John 15:26 says, “But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality, who proceeds from the Father.” John 14:26 says that the Father sends the Holy Spirit in the Son’s name and that the Holy Spirit comes in the Son’s name. Yet in 15:26 it says that the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father and that this Spirit proceeds from the Father. This means that the Father is the Son because the Father is in the Son’s name. Not only so, the Greek word for from in 15:26 is para, which means “from with.” This means that the Son sends the Holy Spirit from and with the Father; moreover, the Holy Spirit also comes from and with the Father. Therefore, these two verses show us that the Divine Trinity is actually the One who is three yet one.
The dispute between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church is in these two verses; this is also the reason that the original church was divided into two. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that the Spirit proceeds only from the Father and that only the Father is the source of the Spirit. The Catholic Church believes that both the Father and the Son are the source and that the Spirit comes from both the Father and the Son as the source. Actually, the Holy Spirit comes from the Father, who is in the name of the Son. Therefore, to come from the Son is to come from the Father, and to come from the Father is to come from the Son. Furthermore, when the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son as the source, He does not leave the source but He comes with the source. When we put these two verses together, we discover that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father in the Son’s name and that He comes with the Father. The Holy Spirit is also sent by the Son from and with the Father. Therefore, the Holy Spirit comes not only from and with the Father but also through and with the Son. Eventually, who is it that comes? It is the Triune God who comes; that is, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all come together.
The whole matter lies with the word send. The Father’s sending is the Son’s sending; the Father and the Son are one. When the Holy Spirit is sent, He comes with the Son in the Son’s name and He comes also from and with the Father. Hence, when the Holy Spirit reaches us, the whole Triune God comes. Concerning the Triune God, sometimes you feel that He nourishes and cherishes you as the Son, while other times you feel that He disciplines and gives grace to you as the Father; but most of the time you sense that He is interceding for you as the Spirit. This is the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-reaching man consummately as the Spirit.
I was with the Brethren when I was young. They taught us that when we pray we can pray only to the heavenly Father, in the Son’s name, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, without any confusion. However, when I prayed, I often made mistakes and therefore had to confess and repent of my sin. This shows that the teaching concerning the Divine Trinity greatly affects our Christian life. Later, when I studied these two verses, I found out the story about the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Father’s sending in the Son’s name is the Son’s sending from the Father. Furthermore, the One who is sent comes from and with the Father, and He comes also with the Son in the Son’s name. Eventually, all three of Them come. Today’s Christian teachers mostly teach tritheism, saying that when the Son comes, He comes alone, leaving the Father in heaven. Most of them have neither the knowledge nor the experience concerning the Spirit. Yet we have seen this matter in the holy Word of God, and we can also experience it subjectively.
In 2 Corinthians 3:17 Paul abruptly said that “the Lord is the Spirit.” Today, our critics are most afraid of three Scripture verses: 1 Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 3:17; and Isaiah 9:6. First Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” Some say that the Spirit in this verse is not the Holy Spirit; instead, they say that this verse speaks of Christ becoming a Spirit. However, the Spirit here is modified by life-giving, indicating that this Spirit is the Holy Spirit, because in the universe there is no other Spirit who gives life besides the Holy Spirit.
Some say that “the Lord” in 2 Corinthians 3:17 is a general title of God and that it does not denote the Lord Jesus. However, according to the context, “the Lord” here should refer to Christ the Lord. Verses 14 and 16 of chapter three say, “The veil is being done away with in Christ....But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Verse 17 continues to say, “And the Lord is the Spirit.” Then in 4:5 Paul said, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord.” Obviously, the Lord here refers to Christ the Lord. Paul said that this Lord is the Spirit.
Furthermore, Isaiah 9:6 says, “A son is given to us;... / And His name will be called... / Eternal Father.” Some say that the Father here does not refer to the heavenly Father but to a Father of eternity. They say that eternal (an adjective) should be properly rendered eternity (a noun), just like saying that George Washington is the father of America and Thomas Edison is the father of electricity. However, the writer wrote this verse in the form of a couplet with “child” and “Mighty God” as a pair and with “son” and “Eternal Father” as another pair. The child is the son, and God is the Father. Since there is only one God, there is surely also only one Father. No one can twist this word and say that the Father here does not refer to the Father in the Godhead but to another Father. Furthermore, we must interpret any verse of the Bible according to the particular book in which the verse is found. In the entire book of Isaiah, Jehovah is referred to twice as our Father (63:16; 64:8), indicating that the Eternal Father refers to God, who is our Father. Therefore, we cannot say that He is the Eternal Father and not our Father.
The Son as the Spirit is the embodiment of the Triune God. After completing all the processes, such as incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and glorification, He became “the Spirit” (John 7:39; Rom. 8:26-27; Gal. 3:2, 14) as the ultimate manifestation of the Triune God.
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