Charisma

With these simple realities in view: a restored creation and Jewish kingdom inaugurated at the Day of the Lord and the cross as the means by which Jew and Gentile alike may inherit eternal life, the Lord gave the gift of the holy for three primary purposes.

First, the Lord gave the Spirit as deposit of the resurrection and the age to come (Eph. 1:11-4, 2 Cor. 5:15). The gift of The Spirit is not then perceived by the disciples as the entire bag of skittles, but one skittle, likely a green one, that fills them with hope of God’s appointed end to this age and the birth of the new one.

Second, the apostles understood the gift of the Spirit before the Day of the Lord as the means by which they are to bear witness to Jesus[40], especially among a hostile crowd (Ac. 1:4-8, 4:29-31).[41]

Time and time again, the apostles are “filled with” the Spirit to proclaim that the gospel is true.

And finally, the gift of the Spirit is understood as divine approval and confirmation of the message[42] of the cross and the Day of the Lord as Peter, by the Spirit, speaks that the one hung on a cross is in fact the Messiah (Acts 2:36-40) and that Lord has appointed Him to mete out judgement on the Day (Ac. 10:42-44).

By the Spirit he also proclaims that the gentiles who received the same Holy Spirit will seek the Lord when He returns to rebuild David’s fallen tent (Ac 15:21-21). Because these things are happening now by the Spirit’s power, they will assuredly happen then by the Spirit’s power.

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[40] Craig Keener, Gift and Giver: The Holy Spirit Speaks Today (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 109.

[41] Jack Deere, Why I am still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks & Heals Today (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020), 168-177.

[42] Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? A Study for the Church in the Four Provinces (Abbotsford: Aneko Press, 2017), 33.