21. In the gospel of John, Jesus said, “We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” This is proof of the Trinity.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
This is Jesus speaking in the gospel of John about a future event. The Father and the Son will live with those who keep His words. The Trinitarian stops right there and says, “There it is, two distinct persons in the Godhead!” But we don’t want to stop there. We want to see how we can harmonize Jesus’ words with the first and greatest commandment: “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD.”
John reiterates Jesus’ concept in his second letter to the churches…
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If someone transgresses and doesn’t abide in the doctrine of Christ, that person doesn’t have God at all. However, those who do will have “both the Father and the Son.” This is what Jesus was talking about back in John 14.
But let’s dig a little deeper. Just exactly what does it mean to “have the Son”? John opened the door to this in the introduction of his gospel….
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
To “have the Son,” we must receive the Son. Is that mere mental acceptance? No. John’s gospel was written many years after the birth of the Church in Acts 2. When did “His own” reject Jesus? At Calvary. Okay, then, when did people begin to “receive Him” to the point of being born of God? On the day of Pentecost. To receive Jesus is to be born again. And the only way to receive Jesus is to receive His Spirit, and that means receiving the Holy Ghost. Can we prove that with scripture?
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
To have the Son is to have Christ in you. How can Christ be “in you” when He is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies? The Trinitarians want it both ways. They want Jesus physically seated at the right hand of His daddy in heaven, and they want Him physically in our hearts at the same time.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Jesus can’t live bodily in a person. His Spirit dwells in believers. Notice how “Spirit of God” and “Spirit of Christ” are used interchangeably. And Paul said almost the same thing in Galatians.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
What is the Spirit of the Son? It is the Spirit of the crucified Christ. What is the name of the Spirit of the Son? That name is Jesus, of course.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Jesus said He would see that they had another Comforter, which would be “the Spirit of Truth.” Is the Spirit of truth the Spirit of His Son?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus is the truth, and His Spirit would be the Spirit of truth, and His Spirit is the Comforter. What else can we say about this Spirit of the Son?
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
We see here that the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, is the Holy Ghost. Now, let’s go over it again…
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
“I will come to you.” Jesus was the comforter with them and would be the comforter IN them. That comforter is identified as the Holy Ghost. And no wonder, Paul wrote almost the same thing in 1 Corinthians 15:45: “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”
Therefore, when we “have the Son,” when the Son comes to us, we have the Spirit of the Son, which is the Holy Ghost. But wait a minute, if having the Son is having the Holy Ghost, then how can we have the Father?
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
The Son’s Father was also the Holy Ghost. How about that? The Spirit of the Son is the Holy Ghost, and the same Holy Ghost fathered the Son. When Jesus spoke of His Father, when we have both the Father and the Son, we have the Spirit of the Son and the Father of the Son. We don’t have two Spirits, but one Spirit occupying two positions of relationship. The Spirit fathered the Son, and the Spirit dwelt in the Son (“God is a Spirit”).
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Now back to John 14….
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
“We,” the Father who conceived the Son in the womb of Mary and the Spirit of the crucified Christ, will come unto him and dwell with him. It is the same Spirit, the same God.