The Holy Spirit in Luke

Introduction:

The Hope of Something More.

Why are our efforts so often futile? Many of us have worked at various times very hard to share our faith, help do a ministry in the church or attempt to revitalize our church’s youth group, school or our church. Some of us have made great efforts to convert our parents or convert our children. So much of what we all have attempted through the years has often fallen flat. It was a lot of effort with very little result. Some of us have also witnessed at times great progress or at least heard of it in the past or overseas. Why is so much of what we do so ineffective? We often have the best or purest goals (at least from what we know).

If you have had ever had the privilege to witness effective ministry or have heard of it there is a phrase often associated with it. If this exact phrase is not used it, this phrase or something like would be used: “It was a work of God’s Spirit”. It seems to imply that there was something present, not controllable by human effort or human planning or program. The phrase seems to imply the “supernatural”, something God would have to do. Something greater was involved. Something much more helpful than what often goes on in Christian circles today. It is exciting, but it is dangerous.

Luke speaks often of the Spirit. It is a thread that runs through out His Gospel. He uses other words or events to signal this “Presence” but the word “Spirit” is one Luke often employs. If we are to listen to Luke carefully, it is vital to understand what the Holy Spirit is and its role is in the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke’ reference to the Spirit of God is part of how he stressed the importance of understanding the role of supernatural endowment in effective communication and ministry. Luke wanted his readers to know that something more than human ingenuity and normal human efforts were involved with Jesus’ life and should be the case with those who wish to teach and work as He did.

The understanding of the Holy Spirit has often been a contentious topic in some places and the discussion is often centered on the Book of Acts or I Corinthians 12 and 14. It might be enlightening and helpful to let Luke define the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Luke instructed his readers about the Spirit in a way that bypasses many of our disputes. The discussion will be refreshing but it may also be disturbing. Luke’s presentation of the Spirit of God says that if we have the Spirit it would takes us into some very scary, difficult and challenging situations. Some may not want the Spirit of God if they truly see what is involved. So be careful and attentive as you read what Luke will show us.

Method

There is also something else about Luke’s presentation of the concept of the Spirit of God. He does not give us theological propositions, but just describes what the Spirit of God did and thus by implication what the Spirit will do. He will also add how to “get the Spirit” in a practical manner. His over-arching method is simply this: truth or theology must be incarnate; it must be “in the flesh”, in the world in which we, in our flesh live. So we see how the Spirit of God was present during the “actual life” of Jesus of Nazareth. Luke teaches theology by looking at it in the very push and pull of life.

Luke used this method to define theologically whom the Holy Spirit is, how to obtain it, what being filled with the Holy Spirit means, and what would it look like if it happened to others. Luke did not do this by giving his readers a series of carefully crafted propositional statements or instructions but primarily by describing the Spirit in action. The method is seemingly based on the belief that the best way to understand someone is not to hear propositions about him or her, but to see them in action. So, let us review Luke’s Gospel and see what it is the Spirit of God did, what His presence in the life of believers would look like and how to gain the Spirit.

Before we begin, it might be helpful to realize what Greek word lays behind our English word “Spirit”. It is the Greek word pneuma that is a translation of the Hebrew word ruach found in the Old Testament. The word ruach is literally “moving air”. Of course, the basic definition would be “wind”. Thus the “Spirit of God” is to some degree in Luke’s mind the “Wind of God”. However, it has another aspect to it. Human beings are alive when they have ruach. If wind moved in and out of their bodies, then they had “breath” and they were thus alive and had “vitality”. The word was used in the Old Testament in multiple ways but primarily as describing the wind, the vitality of human beings (who had spirit or breath) and in describing some of the actions of God. God, at times, acted in a manner that the ancient Hebrews said was like the wind.

The Characteristics of Wind

If one investigates the uses in the Old Testament one realizes what the Old Testament was trying to describe. God’s action was described as wind-like in certain occasions. The wind is invisible, but powerful. All of us can attest to that characteristic that has ever been in a powerful windstorm or been on the ocean and watched its effects on the waves.

