By Nathaniel Burson – 11/20/06
Did you know that there are two holy Spirits? Oh, granted, they are united in the same purpose, but there are most definitely TWO spirits mentioned in the Bible. “Heresy!”, you scream? Well, before you run screaming off into the woods, consider a few scriptures;
Matthew 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Now that specifically refers to the spirit of the Father… while this:
Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
…Just as specifically refers to the spirit of Jesus Christ! Now, it could still be argued that there is only one holy spirit, and it is used by both Deities, and so sometimes it is called Christ’s spirit and sometimes the Father’s. But that is a flimsy argument, although it is the one I maintained for a long time. Then I encountered this next scripture, which kicked the foundation right out from under that explanation.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you…
Ok, so we are talking about the spirit of God. Just one spirit, that somehow comprises the thoughts, natures, and emotions of both Deities, right? Well, let’s notice what it says next…
Romans 8:9-10 …Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness ….
So far, so good. The spirit of Christ must be in you, and it is this spirit which leads you into righteousness. But hold on a moment! What does this next verse say??
Romans 8:11 …BUT IF the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
“But if the spirit of HIM THAT RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD…”! This is referring to a DIFFERENT, a SEPERATE spirit, the spirit of God, the Father! “If the spirit of Christ dwells in you, then… ‘BUT IF the spirit of the FATHER dwells in you, then…!” Notice that contrast! Now, I know that this is a topic that can make a good, average, unthinking by-the-book church member get a little hot under the collar.
But hey, I’ve been called a heretic (and a lot of other things!) before. So let’s risk getting called a heretic one more time and examine this idea a bit more. What does the evidence (not established church doctrine) say to this conclusion that there are TWO holy spirits, one of God, and one of Christ, working independently, although to the same purpose? What objections are raised from the Bible, offhand?
Well, the first that come to mind are these scriptures, and the others which say something similar:
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Which I had always understood to mean that there was only ONE holy spirit. After all, isn’t that what it says? Well, not exactly. It says there that we are all baptized by one spirit; and it says we have all drank from one spirit. And it says we are called into one spirit. It does NOT say that there are not two spirits, one of God and Christ! It merely says that the spirit into which the Church is called, the spirit that works with the church, the spirit that LIVES INSIDE THE MEMBERS OF THE TRUE CHURCH, is one spirit.
Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
That helps to explain it. That one spirit that we are baptized into, the one that lives IN us, the one that gives us access to God is.. one spirit. Can you guess whose? Remember, if we don’t have the spirit of Christ, we are not His… So then, that objection is, at the very least, weakened, and our original premise is still going strong.
It always bothered me, from the first time it was explained to me, that God and Christ had the same spirit. That they were somehow physically and spiritually “one”, and yet at the same time separate beings. Let’s face it, that doesn’t make much sense!
Your spirit is what makes you alive, the breath of life which God breathed into Adam and which was in turn bequeathed to you. This “spirit” of yours records everything you do; it guides you; basically, it is that part of you which determines right from wrong.
1 Corinthians 2:10-11 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?…
And the SPIRIT of man knows the “things”, that is, the character, the psyche, or the conscience if you prefer, of that man. And God’s spirit does the EXACT SAME THING FOR HIM!
1 Corinthians 2:11-12 …EVEN SO the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
So JUST AS the things of YOU, your desires, your very nature are KNOWN by your spirit, so also GOD’S NATURE is known by HIS spirit! Doesn’t that just make perfect sense? Of course it does! So let’s take it a step farther!
My spirit knows what I am like, deep down inside. Your spirit, by the same token, knows the same thing about you. Are my spirit and your spirit the same? Certainly not. Is it ever, under any circumstances, possible for them to be physically the same spirit? Certainly not.
Of course, if we were around each other a lot, with both of us working for the same boss, both working towards the same goal, both understanding the same concepts of right and wrong… well, it would be hard for a bystander to tell the difference between our spirits, our characters, wouldn’t it? And let’s say we worked together all our lives, and were almost Siamese twins in nature; well, we might be practically the same person, but WE WOULD ALWAYS BE SEPARATE ENTITIES!
In the case of the God family, God and Christ are, in nature, almost exactly alike; both are incorruptibly, immortally righteous; both can be trusted in any situation, no matter how tempting; both would, in the same situation, do essentially the same thing; but they are NOT the same person! Everyone knows that. Still, they are ALIKE in nature, or spirit! Indeed, THEY ARE ONE!
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
But that doesn’t mean they are the same being – that’s just silly! Christ couldn’t be His own Father and resurrect Himself and still not be His Father and be separate beings and yet at the same time be one Being… that’s like trying to understand the trinity!
They were ONE in spirit – they were, in every important point of doctrine, purpose and morality identical – but despite being ALIKE in spirit, each had HIS OWN SPIRIT! AND EACH SPIRIT HAS IT’S OWN JOB! And here we reach the part that gets truly enlightening! We can now, because of this bit of truth, unlock understanding to enormous areas of the day-to-day interaction between the Masters and Creators of the UNIVERSE!!
Let’s start with an easy one.
