Traditional theology of Christianity pays much attention to the Apostles’ Creed, which was formulated in A.D. 325 under Constantine the Great. In that creed there was no mention at all of the seven Spirits. This shows that the Apostles’ Creed was not complete. In history, at least three big groups of Christians officially declared that they want only the Bible and not the Apostles’ Creed: the Brethren, the Southern Baptists, and the Church of Christ. I am afraid that some among us who are still under the influence of the old concepts may think that it is heretical to say that the Lord Jesus had genuine blood and genuine flesh, because it would then mean that He was a real man, a creature. For this reason, they cannot fully accept the statement that the Lord Jesus is the Firstborn of all creation. Regardless of whether people accept this fully, partially, or even not at all, I have to be honest and present to you the pure word of the Lord.
Furthermore, J. N. Darby’s translation of the Bible is very clear about the Lord being the Spirit. Second Corinthians 3:6 says, “The Spirit gives life,” and verse 17 says, “And the Lord is the Spirit.” A note in J. N. Darby’s translation indicates that verses 7 to 16 are a parenthesis; thus, verse 17 directly follows verse 6: “The Spirit gives life,” and “the Lord is the Spirit.” This linking of the Spirit with the Lord strengthens what is said in 1 Corinthians 15:45, that the Lord in His resurrection became the life-giving Spirit. Moreover, 2 Corinthians 3:17 shows us that these two—the Lord and the Spirit—are one, yet They are also two. Verse 17a says that “the Lord is the Spirit,” whereas 17b says that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The former says that the Lord is the Spirit, indicating that the Lord and the Spirit are one, while the latter says, “The Spirit of the Lord,” indicating that the Lord and the Spirit are two. This is just like John 1:1, which says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.” Therefore, the Word and God are two. Then the verse goes on to say, “The Word was God,” so the two are one. Hence, we say that God is triune; He is three yet one. Otherwise, we would have three Gods. Today many Christians and Christian teachers subconsciously have three Gods in their thinking and hearts.
The Bible shows us that the Lord Jesus, who was God, took two big steps for the accomplishment of God’s purpose. The first big step was that He was incarnated to be a real man with flesh and blood that He might be our Redeemer for the redemption of our sins. Then He took the second big step in His resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit. Today the Lord Jesus in whom we believe is not only the One who became flesh but also the One who died and resurrected. The Lord Jesus in whom we believe is the One who became flesh, who shed His blood for the redemption of sins, who died and was resurrected, and who dispenses life. When we believed into Him, first our sins were forgiven and we were redeemed, and second, He came into us. This is not only a doctrine; this is our experience. When you repent, confess your sins, pray, and believe in the Lord Jesus, you not only have peace within but have the forgiveness of sins so that the problems between you and God are resolved. After that you will feel that there is One who has come into you.
The Lord has surely come into you. However, if the Lord were not the Spirit, how could He come into you? Today there are some who say that the Lord is in heaven and not in us and that He is so great and man is too small to contain Him. Therefore, they say that the Lord is not in us, but rather that He has a representative, the Holy Spirit, who is representing Him within us. This is truly to twist the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Holy Spirit is the representative of the Lord Jesus. Rather, the Bible says that the Lord is the Spirit. Furthermore, throughout the centuries, many of the spiritual writings which are of value also clearly state that in the experiences of Christians Christ and the Holy Spirit are just one.
Now we have seen that the Lord Jesus was God. He became flesh for the accomplishment of redemption; He died and was resurrected for the dispensing of life that He might work Himself into us. Regardless of how wrong some theology is and how negligent some people are in reading the Bible, the fact is that everyone who repents, confesses his sins, and believes in the Lord Jesus by calling on His name, has the Lord Jesus in him. No one can deny this. This Lord Jesus is in us; there is not a representative, but rather He Himself is in us. The Lord Jesus is “He who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven” (John 3:13). Not to mention after His death and resurrection, even when He was in the flesh, He was on earth as in heaven.
We must not consider the Lord Jesus with our small brain; we must consider Him only according to what the Bible says. On the one hand, Romans 8:34 clearly says that today the Lord Jesus is in heaven sitting at the right hand of God. On the other hand, verse 10 of the same chapter says that Christ is in us. These are two aspects of the Lord Jesus. We can use electricity as an illustration. There is electricity in this building, and there is also electricity in the electric power plant. They are not two electricities but one electricity. Our Lord, who is boundless, was resurrected from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, John 7:38-39 says that out of the innermost being of those who believe into Him will flow rivers of living water. This He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive, but the Spirit was not yet. At the time the Lord Jesus spoke this word, the life-giving Spirit was not yet, because the Lord had not yet been resurrected from the dead and had not yet been glorified. In other words, at the time He was resurrected from the dead and was thus glorified (Luke 24:26), He then was the life-giving Spirit. This is the biblical truth.
The Lord Jesus is not only our Redeemer but also our life-giving Spirit. Therefore, today by our believing in Him our sins have been forgiven, and we have been reconciled to God; at the same time, by our believing in Him He is in us. If the Lord were not the Spirit, how could we enter into Him? Because He is the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, we entered into Him when we believed into Him. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that it is God who put us in Christ. By our believing into Him, we have entered into Him, the pneumatic Christ, and He has also entered into us.
Now this Redeemer has become the life-giving Spirit. When we believed into Him, God forgave us of our sins, and this life-giving Spirit entered into our spirit to regenerate our spirit. Therefore, John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” To be regenerated in our spirit means that we have another life; the divine life entered into us in addition to the life which we have in our flesh. Thus, we were born twice and have two lives. The first time, we were born of the flesh of our parents, so we have the life of the flesh. The second time, we were born of the Spirit of God in our spirit, so we have the life of the Spirit. Our Lord, who is the life-giving Spirit, dwells in our spirit. Therefore, 2 Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” If our Lord Jesus were not the Spirit, how then could He be with our spirit? Obviously this is not an allegory but a factual statement, proving that today our Lord dwells in the spirit of those who have been saved. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” If the Lord Jesus were not the Spirit and if we did not have a human spirit within, how then could we be one spirit with the Lord? Now we surely know that we have a human spirit within, and this spirit in us has been regenerated. Not only so, as the Spirit, the Lord Jesus has entered into our spirit to dwell in our spirit. Thus, the two spirits became one spirit. All these matters have been neglected in Christian theology.