In my experience and in yours, the wind is also uncontrollable and not fully predictable as it “blows where it wants to blow”. The wind is mysterious and not under the control of human beings. So, at times, God’s action appeared to the ancient Hebrews: invisible, powerful and not under human manipulation. There is a fourth characteristic brought into the Old Testament presentation of the Spirit of God drawn from its association with humans and the use of it to describe breath in our bodies. The spirit in a man meant vitality in a man (without breath or ruach we do not have life) and so God’s Spirit was associated with vitality and with life.

II. The Various Uses of the Term Spirit.

1. The Holy Spirit recognizes God’s presence: 1:15, 41, 2:25-27, 10:21.

a. An Unborn Baby and Two Mothers.

The first mention of the Holy Spirit in Luke was that the Spirit was in John the Baptist from his birth. What Luke does with this is very surprising, and he does it several times with others besides John. We would think that his mother’s womb glowed or people who touched her tummy were healed or something of this sort. Luke does not go any where near that direction.

Instead, after Luke lets his readers know that John is filled before birth with God’s Spirit (1:15) he tells a story of Mary going to visit Elizabeth, John’s mother. Mary was pregnant with the Messiah (the Son of God was in her womb, see 1:35), and “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (1:41). Then Elizabeth discovered what the baby already knew. Her Lord was present. John, filled with the Spirit, leapt for joy in his mother’s womb. It seems to be infective (1:41). Elizabeth, as an adult, verbalized what caused the leap of joy: that Mary was the mother of her Lord. Mary carried the source of joy for those filled with the Spirit and the Spirit within them caused them to recognize the presence of God. The Spirit of God in a human enabled the recognition of when God was in the lives of others. Their spirit born witness to the other’s spirit, that the Spirit was present.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of recognition and the Holy Spirit is a source of joy for righteous people. The Holy Spirit grants humans the ability to recognize God’s presence and to rejoice in it.

This theme of recognition continues into chapter two when the venerable old man Simeon, who was awaiting the coming of the Messiah, had the Holy Spirit upon him (2:25). The same Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s anointed one. Directed by the Spirit, Simeon went into the temple where he recognized the Messiah in the form of a child. There were, no doubt, many priests and many other worshippers present that day in the temple, but none of them recognized that the Lord of the Temple had come in the flesh into His own Sanctuary. God was present, and they missed it. They missed what was taking place, but the old man did not because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gave Simeon the ability to see the Lord at work in their presence and to help him recognize the presence of God.

There is one last reference in this regard: 10:21. Jesus is said to be “full of the joy through the Holy Spirit”. He then prayed in front of the disciples to His Father praising Him for the revelation given to others: His disciples. He is filled with joy over their understanding of His relationship to the Father and of who He was. The Spirit of God filled Jesus with joy over the insight into the things of God given to others. The Spirit, if it is in us, will fill us with joy when others see or recognize God. We will be delighted with the progress of others and know that such progress and such insight came from God. This is the work of the Spirit of God: to recognize God at work in others and to rejoice in it.

I have often marveled at what excites some very prominent and powerful spiritual people I have had the privilege to know. They are over whelmed with joy not at their success but the success of others. I have sensed it in their voices and seen the twinkle in their eyes when they see others, especially young people, receive a touch from God’s hand. With Luke’s help, I now see they were men and women of the Spirit.

b. Two Old Men receive understanding: 1:67 and 2:26-27.

After Luke tells us of the birth of John then Luke reported that John’s father, because of his hesitancy to believe the angel and had been struck dumb, and was later freed to speak again. Zechariah quickly obeyed the direction given by the angel and then “was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.” This is similar to the example of Simeon. Simeon was filled with the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit to the Temple, and he obeyed the Spirit’s prompting. He too, began to prophesy. The Spirit of God enables men to speak forth the will of God, or in other words, to prophesy. It allows a human being to instruct others in what they have seen. A particular truth about reality that was needed by others was specifically given. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Revelation; it reveals something about reality that God wants us to know that we would otherwise miss. This same theme will be repeated in Luke 4:18-19. Jesus characterized His ministry as one of revelation that was empowered by the Spirit. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me…to preach….”(4:18).

