Abraham was justified because of his faith. Romans 4: 13-17.

 In our last dive into Romans, we saw that Abraham was justified because of his faith. Now he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the covenant God made with Abraham for the Jews. However, through faith, we have been grafted into the vine and are, therefore, Jews by faith.

So that Abraham might be the father of all who believe; well, that certainly means me.

On that note, let's dive in.

Romans 4:13 NASB For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law but through the righteousness of faith.

Perhaps a cleaner version would be the NLT.

Romans 4:13 NLT  Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.

Faith, in and of itself, does not have righteousness, but a right relationship is acquired by having faith in God.

Since the Jewish community, in general, does not put their faith in a relationship with Yeshua, then all they have left is an arrogance in the law, and this is why Paul has to say,

Romans 4:14-15 NLT  If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.  (15)  For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

Premise the next few bits of information under this assumption, “If God's promise is for”

• “those who obey the law,”

  Let's not pull any punches here; he is talking about the Jews. None of which keep the law either. Want proof?

  Genesis 6:5 NASB Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

• “then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.”

  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you know that faith is necessary, and the promise is real and gives validity to our hope that there is a heaven to gain, and finally, peace in the love of the Father's arms.

• “For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it.”

  There are many translations, and this one is not necessarily a true statement.

  Some will tell you that the King James version is the only correct and accurate translation, so let’s see what it says. “Because the law worketh wrath.” The Strong’s concordance tells us that the word worketh also means accomplishes or causes. 

  Seriously, the law causes wrath?

  If I kept the law, I might be boring, but shouldn't I be considered righteous in God's eyes, and therefore, excluded from God's punishment?

  The simple answer should be yes. You don't get punished for trying to obey the law.

  You get punished for disregarding the law. Let me ask you a question.

  How many laws (commandments) did Israel start with?

  Ten; and the focus of those laws was to love God and love on people by treating them right. Of course, the idea of being “right” is not based on human standards but on God’s character, nature, and moral standards.

  But Paul writes (NET translation) because where there is no law there is no transgression either.

  The young granddaughter, who reads quite well, ignored the signage at the park, which stated, No riding of any wheeled vehicle on the rubber playground mats, and her tire went between the cracks, which caused her to fall and scratch her face. Her dad did not realize that it was his child screaming because she was actually hurt; then he yelled at her that it was her fault, and she shrieked back, I didn’t know. I will say this, as the adult, I believe it was her father’s job to make sure she learned the rules, but he didn’t do that; he merely focused on some video on his cell phone, as he always does. She is very capable of reading, but who looks at the signs. 

  Isn't this a summary of who we are and what we do?

  Perhaps a better way of considering the law might be this; the law shows us how frequently we stumble and how much we need a savior. 

Romans 4:16 (GW)  Therefore, the promise is based on faith so that it can be a gift. Consequently, the promise is guaranteed for every descendant, not only for those who are descendants by obeying Moses' Teachings but also for those who are descendants by believing as Abraham did. He is the father of all of us,

The promise, once again, is God's promise to Abraham. Hebrews 6 covers it.

God made a promise to Abraham. Since he had no one greater on whom to base his oath, he based it on himself. He said, "I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants." (Hebrews 6:13-14 GW)

Those descendants came through both Ishmael and Issac, but the promise was through the promised seed, Issac.

I struggle to find a translation of Romans 4:17 that made sense.

Romans 4:17 Moffatt NT (as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations). Such a faith implies the presence of the God in whom he believed, a God who makes the dead live and calls into being what does not exist.

Abraham has been married to Sarah, who is now in her 90’s and well past childbearing age, and has produced NO children. Sarah suggests he try it with Hagar, and it works. I am not a doctor, but something tells me that the problem was not Abraham. The problem here is that the promise was meant to be through Sarah, not Hagar. The ability to have faith for a child just became more unreasonable. And yet, Abraham believed God.

The father of many nations, but who would think in these terms?

If we take this idea back to Noah, we can see that the entire earth was, once again, entirely populated through Noah and his descendants.

