his characterizations, and thereby resists our efforts at an overly precise determination. We can say that participation in the life and power given by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2:4)—which is surely a “heavenly gift”—is commonly associated with baptism and the laying on of hands in early Christianity (see John 3:8; Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:18; 10:44–47; 19:6; Gal 4:6; Eph 1:13). The tasting of “the noble word of God and the powers of the coming age” is equally obscure. I choose to translate kalos as “noble”