Download discussion questions: 1 John 3:23-5:1
After our usual beginning time of looking over the passage and discussion questions individually, one attentive member of the group made the observation: “This is the same passage as last week.” The text of 1 John 3:23 to 5:1 had much to say related to the second section of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in Jesus Christ….” Likewise, the same passage has several statements relating to this week’s topic: “I believe in the Holy Spirit….” This is a good example of the richness of Scripture. Spending an hour discussing or several hours studying a passage never exhausts the depth of God’s message in that text.
The Spirit in John’s Letter
Before we considered the discussion question on the handout, we discussed why John didn’t say more about the Holy Spirit in his letter. One person suggested that questions about the Holy Spirit were not the central issue John was addressing. From the opening words, his letter had been about the nature of Christ, who John and others had actually heard and seen and touched (1 John 1:1). From our “reverse exegesis” last week, it seemed clear that John was refuting a wide range of misunderstandings and misrepresentations about Jesus, the man come in the flesh, the Son of God as propitiation for sins. The apostle mentions the Holy Spirit for the first time more than halfway through his letter (1 John 3:24), although “the anointing” (in 3:20 and twice in 3:27) may have suggested the topic. The churches John was writing to were struggling with understanding how a Jewish carpenter could be God. Perhaps this letter would have only caused more confusion if it included details about the Spirit who is also equally God. Another person also mentioned that the Holy Spirit typically does not draw great attention to Himself. One image that has been used is a spotlight (the Spirit) highlighting a statue (the Son) pointing upward (to the Father). As He inspired John’s writings, the Holy Spirit was clearly illuminating the Son.
Characteristics of The Holy Spirit
We observed various characteristics John attributed to the Spirit in this passage:
- He (“the one in you”) is described as greater than one in the world (4:4).
- He is given (3:24, 4:13).
- He is discerning (4:2)
- He is the Spirit of truth (4:6).
- He is evidence of God’s abiding (3:24; 4:13).
- He is the Spirit of God (4:2)
- He confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (4:2)
Divine Nature of the Holy Spirit
We also looked to see what (if anything) John had to say in this passage about the divine nature of the Holy Spirit. As a reminder, the difference between upper and lower case letters was not in John’s original letter. The context is used when translators distinguish between “Spirit” and “spirit.”
Not surprisingly, since John’s main objective was to clarify the nature of Christ, he had much more to say on that topic. He was not quite as explicit about the deity of the Spirit. However, there are hints of what John was thinking. He is the Spirit of God (4:2), the evidence of God’s abiding (3:24), the evidence of the abiding of the One never seen (4:12-13). Our group considered the idea that even the presence of a mighty angel or other supernatural being would not necessarily provide that kind of evidence. The unmistakable evidence of God abiding (the Father or the Son, see below) is the abiding of the Spirit, who also is fully God.
Although the explicit evidence for the deity of the Holy Spirit is not spelled out in detail in this text, other passages of Scripture make that fact certain. As one simple example, I mentioned that I am currently studying the book of Acts in my quiet time. In the passage where Peter confronts the lying Ananias and Saphira, he makes it plain: lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3) is lying to God (Acts 5:4). John’s agenda may not have been to defend the deity of the Spirit in this passage. Peter wanted to make the seriousness of the sin of Ananias unmistakably clear – actions and attitudes toward the Holy Spirit are actions and attitudes toward God.
Testing the Spirits
One clear and direct command that in the 1 John passage was to “test the spirits” (4:1), since some spirits are directly opposed to the true gospel, the antichrist(s) already mentioned in 2:18-22. The testing is to test the authenticity or genuineness of a spirit. The idea is the same as in 1 Corinthians 3:13, about fire “proving” (dokimazō, δοκιμάζω) the value of a person’s work. In a translation from 1898, “every spirit believe not, but prove the spirits, if of God they are.”[1] A true spirit from God, and especially the Holy Spirit Himself, would be eager to “prove” His identity by confessing that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (4:2). Only by the Holy Spirit can anyone affirm Jesus’ identity (1 Corinthians 12:3).
We discussed the test itself with a brief grammar quiz. John’s criterion was that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” Why not simply, “Jesus Christ came in the flesh”? What is the difference between “came” and “has come”? Grammatically, what is the difference between perfect tense and past tense, whether in English or in Greek?
Consider the difference between these two comments describing an event:
- My friend came to visit.
- My friend has come to visit.
In the second sentence, the implication is that the friend is still here. Perfect tense shows a past action completed (or, “perfected”) with lasting results. The friend is still visiting. The confession of the Spirit that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” implies volumes of theological truth: Jesus (fully human) Christ (fully God) has come (and remains) in the flesh (a real human body). Anyone (human or spirit) who admits that Jesus came in the flesh might only mean that He was a good teacher who was unjustly executed. But the confession (homologeō, ὁμολογέω, “says the same, agrees”) that He “has come” in the flesh affirms the resurrection, the ascension, and His continuing presence “at the right hand of the Father.”
Behold His hands and side,
Those wounds yet visible above,
In beauty glorified.[2]
The true Spirit declares that truth. That is the Spirit illuminating the Son so we can see Him pointing to the Father.
The Source of the Holy Spirit
As has happened several times in our exploration of 1 John, some of the divine pronouns seem a little ambiguous. For example, “love one another, just as He commanded us” (3:23). Is “He” the Father (the verse mentions “His” Son)? Or is “He” the Son, the One who actually gave the command to love?
