AFTER PENTECOST

THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER, THROUGH CHRIST, TO MEN

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4-6 RSV).

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13 NKJ).

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16 NKJ).

Why does Jesus have to ask His Father to give the other Helper? Why would the Father need to “send” or “give” a being Who is equal with Himself?

Note: The word in Greek for “another” means “another just like the first” - “a duplicate.” The spirit of Christ is Christ with us in Spirit, rather than in bodily form. Yet it is still Christ, who comforts us. The Father gave Christ, and the Father gives the Spirit of Christ.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32).

Would not “all things” include the “spirit of Christ” which is given to us by the Father?

THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER LIVES IN US

“. . . one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6).

Note: The Father is “over all” and “through all” and “in all.” The same Being who “sits on the throne” is omnipresent by His Spirit. “Jehovah will come down as the rain” (Hosea 6:3).

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Note: The Father raised Christ from death (1Peter 1:3; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:17-20).

THE FATHER SANCTIFIES AND CLEANSES US

THROUGH CHRIST

“Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:1).

Note: Two beings are mentioned here.

“. . . for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

“. . . giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12 NAS).

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, [the Father] that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Note: The Father brought Christ from the dead (Gal.1:1; 1Pet.1:3). The Father empowers us for righteousness, working in us what is “pleasing in His sight.”

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory [Rev. 5:13] and the dominion forever [1Cor. 15:24-28] and ever. Amen” (1Peter 5:10-11).

Note: The Father is the only true God (John 17:1-3; 1Cor.8:6; John 20:17; Eph. 4:6; Rev.4:9-11; 1Cor. 15:24-28).

THE FATHER : THE GREAT SOURCE

“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1Corinthians 8:6 RSV).

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26).

Note: The word “who” (Strong’s #3739) may also be translated “which” as in Matt 3:9 -“the star which they saw.” The word translated “He” (Strong’s #1565) may also correctly be translated “it.” In the Greek, the word “spirit” is neuter. Having said this, I believe that the Spirit is the manifestation of a personal being - Christ.

The Spirit is given - as was Christ (Luke 11:13). The Spirit was “the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4, Acts 2:33, Luke 24:49). I believe that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, which is manifest to us as the presence of Christ (Eph. 3:14-29).

“. . . one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all” (Ephesians4:6).

THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER

“And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, 'Which,’ He said, 'you heard of from Me, for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4 NAS). (Luke 24:49)

“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Christ] poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33 NAS).

Note: Christ received the Holy Spirit from His Father.

He then poured this Spirit upon His disciples.

THE FATHER GIVES EVERY SPIRITUAL GIFT

ACCORDING TO HIS WILL

THROUGH CHRIST

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17-18).

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things (including the gifts of the Spirit)?” (Romans 8:32).

“. . . giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. . . . But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He [God] wills” (1Corinthians 12:4-11 NAS).

Note: The “He” in this text might refer to the Spirit or to the “God who works all things.” I believe they are one and the same. In a later section I will explain this more fully. The point here being that the Spirit does not seem to have a separate or individual will from that of the Father, which argues against the Spirit being a third divine being.

“God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Hebrews 2:4).

Note: The Father’s will is supreme.

“Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10).

.“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ?When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men’” (Ephesians 4:7-8).

THE SPIRIT IS THE GIFT

“And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ?John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:15-17).

“Then Peter said to them, ?Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (1John 4:12-13).

Note: No man has seen the Father (John 6:46).

“And this is his [the Father’s] commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.” (1John 3:23-24 RSV).

Note: We abide in the Father and the Son (1John 1:24) by the Spirit which He has given to us, through Christ. In John 14:23 Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and Make Our home with him.” The Spirit then is the spirit (or presence) of Christ and it is also the spirit (or presence) of the Father.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO US

THROUGH CHRIST

“This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:6 NRS).

“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33).

The Father gave the gift of the Spirit to Christ, Who then gave it to men.

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11 Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33).

“So Jesus said to them again, ?Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ?Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:21-22).

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER, HAS BECOME ALSO THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9).

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ?Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6 NAS).

“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:19).

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:14-18).

Note: The Spirit of the Father dwelling in, and flowing through His Son, enables Christ to dwell in us. Both the Father and the Son live in us. Their nature becomes also our nature as we partake of divinity.

THE FATHER DWELLS IN CHRIST, AND CHRIST DWELLS IN US.

[Jesus prayed to His Father:] “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:23).

Note: We have fellowship with the Father and the Son (1John 1:3). We “abide in the Son and in the Father” (1John 2:24). John does not say that we abide in the Spirit, or that we have fellowship with the Spirit.

THE RIVER OF LIFE

FROM THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB

“Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1 RSV).

