Yes, and no!
Why the “no”?
For the "yes", I will just give one text, John 4:24a - "God is spirit"; but why the “no”? The “no”,
is no in the sense that God and the Spirit of God can exist separate. What this means is that, God is in Heaven,
yet His Spirit can be all over the place, in the heavens, on the earth, or in
the depths of the earth. In other words,
there is NOT necessarily anything wrong with statements containing both God and
His Spirit as separates; and there are scriptures like that in the Word.
Can God come “in person”, NOT as His Spirit, to earth,
or meet a person?
Yes, an example in Scripture is Moses meeting God in the
desert, at the place of the burning bush.
Another is the case of Moses meeting God on Mount Sinai. One can also say that God was in the
Tabernacle, during the Exodus. Is it not
right that we understand, in present day, God is in Heaven, yet His Spirit is present
on earth, all over the places, literally!
Why do I start with this?
It is because later on, we can appreciate that the Spirit
of Christ and Christ, too, are possible to be separate – Christ Jesus is now
seated with God in Heaven, and the Spirit of Christ is here, with us, in fact,
indwelling us!
We will NOT go into the Triune God theology as such, but
it suffices to say that the case of the Spirit of God, is like that of the Son
(of God); just like Jesus is said to be begotten by God as His one and only
Son, and so, the Son is God, and yet the Son is separate in personhood (when
the Son, Jesus, was on earth as the man-Jesus, God [or Father God] is in Heaven),
the Spirit of God is with separate personhood, even as God is spirit.
So, God (Father God), the Spirit of God, and the Son,
Jesus Christ, are three (personhood), and yet One God.
Secondly, is the
Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit the same?
The answer is Yes.
Apostle Peter equated the two -
Acts 5:3-4 - 3 Then
Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you
have lied to the Holy Spirit
and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4
Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the
money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not
lied just to human beings but to God.”
Who do we receive as the indwelling one, upon entry
into salvation? –
It said in Scripture to be the Holy Spirit or Spirit of
God. In other words, the Holy Spirit and
the Spirit of God are used interchangeably.
The following scriptures illustrate this:
1 Cor 2:12a - What
we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
Eph 1:13-14 - 13
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. When you
believed, you were marked in him {Jesus} with a seal, the promised Holy
Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the
redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Eph 4:30 - And do
not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
2 Cor 1:21-22
- 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in
Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2 Cor 5:5 - Now
the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has
given us the Spirit as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Eph 2:21-22 - 21 In
him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in
the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
1 Cor 6:19 - Do you
not know that your bodies are temples of
the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You
are not your own;
It is very clear from the above, the Spirit of God or His
Spirit and the Holy Spirit are referring to same personhood. We can use all the three names
interchangeably.
The late Andrew Murray taught about this, and said
along these lines -
“Through the Old Testament He was always called the
Spirit of God or the Spirit of the Lord {LORD}; the name of Holy Spirit He did
not yet bear as His own proper name.' It is only in connection with the work He
has to do in preparing the way for Christ, and a body for Him, that the proper
name comes into use (Luke 1: 15, 35).” {
Luke 1:15 is about John the Baptist was to be filled with the Holy Spirit
before he was born; and Luke 1:35, about the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary
(mother of Jesus) to bring about the conceiving of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit.}
My remark on this is that OT Scripture did reference the
Spirit of God as the Holy Spirit.
Examples included these:
Ps 51:11 (NIV) - Do
not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit {holy spirit – KJV} from me. Isaiah 63:10-11 (NIV) –
10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit {holy Spirit – KJV}. So he
turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them. 11 Then his
people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people— where is he
who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he
who set his Holy Spirit among them,
Andrew Murray’s exposition of the Spirit of God being
given by God as the Spirit of the glorified Jesus is however correct. We will touch on it, later, in this article.
Thirdly, is the
Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ the same?
The answer is Yes.
