The Submissive Spirit

Let’s talk now about the Holy Spirit. His purpose and mission help us get an understanding of Jesus' relationship to God--and how Jesus proceeds from God. So, what do we learn from the Holy Spirit? How does his role in the Father-Jesus-Spirit hierarchy impact us?

Well, first of all, the Spirit serves Jesus and that inspires us to serve Jesus too. Specifically, the Spirit inspires us to be submissive to Jesus. The Spirit can cure the rebelliousness of our hearts because he lives there--and from there he inspires obedience to our authorities!

And the Spirit is a paragon of obedience to Jesus. Although you likely never thought about why the Spirit obeys Jesus, let’s do that now. Let’s reflect upon why he’s so obedient to the Lord Jesus. And we'll state it from the start. His obedience is for one basic reason: The Father gave Jesus complete authority over the Spirit.

That's right. Jesus got his authority over the Spirit from the Father. We know that not only because Jesus exercises this authority, but because he said it explicitly. Yes, that’s what Jesus meant when he said that:

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’ (John 16:15).

Let's be good interpreters of the Scripture and answer some probing questions about this text:

Question #1: According to his own words, why did the Lord say ‘the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you’?

Answer: Because ‘all that belongs to the Father’ also belongs to Jesus. See it again:

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’ (John 16:15).

Question #2: Who authorized Jesus to have control of all that belongs to the Father?

Answer: The Father did. Who else?

Question #3: And to whom or to what is Jesus referring to when he says all that belongs to the Father?  Remember, he said: 'All that belongs to the Father is mine.' Who or what belongs to the Father which now also belongs to Jesus?

Answer: The Holy Spirit. The context is clear that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit. Read it again:

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’ (John 16:15).

Furthermore, the Spirit himself demonstrates his new subordinate position to Jesus (and shows us that his relationship to Jesus is one of submission) by taking from Jesus and delivering to us. He takes the blessings, anointing, revelations, Word, and salvation of Jesus from Jesus, and delivers them to us.

Jesus very carefully crafted his statement when he said ‘the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.’ And the Lord intended that the from and the to might signify something important. They signify that the Spirit is now the intermediary between us and Jesus. The Holy Spirit connects us to Christ. That’s a very important way the Holy Spirit serves Jesus now, as intermediary.

Jesus: Lord of the Holy Spirit

Jesus has authority over the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and now exercises authority over everyone. And everyone means you, me, demons, angels--without excluding the Holy Spirit! This is the extent of Jesus' authority. God made Jesus Lord, supervisor, and boss even of the Holy Spirit!

In all the Universe, the only Being over whom Jesus does not have authority is the One who gave him authority, the One God--who is Father of All. The One God is the Lord of All, but Jesus is Lord of all too--minus God.

Consider how important Jesus' sovereignty was to the Apostles. Peter went out of his way to include a clear statement regarding Jesus' authority over the Holy Spirit in his famous Pentecost sermon. It was at that milestone meeting, the event that gave birth to the Church, that Peter proclaimed the truth that Jesus is now Lord of the Holy Spirit, declaring this:

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:33).

Q&A

Again, let's do some hermeneutics. Let's interpret Acts 2:33 with some simple Q&A. According to the text:

• What did Jesus pour out?

  Answer: the anointing for tongues

  
  

• Who/what caused the anointing?

  Answer: the Holy Spirit

  
  

  With his death and resurrection complete, the New Covenant established, and having received all authority in Heaven and Earth from the Father, Jesus decided that it was time that believers would qualify for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus made that determination, and with his newfound authority over the Spirit, him sent him down to us from Heaven.

  
  

• Who belonged to the Father?

  Answer: the Holy Spirit because Jesus 'received' the Spirit from the Father

  
  

• To whom does the Spirit also belong now?

  Answer: to Jesus

  
  

• What does Jesus do with the Holy Spirit?

  Answer: He anoints us, giving us power

Again, the powerful words Peter preached at Pentecost are:

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:33).

Not With Ink, But...

Another way to understand this relationship of Jesus to the Spirit is to see the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ ink--like the ink from a pen. With the Holy Spirit, Jesus writes upon our hearts. In other words, the truths Jesus revealed to us, the revelations he sends us, and the inspiration we feel through the Scriptures are Jesus wielding the influence of the Holy Spirit over us like a poet wielding a pen.

That’s why Paul wrote:

… you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3).

So, we are a letter from Christ which he wrote with the Holy Spirit. He is working through the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside. He writes on our hearts. We are a letter, like the ancient papyrus scrolls of Biblical times. Jesus writes on our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Picture the Spirit as a quill in the hands of Jesus. Imagine the anointing as the ink. The Spirit's message on your heart cannot be erased easily.

The Spirit of Christ

So, Jesus ministers to us by means of his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ twice (Romans 8:9 and 1 Peter 1:11) and the Spirit of Jesus Christ once (Philippians 1:19) in the Bible.

For the Spirit to be the Spirit of Jesus means that Jesus is the Holy Spirit’s boss--his authority. Jesus tells the Holy Spirit what to say and do. For example, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us. That's why Jesus made these two statements:

He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me [Jesus] because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you (John 16:14).

… the Helper, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I [Jesus] said to you (John 14:26; NKJV).

