Holy Spirit, promise of

The OT foretold and Jesus Christ reaffirmed that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on God's people, transforming, empowering and gifting them.

OT promises of the Holy Spirit fulfilled in the OT

The promised Spirit enables prophecy

1 Samuel 10:6 See also 1 Samuel 10:10

Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

The Spirit fulfils the promised presence of the LORD

Exodus 33:14 See also Isaiah 63:11, Isaiah 63:14; Haggai 2:5

And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

OT promises of the Holy Spirit fulfilled in the NT

The Spirit implements the promised new covenant

Jeremiah 31:33–34 See also Romans 8:2, Romans 8:9–10; 2 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:10–11

“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

The promised Spirit will renew Israel

Ezekiel 36:26–27 See also Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 37:14

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

The promised Spirit is the guarantee for Israel's future

Isaiah 44:3 See also Isaiah 32:15, Isaiah 59:21; Ezekiel 39:29

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.

The promised Spirit will empower the life and work of the Messiah

Isaiah 61:1–2 See also Isaiah 11:2; Luke 4:18–19

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,

The Spirit is promised for all people

Joel 2:28–29 See also Acts 2:17–18

And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on My menservants and maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

Promises of the Holy Spirit in the NT

The promise that Jesus Christ would baptise with the Spirit

Matthew 3:11 parallels Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16 See also John 1:33; Acts 1:5, Acts 11:16

I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

The Spirit is promised by Jesus Christ

Luke 24:49 See also John 15:26, John 16:7–15; Acts 1:5–8

And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The Spirit is promised for the time after Jesus Christ's resurrection and ascension

John 7:39 See also Acts 2:4, Acts 2:33

He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The promised Spirit fulfils God's word to Abraham

Galatians 3:14

He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

The promised Spirit guarantees to believers their future inheritance

Ephesians 1:13–14

And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth — the gospel of your salvation — you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.