Joel said God would pour out His Spirit on ‘all flesh.’ Peter repeated it at Pentecost. Neither of them added ‘all believing flesh.’ The restriction came later, when institutions began treating the Spirit as something they possessed and distributed. Dismantling Religion takes the promise at its actual size: the Spirit was poured out on humanity. He convicts the world, writes God’s law within, and is already drawing people before they know His name. Evangelism is therefore not carrying an absent God into someone’s life. It is awakening people to the Spirit who has already been reaching for them. If ‘all’ does not mean all here, what in the text gives us permission to narrow it?
Before we walk through it: Name the assumption you brought with you. Then test whether the evidence lets you keep it.
The Argument
- Joel 2:28 and Peter's citation in Acts 2:17 say 'all flesh' — Peter never added the caveat 'all believing flesh'; the 'believers only' narrowing originated with mid-second-century church leaders (e.
- Hebrews 8:11 ('all will know Me, from the least to the greatest') is the unpreached completion of Jeremiah 31:33-34; if the 'law on hearts' was fulfilled at Pentecost, the very next line ('all will...
- Jesus said blaspheming the Spirit was worse than blaspheming Him because in this age the Spirit is Lord (2 Cor 3:17-18); the Spirit convicts the world (John 16:8) — not just the church — and is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27).
Key Scriptures
- Joel 2:28-29
- Acts 2:16-17
- Hebrews 8:11
- Jeremiah 31:33-34
- John 16:8
- Acts 17:27
Over to You
Which verse limits Joel’s ‘all flesh’ to believers—and how should Hebrews 8:11, ‘all will know Me,’ be read if the promise is not universal?
From Dismantling Religion by Chris Drake — Chapter 11: Holy Spirit Poured Out On All Flesh