This relationship is so tight, and in it the Holy Spirit is so obedient, that we say the Lord Jesus Christ is in you through the Holy Spirit! And we say it because the Bible said it first. Notice the comparison Paul makes in Romans 8 when he uses the Spirit of Christ parallel to Christ in you in a very powerful way. Paul makes it obvious that the Spirit of Christ, who is the Holy Spirit, is Christ in us!

Paul wrote:

… if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then… (Romans 8:9-10)

We repeat: The Spirit of Christ is the Holy Spirit. And when he is in you, Christ is in you! Why? Are Christ and the Holy Spirit the exact same Being? No. There is One Lord and One Spirit. One plus one equals two. Jesus and the Spirit make two.

However, when the Spirit is in us, Christ is in us because the Spirit is completely obedient to Jesus. He only does and says what Jesus tells him. He represents Jesus faithfully.

A Faithful Representative

When Jesus said that he stands at the door and knocks, he meant for us to understand that as the Holy Spirit because 'the Lord is the Spirit.' You and I are supposed to understand that where the Spirit is, there is Jesus also.

From that truth you can deduce that Jesus wants the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts. How so? Well, Jesus said:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).

Similarly, when Jesus says that he and the Father will come to us, and dwell with us, he again means through the Holy Spirit. Remember that both Jesus and the Father sent the Spirit to us.

Are you following?

You will if you understand that the Holy Spirit is both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit belongs to both of them, so the Holy Spirit can be sent by either Jesus or the Father. He represents both of them like an Ambassador who represents the President but also the Secretary of State (the Minister of Foreign Affairs). He carries out the will of both of them. He aligns with both of them.

And you'll note that the Spirit represents Jesus and the Father with high fidelity. That is, he faithfully reports to us everything they say through him. That's precisely why Jesus spoke of both Jesus and the Father making their dwelling place the hearts of those who believe in Jesus. What he meant was that the Spirit (faithful to both the Father and Jesus) would live within us.

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 abode with him (John 14:23).

That's Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit.

Can’t Do Anything

Now, let's review.

Most people think that Jesus performed miracles, healings, signs, and wonders through his own power. These are the same people whose interpretation of Jesus' miracles is that he did the miracles “because he was God.” They credit his calming the sea, walking on water, multiplication of the loaves, miracles, healings, and even his resurrection to himself.

But they’re very wrong—as wrong as two left shoes. Not one of the miracles Jesus performed were performed in his own strength. Jesus reinforced the correct interpretation of Scripture, and the correct notion of who he is, when he told his followers:

By myself I can do nothing... (John 5:30)

All the miracles Jesus performed, he performed with the anointing God gave him. His miracles were not from him, but from God--the Father who was acting through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had nothing of the divine nature when he came to us in the flesh. Zero, zilch, nothing! And that truth—the truth that Jesus was conceived and born 100% man, a man with the same nature as you and me, the human nature of sin—is the root of all sound Christian doctrine. It’s called the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1; 2 John 1:9-10). You must embrace it, or you will fail.

Peter Explains the Relationship

Let's examine how Peter explained Jesus' power and, along with it, the Doctrine of Christ. He preached a message long before Christian doctrine got corrupted by the cheap watered-down message you hear today. Peter explained to thousands of people, among whom 3,000 believed that 'God anointed Jesus... with the Holy Spirit' and that was Jesus' source of power.

Peter explained:

... how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, because God was with him (Acts 10:38).

Did you get that? The official message of the Church, delivered by the man handpicked by Jesus, Peter (the "Rock"), was that Jesus healed people ‘because God was with him.’ Accordingly, the day the Church was born, Peter began his unforgettable sermon with the carefully calculated words:

Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know (Acts 2:22).

You Know?

Did you get that last part? Peter wrapped up his message with the words ‘As you yourselves know.’ Now, that means that the Jews of Peter’s day already knew these truths, and they did—but do you know them?

Nobody in society today knows the Bible better than Evangelicals, but almost no church-going Evangelicals know this vital truth—a truth that all the Jews of Peter’s day were aware of.

In fact, the situation is much worse than ignorance. Most Evangelicals deny this doctrine after hearing it. They oppose it!

Regardless of the opposition, the teaching remains true. It doesn’t matter how many people deny it, ignore it, or fervently oppose it. We'll still proclaim it. It's hard, but in spite of the blindness that pervades Christian churches today, we’ll declare the Truth.

So, to help you be grounded, here’s a short list of the teachings to which you must cling tightly:

1. Jesus was conceived, lived, and died 100% human / 0% divine—a man among men.

2. God demonstrated to the World his approval of Jesus by giving him the Holy Spirit.

3. Jesus performed supernatural wonders such as miracles and healings.

4. God deserves the credit for the supernatural works Jesus did.

We get these points from Peter, the first leader of the Church, because he preached each of them on Pentecost--back when everybody already knew them. When the Church first started in Acts 2, even most unbelievers knew these points. You didn't need to be a Christian to believe them.

But those who started calling Jesus the Christ (that translates as the Anointed One--in other words, the person who has the Holy Spirit) became the first Christ-ians. So, what about you? Do you believe in the Christ--God's Anointed One? If you do, then you are a Christian.