It is important to note that the question is not about the origin of the Spirit. He is eternal, as a Member of the Holy Trinity, the Godhead, the Three-Personal God who had no beginning. As the eternal Son had no beginning, but was sent by the Father, so the eternal Spirit had no beginning. The question relates to the workings of the Trinity and the sending of the Spirit.
In the Gospel, John recorded several things which Jesus Himself said about the sending of the Spirit. Consider those verses together with several statements from John’s letter.
- Sometimes it seems that the Father sends the Spirit:
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 1 John 2:20-21
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 3:24
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 1 John 4:12-13
- Sometimes it seems that the Son sends the Spirit:
This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things. 1 John 2:25-27
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. John 14:26
When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father – He will testify about me. John 15:26
Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. John 16:7
Did the Father or the Son send the Spirit? As one person in our group responded, the answer is, “Yes.” These verses provide a beautiful picture of the work of both the Father and the Son in the mission of the Spirit. The sending or giving of the Spirit is an example of the completely unified activity of the Triune God: “From the Father, through the Son…”[3]
The Nicene-Constantinople Expansion
As we have discussed before, the Nicene Creed reaffirmed most of the Apostles’ Creed, and elaborated significantly on some parts. What we call the Nicene Creed was actually the result of two major councils:
Emperor Constantine called for a council of bishops to deal with the controversial teachings of an Alexandrian presbyter named Arius. Arius was a popular preacher who taught that Jesus was a created being like God the Father but not the same as God the Father. The council took place in AD 325 [in the city of Nicaea, modern day Iznik, Turkey] and its central affirmations were that Jesus was truly God, he was of the same essence as the Father, and he was begotten not made. However, the debate continued for the next fifty years, with the political class committed to an Arian interpretation of the Creed of Nicaea.[4]
Arian doctrines of Christ were excluded at Nicaea, but they found other potential points of entry in the creed. For example, the only statement about the Holy Spirit from the original meeting in Nicaea was, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” repeating the brief affirmation from the Apostles’ Creed. Perhaps like John in his letter, the council kept their focus on the controversies about the nature of Christ. The council at Constantinople further expanded on the nature of the Holy Spirit, making it clear that He, too, is a divine person and member of the Three-Personal God.
The expansion resulted from the continuation of the Arian controversy, which became even more radical and bitter following the rejection of the Arians at the Nicene Council in 325. The Holy Spirit was a convenient point of attack for those whose main target was the divinity of the Son. If the Spirit that worked through the Son and is at work in Christians is only a creature and not God, then the Son is not God either.[5]
| Apostles’ Creed (ca. AD 200) |
Nicene Creed (ca. AD 325 & 381) |
| I believe in the Holy Spirit,
|
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and Giver of Life; |
| the holy catholic Church, | And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. |
| the communion of saints, | |
| I acknowledge one baptism | |
| the forgiveness of sins, | for the remission of sins; |
| the resurrection of the body, | and I look for the resurrection of the dead, |
| and life everlasting. | and the life of the world to come. |
The Work of the Holy Spirit
What about all the other statements after, “I believe in the Holy Spirit” in the Apostles’ Creed? I have to admit that before this study and discussion group I had carelessly assumed these additional statements were almost an appendix to the Creed. They are important, but they seemed almost “tacked on,” added after the Creed had finished describing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It always pays to keep studying and asking questions about our assumptions (especially the careless ones!).
Looking at each of the “tacked on” statements revealed that they are anything but an appendix. The first section of the Creed on the Father describes His character and work. The section on the Son expresses His divinity and His mission. Likewise, the third section on the Holy Spirit summarizes the ministry He undertakes in the world. Consider the following list of descriptions of the work of God’s Holy Spirit:
Holy, catholic, apostolic Church
- holy: Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22
- catholic (universal): For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13
- apostolic (orthodox): But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. John 14:26
Communion of saints
- with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3
Forgiveness of sins
- that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith Ephesians 3:16-17
Resurrection of the body
- But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11
Life everlasting
- In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13
Like the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit plays His particular part in the story God is telling. God’s work is the perfectly unified plan of the Triune God: from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit.
The Invitation of the Creeds
The Creed provides a framework of our faith, an overview map showing main features if not all the details. That framework gives us a way to distinguish true orthodoxy from heresy. The illustration with “FINE HERE” inside the boundaries of the Nicene Creed used in our first discussion of the Creed is a helpful reminder.
However, the Creeds are more than a test for orthodoxy. The Creeds can provide a further reminder of the depth of our faith. As Augustine suggested, repeating the Apostles’ Creed during the day can help us toward a richer, balanced, and Biblically accurate understanding of the God who is at work in our lives.
The creeds do not merely summarize doctrine but also issue an invitation to explore further the work and wonder of the God who is known to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The creeds propel us to open our Bibles and to read and reflect upon them in greater depth, so that we might know God better and be equipped to walk the path he has marked out for us.[6]
May that exploration be the result of our study of the Creed.
[1] Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible (Lafayette, Indiana: Greater Truth Publishers, 2004).
[2] Matthew Bridges, “Crown Him with Many Crowns”, The Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Convention Press, 1991), 161.
[3] Thomas F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith: Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church (London: T&T Clark Cornerstones, 2016), Kindle Edition, location 649 – 655, emphasis added.
[4] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 25; Kindle Edition location 355, emphasis added.
[5] Luke Timothy Johnson, The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 216; Kindle Edition location 3118.
[6] Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 41-42.