Consider something, thousands of years later, people seeking religious freedom came to America. There were already people here, but it seemed like there was plenty of land and you could throw a rock and not hit anybody. The point I am making is that there were a number of people but they were not shoulder to shoulder as it often feels now. 

Abraham, most likely, had no idea of what that would eventually look like.

What did Abraham know of God?

Not much. This is a huge assumption because as you read about Adam's transgression in the garden (Genesis 3), you come to the discernment that God instructed Adam in how to keep the penalty for transgression at bay (Genesis 3:21). We ignore the fact that Adam passed this information along orally, first to Cain and Able – whom Cain killed, and then to Seth (the third son in the lineage), who passed that same information down the line to Noah. I am pointing this out because the answers are there if you are willing to think outside the box. But then, there was this lifelike dream that was like no other Abraham had ever had. This dream is where God promises that He will make Abraham the father of many nations.

There was something extraordinary about this dream because we all read about the sacrifice, the blood, and what was said, as though Abraham was physically standing there before God.

I write these studies for believers, and many of them may be familiar with the manner in which God introduced Himself to Abraham; it is because of this assumption that I don't always insert the Bible passage that validates what I am saying. That assumption could be an issue as I am always hoping that some may be coming into a relationship with God as they read this, and seeing the passage would possibly cause faith in them.

That being said, the first interaction, where we see God speaking to, at this point, Abram, is in Genesis 12:1. We are merely spectators and can only assume how this utterance took place, because the details, like so many other incidents in scripture, are left out.

If I look up the Hebrew meanings of what seems like a simple word, “said” we find that some of the likely interpretations are to say in one’s heart, or to think. In reality, the heart is the mind. 

Many years ago, someone said that we should practice listening to God's voice. The idea behind this practice is to respond when He tells you to do something that will bring life into a situation. He will not tell you to jump off a cliff, that would be the devil. If an assertion like this is something you would say, then you should know that the fact that you are bringing out this alternate point demonstrates that you are capable of hearing voices in your head. Not to worry, we all hear voices in our heads. For some, the voice sounds like your wife; a friend; a drill sergeant, or God. Many of us have to sort out which voice we are going to respond to. Practicing listening to God's voice, which is no different than the Holy Spirit of God, could, as it did for Abraham, turn out to be an interesting and productive thing.

Moffat's translation tells us “Such a faith implies the presence of the God in whom he believed.”

Wow, how would it change your life if you did not believe in God, and then, suddenly He appears before you in a very realistic dream, as Jesus Christ, whom you recognize; and therefore, believe what He tells you.
I met such a man - a Muslim, and he now preaches Jesus.

Let's do the breakdown of Romans 4:17.

• “a God who makes the dead live and calls into being what does not exist.”

  Lacking a doctor capable of doing all the tests necessary to determine which of them was infertile could imply that Abraham's body was dead too. But we are not talking about Abraham when we talk about dead people. Paul is referring to Issac, Abraham's son.

  Wait a minute.

  God spared Issac’s life at the last second by causing a Ram to appear in the thicket suddenly.

  So how does death apply to Issac?

  It doesn’t, any more than Sarah being included in this conversation because she was barren unless these people are primarily symbolic. No doubt, all these people died, but Issac represented Jesus and his willingness to be sacrificed for sins. And, if you want to get picky, there was Lazarus, Jesus’ friend. He was dead for four days. There is a significance to that four days as the Jews believe that the spirit stays with the body for three days. This is also the reason that Jesus referred to Jonah as an example of His death and resurrection. So Jesus’ hesitation in going to see him was meant to prove that Lazarus was completely dead and his resurrection, therefore, was to be taken seriously.

• “ and calls into being what does not exist”

  For Sarah, the ability to produce a baby did not exist, and yet there it is.

  The nation Israel did not exist, and yet, there it is.

  Heaven and earth did not exist, and yet John tells us that Jesus, the Word, spoke them into existence.

  If you think about these statements, there are a vast number of other examples as well; and each of those is a call for us to apply faith to the things we think are impossible.

