Pentecost: Celebrating the Law of the Spirit

Pentecost, Shavuot/the Feast of Weeks, is a time of joyous celebration! During this festival, work is forbidden, a sacred assembly is called, and God’s people are commanded to bring specific offerings (Leviticus 23:15-21). Traditionally, Jews everywhere celebrate the giving of the Torah, according to Exodus 19-20, but we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit, the Law of the Spirit of Life. (Romans 8:2).

After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to wait on the promise of the Father until they were endued with power from on high! The promise of Pentecost is of the Holy Spirit’s power – a power that the law did not have to overcome sin because it could not tame the sinful nature. Paul said in Romans 8:2-4,

“For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do [that is, overcome sin and remove its penalty, its power] being weakened by the flesh [man’s nature without the Holy Spirit], God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son], so that the [righteous and just] requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh [guided by worldliness and our sinful nature], but [live our lives] in the ways of the Spirit [guided by His power].”

The law is powerless against sin, but the Spirit is not! This power living and breathing in us was prophesied through Jeremiah. Through His prophet, God said He would establish a New Covenant with His people, and that His law would be written on their hearts and minds. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Ezekiel also prophesied of a New Covenant to be given after God’s people repented and removed the detestable things. He said, “I will give them “one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.” While the Law was written on tablets of stone, God would give His people a heart pliable in His hands! (Ezekiel 11:19)

Ezekiel 36:24-27 NKJV
For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

The law would now be in them, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus! This new Law would make them tender to the voice of God and give them a new nature to do the will of the Father. Holy Spirit would cause them to walk in His statues and keep His judgments! How exciting!

See, Ezekiel stated that God’s people profaned the name of the Lord amongst the nations because of their sinful nature. To counteract this, God promised to give them a new Spirit, a Spirit that would align them with His heart and purpose. They would be true witnesses of His love and glory to the nations.

Without the Holy Spirit, the Church cannot be a good witness for Jesus. Our lives will betray our claim of knowing Him without His Spirit in and upon us. While Jesus came to make us right with the Father, the Spirit of Jesus comes to make us pleasing to Him.

Acts 1:8 NKJV
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

We see the fulfillment of His promise in Acts chapter 2, when He filled the disciples with the Holy Spirit. Like the pillar of fire over the tabernacle, tongues of fire rested on the 120 and people from all over heard the wonderful works of God in their own languages. In John 14:17, Jesus told them that the Spirit was with them, but would now be in them, making them true character witnesses of Jesus.

Acts 2:3-6, 8-11 NKJV
“Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

After the giving of the Spirit, the disciples went out spreading the gospel, their lives and voices wonderful witnesses of Jesus. Filled with His Spirit, they exuded His nature and life.
Instead of preaching the law, they began preaching Jesus and the Spirit of the Law of life in Him. With the Spirit of God living inside them and His fire upon them, they did the works that Jesus did and greater.

Then and now, the scheme of the enemy is to deceive us into keeping the law instead of walking in the Spirit of the Law. Paul taught the early church that the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6). Through the Holy Spirit, the Law is already written on our hearts, and minds. Now that we have His indwelling presence, we lean on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in accordance with His will and submit to His leadership.

Before we can really understand Pentecost, we need to look back to the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, God gave the Law, the Testimony (edut), to Moses as a witness of His character and heart toward the people. (Ex. 25:16) This Law was with them, but it wasn’t in them. After Pentecost, the Spirit of the Law got inside them, and now they became living Testimonies of God’s love and truth. So when God said He would give them power to be a witness, it was more than just Him saying, “Now I empower you to win souls for Jesus, work miracles, and have a big ministry.” No! He was using a legal term to establish the New Covenant, a covenant by His Spirit. He would make them witnesses of His Promise, the Testimony would get inside them, and now they would be walking ark of the Covenants, hosting the Spirit of the Law!!

We are the tabernacle, we host the Presence! We are the Priests carrying the Ark and the Testimony, because the Spirit of Jesus, the Word, lives inside of us!!!

Pentecost is a time to celebrate the Law of the Spirit who anoints and animates us to do God’s will in the earth. He makes us a true witness, giving us power to represent Him well on the earth! He puts the Word of God in our mouths as we seek Him and He helps us walk as Jesus walked.

Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3:3 AMP
“You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. [Ex 24:12; 31:18; 32:15, 16; Jer 31:33]

Pentecost was the beginning of God’s people becoming His Epistles – His Law in the earth written by the Holy Spirit! Now, we get to be witnesses, the Testimony of Jesus, by the Spirit of Jesus. Our hearts are His tablets and by the Finger of God He has made us free and filled us with His Spirit! Let us be filled again! (Acts 4:23-31)

Much love,

His Yielded Vessel