Concrete Work of the Spirit: Poythress
My course work at TNARS included an article by Dr. Vern Sheridan Poythress, “New Testament Worldview”, which is part of Revolutions in Worldview: Understanding the Flow of Western Thought (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2007). The following is quoted from pages 94 to 95:
Christ is the final revelation of God to human beings (Heb. 1:3). Therefore, he also is the final revelation of God’s righteousness and goodness. The moral goal for Christians is to be conformed to his image (2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:13–16, 22–24). This renewal also is closely associated with the Holy Spirit, who comes as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:6–11). Paul’s contrast between “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” fulfills the Old Testament contrast between the way of life and of death, the way of wisdom and of folly (Prov. 6–9).
But in what concrete directions does the Spirit work? The New Testament puts love of God and love of the brothers at the center of its exhortations (Gal. 5:14; 1 Cor. 13; Heb. 13:1; 1 John). This love is an outgrowth of the Old Testament commands to love God and love neighbor (Matt. 22:34–40). Genuine love is not in tensio n with the commandments of God, but leads to fulfilling them (John 14:15; Rom. 13:8–10; Gal. 5:14). Love is deepened by the example of Christ’s love (John 13:34–35) and the empowering of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–26).
Since God remains righteous in both Old and New Testament, the basic principles of Old Testament moral standards continue into the New Testament. Not only the basic principles but every detail finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God that Christ inaugurates (Matt. 5:17–20). But the way of fulfillment involves changes and displacement of what was temporary and shadowy, because it is superseded by the reality of Christ (Mark 7:19; Acts 15:9–10; Col. 2:16–17; Heb. 8–10).
New Testament ethics is also distinctive in its goal. The goal is honoring the name of Christ (Phil. 2:11). We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth in which God and the Lamb are central (Rev. 21:1–22:5). Our short-range tactics, as well as long-range strategy, should derive from our awareness that we are soldiers of Christ involved in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10–20; 2 Tim. 2:3–4; Rev. 2–3). The New Testament presents us with this spiritual warfare, involving angels and demons as well as human beings, not merely to enlarge our understanding of the various kinds of beings in the world but so that we might reckon practically with the importance of our allegiance to our Commander and Chief. We are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:19) and pilgrims and sojourners on earth (Heb. 11:13– 16; 12:22–29; Rev. 7:13–14).
There are those who would reduce that “final revelation of God’s righteousness and goodness” to a set of codes or rules. The codes of the Old Covenant are part of the “temporary and shadowy;” what they reveal about Christ and the believer is the concrete of the New Covenant.
“For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6, ESV).
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