After the Lord’s resurrection, His word concerning the Spirit as another Comforter, as the Spirit of reality, was fulfilled. He had said that He would pray that the Father would give us another Comforter, and that this One would be the Spirit of reality who would be in us. Then the Lord went on to say that in that day we would know that He is in the Father, that we are in Him, and that He is in us. He told the disciples definitely that He would not leave them orphans, but that He would be coming to them. The coming of the Spirit of reality was actually Christ’s coming, for Christ is this Spirit. On the day of His resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples, breathed upon them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). This was the Spirit of reality, the Spirit containing all the further elements of the Spirit.
We should not think that since the resurrection of Christ the Spirit is no longer the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord or of Jehovah, or the Holy Spirit. No, the Spirit still is the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9, 14; 1 Cor. 2:14), still the Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9; 8:39; 2 Cor. 3:17), and still the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6; Rom. 15:13, 16). But in addition this Spirit is the Spirit of reality (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13).
According to Acts 16:6, Paul and his co-workers were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.” But verse 7 says that the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go into Bithynia. In these two verses first we have the Holy Spirit, then the Spirit of Jesus. If we study the context of verse 7, we shall see that Paul was suffering. For this reason, the Spirit of Jesus was with him. The Spirit of Jesus has the elements of humanity, human living, and crucifixion. Because Paul in Acts 16 was experiencing human suffering and was experiencing the death of Christ, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit at that juncture were the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of the incarnated One who lived on earth as a man and died on the cross.
Romans 8:9 says, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” Verses 9, 10, and 11 of Romans 8 are concerned with the resurrection of Christ. The Spirit of Christ in verse 9 has the element of resurrection. This Spirit is the Spirit of God mentioned in the same verse and also the Spirit of life mentioned in verse 2.
In the Spirit we have Christ’s incarnation, humanity, human living, death, and resurrection. This is revealed by the different titles of the Spirit. If the Spirit did not contain the elements of incarnation, human living, and crucifixion, why would He be called the Spirit of Jesus? Likewise, if the Spirit did not contain the element of resurrection, why would He be called the Spirit of Christ? Furthermore, if the Spirit did not contain the divine life, why would He be called the Spirit of life? The titles of the Spirit denote certain facts. Therefore, based on the titles of the Spirit used in the New Testament, we can say that in the Spirit of Jesus we have incarnation, humanity, human living, suffering, and crucifixion, and in the Spirit of Christ we have resurrection, the power of resurrection, and the divine life.
In Philippians 1:19 Paul speaks of the Spirit of Jesus Christ: “For I know that for me this shall turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” When Paul wrote this word, he was in prison. But even though he was a prisoner, he could rejoice because he had the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. He enjoyed the Spirit of Jesus, the suffering One, and the Spirit of Christ, the resurrected One. This Spirit supplied and supported Paul in his suffering and enabled him to rejoice. Therefore, Paul could say in Philippians 1:20 and 21, “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death; for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”