His departure for the coming (or return we will submit) of the permanence of the ministry of the Spirit.  It is the opinion of this author that the person of the Spirit, like fasting, has a stay in the ministry of His personal indwelling while the God-Man is present among believers.

As for the alleged, temporary nature of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the antecrucis epoch, I believe dispensationalists fail to see the idea of supplemental Spirit-filling in the Old Testament.  This would also explain the non-universal features that are evidenced in the Old Testament presentation of the activity of the Holy Spirit.  Just as in the praetercrucis epoch—in which time we dwell—Old Testament saints could also experience a filling of the Spirit in addition to the ministry of indwelling, which sealed the regenerate soul.  Such passages which could be given as evidence are those speaking of the Spirit leading, or filling (OT: Ex. 28:3; 31:3; 35:31; Deut. 34:9; Micah; Luke 1:15, 41, 67. NT: Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9, 52; Eph. 5:18), or the instances where believers were born along by the Spirit to proclaim the Word of God for record (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

Regarding the permanent indwelling or the regeneration of Old Covenant saints, I would reference the conversation Christ had with Nicodemus as an antecrucis one.  Listen to His answer to Nicodemus’ question,

John 3:4”…how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?", “5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

In this present age, as we look back on the cross, we Christians are accustomed to using this very metaphor to speak of our conversion.  We have, rightly or wrongly, even been classified within American culture as a demographic—“Born-Again Christians”.  Jesus’ use of this description is in regards to an Old Testament saint, and His emphasis on the Spirit’s role in such an event, and the New Testament’s writers use of the same type of language to describe the conversion of unbelievers, gives us cause to assume the continuity of the Holy Spirit’s role in conversion or regeneration between the two testaments.  Jesus’ answer seems to indicate that those saints who lived before the cross, among whom Nicodemus evidently was counted, were sealed by the Holy Spirit in the same way that we are in this age—and I would go as far as to say, by His indwelling.  I do this because we are to take the New Testament testimony of the Holy Spirit’s work and read His work recorded for us in the Old Testament through this lens.  Being born of the Spirit is an essential event in one’s life, Old Covenant or New, for him to live as a believer.  The fact that the Old Testament writers do not “dwell” on the topic of the Holy Spirit’s permanent indwelling and in addition to that, they do highlight the Holy Spirit’s temporary sort of activity, does not mean that the former feature was not characteristic of that age.  All we can say with absolute certainty is that, as far as special revelation is concerned, the understanding of the Holy Spirit’s activity was expanded as revelation progressed from the Old to New Covenant.  But this does beg the same question asked by Kaiser, “Why then was Pentecost necessary?”  And to answer that he goes on to say,

“What was the significance of Pentecost?  Was it necessary?  The answer is Yes!  Here I think George Smeaton is helpful in his excellent work, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (2d ed., Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1889, p. 53; citing T. Goodwin, Works, Edinburgh, 1861, 6:8).  This work is long since out of print.  He said, “[The Holy Spirit] must have a coming state, in a solemn and visible manner, accompanied with visible effects as well as Christ had and whereof all the Jews should be, and were, witnesses.”  This is to say that in the Old Testament there were those who enjoyed proleptically the benefits of Christ’s death: there were to come from the cross of Christ.  He says here, if I understand the argument, that all the benefits of the Holy Spirit that are being seen in the Old Testament are necessary because, without Pentecost, without his coming in state, without his visualizing here—an outward newness to it, and some advance over it—all that had been experienced of the Old Testament with the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit, like those who were counting for their salvation based on the death of Christ, would not have been validated either.”—Kaiser, Walter. The Christian and the Old Testament. Page 229.

To sum up Kaiser’s argument, Pentecost was a necessary event even though the ministry of the Holy Spirit was fundamentally the same in both covenants because without it, the mysterious way in which the Holy Spirit did His work, as recorded in the Old Testament, would never have made sense in light of the Messianic event of incarnation.

Concluding Remarks

Just like God’s Law, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, according to Covenant Theology, is essentially the same as His ministry in the New.  The grammatical/historical presentations of His work in the lives of saints before the cross may look different than that presentation in the New Testament, but the guiding principle remains: we are to use all of God’s specially revealed Words to inform us on any doctrine; and use the later of those Words to guide in our understanding of the former; and to use the simpler to guide us in our understanding of the more complex.  This idea leads to the understanding that the Holy Spirit regenerated anyone who subsequently believes, dwelt in all believers from all time, sealed their hearts for God, ministered to them the righteousness of Christ, empowered them to obey God’s Law, never ultimately forsook them, and attaches them to Christ, His inheritance and His community—causing us to dwell with Him and all those counted in Him, as the Kingdom of God, forever and ever, Amen!