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What the Bible says about Holy Spirit as Gift
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 7:7-12

Ask, seek and knock, and God will give good gifts! Could we request anything better of Him than His Spirit? Nehemiah 9:20 declares, "You [God] also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst." God has already set a precedent for giving His Spirit. Psalm 143:10 adds, "Teach me to do your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness." Jesus says God will give us good things, and this verse shows God's Spirit is good.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Matthew 25:1-13

In this parable, the presence of oil is the critical factor in determining which of these maidens were wise and which were foolish. More than just an accolade, their wisdom—or lack thereof—determined which were prepared to go to the wedding and which were not.

What does the oil represent in this parable? It is commonly held that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but what verses does one use to support that? Water is a clear symbol of the Holy Spirit, as are fire and wind, and we can point to unambiguous scriptures to show that symbolism. But, believe it or not, it is not nearly so simple with oil.

The closest examples are the few that link anointing and the Holy Spirit, and oil is used in anointing (for example, Luke 4:18). Even then, the linkage is not absolute, because in most places in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is given, such as at baptism, it is through the laying on of hands without any oil being used. In addition, there are numerous examples of anointing where the Holy Spirit is not given as an indwelling essence, such as God calling Cyrus the Great "His anointed" (Isaiah 45:1), or Jesus instructing people to anoint their head while fasting (Matthew 6:17). Even though we may take it for granted that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, when it comes down to showing that scripturally, it is more challenging than one might think.

This is not to say that oil is not a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but rather that the Holy Spirit is only a portion of what oil represents in the Bible. But if the Holy Spirit is all we think of when we read about oil, we will miss out on a great deal of meaning and significance.

In this parable, we see that the foolish virgins are instructed to go buy oil, and likewise other unnamed persons are selling oil. Commerce lies behind the possession of oil here. But questions arise if we simply substitute the Holy Spirit for the oil. In the story of Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9-24, Simon actually tried to do this—he tried buy the Holy Spirit, and he assumed that Peter would sell it to him. That did not work out, of course, as Peter's response in verse 20 emphasizes: "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!" This translation is quite mild compared to what the Greek indicates Peter's righteous indignation to Simon implies, "You and your money can go to destruction"—or, in other words, to hell. That is what the leader of the apostles thought about somebody trying to buy the Holy Spirit!

In addition, the Holy Spirit is called the gift of God in several places (Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 6:4). Only a con-artist would try to convince us to purchase something that is given as a gift! These things beg the question of what exactly the oil in the parable represents, and how we can have enough to be wise and prepared when the Bridegroom returns.

David C. Grabbe
Do You Have Enough Oil? (Part One)

Acts 2:14-21

It is interesting that Peter does not say that this was the fulfillment of what Joel prophesied. This is because much of Joel's prophecy was not yet fulfilled. It is easily seen that Peter understood this. He knew that it was only the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy because God's Spirit was not being poured out on all flesh. The sun and moon had not changed their appearance, and not everybody that "called on the name of the Lord" was being saved. This is something similar to what happened when Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke 4, as He began His ministry in Nazareth. He left out parts of the prophecy. Likewise, Peter recognized that the events of Acts 2 only began to fulfill Joel's prophecy.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Pentecost and the Holy Spirit

Romans 8:3

Christ came as a human being and had to deal with life as we do. He had the same time, space, and constraints as we do. He became tired and had to eat. Was He not subject to the futility of this world? Was He not subject to decisions made by others beyond His control? Was He not subject to persecution? Was He not subject to pain? Did He not get caught in other people's dilemmas? Did the court system treat Him in an advantageous way? No, He received an unjust trial. He did not receive the decision He deserved, and His life was taken away as a result. On the stake, He suffered pain unjustly. He had to deal with things the same way as we do.

What this does for us is—because of God's calling and the response we have made—God adds to the gift. He not only gave His Son, but now He gives His Spirit. We find in verse 11 that, if we have that Spirit, we have the beginnings, the down payment, on immortality, on eternal life. We become sons and daughters of this great God. We are drawn into a Family, which is not only a family in the normal sense, but we also become brothers and sisters of Christ in another, equally important area. It has something to do with the fact that He, too, was subject to the same kind of sufferings we are—the unfairness of life.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 1)

Galatians 3:5

This is a reiteration of the topic of Galatians 3:2-3, but in it Paul reiterates that it is God who supplies us with His Holy Spirit. Throughout his letter, Paul is continually pointing back to God and the overwhelming role that He fulfills in our lives.

The Greek word translated "by" is ek, which means "a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause)." A more common expression is "by means of." The emphasis is on the mechanism by which they received the Spirit. Even though works are involved in the receipt of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32), largely because a prerequisite of receiving the Holy Spirit is repentance—and true repentance is turning from sinful ways—those works are not the means by which we receive the Spirit. It is a gift from God. See the notes at Galatians 3:2.

David C. Grabbe

Ephesians 2:8-10

Notice first how this chapter begins: He has made us alive (Ephesians 2:1). Paul makes sure that we understand that it is God who gives what we spiritually possess. As for verse 8, it does not matter whether we believe that the pronoun "it" refers to grace or faith; both are gifts of God.

Grace is God's kindness to us, shown or demonstrated by His revealing Himself to us. It might help to think of this in reference to God revealing Himself to Moses in the burning bush before He sent him to Egypt. If God did not freely purpose on the strength of His own sovereign will to reveal Himself, neither Moses nor we would ever find Him. If a person cannot find God on his own, how could he possibly have faith in Him? Satan has deceived us so well that men have only the foggiest idea of what to look for.

Faith—with God as its object—begins and continues as part of His gift of kindness. The gift includes His calling, the granting of repentance, the sacrifice of Christ for our forgiveness, and His giving of His Spirit. It is a complete package of many individual gifts. The gospel is the medium that provides knowledge of the objects of the faith He gives, that is, what we believe and trust in. Paul, perceiving these gifts as a package, uses "grace" as its label. In verses 9-10, he advances to the logical "next step" in God's purpose.

Our works in no way jump-start the process of justification, sanctification, and glorification. All our works, beginning with repentance and continuing through our period of sanctification, depend directly on the freely given kindness and faith God provides. Our God-ordained good works are the result of our response to the gift of faith that God gives. Works, then, are the external evidence of the unseen, internal faith that motivates them. A person could not do them unless God had given the gift of faith beforehand. Good works follow, they do not precede.

II Corinthians 5:17-18 confirms this: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." This corroborates that it is God working in the person. His work is termed a "new creation." Since nothing new creates itself, we are the workmanship of another. We are God's workmanship. In sum, because of what God does, we cooperate and produce works that He ordains.

The apostle Paul adds to our understanding in Philippians 2:12-13: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." He is not saying that we should work in order to obtain salvation. These verses indicate the continuing use of something one already possesses. They suggest carrying something to its logical conclusion, which is for us to live lives worthy of the gospel, doing the works God ordained, as in Ephesians 2:10.

In Romans 9:9-19, Paul, using Jacob and Esau's pre-birth circumstances as a foundation, provides a clear illustration to show that from beginning to end, the whole salvation process depends upon God's involvement. Jacob, representing those called into the church, received God's love in the form of gifts designed to prepare him for the Kingdom of God. From Esau, representing the uncalled, God has simply withheld His love for the time being.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian Fight (Part Four)


 




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