Acts 2:38

I am in the throes of writing doctrinal statements for my theology capstone course, and this coming week's is on the Holy Spirit. Having grown up in a markedly charismatic environment, the gifts of the Spirit were part of our everyday vocabulary and orientation, but while putting together this particular statement, it occurred to me that the language of "gift" might well be expanded a bit. Let me show you what I mean out of Acts 2:38 (please pardon the woodenness of the following translation):

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Πετρος δε προς αυτους, "Μετανοησατε,[φησιν,] και βαπτισθητω εκατος υμων επι τω ονοματι Ιησου Χριστου εις αφεσιν των αμαρτιων υμων και λημψεσθε την δωρεαν του αγιου πνευματος."

But Peter [said] to them, "Repent, [he says], and be baptized each one of you upon the name of Jesus Christ unto forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
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Immediately preceding this statement, Peter and Co. have received the Spirit as "tongues of fire" and all who were there were "filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." From here, the party spills out into the street, culminating in Peter's Pentecost sermon to the Jews who had assembled in Jerusalem for the feast. If you want a referesher, go back and read Acts 2:1-41 for the story.

Anyway, as far as I can tell, there are two possibilities to what the "gift of the Holy Spirit" might be in the context. First, Peter could be referring to the enablement of the Spirit, namely the speaking in tongues which confirms the actual presence of the Spirit. If this is the case, then the Spirit is the giver as it were, and speaking in tongues is the gift (or something along these lines). The second possibility is that Peter is referring not to the gift of tongues, per se, but to the Spirit himself. In this reading, the Spirit is actually the object, gramatically speaking, not the subject. But there is a problem with this: If the Spirit is the gift, then who is the giver? For an answer to this question, we would have to leave the book of Acts and go to the Gospel of John ch. 14-17. There, we see that the Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son for the purposes delineated. As such, these are the options on the table for this passage as far as I can tell.

While the second reading requires a bit more legwork, I think it is the correct one, simply because it envelopes the other and fits more snugly into the context and themes of Acts as a whole. One need not limit the options, so to speak, and the gift who is the Spirit surely is attended by manifest enablement, right? So one might wonder what difference this makes, but I think the distinction as I've noted it above is a crucial one to keep in mind, especially for those of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are of a more charismatic persuasion.

It is a matter of emphasis. Which is more primary: the Holy Spirit or the enablement of the Spirit? Why, the divine person of the Holy Spirit, or course! I am concerned that often in our practice and discourse that the Holy Spirit is, in many ways, instrumentalized. That is, He is domesticated into our existential drama of empowerment and meaning all the while being stripped of all the personal marks of a distinct agent. We understand the gift of the Spirit in terms of power, not divine presence, and as such, we tend to use the Holy Spirit toward our own ends rather than those which originate in the Spirit's own moving. It's like when when we use people to get something that we want. Having become so convinced that that "thing" is so worth it, we use someone to get it, but this is a great disservice to their own personhood. Now, apply this to the Holy Spirit who is God.

As I see it, this is a massive mistake which we must guard against. The Holy Spirit is the gift of God's actual, divine presence which takes up residence in us, so to speak. This is surely empowering, but it is much more than power. It is the living Father's Spirit sent to complete the work of the Son in those who believe.

He is, himself, the gift.