It was present on Simeon not speak impressive words that made people admire him, but rather gave Simeon the ability to perceive God’s agenda and to pass that along even if not all of it was pleasant:

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thought of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” (2:34-35).

Jesus’ ministry would fulfill this prophecy as He did help many rise to the fullness of faith and perception of the Kingdom of God. However, not all appreciated His ministry of the Spirit,

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because he has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 4:18-19.

Many who were spiritually blind resented His pointing that fact out so that they could change, and many resented His acceptance of religious outcast like the prostitutes and Tax collectors, and many resented His full attention to Gentiles (the spiritually downtrodden) or those who were captive to disease or demon-possession. The anointing of the Spirit of God did not produce an easy ministry where all universally loved him.

However, to those who were hurting, the Spirit’s ministry was good news. The Spirit’s presence was marvelous, as many of you have experienced. Some of you have been present when God has given a human the ability to speak powerfully (and at times unknown to the speaker) into someone’s life. You may have seen this in a religious service or in a personal encounter with one given the ability by the Spirit to do this. It can set you free.

One aspect that emerges from Luke’s statements about the Spirit of God mirrors statements made in the Old Testament about the Spirit. In the Old Testament the Spirit came upon them for a specific moment. Could Luke be implying that Jesus’ followers would need to be filled again and again in some manner (and thus the Spirit must be repeatedly asked for)? This is not made clear and perhaps purposefully so.

The work of the Spirit of God is not description of religious bullying. What will emerge later in Luke in other stories outside the texts describing the operation of the Spirit will have a consistent pattern that is present here. God acts, via the Spirit, and the one receiving the gift must act. It is after obedience by the person receiving the work of the Spirit that a fuller work is done in that individual. The pattern is God acts, humans obey, and God does more. It would be wrong to think the Spirit of God, by compulsion, overruns people’s minds and forces them into acceptance of God’s will.

2. The Spirit brings judgment: 3:16.

There was another mention of the Holy Spirit concerning prophecy in Luke, and it was put in both the utterances of Simeon and John the Baptist. As mentioned above, the Spirit revealed to both John and Simeon that Jesus’ work would have a two-pronged result. He would bring salvation to His people, but would be the cause of judgment as well.

As noted above, part of the Spirit’s work in this righteous man was to reveal God’s Messiah, but the Spirit also gave him a predictive word for Mary. That word held personal predictions for Mary’s own coming pain but also predictions of the Messiah’s function for His people. He could be the cause of His people’s salvation or of their judgment. Many will rise due to the actions of Mary’s son, but many will fall as well. His work will be to reveal the hearts of many. He had the power to bless and to disturb, but one could not remain neutral with His actions. Revelation would cause and demand a response and from the response would produce either a positive or negative judgment. The work of the Spirit is powerful but not coercive. God’s work demands our attention, but it does not force belief or compliance.

In line with Simeon’s prophecy the Spirit gave John revelation of who he was. He was not impressed with the praise of men, but shared with others what God had revealed to him. The Spirit had made clear to John his own unworthiness and the greater power of the One coming. He knew he was to baptize, but his work was one of preparation for the One who would come and would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The revelation gave insight into his proper role, and judged his work. John not only accepted that judgment, but also knew that greater judgment was coming for all who would encounter the work of the Spirit that would empower the coming Messiah. The coming One would also baptize with the Spirit and also with fire.

Few of us would welcome judgment on our own ministry if it revealed that the focus was to move onto someone else. Yet, if we are filled with His Spirit, then we will do that. So many pastors or missionaries do not want the attention to go to others in their congregations or to the locals who often are chosen by God to be much more effective in mission situations. Such pastors and missionaries reveal that they do not want the Spirit of God.