What shall we then say about Abraham? Romans 4:1-12.

 By the time you finish with Romans chapters two and three, you might wonder why God gave the law. It almost seems useless, but it is not, for it shows us the mercy of God. Those that choose not to figure out what the nature and character of God are, will never understand this statement.

What have we learned?

• That His law is righteous.

  If you only remembered one thing about the law, the idea that it is focused on love, starting with God and your relationship with Him would be crucial. Everything else lives in the concept of treating people right, based on love.

• His law is written on the heart of every human being; it always has been.

  We are told by scripture that there is no excuse, and there is nothing holding back God's righteous judgment from coming upon the nations and the Jews.

• Never let anyone tell you that God has cast away the Jews.

  Paul, in a sense, responds to this very thing when he tells us that the promise was made to Abraham and his seed. That promise has never been rescinded; and, if you will study Romans chapter 11, you will see that we Gentiles have been grafted into the good stock.

• No one is righteous.

  That sounds rather hopeless, but it is not because Jesus poured out His own blood to redeem us and sanctify us by that blood.

  Do you believe that? If you don't, then it is something that you have not acquired to yourself through faith.

  Perhaps the best way to understand this is to visualize that what happened with Adam in the garden was to modify his DNA to a damaged segment that gives us a propensity to sin, and that has been passed on to all humanity.

• And finally, the righteousness of God only comes through faith.

  As I pointed out above, the sanctification needed to make us righteous comes through faith alone. Jesus has done all that is necessary and will never go back on the cross for you. All you have to do is to accept that He gave you the opportunity for an eternal life with the Father, and all you have to do is believe and receive that life.

The authors segmented our Bibles into sections. This particular one opens with this line –

Abraham was justified by faith.

I am going to use the NASB, as it is my preferred translation (although it troubles me at times) for our introduction here.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
(Romans 4:1 NASB)

Allow me to approach this idea of Abraham being my forefather. It was because of the promises made to Abraham that the Jews cling to their heritage, religion, and culture. Paul points out that these are not the things that make you righteous, it is the faith that Abraham had that made him righteous. Paul's letter to the church in Rome is a tedious effort to straighten that out.

I then am only a Jew because of God's adoption. How this adoption happened is central to the gospel that Paul preached.

• In Ephesians 1:4,5, Paul tells us that we were predestined to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ.

• To the church in Rome, chapter eight, verse fifteen, he writes that they have received a spirit of adoption.

• And, he informs the church in Galatia, chapter four verse five, that the price Christ paid allows us to receive the adoption as sons.

In case you did not notice, this adoption is available, but it is not automatic. This is where faith and acceptance come into play.

To make this interesting try to imagine going to an adoption agency and choosing a purple-haired teen, who is playing a video game they won't put down as you try to hold a conversation, that would not only establish their character, but you are trying to let them know what your character is, and what you can offer them.

In a sense, this is what God did with us, as He parks His vehicle in front of this global adoption agency. Having been given the tour, he has seen those living there and decides to adopt them all. He pays the fees - in this case the life of His own Son, and tells them all to jump into the bus. One young teen says, FINE!, I'll go, but I won't take out the trash. God just laughs knowing that in time, we all have to take out the trash.

The trash, in this case, is not only the junk we think we can't survive without, such as emotional baggage or habits we have developed because we thought they would help us survive; however, it is also bits of garbage that others have dumped into our lives through faulty teaching. In a simplistic way I have just buried volumes of theology into a simple statement; and, in time, the Holy Spirit that lives within you will teach you these things.

Romans 4:2 NASB For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

If Abraham was justified by works, what were the works?

God hoped the man would follow His instructions.

• God told Abram (he is not yet called Abraham), to leave this place and your relatives and go to a place I will show you. Rather open-ended, but, in time, Abram left.

  Genesis 12:1 NASB Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house To the land which I will show you;

  So many things happened along the way. There was the struggle with Lot's herdsmen; Lot is taken captive in a battle and Abraham has to rescue him; and then, Lot moves to Sodom – a horrible choice.

