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Do We Know The Holy Spirit?
Short explanations to 335 Bible texts that speak of the Holy Spirit
III. The Holy Spirit and the Apostles of Christ

7. The Holy Spirit in later Epistles

(written between 63-69 A.D.)


1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Peter, one of the pillars of the early church in Jerusalem, had to flee the region of the ruling Herod and his descendants (Acts 12:1-7) following his miraculous release from prison by an angel. For a time, he lived on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, on the main road that led to Rome, a route continually controlled by the Romans. It appears he later moved forward into non-Jewish foreign territory, following in the tracks of Paul. He entered into the region north of Ankara, as well as into the eastern and southern areas of this region. Even in the province of Asia he cultivated contacts, having a desire to strengthen oppressed churches.

He encouraged those in the dispersion to believe in God, their Father, who sanctified them through His Spirit. They then, as His children, could live faultlessly, obey His leading, and remain justified through the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit is not only holy in Himself, but also makes holy all those who come to Jesus. He encourages and motivates each one to renounce every sin and to allow the fruit of His Spirit to mature in him (Rom.8:14). 1 Peter 1:10-12
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven- things which angels desire to look into.

Peter promised those who were being tempted and tried an unspeakably great joy, a joy that would never fade away (1 Pet. 1:8). This joyous hope had been previously prophesied by the prophets, for the Spirit of Christ was even then working in them! They recognized that the coming Christ had to suffer before entering into His glory (Luke 24:26). In like fashion, the apostles of Jesus testified through the Holy Spirit, who at Pentecost had been poured out from heaven. The cleansing of sinners through the blood of Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit of God in them was so important and sensational that even angels longed to follow this progress in the lives of these persecuted ones, and who had now been made holy.

1 Peter 2:5
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Peter encouraged all those being persecuted to not become pessimistic, but to continue in the process of their sanctification. They were to concentrate on Jesus, the foundation and corner-stone of the new temple God was building, so that they could continue to co-serve as viable members of the church. The thought of such a living and animated stone is an absurdity. Yet in Jesus this had become a spiritual reality. Those who now belong to Him do not want to merely shine as ornamental stones in the outside edifice of the temple, but also want to be unseen pillars helping bear others up.

Peter describes them as a holy priesthood, who co-serve with love, joy, peace and patience in the construction of the church. Such fruits of the Holy Spirit appeared to him as a spiritual sacrifice, one well pleasing to God, founded on the basis of our continual forgiveness through Christ. The privilege we have to make up the temple of the living God should encourage us. In meekness and humility we can accept all other church members as equally valuable building stones.

1 Peter 3:3-4
3 Do not let your beauty be that outward adorning of arranging the hair, of wearing gold, or of putting on fine apparel; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

Peter met some women and men who were decked-out with expensive chains, rings, bracelets, and expensive clothes. These had not yet understood that the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit, which overcomes arrogance, obstinacy and anger, sparkles and shines much more than silver and gold that perish. The eyes of a believer in Christ no longer remain hopelessly dark. The blood of Christ becomes one´s permanent adornment and dress of honour –well pleasing to God.

1 Peter 3:18-19
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison.

1 Peter 4:6
For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Peter placed the suffering of Christ as a consolation before the eyes of those being oppressed. He, the innocent Messiah, had suffered in the place of all sinners, so that He could lead all who trusted in Him to God, their Father. This privilege was also valid for all those receiving his letter among the Diaspora. They were to recognize that Christ had, to be sure, died bodily. Yet He remained alive in the Holy Spirit! In His glorious spiritual body He could go to all those in the realm of the dead to offer them the gospel. All those born of dust must, as a result of their sins, die. Yet the one who believes on Jesus receives eternal life in the Holy Spirit for the sake of righteousness (Rom. 6:23). Jesus, as the Lamb of God, also possessed the privilege to offer this life in the spirit to the dead.

1 Peter 4:14
If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

Peter had the authority to bless those sufferings for the sake of Christ, for there already rested upon them, invisibly, the Spirit of glory. He emphasized that this comforter Spirit of God is also the innate Spirit, who bears in Him the glory of the same Creator and Judge over all. The streams of His majesty encompass the sum of His attributes and power. This Holy Spirit indwells all those who are persecuted for Christ´s sake, those who patiently bear their burden.