John 6:44-45 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
There we see two separate entities doing two separate jobs; no one, says Christ, can come to Him unless the FATHER draws him. And CHRIST will be the one who resurrects the faithful at his return; not His Father! Furthermore, those who the Father brings to Christ are first TAUGHT OF THE FATHER! – which is another point that lays out who-does-what in this grand play being acted out upon this stage we call earth!
John 10:27-31 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Here Christ says that HE is the one who will give us eternal life. And He reiterates that the Father is the one who GAVE them to Him! So again we see that it is God who selects the new converts to send to Christ, and Christ who then teaches them; we’ll come back to this in a moment, after we establish another important point, namely, that CHRIST LIVES IN YOU, and God the Father DOES NOT!
Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
It says “Christ in you”! It does not say “God the Father in you”. There is a reason for that. It says in another place that “If a man have not the spirit of CHRIST, he is none of his…” It also says that if you are in Christ, and he in you… well, let’s just quote the scripture…
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If there was only one holy spirit, as we’ve always thought… it should say “abide in the Father, and I in the Father, and my Father and I both in you…”! Because there is only one spirit, right? If there was only ONE spirit, then if you abode in Christ’s “holy spirit”, then you would HAVE to be abiding in the Father’s “holy spirit” at the same time, wouldn’t you? If there was one spirit, with no difference whatsoever, you would HAVE TO!
But it doesn’t say that! It doesn’t say it because that isn’t how it works! It says that we must abide in CHRIST! It doesn’t say that WE abide in the Father, but that Christ abides in His Father! And if we abide in Christ, then we are vicariously abiding in the Father! We can only abide in the Father through Christ!
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
But enough of this church-speak; what does it mean to “abide in Christ”, or for Him to “abide in His Father”, anyway? In real-world, PRACTICAL terms, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? It’s really very simple;
1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
There we go. As always, it’s not some mystical, ecclesiastical concept. If you keep Christ’s commandments (not the Father’s, but Christ’s) then you will be abiding (or dwelling) in Christ. It means that you are voluntarily placing yourself under his leadership and rule as if you were living in His house… which in a sense, you are. He returns the favor and dwells in you by giving you His spirit.
Likewise, Christ dwells in the Father. How does He do this? Why, in exactly the same way as we abide in Christ. Christ obeys His Father. And the Father’s spirit lives in Him, just as Christ’s lives in us.
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Christ’s sole purpose in coming to Earth was to do His Father’s will. He did this by obeying the Father’s commandments. And so Christ aligned His spirit with the Father’s, in order to do the Father’s will. Christ, by that admission in John 6:38 DOES HAVE His own will, a will that at times may DIFFER from the Father’s…
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Christ clearly spoke of TWO wills here! If Christ’s spirit and the spirit of the Father were exactly identical, much less if they were literally ONE spirit, THEY COULD NOT HAVE TWO DIFFERING WILLS! ONE SPIRIT CANNOT HAVE TWO WILLS! But the opinion of Christ’s spirit and that of His Father’s were DIFFERENT about this point, which proves beyond any question that they do each have a UNIQUE spirit!
John 14:6-7 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
But WE cannot abide in the Father directly! Not yet, at least. Christ must still abide in the Father for us, and we can in turn abide in Christ, who says that NO ONE can come to the Father except by (or through) Him!
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
Just as John 14 said, if you do NOT obey Christ, and abide in Him, you cannot abide in the Father! But if you do, why, you in effect abide in both God and Christ!
John 14:8-10 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
You can know the Father by knowing Christ, because HE SEEKS ONLY THE FATHER’S WILL, and not His own! Therefore, all of Christ’s actions are a perfect portrayal of what the Father wants done! Therefore, if you see the actions of Christ, then you’ll know the will of God! And if you know the will of God, you can learn His nature – and what more is there to truly know about a man, or even a God!!
It’s time we came up for air and took stock of our position; we have established that there are two spirits, each with different jobs. The Father is directly involved in “calling” people, and introducing them to Christ. Then Christ takes over, and offers His spirit to the new convert.
If he likes this new spirit that Christ offers him, then he becomes a part of the church of God and lives his life out, and if he remains faithful throughout his life, Christ will then resurrect him into the family of God. This just man’s spirit will then be made perfect, incorruptible, just as God and Christ are now.
And then… Wait for it…
Then… THIS MAN’S OWN SPIRIT WILL BE THE HOLY SPIRIT!
Yes! The day after the first resurrection there will no longer be only two holy spirits! No, rather there will be 144,002 holy spirits! And every last one of them will be able to perform a different task in one of the many offices in the coming Kingdom of God! And every one of them will be absolutely trustworthy, in EVERY circumstance! A group of righteous, just men, honorable men who were turned into incorruptible spirits by Almighty God, united by the fact that they seek not their own will, but the will of the Father who sends them!
144,002 righteous spirits that cannot be bribed, tempted, or turned! Spirits that are all united in purpose, direction, and goals, united in morals and united in obedience behind a common cause! Immortal Spirits with rivers of living water, veritable RIVERS of holy spirit – their OWN holy spirit – flowing out of their bellies and giving life and happiness to all mankind!
THIS COULD BE YOU!
Part two in this series is called The Spirit – With You, Or In You?
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