Before we go further into explaining the “Yes” above
Let us talk a little about: Are Christ and the Spirit of
Christ the same or NOT? Now, there are
those who argue that the Spirit of Christ cannot be the Holy Spirit, solely on
the ground that Spirit of Christ is Christ – the same. And so, Christ is now in Heaven with God
(Father God) (that is what Scripture said), how can He still be indwelling us;
or that Jesus spoke about Himself going back to God the Father, and another (implying
NOT Himself) to come. At the outset we
discussed about God and Spirit of God, and said although God is God and the
Spirit of God is God, yet in personhood they are two, meaning God can be in one
place and the Spirit of God can also at another. It is the same with Christ and the Spirit of
Christ; Christ can be in Heaven, seated with the Father God, while His Spirit
(Spirit of Christ) is also elsewhere. In
other words, in personhood, Christ and Spirit of Christ are two (yet are part
of one God).
Is the Spirit of Christ a fourth entity or personhood?
The answer is No.
The Spirit of Christ is still the same third person of the Godhead – the
Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of God.
We have already covered some of the verses supporting the
saying that the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God are the same; are there
scriptures pointing to the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God is also the Spirit
of Christ? Yes, below are some:
Gal 4:6 - Because
you are his sons, God sent the Spirit
of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:9-11 - 9
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if
Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of
sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him {God; Father God} who raised
Jesus from the dead is living in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit {Spirit of God} who
lives in you.
Eph 1:13-14 - 13
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. When you
believed, you were marked in him {Jesus} with a seal, the promised Holy
Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the
redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Eph 4:30 - And do
not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
1 Pet 1:10-12 - 10
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to
come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find
out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them {the prophets} was pointing when he
predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when
they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached
the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit
sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
He, the Apostle Peter, was even saying the OT prophets
were having the Spirit of Christ in them, in their time (OT time). We know from various accounts of the prophets
in OT, it was the Spirit of God that commonly came to the prophets, and gave them
words of prophecies. As a side, in OT,
the Spirit of God could come upon, and into or in the OT people, but the Spirit
was NOT indwelling as such.
Peter was saying with the Spirit of Christ or the Spirit
of God or the Holy Spirit, giving revelations, the prophets spoke about things
to come, concerning the Messiah or Jesus Christ, and then these things had come
to pass, and then, in form of the gospel, were preached to us all, by the Holy
Spirit.
Why “by the Holy Spirit”? The gospel is spiritual, and Scripture
revealed that spiritual things need to be spiritually discerned with the help
of the Holy Spirit, especially when the non-believers were weak or not yet
quickened.
What the above points to, is that the Holy Spirit or the
Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are the same.
Can it really be, that the Spirit of God is also the
Spirit of Christ?
Is NOT the Spirit of God, of God; are we saying, the same
Spirit, is of Christ, now? Yes. One way to view this, is that Scripture said that Jesus said it, that everything of the Father, the Father has given to Him:
John 3:32-35 - 32
He {Jesus} testifies to what he has
seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it
has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the
words of God, for God gives the
Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed
everything in his hands.
Matt 11:27 - “All
things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the
Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him. Luke 10:22- “All
things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is
except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those
to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Scripture also recorded this (John 13:3): Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
Jesus said this in John 10:30 - I and the Father are one.”
The Jews hearing that, wanted to stone Jesus, for His
claim; John 10:33 - “We are not stoning you for any good work,”
they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Jesus then said, in John 10:38, “………that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I
in the Father.””
How could Jesus claim this – that the Father and Him
are one, or that the Father was in Him, and He in the Father?
Because the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit was given
Him, Jesus, without limit or measure (John 3:32-35; quoted above).
John 10:37-38 read: 37
Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even
though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and
understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
Now, Jesus was doing the works of the Father (Father
God); in fact, Jesus repeatedly claimed He was doing the Father’s works. How could He be in full agreement with the
Father?
Because the Father had given Him the Holy Spirit without
limit or measure. In other words, the
Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit of God had become also the Spirit of
Christ. I believe the Apostle Peter had
also known that, when He wrote those verses of 1 Peter 1:10-12 (quoted above),
concerning the Spirit of Christ in the
OT prophets.
Again, how did Jesus know what God wanted done or was in
full agreement with God?
1 Cor 2:10b-11 said these: 10b The
Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a
person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one
knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Jesus knew the thoughts of God because
the Holy Spirit, when given to Him, has become His Spirit or the Spirit of
Christ. The Spirit of Christ and the
Holy Spirit is therefore, one and the same – the Spirit of God.[Added: 10 Jul 2013 - Perhaps, Jesus did hint when He spoke about the giving of the Spirit to indwell the disciples in John 14.
