Note: Part 2 of my podcast discussion with Lisa Meister is out, wherein we complete our response to the Christianity Today podcast series about the so-called "Satanic Panic." You can go here and scroll to the bottom to get all the links.

Hi ~

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

For the Jews, the Passover was the biggest event of the year, celebrating God's deliverance from Egypt.

When Jesus came and died and rose again during that very same Passover period, the celebration of His deliverance from "spiritual Egypt" superseded the previous celebration.

It was, as the New Covenant says, "Better."

And we Christians know all this well.

But then, fifty days later . . .

Fifty days later came the Jewish celebration of Pentecost.

That was their celebration of the receiving of the Law.

It is no mere coincidence that the Holy Spirit descended on His people on that very same day, the same day the Jews celebrated the giving of the Law.

Now, in the New Covenant, that commemoration would be superseded by the memory of giving (and receiving) of the Holy Spirit, poured out in abundance on His church.

As I pondered these truths recently, I remembered a Scripture in Galatians, one I've written about before.

At first it says, "walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Yes, it made sense to me that those would be opposites.

But then a couple of verses later, after describing how walking in the Spirit can overcome the desires of the flesh, Paul says, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

Back when I first studied Galatians over 20 years ago, that particular contrast pulled me up short. What in the world was he talking about?

Now I know.

You are not under the Law. If you live and walk in the Spirit.

Because the Spirit has the power to transform our inner beings just that much.

And now, in thinking about Pentecost, I pondered.

The Spirit descended on the same day the giving of the Law was celebrated.

The Holy Spirit came to replace the Law of Moses.

He is the one who causes the "law of Christ" to be implanted in our hearts so "being led by the Spirit" can be as natural as taking a breath of air, as we continue to turn our hearts and spirits to Him.

As Jesus, through His death and resurrection, replaced Passover, so the Spirit, through His coming, replaced "life by the Law."

This is a beautiful thing. And I hope more churches will celebrate it.

With you in rejoicing in that grand new celebration!

Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures at heresthejoy.com

See my Untwisting Scriptures series

Trauma-informed Christian book coach at Rebecca Davis WordWorking

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