What is "the gift of the Holy Spirit"? Acts 10:45-46 indicates that it is the miraculous endowments given by the Spirit in the first century. Some students disagree with this concept. Clem Thurman writes in response to a question in the Gospel Minutes that Christians receive the Spirit Himself. "You are correct that we receive the Holy Spirit when we are baptized into Christ ... (Acts 2:38)" (8/01).
Bruce Terry asserts the same thing in Restoration Quarterly, "Thus 'receive the gift of the Holy Spirit' in Acts 2:38 means 'receive the gift which is the Holy Spirit.' This is both good Greek and good English, as illustrated by the fact that 'drink a glass of water' refers to drinking the water" (1978, p. 196). Note that Mr. Terry does not give us an example from the Bible or from English literature that illustrates his claim in reference to a person. His example is that of a thing. This is important.
Is there a difference in usage when we use "gift of" to refer to a thing (i.e. "gift of eternal life") in contrast to using the phrase to refer to a person (i.e. "gift of Christ")? I believe we can show from both the English and the Greek that there is a distinct difference. Though the phrase "gift of [thing]" may be saying that the thing in the phrase is the gift itself, no writer uses the phrase "gift of [person]" to refer to the person as the gift.
A. Try to call to mind any writer in English that uses the phrase "gift of [person]" to mean that the person in the phrase is the gift given. You will not be able to name one.
B. Having checked the Internet for the phrases "gift of Carol," "gift of Pat," "gift of Tom," "gift of Ron," and a host of others, I could not find one time that the person in the phrase was the gift given. It was always the gift from the person.
C. The only exception (if you can call it an exception) is those who themselves create the phrase for their own use; that is, to illustrate that they think the "gift of the Holy Spirit" is the Holy Spirit as a gift. Pat Donahue creates the phrase "gift of Carol." He did not, and cannot, produce the phrase from any writer, in English or Greek.
A. Check the New Testament (Mat. 5:23-24; Luke 21:1; Heb. 11:4).
B. Check the Old Testament (Num. 18:11, 29; Dan. 5:17; Lev. 23:38; Eze. 20:26, 31, 39; Mic. 1:7).
C. Special note: When the Bible uses the phrase "thy gift," it is comparable to saying, "gift of thee." Therefore, we have included this type of phrase for technical reasons.
A. Check the Old Testament (Ecc. 3:13; 5:19).
B. Check the New Testament.
1. John 4:10 "gift of God" = God's gift
2. Acts 8:20 "gift of God" = God's gift
3. Rom. 6:23 "gift of God" = God's gift
4. Eph. 2:8 "gift of God" = God's gift
5. 2Tim. 1:6 "gift of God" = God's gift
6. Rom 11:29 "gifts ... of God" = God's gifts
7. Eph. 4:7 "gift of Christ" = Christ's gift
8. Heb. 2:4 "gifts of the Holy Spirit" = Spirit's gifts
9. Acts 10:45 "gift of the Holy Spirit" = Spirit's gift
10. Acts 2:38 "gift of the Holy Spirit" = Spirit's gift
A. In Acts 10:45, the phrase means the miraculous endowments of the first century.
B. In Acts 2:38, the phrase means the miraculous endowments of the first century.
A. Who in Peter's audience would have thought that Peter's promise of the "gift of the Holy Spirit" was non-miraculous, a personal indwelling?
1. Peter's audience had read Old Testament passages on the coming of the Spirit (none speak of a personal indwelling).
2. They had witnessed the miracles of Jesus (Matthew thru John).
3. They had witnessed the miracles of the Twelve (Matthew thru John).
4. Joel's prophecy spoke only of the miraculous (Acts 2:17-18).
5. They had witnessed the miraculous events on Pentecost.
B. Every verse in Acts chapter two associated with the Spirit depicts a miraculous endowment (Acts 2:4, 11, 17-18, 33, 38, 43).
C. There is not one undisputed reference to the personal indwelling in the context of Acts 2.
D. Luke makes over 130 allusions to the Holy Spirit or His work in the book of Acts. 118 times are clear, unmistakable references to the supernatural. Out of the other 9 (2:38-39; 5:32; 6:3, 5; 9:31; 11:24; 13:52; 20:28), not one is a clear reference to the non-miraculous (personal indwelling).
CONCLUSION: The phrase "gift of [person]" always means that which the person gives, not the person as the gift. The "gift of the Holy Spirit" is that which He gives, not He Himself as the gift.