The Spirit within us essentially is the firstfruit as the foretaste of the processed Triune God. Romans 8:23 says, “We ourselves also, having the firstfruit of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan in ourselves, eagerly expecting sonship, the redemption of our body.” Here the word “firstfruit” denotes the foretaste that is a guarantee that we shall experience the full taste. The processed Triune God is the full taste, and He has given us the Spirit as the firstfruit to be our foretaste. Within us we have the Spirit for our enjoyment, and this enjoyment is the foretaste of the coming full taste. What we are enjoying of the Triune God today is simply a foretaste; the full taste is yet to come. In eternity we shall enjoy the full taste of the processed Triune God.
Finally, the Spirit we have received essentially is the blessing as the fulfillment of the promise concerning the gospel of God’s New Testament economy. Galatians 3:14 says, “That the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” This verse is extremely important, for it combines the promise of the Spirit with the blessing of Abraham. The blessing of Abraham was promised by God to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) for all the nations of the earth. This promise has been fulfilled, and this blessing has come to us in Christ through His redemption. As the context of Galatians 3:14 indicates, the Spirit is the blessing which God promised to Abraham and which has been received by the believers through faith in Christ. The blessing of the New Testament gospel, therefore, is not going to heaven, and it is not merely the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The blessing of the gospel is the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. As those who have been joined to the Spirit, we have received this blessing.
On the one hand, we have received the Spirit into us essentially; on the other hand, we have been baptized in Him economically. In Mark 1:8b John the Baptist indicated that the Lord Jesus would baptize the believers in the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:5b the Lord said to the disciples, “You shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” In Acts 11:16 Peter said, “I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” Whereas receiving the Spirit essentially is for living, being baptized in the Spirit economically is for ministry. The essential Spirit of life is for the believers to live Christ; the economical Spirit of power is for carrying out Christ’s commission.
Economically the believers have been baptized in the Spirit as the Spirit of power. In Acts 1:8a the Lord Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” This refers to the baptism in the Holy Spirit (v. 5) for the fulfillment of the promise of the Father (v. 4). “Upon you” is different from “in you” (John 14:17). The Holy Spirit was breathed into the disciples on the day of the Lord’s resurrection (John 20:22) to be the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2) in them essentially. The same Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost to be the Spirit of power economically.
In the Old Testament the Father promised, through the prophet Joel, the coming of the Spirit economically (Joel 2:28-29). Then the coming of the Spirit was promised by the Son through His referring to the Father’s promise: “Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you” (Luke 24:49). This promise was of the outpouring of the Spirit as power from on high for the believers’ ministry economically. In Acts 1:5 and 8 the Lord Jesus reminded the believers concerning the promise of the Father, telling them that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit and thereby receive power, not strength or energy, which are matters related to life, by the Holy Spirit coming upon them.