This parallelism of the Spirit with the metaphor of fire is intriguing. The metaphor of fire was equated with judgment in the Old Testament and the verse that followed (3:17) clearly stated that motif: “His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn.” The Holy Spirit when present would cause judgment. When an individual had the Spirit, it would cause a separation (the wheat from the chaff or the worthy from the unworthy) and judgment would follow the separation (gathering the wheat and burning the chaff). The judgment would be based on who that person was. The judgment would also fall on the disciple who faulted in his or her loyalty. Luke warns us of “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?” Our fear of Him must trump the fear of men (12:4-5, 8-10). However, in the midst of the pressure Luke also promises that the Spirit would give us the words to say (12:11). We should fear being disloyal, not what to say under when pressure when hauled before intimidating courts or gatherings of scornful humans.

When the Spirit was present and given to men it caused revelation (whether they were chaff or wheat) and then who they were would set into motion what would happen to them: judgment would take place. John saw Jesus as the baptizer in the Spirit and at least part of the effect of such a baptism as causing judgment. If we receive His baptism of the Spirit then we could also be, like Jesus, an agent of separation or judgment. Many of us do not want such an effect in our ministry. After all, it was those who felt the judgment of Jesus’ ministry and teaching that would later kill Him. Human beings would be separated one from another on the basis of who they were. Who they were would dictate what they would do. In addition, the presence of the “fire” or “His Spirit” will cause a discriminating judgment among all those near us, even our very family.

I have come to bring fire on the earth…Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter…. (12:49, 51-54)

This theme of separation as an action of God’s Spirit is similar to themes in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God hovered over the waters in Genesis 1. Creation is largely presented in Genesis 1 as an act of separation (Genesis 1:4, 6, 7, 14, and 18). The same Spirit was present on both occasions (Luke and Genesis). Judgment and separation preceded the creation of life in Genesis, and it preceded the creation of the “life-giving” Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Luke. Separation was part of the creative power of God in creation and would also be in the creation of the reign of God. Being filled with God’s Spirit is not always a peaceful thing.

4. The Spirit begins the life of the Son of God in humans: 1:35.

Earlier in chapter 1, Mary was puzzled by the angel Gabriel’s announcement that she would bare a child before being married. In response to Mary’s question, the angel instructed Mary as to how she would give birth: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (1:35). It is the role of the Holy Spirit to birth the Son of God in human beings. The Spirit is the cause, (the cause is not our resolutions, religious actions, devotion, or any of our efforts). The Spirit alone is the cause of the life of the Son of God being formed in sinful human beings. Mary became honored because of who she bore, and because she had “believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.” The life-giving role of the Holy Spirit as seen by Luke also has its compliment in the Old Testament. It not only was present in the creation of the world but present and the cause of the re-creation of a dead nation: Ezekiel 37:1-14.

This is an exciting and much sought after effect of the work of God’s Spirit and rightfully so. God’s Spirit can create “new creatures”.

5. The Spirit empowers ministry and establishes our identity. 3:22, 4:14, 4:18-19 and 5:17.

The final time John was mentioned in connection with the Spirit of God was at Jesus’ baptism. Jesus obeyed and was baptized (there is a constant theme of obedience in connection to the Holy Spirit working in human beings), and as He prayed the heavens were opened and the Spirit descended on Jesus in the form similar to a dove and a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”. The Spirit confirmed Jesus’ identity and inaugurated Jesus’ ministry. (We learn in the next verse that Jesus began His ministry.) Several things about the work of the Holy Spirit can be drawn from Jesus’ baptism.

First, the Spirit descended in the form of a “dove”. Clearly, it was symbol of gentleness and not a symbol of power or coercion.

Second, the Spirit is the inaugurator of the effective ministry of men. So often the church is tempted to think effective ministry is programs, education or charismatic personalities but Luke said it is something else. It did not appear that Luke saw the ceremonies or rituals of men as accomplishing ministry but rather it was the sovereign will and work of the Spirit. Therefore Jesus’ ministry was formally begun in 4:14 with Jesus coming into Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” and in 5:17, it says the “power of the Lord was present for Him to heal the sick.” In similar fashion, the first sermon Luke recorded of Jesus’ preaching (4:16-27) was tied to the action and desires of the Spirit of God in Luke 4:18-19 (quoting Isaiah 61:1-2).