John 14:15-18 -
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Additionally,
to me, it is also possible to argue that verse 17 was even talking about Jesus Himself (the spirit of Him; in the first place, Jesus was NOT
of human spirit, for He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; To me, He came into
the fullness of His Spirit when the Holy Spirit came upon Him after His water
baptism). Was NOT Jesus with the disciples, and they
knew Him, and He lived with them, despite the world NOT seeing Him or
knowing Him. Jesus said (and prophet
Isaiah did prophesize) there were those who see but NOT seeing; hear but NOT
hearing. Such would NOT know Him, and
such formed the world. Jesus said those
who believe unto Him, are no longer of the world, although still in the world (John
17:14-18).]
We have the mind of Christ in the person of the Spirit of Christ within us -
In other words, the mind of Christ is in the person of
the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God.
Now, it also means: It is NOT, now, you have your mind replaced by the
mind of Christ, but it is you have to
listen to the Holy Spirit in order to be in agreement with Christ, or you, be
of wanting what Christ Jesus wants.
There is even a verse in Scripture that said it all, the
Triune God is manifest in Christ Jesus - Col
2:9 (KJV) - For in him {Christ Jesus} dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily.
Everything that God (the Father God) had given to Jesus;
that included the Holy Spirit. As a
side, it is still to be understood that the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Christ,
is a person separate. God is a
personhood, the Son, Jesus, another, and the Spirit of Christ or the Holy
Spirit or the Spirit of God, a third personhood.
Andrew Murray’s view on the Spirit of Christ
In the above, I agreed to talk a little more on Andrew
Murray’s view on the Spirit of Christ:
John 7:38-39 (KJV) - 38
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they
that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given;
because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
As a side, I want to say, we should recognise that there
was an interim period between the clear OT and the NT eras – the time of Jesus ministry
on earth. In that time, Jesus had come
(first coming) but he was NOT crucified and resurrected yet, and so, NOT yet
glorified. But in that time there were
people who believed unto Him; the Apostle Disciples were examples. Jesus had the fullness of the Holy Spirit but
Holy Spirit was NOT given to indwell any of the then disciples, including the
Apostle Disciples. There would be occasions
of the Holy Spirit coming upon them and even in them, but such were still of
like-nature to that experienced by the OT people like the prophets of old, NOT
indwelling (Indwelling I believed happened after Jesus reappearing after
resurrection – John 20:22).
In the 2 verses above of John 7, the stream of living
water was said to be referring to the Holy Spirit, but during that interim
period, believers were NOT yet given and having them, because the Holy Spirit
was NOT given YET. Jesus had NOT been
crucified and had NOT been resurrected; in other words, Jesus had NOT been
glorified YET. Before Jesus went to the
Cross, He told the Disciples to wait for it, the Holy Spirit. This is how Andrew Murray put it: When poured out at Pentecost, He {the Holy
Spirit} came as the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, the Spirit of the Incarnate,
crucified, and exalted Christ, the bearer and communicator to us, not of the
life of God as such, but of that life as it had been interwoven into human
nature in the person of Christ Jesus.
I believe Andrew Murray’s point is that the Spirit of God
was the Spirit of God, in the OT, but in the NT, the Spirit of God is also the
Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the resurrected and glorified Christ. For us, currently living the mortal life on
earth, the Holy Spirit is the bearer and communicator to us, NOT of the life
of God as such, but of that life as it had been interwoven into human nature in
the person of Christ Jesus. Christ
Jesus has always been the Son of God; but the resurrected and glorified Christ,
is NOT just the Son of God, but also the Son of Man, the first-begotten from
the dead, clothed with that glorified humanity which He had perfected and
sanctified for Himself. And just so the
Spirit of God as poured out on Pentecost was indeed something new - Andrew
Murray put it as He (the Spirit) acquired the proper name, Holy Spirit. I would rather say, the newness was in that
the Spirit has taken on the dimension of being the Spirit of Christ.
This thought opens up to us further the reason why it is not
the Spirit of God as such, but the Spirit of Jesus that could be sent to dwell
in us, according to Andrew Murray.