• Those instructions included circumcising yourself as a mark of this covenant he had with God. Circumcising yourself would have been monumental and painful, but then there was the request by God for Abraham to offer up his only son. This too would have been horrific and yet Abraham was within inches of killing his “only son” on the sacrificial altar. God stopped that process by “providing himself as the lamb.” Suddenly there appears a ram.

  “Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.” (Genesis 22:8-9 NASB)

  “He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.” (Genesis 22:12-13 NASB)

Ah, but Abraham was not justified by his works or actions, if I may. He was justified – made right by faith. We know this because we are told that Abraham believed God.

Romans 4:3 NASB For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Watch how Paul challenges the logic and religion, by pointing out that this righteousness is a gift and cannot be earned.

Romans 4:4 NLT  When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.

The problem is that, in some way, all religion makes you try to earn some aspect of your righteousness.

Romans 4:5 TLV  But to the one who does not work, but trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his trust is credited as righteousness—

This idea of gaining a righteous standing with God was understood by King David years before Paul came on the scene.

Romans 4:6-8 TLV  just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:  (7)  Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.  (8)  Blessed is the man whose sin Adonai will never count against him.”

Remember earlier when I said that adoption is available to all, but it is NOT automatic. I had to restrain myself at that point because I wanted so badly to tell you your sin is forgiven and you did nothing to make that happen.

Look at what David says in verse 7. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.”

The question then becomes, what are we to do with such freedom, and what does it imply?

Well, as the "Chrisitian" band, the Newsboys, said in their song “I Am Free”, you are NOW free, but to do what?

• to run

• to dance

• I am free to live for you

Some interpret this freedom as grace; however, many will tell you that this grace gives us the freedom to push the boundaries of sin, as though we are no longer subject to the law. How is that possible when the law is written upon our hearts?

Romans 4:9 NASB “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."”

Although I doubt you are confused, allow me to define who the circumcised are – the Jews.

Who then are the uncircumcised? The Gentiles.

In light of the fact that “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness,” Paul, in his Jewishness, gets a little saucy as he says.

Romans 4:10 NASB “How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;”

What was credited?

His righteousness.

Was he a Jew at the time?

The terminology, uncircumcised, would plainly tell you NO. So, Abraham was a gentile. The NLT translation states, “Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!”

And, he did this so that he might be the father of all, though they are uncircumcised. What's the importance of this? Abraham, an allusion to Jesus Christ, the Father, is the father to everyone who believes in Jesus.

Romans 4:11 TLV 

And he received the sign of circumcision

as a seal of the righteousness

of the trust he had

while he was uncircumcised,

so he might be the father of all

who are trusting while uncircumcised—

that righteousness might be credited to them as well.

But it is not just about the uncircumcised, as Abraham is the father of the circumcised who believe and walk in the steps of faith.

Romans 4:12 Moffatt NT “as well as a father of those circumcised persons who not only share circumcision but walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had as an uncircumcised man.”

No one is excluded, and under NO circumstance is God done with the Jews. He is, however, looking for the Jews to apply faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

I had to step away from the Revelation to respond to a challenge about the Holy Spirit.

If you were to give a talk about the Holy Spirit, where would you begin?

The disciples had just spent three years walking with the Son of God. That might seem like a frightening thing, but they saw the character of God in action, and He was nothing like they imagined. He lived a life filled with mercy and grace, and now He was leaving them once again. It was hard enough when He was brutalized and put on the cross, but He returned, and we sat on the shoreline and ate fish with Him.

Do ghosts sit down and eat fish with you?

No, but real, living people do, so what they were experiencing was challenging to understand. But, at least for the moment, He was here, and though it was strange, they still rejoiced. It only seemed like a few days, and now He is telling them that He is leaving again.

John 16:7 AMP “However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].”

I used the Amplified because it contains the alternate words that convey the Holy Spirit’s roles in our lives and for us. But, wow, isn’t that interesting that Jesus also stands in intercession for us.

Romans 8:26 NASB “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;.”

