Co-proposed with Murray J. Smith.
The role of the Holy Spirit with respect to old covenant believers is debated. Specifically, did old covenant believers enjoy the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or is this blessing limited to believers in the new covenant era? This is a common question in biblical theology, which also relates to the more fundamental question of continuity and discontinuity between the old and new covenants. Since, however, it can be difficult to find a clear and detailed answer, our goal in this paper is to make some progress toward filling a perceived lacuna.
One commonly held view posits a qualitative or categorical difference between the presence and work of the Spirit under the old covenant and under the new covenant. On this view, under the old covenant: (1) the Spirit dwelt among the people of God as a whole rather than in individual believers; (2) the Spirit’s work was focussed on Israel’s leaders—prophets, priests, and kings, and; (3) the Spirit’s presence was less permanent than what believers enjoy under the new covenant. The present paper challenges this view, arguing instead that the discontinuity between the covenants is better characterized in quantitative terms. While the Spirit’s presence and work are expanded and intensified in the new covenant, old covenant believers already enjoyed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as a benefit of salvation.
In making the case, we focus on one of the underappreciated keys to answering this question: the unity of salvation across the covenants, particularly with respect to justification. Our argument has two basic premises: (1) old covenant believers were justified by faith in fundamentally the same way as believers are in the new covenant, and; (2) the internal, indwelling work of the Holy Spirit is a necessary concomitant of saving faith. To support our thesis, we consider Old Testament texts which indicate or imply the indwelling presence of the Spirit, but we give most attention to the implications of NT texts, including: (1) Paul’s appeal to Abraham and David as exemplars of justification by faith (Romans 4), and; (2) implications of key texts in Luke-Acts (including discussions of the Spirit’s presence and work prior to Pentecost). We argue these texts speak of the unity of justification across the covenants, which also entails the fundamental unity of the Spirit’s work across the covenants.
To be sure, we must also consider the newness of the Spirit’s work after Pentecost, which will require discussing the relationship of the accomplishment of salvation to the application of salvation. Our hope is that this discussion will help those from varying perspectives find common ground, and may offer some ways forward for fruitful conversations.