Spirit of God and of Christ

Originally posted on June 27, 2006 – by Andre Piet

QUESTION:
Can one conclude from the wording in Romans 8:9 that the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are the same?

Yet you are not in flesh,
but in [the] Spirit,
if so be that [the] Spirit of God is making its home in you.
Now if anyone has not [the] Spirit of Christ,
this one is not His.

ANSWER:

1. This is not about the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ. The definite article is absent in the original text. Both the article and the capitalization of the word “Spirit” make the Bible translation rather suggestive. The suggestion, namely, is that it refers to two distinct persons. The point, however, is that the spirit of God is not someone separate from God, but the power and life of God Himself. In the same way, the spirit of Christ is not someone separate from Christ, but the power and life of Christ Himself.

2. At His resurrection from the dead, Christ received holy spirit from God (Acts 2:33). In this, receiving spirit is synonymous with receiving life. Just think of Adam, when spirit was breathed into him. On that occasion, he became “a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). The negative side of the same story is that when a person “gives up the spirit,” he dies (John 19:30). Anyway, when Christ rose, He received incorruptible life – a ‘form’ of spirit that until then had been unknown (cf. John 7:39). Hence also the term “holy spirit.” Since the Firstfruit has risen from the grave, this spirit of God is characteristic of Christ. That is why this “spirit of God” can just as well be called “spirit of Christ.” After all, it refers to the same Life!

3. Whoever believes in the risen Christ has the Word of Life within. And with that, also the Spirit (or ‘spirit’, if you prefer; Eph. 1:13). For Word and Spirit are, in this context, fundamentally the same. That is why the Lord Jesus once said: “The declarations which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life…” (John 6:63). This near-synonymy of terms goes even further, because since the life of Christ (= His spirit = His word) dwells in us, He Himself (according to the apostle) dwells in us as well. That’s why Paul, directly after verse 9, observes:

Now if Christ is in you,
the body, indeed, is dead because of sin,
yet [the] spirit is life because of righteousness.
(Rom. 8:10)

In summary:
It is called “spirit” because it is invisible and refers to life and power.
It is called “spirit of God” because it refers to the life that originates from God.
It is called “spirit of Christ” because He is the Firstfruit of this life.
It is called “Christ” because Christ represents “the vivifying spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45).

Delen: