Spirit of the Son in the Hearts of the Believers

Galatians 4:6, 

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of 

his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” 

This text calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of the Son of God. Those in the Oneness camp who limit the title “Son of God” to the humanity of Christ are perceived as having a problem, in that the “Spirit” of the Son, according to them, is the human spirit of Christ. So the Pluralists ask an honest question: “Are believers, then, in-dwelt with the human spirit of Jesus? Of course, this is a question that must be answered. 

Here we come face to face with the doctrinal benefit of acknowledging the correctness of the term “Son of God,” as referencing the complete God-man person, that is Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible teaches that when the Spirit of God comes into one’s inner-being, it bonds with that person’s human spirit, and becomes one with it (1 Cor 6:171). The amalgamating of the human spirit of Christ with the Holy Spirit of God produced but one Spirit of the Son of God—the God-man. It was/is that Spirit poured out from Jesus into the hearts of all believers—called in holy Scripture the Holy Spirit. One may ponder how John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15), and yet the Apostle John could write that the Holy Spirit was “not yet” (John 7:39), “because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” There seems to, biblically, be a difference between the makeup of the Holy Spirit which indwelt John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit that baptizes Christians. The Holy Spirit that filled John was the Spirit of God, minus the human spirit of Christ; the Holy Spirit with which Christians are baptized contains the added element of Christ’s human spirit. It was this Son of God “Spirit” (i.e. the Spirit of the Incarnated God—the Spirit of the Only Begotten God—the Spirit of Jesus the God-man) that “was not yet,” (the word “given” in the KJV [John 7:39] is an interpolation) “because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” Jesus stated it clearly in John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” So, then, the glorification (crucifixion, resurrection and ascension) was prerequisite for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, because it was the Spirit of the Incarnated God, the Only Begotten God, the unique God-man Spirit that would be poured out on all believers. Peter explained it this way: “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). Thus, the Spirit of the Son of God is in believers, which cries: “Abba, Father.” 

11 Cor 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 

Apostolically Speaking

☩Jerry L Hayes