Christ came to bring men again into the fellowship of the
Divine life, which we lost because of sins, to make us partakers of the Divine
nature. He did this, NOT by an exercise of Divine Power on man, but only in the
path of a free, moral, and most real human development. In His own person,
having become flesh, He had to sanctify the flesh, and make it a meet and
willing receptacle for the indwelling of the Spirit of God.
Having done this, He had, in accordance with the law that
the lower form of life rise to a higher, only through decay and death ,in death
both to bear the curse of sin and to give Himself as the seedcorn to bring
forth fruit in us. From His nature, as it was glorified in the resurrection and
ascension, His Spirit came forth as the Spirit of His human life, glorified
into the union with the Divine, to make us partakers of all that He had
personally wrought out and acquired, of Himself and His glorified life.
In virtue of His atonement, man now had a right and title to
the fullness of the Divine Spirit, and to His indwelling, as never before. And
in virtue of His having perfected in Himself a new holy human nature on our
behalf, He could now communicate what previously had no existence -a life at
once human and Divine.
From henceforth the Spirit, just as He was the personal
Divine life, could also become the personal life of men. Even as the Spirit is
the personal life principle in God Himself, so He can be it in the child of
God: the Spirit of God's Son can now be the Spirit that cries in our heart,
Abba, Father.
This part on Andrew Murray’s teachings is taken from his
exposition centering on this - 'The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not
yet glorified."
As extension, my own supposition which you can wonder
about, flowing from what happened to Jesus, that upon His resurrection and
glorification, He was with newness of who He was - that He NOT only became back
the Son of God, but also He became the glorified Son of Man, with His
man-spirit glorified into union with the Divine – the Spirit of God, we, when
we enter into our sharing of the Lord’s glory, when we pass on, we too,
perhaps, could be seeing our spirit glorified into union with the Divine - the Spirit of God. It is indeed glorious, awesomely glorious, if
it is so, won’t you agree!
Jesus Himself, gave us a glimpse of His newness, in
this manner, before His going to the Cross – John 16:12- 15 - 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
The Holy Spirit is spoken as the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of
Truth. God is Truth. Jesus said when the Holy Spirit came (He was
yet to come, for Jesus was NOT yet glorified), He would guide the disciples
into all truth, just as Jesus would, when He was with them.
The Holy Spirit would NOT speak of His own, but speak
only what He hears; hear from where?
Hear from the Lord Jesus, that was what was said by Jesus, in verse 14
above. Does the Holy Spirit NOT hear from
God (God the Father)? I believe the Holy Spirit hears from the Lord, and it is
also that the Father does know what the Lord instructs, and it is unlikely the
Lord Jesus is (or would be) in any disagreement with the Father.
Why the Lord instructs?
Because all that belongs to the Father was already given to the Lord,
said verse 15 above. Jesus Himself, said,
that was why the Spirit would receive from Him what He, the Spirit, would make
known to the believers. Of course, when
we pray to the Father God, all the same, the Lord also hears it, even as the
Father hears it. What all of these also
point to, is that the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God is also His (Christ’s)
Spirit.
Emmanuel, God with us,
is still true
Then, in the interim period when Jesus was walking on
earth, He was with the people as a Man; since then, it is still Emmanuel, God
with us; this time it is He is with us, as the Spirit of Christ.
John 14:16-17 - 16 And I {Jesus} will ask the Father, and he
will give you another advocate {Comforter, Counsellor, Helper, Advocate} to help you and be with you forever—17 the
Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Who sent the indwelling Spirit, the Father God or the
Lord, Christ Jesus?
The Father God is correct; the Lord, Christ Jesus, is
also correct!
John 14:16 - And I {Jesus} will ask the Father, and he will
give you another advocate {Comforter, Counsellor, Helper, Advocate} to help
you and be with you forever
John 14:26 - But
the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you
of everything I have said to you.
John 15:26 - “When the Advocate comes, whom I {Jesus} will
send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the
Father—he will testify about me.
John 16:7 - But
very truly I {Jesus} tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless
I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I {Jesus} go, I will send him to you.
We say, “sama-sama”, same-same. The indwelling Spirit is the Spirit of God,
and so, is from Him, God the Father; and the indwelling Spirit is also the
Spirit of Christ, and so, is from Him, Christ Jesus!
Finally, let it be
clear, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ is one and
the same.
Anthony Chia,
high.expressions
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