Holy Spirit: poured out or pouring out?

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.

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Introduction

One of the most misunderstood, or perhaps misrepresented members of the Trinity must be the Holy Spirit. His ministry in the Church today is alternately overemphasized (charismatics), or minimized, overlooked, or even denied (cessationists). The debates rage on about the nature and applicability of the spiritual gifts, how the Holy Spirit interacts with Christians today (or even if He does at all), and whether or not He causes certain physical manifestations.

One particular aspect upon which we shall focus will be, has He has changed how He works as compared to the first century? 

The event of the Pentecost in particular comes to bear on this discussion.

Pentecost

Jesus promised the event of Pentecost:

Lk. 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. (Ac. 1:8)

The book of Acts records what happened:

Ac. 2:2-4 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The Holy Spirit's presence was marked by unusual physical manifestations. The sound of all this seems to have been heard all over Jerusalem (Ac. 2:6), and it caused quite a commotion. One theory presented was that they were drunk (Ac. 2:13), which suggests their behavior was not quite orderly. But Peter rose to speak to the crowd and denied they were drunk. Rather, these things were prophesied hundreds of years before: 

Ac. 2:17-21 "In the last days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Pentecost essentially marks the beginning of the Church, and the beginning of the Last Days. 

The language of Joel's prophecy suggests a procession of events. The poured out Spirit is the first evidence presented by Peter:

Ac. 2:33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Followed by prophecy, dreams and visions. Then at some point there will be signs in the heavens, concluding with a great revival. 

Since we are still in the Last Days, we would expect that these statements still apply today.

One Time, But Still Happening

Jn. 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever — 17 the Spirit of truth. 

Jn. 15:26 When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 

The “will give” looks forward to and was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, with the promise of His presence forever. But the “goes out” is specifically continuous, not bound by the past or the future.

The Greek word for "goes out" is ekporeuomai:

It often conveys the idea of movement from an origin point, whether physical, spiritual, or metaphorical. In the New Testament, it is frequently used to describe the emanation of words, actions, or spiritual realities from a person or place.

This is a continual action. The Holy Spirit continues to go out from the Father. He does not cease doing so, for each new Christian in the Last Days receives new life by the action of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit continues His ministry to regenerate, that means He is still going out.

If He is still going out from the Father, then according to cessationists He must have changed how He goes out. A lot, because the very things He is credited with in the NT are the same things He is supposed to have stopped.

What Has Changed?

This question really is central to the charismatic/cessationist debate, a topic we have covered at length. (Here is our 17 part series on cessationism, and here is everything we have written about cessationism). We happily concede that some things have changed, because no one is writing Scripture anymore, for example. But other things have not, like the afore-mentioned new birth. 

So when we consider Joel's prophecy, we see that he was describing something new that would begin, and then we see that Peter used the prophecy to confirm that something new had indeed begun. The evidences of the poured out Spirit are 

• Your sons and daughters will prophesy
• your young men will see visions
• your old men will dream dreams

The effect of the poured out Spirit is essentially revelatory. Rather than there being the rare prophet in Israel, "all people" will receive revelation (Heb. 1:1-2). 

Further, Joel's prophecy asserts the revelatory ministry of the poured out Spirit will be a feature of the Last Days:

I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

Not "in that day." Rather, "in those days" they (our sons and daughters) will prophecy. Again, we are "in those days" right now.

This clearly suggests that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit would not cease, unless we would discover a verse or passage where the Bible tells us this would cease. But in fact, there is no verse in the NT that says that certain things would cease before the Last Day, the Day of the Lord.

We are still in the Last Days. The Day of the Lord has not happened. Therefore, the "going out" is still going out.