Paul’s letter to the Romans continues to argue for a duplication of efforts by talking about how Jesus makes intercession for us. I wanted to break up the monotony by using a passage from the letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 7:24-25 NASB “but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. (25) Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

While this might not explain that the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus, is God, it is meant to end all arguments. John 1:1 speaks of Jesus and the Father as He created the worlds; the problem, if there is one, is that John uses the term “the Word.” 

A concordance will tell you that the Greek word used here is logos and means a thing uttered or spoken. So the application is that God/the logos spoke the creation into existence. But watch how quickly they become integrated into each other.

John 1:1-4 NASB “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

• In the beginning, was the Word.

• One might assume that this was God, alone and lonely. But immediately, we saw that this was not the case.

• and the Word was with God

• So, He is not alone, and there is nothing about the phrase that indicates, as yet, that the Holy Spirit is here with Jesus and the Father, and yet, you know He is.

• The Word was God, (and), He was in the beginning with God.

• There was no introduction, they always were, but even more incomprehensible is the idea that they were all one and the same, only different in appearance – The Father, it would seem, may be like nuclear energy and the natural, human body a destructive light; Jesus, the express image of the Father, walked on water and loved on little children; while the Holy Spirit is ethereal, undefinable and has demonstrated Himself by appearing like a dove and a tongue of fire. Welcome to the image of God.

• All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being

• Whether we understand this as God or Jesus with God, it is clear that Jesus was also the Word, and nothing came into being without Him.

• The Bible translators used the word fear to explain how we should approach Him, but fear is such a negative word; respect, on the other hand, carries many meanings, including our giving Him honor the due merely because of who He is. I have found that I am more prone to give Him honor because He poured His love upon me.

Alright, since you have absorbed all this, let’s mix it up a bit more. 

Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

So I should now easily be able to say, in the beginning, the Word/the Father/the Logos/Jesus. And the Holy Spirit created the heavens and earth. If you can’t find it in you to acknowledge that, then go back and rehearse John 1 again. 

Up to this point, we haven’t seen the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, but He has been there all along. 

Genesis 1:2 NASB The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Spirit is the Hebrew word rûach

. It means breath, mind, and spirit. 

You can’t separate the spirit from the body unless by physical death; but, you cannot kill the spirit, for it is made in the image of the eternal God. Fortunately, God is not subject to death, although this is what Satan erroneously thought.

Before there ever was a Paul the Apostle to teach about the Holy Spirit, we have the activity and life of God, in the form of the Holy Spirit moving upon the earth. The Holy Spirit of God is as intangible as a breath, a breeze, or the spirit of a human. I could just as quickly say that the Holy Spirit is not a freakish invention of the New Testament as some believe. The Holy Spirit of God is found all over the Old testament. 

With that in mind, I want to show you something rather alarming from Genesis, where God is about to destroy all humankind with a flood.

Genesis 6:17 NASB “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

Here the breath is rûach, the same Spirit that moved upon the face of the deep, and we find that rûach in all humanity – even the evil ones.

With a twisted comprehension, some will read Genesis 6:17 and think that God is only going to destroy those in which His life resides, and that is not the case. 

He says all flesh, and though the number saved is minimal, He does not destroy all flesh. So the point being is that here in Genesis, we have the Spirit of God inside of every person, and yet they are not dominated by that Spirit, just as we are not controlled by the Spirit, it is a choice. 

So the Spirit is not a new thing.

We have the spirit of God, in existence from the beginning, a part of creation, and, He is an aspect and reflection of God, just as the Son is. And yet, the Holy Spirit is only an irresistible and dominant force in the lives of those who acknowledge and accept His presence.

Let’s go back to John 16 for a moment. 

John 16:7 AMP However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the (Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

A phrase in this verse keeps grabbing my attention, “the strengthener will not come to you unless.” This word come seems so simple, and yet the implications are vast. The primary way of looking at this is “to come,” the Greek word erchomai also means to enter, accompany, or grow. 

So I can look at the activity of the Holy Spirit as Him entering, accompanying me, or being the one that is causing me to grow in knowledge and relationship with the Father and others. None of this would have happened if unless Christ did not go away as He said. 

