Holy Spirit in 1 and 2 Thessalonians

The New Testament’s lack of reference to other specific Old Testament prophecies about the Holy Spirit should be of great concern for those seeking to explain the Spirit’s work without a reference to Joel 2. Essentially, they must create a doctrine about the Holy Spirit’s work from a collection of New Testament verses and do so in a way which does not refer back to Acts 2 or Joel 2. Interpreting Acts 3 – Acts 28 without connecting their references to Acts 2 is flawed hermeneutically and practically.

Neither Hebrews nor James has an argument like Galatians 3-4 or Romans 8. The “indwelling” is not emphasized in argumentation before Acts 10. It is not found in the epistles to the “Hebrews.”

it must be understood that the measures paradigm exists simply to explain an expositional trap which should not exist in the first place. The snare is created when it is rejected that Joel’s prophecy actually refers to “all flesh” in the early church. By refusing to consider that truly “all flesh” in the church had access to prophecy, visions, and dreams, modern expositors who reject the charismatic understanding of the Spirit are placed into an interpretive dilemma.

The Bible’s doctrine about the work of the Holy Spirit with man begins in Genesis. It is described nearly one hundred times in the Old Testament. The Spirit’s work in the New Testament is built upon these sure, concrete, and easy to understand examples. The brightest and clearest of all of these examples is the “promise of the Holy Spirit” in Joel 2.