Third, the Spirit anointed or empowered Jesus to preach and accomplish deliverance for those in need. The Spirit of God empowered ministry that brought about multiple types of deliverance: freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed (4:18). Luke saw the Spirit, the power to do ministry, and the ability to accomplish effective communication as connected with an emphasis on helping those others would usually not be bothered with.

Fourth, there is another sidelight to the baptism of Jesus and the function of God’s Spirit. Jesus was also affirmed in His identity. He was told who He was: Jesus was God’s son. In addition, Jesus was told of His standing and relation with the Father: God loved Him and was pleased with Him. The Holy Spirit is the revealer of our identity and confirms our worth and standing with God. The Spirit reveals who the believer is when God is pleased. As those in ministry understand, getting a firm and solid grasp of whom we are is vital to spiritual and psychological health when one enters the difficulties and trials of effective ministry or teaching.

Finally, the Spirit of God confirmed publicly Jesus’ identity, but the purpose was not for self-satisfaction. John’s identity was given in his anointing, but his identity and the purpose of the anointing was to fulfill a task for others. John was to announce someone else, not himself. He was to serve the interests of God and therefore He was filled with the Spirit. Jesus was filled with the Spirit of God to announce God’s agenda, and Jesus’ role was that of being an instrument for others. Being filled with the Spirit was not given to inflate the ego of people with low self-esteem, but for them to see that they were given gifts for the sake of others. The very nature of the being filled with the Spirit of God is to be filled with an “other-centered” mentality.

6. The Spirit leads us into difficulty: 4:1

Luke told us of Jesus’ baptism, and he told us that His ministry began when He was 30 years old (3:23). Then Jesus’ genealogy in 3:23-38 followed the description of the Baptism. Robert Alter says genealogies in Jewish literature often function in Jewish narrative technique as punctuations. Jesus was baptized and His ministry began in chapter four, but there was punctuation or a pause and the genealogy seemingly was placed where it was to create that pause. However, in addition to the pause between Jesus’ anointing by the Spirit and the actual ministry of Jesus is another hiatus.

The ministry did not begin at the beginning of chapter 4 but rather 4:14. After the punctuation caused by the genealogy, but before the ministry of Jesus began, Jesus was taken into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-13). It is here that Luke introduced a surprising aspect to his readers about the work of the Holy Spirit. In the beginning of chapter 4, Jesus was said to be “full of the Holy Spirit”. This is seemingly connected with His baptism at the Jordan, but was then led by the same Spirit into the desert where for over a month He fasted and was tested by the devil.

Jesus was affirmed by the Spirit in 3:22 and then led by the Spirit in 4:1 into difficult times. He obeyed the leading of the Spirit. He fasted the entire time mirroring John’s life of discipline. Both dealt with chosen deprivation. Both choose an appropriate discipline. John was commanded to be a perpetual Nazarite and Jesus was commanded to go into the desert where He fasted.

The obedience of Jesus in going to the desert is important for the preparation of a true teacher. To a careful reader on the Old Testament this would be readily apparent. The motif of “wilderness” is a prominent one in the Old Testament. The wilderness was a place of sparseness, dryness, bleakness; it was a place of deprivation. Moses was sent by circumstances into the wilderness for 40 years before his ministry, Elijah came from the wilderness before his ministry began, and David was placed into the wilderness for nearly a decade before he became King. The writer of Lamentations reminds us: “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young” (Lamentations 3:26-27). Even the Apostle Paul, was sent into the desert three years after an initial period of success (Galatians 1:17). It seems the work of the Spirit of God is to prepare teachers for great ministry by prefacing their ministry with difficulty or dryness.

It is the Spirit’s work. Periods of preparation through times of dryness are the will of God. It would be hard to top the ministry of Moses, Elijah, David, Jesus and Paul, and so it would be dangerous to not recognize the necessary step Luke is presenting to his audience for those interested in teaching or doing ministry. “It is good to bear the yoke….” Notice that in all of these cases, God directed these individuals into their particular and unique period of “wilderness”. These men did not torture themselves, but learned from the difficulties that God put into their lives.

