Spirit in Paul

“Yates contends that when Paul speaks of the Spirit giving life, he does so within the field of discourse generated by the texts from Genesis and Ezekiel. In 1 Cor 15, Gen 2:7 serves as the linchpin of Paul’s argument (15:45–47) that the Spirit gives life through the resurrection of the dead. In 2 Cor 3, the background for Paul’s discussion of the life-giving Spirit comes from both his argument from 1 Cor 15 and the language of Ezek 36–37. This conceptual framework naturally leads to Paul’s conclusion in 2 Cor 5:17 that those in Christ are part of ‘new creation.’ Finally, in his discussion of Rom 5–8, Yates again finds Paul’s language of the Spirit and life reliant upon Ezekiel. Thus, the divine Spirit both enables moral transformation (Rom 8:1–4) but also serves as the means for both human resurrection (8:9–11) and the renewal of all creation (8:18–23).”