Is there a difference between the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT) regarding the Holy Spirit and the believer? If the answer is no, what does the Apostle John mean in John 7:39?
Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus must finish the work He was sent to do before He can send the Holy Spirit to the believers. In John 20, Jesus breathes on them the Holy Spirit. They are believers without the Holy Spirit indwelling them, like Adam and all the OT saints.
Study the 80 references to Spirit in 75 OT verses, and this is what you will find:
- It is hard to know whether the reference to “Spirit” is the Spirit of God the Father (the Spirit of Yahweh) or the third person of the Triune God—the Holy Spirit.
- The Spirit is present and actively working in men like Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Saul, David, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
- Phrases like filled him, put it on them, clothed Gideon, began to stir him, rushes upon him, came upon him, speaks by me, to instruct them, warned them, entered into me, lifted me up, and fell upon me all describe the Spirit’s activity in and through humans in the OT.
- The Spirit departed King Saul, and David asked Yahweh not to take the Spirit away from him.
- Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecy about a future time when Yahweh will put His Spirit within humans.
At this point, we need to ask—if there is no difference between old and new, then what is Jesus promising when He says,
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7).
In Matthew 16, before receiving the Holy Spirit, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. He is a believer! But how does he believe without the Holy Spirit dwelling in him? Jesus says His Father in heaven has revealed this truth to Peter. Can the same be said about Abraham when he believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6)? Or even Noah, Joseph, David, Elijah, and Daniel?
The necessity for a covenant change between the old and new is based on the complete failure of the old (Heb 8:7-8). Israel could not do what Yahweh required—they could not love God and their neighbor in their own strength. The point of the promise in Ezekiel 36:27 is the Spirit within us will enable us to do what Israel could not do. Our lives will be characterized by walking in His statutes. The church will be the kingdom of priests, the chosen race, the holy nation (which Israel could not be) because of the Spirit of Christ in us. Study the promise of the New Covenant (NC) in Hebrews 8:8-13 (Jer 31:31-34) until you can say I understand this text.
