The Spirit of Prophecy in the New Testament

Jon Collins (0:05)

Welcome to Bible Project Podcast. We're in a series on the Spirit of God, and we're a few episodes into how the Spirit works within the community of Jesus. That is the Church.

Last week, we talked about the gifts of the Spirit that empower the followers of Jesus to serve one another and the world. In this episode, we're going to zoom in on one of those gifts, the gift of prophecy.

Tim Mackie (0:29)

Prophecy was a really significant manifestation of the Spirit in those early communities and continued on for centuries to follow.

Jon Collins (0:37)

Now, in the Greco-Roman world of the first century, human speaking on behalf of God was very common. But the expectation was that these prophets could only speak for God because they were taken over, out of their minds. They were simply a channel for a God to speak.

Tim Mackie (0:53)

So for the God to truly speak and for it to be authentic, the human agent needs to kind of like go off line.

Jon Collins (1:03)

This was not the model of prophecy promoted in the Hebrew Bible. And it's also not what the followers of Jesus experienced when they spoke God's words to each other. Instead, what we find is that to speak God's words to each other is to remain fully yourself.

Prophecy is the uniting of the human and the divine.

Tim Mackie (1:23)

The New Testament is balancing the model of prophecy that's full of joy because it's full of the life presence of God. But then also it's my mind and I'm speaking coherently. That balance that we see in Acts is also what we see in Paul.

Jon Collins (1:38)

In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses an early church community that was getting a bit chaotic in their gatherings as they experienced the power of the Spirit. And here's how Paul responds.

Tim Mackie (1:49)

He doesn't tell them to stop all this, but he says, listen, first of all, I want love to be the baseline of everything you do and everything you say. And what he would really want people to grow in is what he calls prophecy.

Jon Collins (2:03)

So practice prophecy. But what does this look like?

Tim Mackie (2:07)

He talks about how prophecy is for encouragement, for challenging, for instructing, and for building people up in love and faith.

Jon Collins (2:15)

Speaking God's words to each other helps us become one in Spirit, united in love.

Tim Mackie (2:21)

When it connects with people in very specific, poignant ways, it's really powerful because it feels like, whoa, God sees me and He is talking to me through the fellow member of my church. That's the kind of stuff Paul has in mind here.

Jon Collins (2:37)

Today, Tim Mackie and I talk about prophecy in the New Testament. Thanks for joining us. Here we go.

Hey, Tim.

Tim Mackie (2:49)

Hi, John Collins. Hello.

Jon Collins (2:50)

Hi. Okay, we're doing this.

Tim Mackie (2:54)

Yeah, we are.

Jon Collins (2:54)

We've been talking about the Spirit of God and the story of the Bible together, and it began with, we all have life because of God's Spirit in us, and so we're sustained by God, we can't exist without God, so we have God's Spirit in us, God's breath in us. That's a beautiful concept. But then there's this complimentary idea, which is then, I also have my own spirit.

I have my own thoughts and intentions and my own life energy. And it is a gift from God, but it's on loan to me, and it's mine in some way, and it's separate from God in some way.

Tim Mackie (3:31)

Yeah, maybe I've come to appreciate the word distinct.

Jon Collins (3:34)

Distinct.

Tim Mackie (3:35)

Because to say that it's distinct doesn't mean that it's fully separated. It can't ever be fully separated, because it's sustained by and a gift of the Spirit.

Jon Collins (3:46)

Yeah.

Tim Mackie (3:46)

But it's given a dependent independence.

Jon Collins (3:50)

So as a human, I exist within God's breath.

I am sustained by God's breath. I also have my own Spirit. They are distinct, but they're not separate. So if you're going to stay alive, then you're still connected to God's Spirit in some way.

Tim Mackie (4:11)

Yeah. God is actually sustaining you in your rebellion against God. He's that generous.

So one way to think about that is Spirit 1 is just what keeps us alive, but that's the Spirit we got to give back one day when our bodies return to the dust. But God's purpose is to restore the life of Eden to like everyone and everything. That's the arc of the biblical story. And so this Spirit 2.0, the super boost, is as it were, taking the Spirit that actually has the capability, because it's God's Spirit, to sustain a creature forever. And to say, what if we just pour a little extra of that infinite life Spirit into a person for a time and a place so that their life or words or actions can become a bridge to reconnect heaven and earth in a moment.