Since He did go away, then any and all of the aspects of these titles have come. 

I could consider the Holy Spirit in this manner; I could see Him as a gift. 

Romans 11:29 NASB “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

A little evidence.

Acts 2:38 NASB Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11:17 CEV  God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I have gone against God?

The word for calling is klēsis and also means an invitation. So I could perceive the giving of the Holy Spirit to be an irrevocable invitation.

What does this do to your idea that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth with the church’s rapture?

It’s a rhetorical question, and you don’t have to answer it, but I hope it begins to shake your theology, especially if it is based upon tradition or what some false teacher has said.

Where do we get the idea that the Holy Spirit will be gone with the church? 

2 Thessalonians 2:6 NASB (6) And you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed.

Restrains is the Greek word katechō and means to hold (fast), possess, retain, and seize.

Merely because we, as the church, apply some pressure, that most likely looks like the Christian community voting, raising our voices, and saying something that occasionally motivates the rest of a sleeping world to wake up and join in our protest. I can tell you that the Christians, in the majority, are doing nothing to restrain the antichrist and whatever else is coming. Sadly, most are simply complying with the propaganda.

The assumption by many is that when the church is gone, the Holy Spirit goes with them. However, I had already pointed out how the Holy Spirit has been here long before the church entered the scene and how the gifts of God are irrevocable. So, I cannot see your logic working here.

If I haven’t done so, let me do it now. 

Peter, on the day of Pentecost, declared that this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing. 

What prophecy? 

Joel 2:28-29 NASB “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. (29) “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

• “I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind.”

• This is not a select religious few. He is going to pour out His Spirit on anyone who wants it.

• All of this happens in association with something else.

Joel 2:1-2 NASB Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD, is coming; Surely it is near, (2) A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.

• So what are we talking about? The time of wrath.

• Why then did Peter announce that the time of the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit had come? 

• The answer lies in Jesus returning to the Father, which happened. If Jesus returned to the Father, and the Holy Spirit came, and this prophecy is integrated into a prophecy about the time of wrath – a time that comes after the church is gone; then how is it possible that the Holy Spirit would be gone? 

• “And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.”

1 Corinthians 12:7 NASB (7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

• Every believer receives the gift of the manifestation of the Spirit. If you have been paying attention, you know that the Holy Spirit is a gift, and it is given freely to all who receive it. It seems evident that there is a context to 1Cor 12:7, and it might have something to do with 1 Corinthians 12:2-3.

1 Corinthians 12:2-3 NASB (2) “You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. (3) Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

• I think it is safe to say that we were all pagans before Christ came into our lives, and we were being led astray. However, since Christ came in, we are led, if we will listen, by the Holy Spirit. 

• With the Holy Spirit integrated into our lives, no one should ever hear words like Jesus is accursed coming out of our mouths; our conversations should, in the majority, be speaking of the love we have for Jesus.

Practically hiding in the upper room, at the direction of Jesus, were they willing recipients of the Holy Spirit? 

At any point in time, they had the opportunity to quit and walk away. When we think of the disciples, most of us picture the twelve minus Judas, of course; but by this point, we have indications that at least 120 followers gathered in that room. 

Acts 1:12-15 NASB “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. (13) When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James. (14) These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (15) At this time, Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together) and said,”

There has to be an assumed willingness for that many people to gather in the upper room.

Did they all manifest the Holy Spirit? 

We are not told the answer to that beyond the Holy Spirit came upon every one of them. What we do know, from things like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, is that some characteristics of the Holy Spirit: (Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) could be seen in the lives of all those who followed Jesus.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NASB (7) But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (8) For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (10) and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. (11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Since the Holy Spirit is a free gift, and it manifests itself through words of wisdom; words of knowledge; faith; gifts of healing; effecting of miracles; prophecy; the discerning of spirits, and various kinds of tongues, then this highly varied group of people that Joel speaks of are clearly operating in the power and motivation of the Holy Spirit but without the religious constraints.