“He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38 RSV).

We are “baptized” in water, and we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:8)

Christ gives to us “living water” which cleanses our heart and then flows out from us. (John 7:38)

We are washed and made spiritually clean by “water and the word.”(Ephesians 5:26)

The “early rain” and “latter rain” symbolize the outpouring of the Spirit. (Hosea 6:3)

Water for Israel flowed from the smitten rock (Exo. 17:6).

We drink of the “water of life.” (Revelation 21:6)

The “river of life” flows from “the throne of God and the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1).

The “river of life” is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which flows from the Father and the Son.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26).

In what way does the Spirit “testify of” Christ? Does this verse convince us that the Holy Spirit must be a third divine being, or at least a third manifestation of the one divine being?

The word “who” (Strong’s #3739) may also be translated “which” as in Matt 3:9 -“the star which they saw.” The word translated “He” (Strong’s #1565) may also correctly be translated “it.” In the Greek, the word “spirit” is neuter. Yet this “spirit” is said to “testify.”

“But I have a greater witness than John’s for the works which the Father has given Me to finish- the very works that I do-bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” (John 5:36).

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think yo have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).

Miracles, signs and wonders testify. Works testify. Scriptures testify. I note this only to say that things other than a personal being can “testify.”

The miracles, wonders, and signs were convincing manifestations of supernatural power. These wonders were performed by Christ, and later by His followers in His name. The signs themselves “testified” that something beyond the ordinary was taking place. The manifestation of the Spirit “testified” to the authenticity of Christ.

Personal beings also “bear witness” or “testify.”

Jesus said, “I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 8:18).

“And the Father Himself, who sent me, has testified of Me” (John 5:37).

The Holy Spirit is not mentioned here as bearing witness of Christ.

Christ prayed, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5).

It is the Father who glorifies Christ. Never once did Christ pray, “Holy Spirit, glorify me.”

In John 16:13-15, speaking of the “Spirit of truth,” Christ said “He will glorify me.” This should tell us that this “Spirit of truth” is the Spirit of the Father -that the Father is indeed glorifying His Son (Compare Matt. 10:19-20 with Luke 12:12 and Mark 13:11. One writer says “the Spirit of the Father, the other two say “the Holy Spirit,” in the same context).

THE LAST ADAM

BECAME A LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT

“'And so it is written, ?The first man Adam became a living being.’

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1Corinthians 15:45, Romans 5:14).

“It is the spirit who gives life” (John 6:63).

Romans 8:10-11 “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Here clearly “Christ is in you” through “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead.” And it was the Father who raised Christ from the dead (Gal. 1:1, 1Pet. 1:3). The dead will come forth because they hear “the voice of the Son of God” (John 5:25). The reason why Jesus can raise the dead is because the Father has give to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26 ). How does the Father do this? By His spirit - which He has given to His Son without measure (John 5:34). The Father dwells in the Son by His Spirit, enabling Him to raise the dead.

THE LORD IS THE SPIRIT

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2Cor. 3:17).

Did you catch that? Jesus IS the Holy Spirit!

THAT HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS

“He who descended [into the grave] is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things” (Ephesians 3:10).

How does Christ “fill all things”? He has been given the power of omnipresence. He has become a “life-giving spirit.” Ephesians 4:6 says that the Father is “through all, and in you all.” So also Christ ascended above the heavens, “that He might fill all things.”

The Father “dwells in” the Son and this enables the Son to “dwell in” us. Christ has been given the power to be omnipresent once again. How this is accomplished - I could not venture to guess. I only know that the Holy Spirit is now the combined spirit of the Father and the Son (John 14:23, 1John 1:3, 1John 2:24).

GOD IS SPIRIT

Speaking to the woman at the well, Jesus said, “God is Spirit,” yet He did not say that men should worship the Spirit. “The true worshipers will worship the Father,” He said, “for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23-24).

One is left with the impression that the Father and the Spirit are one and the same divine being. This is what I believe. God exists as a physical being, who “sits on the throne,” who can be seen and heard by His created beings. God also exists as spirit. Both at the same time. Yet He is only one being.

I believe that the Father and the Son are two distinct beings. They have separate identity. Before the incarnation, I believe that Christ, like His Father, existed as a physical being, and as spirit - both. At the time of the incarnation Christ emptied Himself of His divine attributes. He then existed only as a physical being - and a very limited one at that. He became a man.

When Christ returned to His Father - He was reinstated in the place which He had left vacant. The power to be omnipresent was somehow restored to Him. The Father “dwells in Christ” and Christ is enabled to “dwell in” those who believe in Him.

The Holy Spirit then - is the spirit of both the Father and the Son.

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