Perhaps, it is worth noting that in Luke 4:15 as Jesus began to teach and to take the role of instructing others in the ways of God; He initially received praise from every one. Praise for successful ministry can be a dangerous thing to the spiritual life of a teacher. The history of the Bible and the history of the Christian church are filled with those who began well and began with the endowment of the Holy Spirit but did not finish well. Think of Saul or Solomon who was both highly gifted by the Spirit but did not end their lives serving God or helping their fellow human beings. Solomon did not have the rough times his father David had; Saul did not struggle like David did in the beginning. Early difficulties can help us stay on tract when later struggles come. What is learned in the desert can focus the teacher and guide them when the stresses and distractions (which can be praise) begin.

III. How the Spirit of God is Obtained: 11:13.

Finally, Luke saw the Spirit of God as something to be given to men and women. In Luke 11:13, Jesus says they were merely to ask for the Spirit. It was something good (11:11, 12) that would be given to men for the asking (11:9, 10, 13). It was given to Simeon, John and Elizabeth to enable recognition of who Jesus was. The Spirit gave revelation or spiritual messages to Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Jesus. The Spirit created life in Mary, and the Spirit empowered Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit was also the Producer of judgment and difficult times, but the gift of the Holy Spirit was good and to be asked for. Jesus was filled with the Spirit, as was John, Jesus’ precursor. Luke’s story clearly implies that to fulfill our own call we need God’s Spirit. What John and Jesus possessed (discipline and the power of the Holy Spirit) must and can be ours.

Luke will do something else for his readers. After his initial chapters, Luke began to describe the ministry of Jesus, and it is both intriguing and alarming. It is intriguing because Jesus did miracles (things normal men cannot do), He had extraordinary insight into people’s true needs (He uncannily read their minds), and He had a value system that has always been admired. It was also alarming.

Luke clearly presented Jesus as a model for all believers and Luke presents Jesus as intent on replacing Himself and was training the disciples to carry on and duplicate His ministry after He was gone. Luke showed us that we too should be doing miracles, have miraculous insight into the needs of the souls of humans and be filled with a perspective not common among humans, including most Christians. This is alarming in that it seems impossible to become like Jesus because of the miraculous element and depth of His love for others. Perhaps, this is why Luke opened his Gospel with such emphasis on the Spirit of God. Luke did not speak of the “spirit of Christianity”, but of the Spirit of God. Luke was bringing in the supernatural. He was showing us the source.

The Holy Spirit’s work was alarming, but it was not meant to be discouraging. We are to be aware of our need of the Spirit, not daunted by the difference between what Jesus was doing and what he have often done. We are to know that He wants to give us His Spirit (11:9,10 and 13). We are also to be aware that it is this Spirit that will enable us to “seek first the kingdom of God”. Most of us seek our own control. His Spirit will enable to seek what He wants, to give us what we need whether it is daily food or daily insight into how to best help others due to His insight, to forgive us others and to not be led into temptation (11:2-4). According to Luke 11:2-4 (the Lord’s Prayer), we are to primarily make requests for the things mentioned above, but also to realize that we are asking from our Father, whose Name is hallowed (11:2). It is as our heavenly Father that He will give us the best of all: His Spirit (11:13).

It is interesting that when the disciples are finally left on their own after Jesus’ ascension into heaven the final command given to the disciples in the Gospel of Luke was to wait to be clothed with power from on high (24:49). They were to actively wait or activity seek for the Spirit of God before they began their ministry. It would enable them; it was essential to good teaching and essential to doing effective ministry. It would not enhance their earthly careers (most would die fairly soon) and it would not give them prestige or money, but would enable them to do His agenda. His Spirit would focus them on His costly agenda (4:1), it could diminish their ministry in favor of another, take us into the desert and cause great controversy and bring judgment, but it would allow them to help others (4:18-19), and His Spirit was to be obtained as a gift. It was a good gift, He would not give us anything that was not good, and they were to expect to receive it.