In the Godhead Christ is the complete God, the Son of God, and the life-giving Spirit. He is also the Giver of the Spirit. He is the Spirit and also the Giver of the Spirit. This means that He is both the Giver and the gift. The Giver is Christ who has become the Spirit, and the gift is also Christ as the Spirit. The Spirit gives the Spirit as a gift to us.
Concerning Christ as the Giver of the Spirit, John 3:34 says, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit not by measure.” Here we see that Christ gives the Spirit to God’s people without measure. Some versions render this verse incorrectly, saying that God the Father gives the Spirit to the Son without measure. However, if you study the best manuscripts, you will see that this verse means that the Son gives the Spirit without measure to God’s people.
Christ ministers the immeasurable Spirit to the members of His Body. He dispenses the Spirit into all His members so that they may function in a full way. In the church Christ, as the all-inclusive Head, gives the Spirit of life without measure. Because of this immeasurable Spirit we can function as members of the Body. The whole Body is under the anointing of Christ’s immeasurable Spirit.
The Spirit given by Christ is the immeasurable Spirit, and the immeasurable Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit is immeasurable in sphere and all-inclusive in nature. This immeasurable Spirit is the life-giving Spirit spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:45. In resurrection Christ became this life-giving Spirit for imparting life. After His resurrection, through His resurrection, and in His resurrection, Christ became the life-giving Spirit. This is the Spirit, the immeasurable Spirit, whom He gives to us.
We also need to see that the immeasurable Spirit given by Christ is the pneumatic Christ (2 Cor. 3:6, 17-18; Rom. 8:9-11). When we describe the Christ who lived on earth, we may speak of Christ in the flesh. The term “pneumatic Christ” refers to Christ as the Spirit. Due to the traditional teaching concerning the Trinity, some regard the Spirit as a person separate from Christ and then go on to speak of Christ being in the Spirit. Although it is commonly understood that the phrase “Christ in the flesh” refers to Christ Himself while He was on earth, not many understand the term “Christ in the Spirit” to mean that Christ is the Spirit. This has made it necessary for certain teachers to adopt the term “pneumatic Christ” to denote the Christ who is the Spirit. Because of the influence of tradition, if we speak of Christ in the Spirit, others may think that Christ is separate from the Spirit, not realizing that Christ is the Spirit.
The word “pneumatic” means spiritual. However, if we use the term “spiritual Christ” instead of pneumatic Christ, there may be misunderstanding.
Nowhere in the New Testament are we told that Christ, or the Son, is in the Spirit. The Bible does say that the Father is in the Son and that the Son is in the Father (John 17:21). But in the New Testament we do not have the thought that Christ is in the Spirit. Rather, the New Testament reveals that the resurrected Christ became the Spirit. We have pointed out that 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “The Lord is the Spirit.” This is the pneumatic Christ, the Christ who in resurrection has become the life-giving Spirit and who gives Himself as the Spirit to us. The immeasurable Spirit is actually the application of the unlimited Christ. When the unlimited Christ is applied to us, appreciated by us, and enjoyed by us, He is the immeasurable Spirit.
John 1:33 reveals that Christ is “He who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.” In contrast to John the Baptist, who baptized in water, Christ is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Water signifies death and burial for the termination of the repenting people; the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life and resurrection for the germination of the terminated people. The Holy Spirit, into whom Christ has baptized the believers, is the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9). Hence, to be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3), into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19), and even into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).
On the day of Pentecost Christ, the Head of the Body, baptized the Jewish believers in the Holy Spirit. Then in the house of Cornelius Christ baptized all the Gentile believers in the Holy Spirit. By these two steps Christ baptized His entire Body in the Holy Spirit.