2 Peter 1:19-21
19 We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Whoever preaches from within himself or talks only on the basis of his theological knowledge runs the risk of threshing straw in the air. When the Holy Spirit, however, presses the servant of God to proclaim the truth of his LORD and the corruptness of the human heart, he will experience the power of grace in his words. This happened with the prophets in the Old Covenant, and is also true for His servants in the New Covenant. True prophecy recognizes the Holy Trinity, salvation accomplished, and the woes of the end time that foreshadow the longed-for return of Christ. End-time Bible prophecy is more reliable than the rapidly developing progress in science and technical fields, which, in the end, will only lead to further chaos.

Hebrews 2:3-4
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

Paul was a lawyer of the Torah, who knew the details and principles of the Old Testament Law, with its 248 commands, and its 365 prohibitions. The writer of the Hebrew letter was more specialized in the ordinances surrounding the temple, the rights and duties of the high priest, and the various offerings he had to offer. In his comparisons between the Old Testament temple rights and the New Testament understanding of the Self-offering of Christ, he wrote with impassioned appeal to his readers. He wanted them to immediately believe what he told them, so that they could exercise true repentance as long as there was still time and opportunity.

In his first appeal to the recipients of his letter, following the portrayal of the incomparable greatness and glory of Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-14), he challenged them to consider how impossible it is to escape the wrath of God if a hearer disregards and fails to accept the testimony to Jesus Christ and the preaching of salvation accomplished. God had already confirmed, through many miracles and healings, the salvation work of Christ. He had given proof to it by pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 3:1).

Hebrews 3:6-8
6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…”

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews testified to the faithfulness of Moses in his service to the people of God, His spiritual house. Moses, however, was only a servant of the Lord, as well as a tool in His hand. He was created by God and made qualified for his service. Jesus, however, is the eternal Son of God, as the composer of the letter had already proven at the beginning of his writing. Therefore, Christ is greater than Moses, since He, as the Son of God, is eternal, and did not have to be created. He was also in greater measure more faithful than Moses in His spiritual house. “We” make up His new house, the church of Jesus Christ in accordance with the New Covenant – consisting of all those who have been born-again, who have received eternal life from their risen Lord.

The evangelist confronted those reluctant in faith and filled with doubt, citing the words of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7-11). To illustrate this word, he drew on an event from the wilderness wandering, when the people were almost to die of thirst. Many at that time came to doubt and did not believe in the presence and power of the Lord. In despair, Moses struck the rock twice, whereby water began to flow in abundance –satisfying all of the tribes and their livestock. Since, however, they had not immediately trusted the Lord (in spite of all His miracles and safekeeping over them), but only in great distrust came to follow the command of God, they were forced to spend the rest of their lives meandering in the wilderness. Their evil generation was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. In this sense the evangelist encouraged all of his readers to not delay a minute, but to believe on the authority and grace of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. By doing so they would not fall under the judgment and wrath of God.

Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews had often experienced that the word of God not only enlightens the understanding and the heart of man, but also his sub-conscious and his conscience. The soul and spirit of the listener are rent apart and all secret things laid open by the word of God. The result is that hearers, again and again, break apart before the judgment of God. Their pride and their self-deception die. Nothing is hidden before the eyes of God. Everything must come to light if the one affected is ever to come to peace and rest.

Hebrews 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

The writer to the Hebrews did not shy away from openly testifying to a bitter and painful truth: If a person hears the word of God and recognizes God and His salvation, and if he is then, by his faith in the crucified and risen One, anointed with the Holy Spirit, if he experiences the good word of God and Gifts of the Spirit, yet in spite of all this bequeathing of grace from his Saviour falls away, no longer trusting in Him, there remains no more help for such a person. He hardens his own self and is no longer able to repent, having again succumbed to a supposed righteousness of works. By so doing he esteems the death of the crucified Son of God as worthless. He has mocked his salvation, whether consciously or unconsciously.

