What about the "We" in John 14:23?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

The question — and why context decides it

• The question posed: a verse in the fourteenth chapter of John's gospel says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. If Jesus is the one God, who is the 'we' and 'our'? The puzzle pressed with it: the human nature of Christ doesn't dwell in us — only the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Christ — so are there two Spirits? That would be some form of binitarianism, not Oneness — or trinitarianism. (The question came with a plea attached: please, no mental gymnastics or verbal contortions.) His response: taking it alone, this might seem to be a difficult passage of scripture — but when you take it in the context, it can be understood. (A deeper, more detailed explanation stands in his book, The Oneness view of Jesus Christ, which has a section on this very passage.) As with all biblical questions, it's important to look at the context.

Scriptures: John 14:23

The chapter from the beginning: if you've seen me, you've seen the Father

• Start reading the chapter from the beginning. Jesus begins talking about going away — because soon he will be dying, resurrecting, ascending — so he's preparing his disciples. He tells them: if you know me, you've known my Father. So Philip asked: well, show us the Father. And Jesus said, how can you ask that? The implication is: God is an invisible Spirit; the only way you would see him is if he manifests himself in some form. Then he goes on: Philip, have you seen all the things that I've done, all the works that I've done? Of course, you can think of healings, casting out demons, forgiving sin, miracles, raising the dead — and not merely that he would call on God to do these things, but by his own power: he's commanding dead people to rise, he's healing the sick, he's casting out demons, he's calming the forces of nature, he's multiplying food for 5,000, turning water into wine — things that only God can do — and he's saying things that only God has a right to say. So he said: well, if you can't believe my words, believe the works, and you'll know that the Father dwells in me and he's doing the works. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

Scriptures: John 14

Another Comforter — who is himself, in another form

• Then he goes on to say: I'm going to leave, but I'm going to send another comforter. But then he explains: the Spirit of Truth — the world doesn't see him, doesn't know him, but you know him, for he dwells with you but shall be in you. Well, now he's really saying: this other comforter is not another Spirit or another person, but it's me in another form. Because who did they already know? It was obviously Jesus. Who did they see? Jesus. So he was basically saying: I'm going to send — I'm going to heaven, so you won't have me in the flesh; but I'll come back in the Spirit, so you'll have me in the Spirit. I won't be with you, walking along the road — if you need help, you've got to call me and I'll come over and lay hands on you — but I'll be in you, so at any time, anywhere, you pray, and then my Spirit can move upon you and heal you, or whatever needs to be done.
• And then he makes it clear in the chapter's eighteenth verse: 'I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.' So he's very clearly saying: the Holy Spirit that will come is going to be me, coming in Spirit form, to dwell in your lives. And when he says 'I will not leave you comfortless' — the Greek word is orphanos, which actually most translations correctly say, and you even say here in the New King James: 'I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.' So if you think about that carefully: if we're not going to be orphans, what does that mean? He will be our father. So in this whole passage, before you get to the twenty-third verse, Jesus is saying: I'm the revelation of the Father; when I'm with you, I'm your Father; the Holy Spirit I will send — the Holy Spirit will be my Spirit; it will be me coming back in Spirit rather than flesh, in another form and another relationship: in you, instead of with you. All that is setting up: you're going to receive the Holy Spirit.

Scriptures: John 14:18

One Spirit — under the Father's titles and the Son's

• So then, after all that, he says: if you believe on me, if you love me, you keep my word — my Father and I will come to dwell in you. Now, if you didn't have everything else, you might say: oh, we're going to receive two different Spirits. But we all know there's only one Spirit of God — Ephesians 4 — and we already know that one Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and we already know Jesus is the revelation of the Father. So are we receiving two Spirits, or three Spirits? No. Even Trinitarians won't say that. Do we have three Spirits living in our heart? No — one, one Spirit. Or, if the Spirit of God moves, can we say: well, on this side of the room is the Father, this side in the middle is the Son, on that side is the Holy Spirit? Nobody will say that — not even Trinitarians. Or could we say: well, last night we had service, the Father is there; tonight it's the Son (heard as 'the sun'); tomorrow night it's going to be the Holy Spirit? No. In other words: you may be Trinitarian in your theology, but you're Oneness in your experience — so you need to conform your theology to your experience, because you only experience one Spirit; you only receive one Spirit. It's clear from this whole context: whatever we receive, we receive the one Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit — which is the Spirit of the Father: in Matthew's gospel (he thinks it's the twentieth verse of the tenth chapter), Jesus even calls the Holy Spirit 'the Spirit of your Father'. And it's the Spirit of the Son, or the Spirit of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1 says 'the Spirit of Jesus Christ'; Galatians 4, 'the Spirit of the Son'. So we're talking about one Spirit, under different titles for different reasons: he's the Spirit of the Father, he's the Spirit of the Son — but we're not talking about two different Spirits; we're not talking about two different persons.

Scriptures: Ephesians 4; Matthew 10:20; Philippians 1; Galatians 4

Why the plural, then? The Father's power and the Son's obedience, in one Spirit

• So what would it mean, then — why the plural? Why does Jesus say 'we will come'? Because he's really talking about one Spirit that will come. So why doesn't he just say 'the Spirit will come' — which is actually what he does say, most of the time? But this one place he says 'we will come'. Does he suddenly mean: you'll receive the Holy Spirit, and you'll receive Father and Son? No. He's saying: when you receive the Holy Spirit, recognize you're receiving the Spirit of the Father and the Son — not as additional Spirits, not as additional persons. What could that mean? Well, to emphasize the Spirit of the Father: you're thinking of our Creator, the Giver of life, the one who spoke the worlds into existence, the one who spoke into chaos and said 'let there be light' — and there was light. When you receive the Holy Spirit, understand: the Father is coming to dwell; you're receiving the God who created the universe; the power within you is the God of miracles, the God of life, the God who can bring order out of chaos, that brings light into darkness. But then, what would it mean to say the Spirit of the Son? Well, it's the same Spirit — the Spirit was in Jesus — but that Spirit caused Jesus to be obedient unto death, to be humble, to serve God as a human. So it was a spirit of meekness, a spirit of gentleness, a spirit of servanthood. So here Jesus is emphasizing: when you receive that one Spirit, not only do you receive the power of the almighty Creator of the universe, but you also receive the Spirit that enabled Jesus to live a sinless life. Although he was God, yet in practicality his human nature, his human identity, his human personality was combined, or joined, with the Spirit of God, so that he always was holy and righteous and submissive and obedient. So that same Spirit will be in you. What Jesus is saying: when you receive the one Holy Spirit, you'll receive the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son — different aspects of the one Spirit. You will know God as your Father, and you know the power of the heavenly Father in you; but you also know God's Spirit as the one who led human flesh to be submissive and obedient to God. He's talking about a rounded experience: you'll have both the Father and the Son — not by different Spirits or different persons, but when you receive the one Holy Spirit.

Scripture index: John 14:23; John 14; John 14:18; Ephesians 4; Matthew 10:20; Philippians 1; Galatians 4.