This shuddering testimony of an experienced spiritual counsellor should trouble us deeply, but not plunge us into doubt. Subsequent to his warning, the writer testifies to the eternal faithfulness of God, who swore to Abraham that His divine grace would never depart from this Bedouin or his stubborn descendants. The fulfilment of this oath has become visible and perceptible in Christ. Whoever misses, despises, or discards the Son of God and the eternal High Priest, however, cuts his own self off from the love and faithfulness of God (Heb. 6:9 – 7:28). But whoever takes this testimony of experience seriously for himself, as well as for the Jews and the Muslims, receives a spiritual vision for world mission. He understands that a Spirit-led proclamation of the word of God brings both a redemption and a hardening (John 20:21-22).

Hebrews 9:13-14
13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Following his wake-up-call, the writer of Hebrews leads us to the cross of Christ. He permits us a view into the mystery of His atonement, which the crucified One accomplished in our place. While Paul testified that God was in Christ and reconciled the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19-22), the writer of Hebrews pointed out that the eternal Spirit strengthened Jesus during the last hours of His temptation on earth. Despite the weakness in His body, He helped Him remain sinless and so, to present a perfect self-sacrifice to God. He loved His enemies, whom He allowed to crucify Him, and prayed for them. He believed on the faithfulness and the presence of God, even when He abandoned Him on the cross. He hoped even when there was no more hope. On the basis of His spiritual victory, the evil enemy had no right or authority over Him.

Jesus, however, did not just die on the cross for the sake of sacrifice, but also so that His blood and His Spirit might cleanse and sanctify His followers. He died so that their evil deeds could be washed out of their consciences, and that sin might have no more power over them. We are entitled to believe on the might and the power of His blood and of His Spirit and to experience that both His blood and His Spirit carry us through all of the trials and testings of life. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Heb. 10:14). Only those who have been cleansed and made holy by Jesus´ blood have the right to serve God in His eternal Spirit.

Hebrews 10:28-29
28 Anyone who has rejected Moses´ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of Grace?

If someone intentionally and wilfully broke the Law of Moses, he was to be stoned (Deut. 17:6). But whoever continually denies the crucifixion of Jesus, or who deems His blood to be normal human blood, without power to make atonement, or who mocks and blasphemes the Spirit of grace, he has become evil, and will be punished together with his evil. Whoever has experienced being made holy through the blood of Christ, and thereafter discards it, discards his own self (Heb. 6:4). The majority of both the children of Jacob and the descendants of Ishmael fall under this terrible verdict. Few dare to take up the cross and, in spite of being despised and persecuted, follow after Jesus their Saviour. They desperately need our intercession and our help.

Hebrews 12:9-10
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

Following the humanistic laws of different countries, it is illegal for parents and teachers to physically punish a naughty or unruly child. This prohibition is justifiable if considered in terms of an unreasonable punishment administered in anger. In children and adults, however, where obstinacy, malice and sin remain unpunished, one indirectly assents to an open godlessness and opens wide the door for sin. Children sometimes wait for their punishment, for they know that their misconduct requires expiation. Whoever properly disciplines will be esteemed by the one punished.

God, our spiritual Father, admonishes us not to sin. Yet, when a believing Christian is not willing to desist from his pride and his obstinacy, God must punish him with sickness, dismissal from a position, or with even harder measures. Our Father in heaven loves us and, therefore, punishes us if we do not repent. His desire is to sanctify us through the word of the gospel, through the blood of Christ, and through His Spirit, so that we might reflect the virtues of our Father.

Hebrews 12:22-24
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews spoke to his largely Jewish-Christian readers with key words frequently appearing also in the book of Revelation. He described them as already having arrived in the “heavenly Jerusalem”, the glorious city of God (Rev. 21:2-27), with its thousands of angels and the assembly of elders around the throne of God (Rev. 4:4; 5:8-12). He spoke of the church of those born-again of the Holy Spirit, whose names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20; Rev. 3:5; 7:9-17).

Those arriving, however, were made to first appear before God, their incorruptible Judge. In addition, they were held accountable to the prophets and servants of the Old Covenant, who had been made perfect (Heb. 12:1-2). Beyond that, they had the chance to boldly appear before the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 4:14-16; 8:6-7; 9:15), who will sprinkle them with the blood of His covenant (1 Pet. 1:2; Heb. 10:22). It is His blood that gives a more powerful witness than the blood of the innocently murdered Abel (Gen. 4:10-11).

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