II. GOD BEING SPIRIT—
THE SUBSTANCE OF GOD’S BEING
John 4:24 says that God is Spirit. Spirit here refers to the substance of God’s being.
III. THE SPIRIT OF GOD—GOD IN HIS MOVE
The Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2b refers to God in His move. Without being the Spirit, God cannot move. When God is moving, He is the Spirit. When a young man runs in a race, he becomes an athlete. The young man and the athlete are one person. When this young man does not exercise, he is just a young man. But in his running, in his move, he is an athlete. In like manner, God in His move is the Spirit.
IV. THE SPIRIT OF JEHOVAH—
GOD IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH MAN
The Spirit of Jehovah is a particular expression, a particular divine title, ascribed to God in His relationship with man (Judg. 3:10). The title Jehovah is used frequently throughout the entire Old Testament, because the Bible is a book concerning God’s relationship with His chosen people.
V. THE HOLY SPIRIT—GOD IN SANCTIFYING, SEPARATING MAN UNTO HIMSELF
The Holy Spirit is God in sanctifying, separating man unto Himself (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18). In the Old Testament, the title the Holy Spirit is not used. The title the Spirit of His holiness is used in Psalm 51:11 and Isaiah 63:10-11. The Holy Spirit as a divine title was used when Christ came to be incarnated. This indicates that Christ’s coming in His incarnation is to get people sanctified, separated unto God. After Christ’s incarnation, God sanctifies us, separates us, by coming into us and by bringing us into Him to mingle us together with Him. In this way man is fully sanctified unto God to be holy.
VI. THE SPIRIT OF JESUS—THE HOLY SPIRIT
BECOMING THE SPIRIT OF THE INCARNATED JESUS
The Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who separates us unto God, becoming the Spirit of the incarnated Jesus (Acts 16:6-7). The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, has become the Spirit of Jesus. Today people talk much about following Jesus and imitating Jesus. But without the Spirit of Jesus, how could we imitate Jesus? Without the Spirit of Jesus, we would be like lifeless robots in the Christian life. What makes us human beings is our human life and our human spirit. I have a human spirit, so I am a man. The animals do not have a spirit. The human spirit makes us particular. In the same way, because we have the Spirit of Jesus, this makes us Christians. This makes us particular people. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of the Man Jesus with humanity that we may live the proper human life and endure its sufferings. By the Spirit of Jesus we share the Lord’s humanity and its suffering strength.
(The Christian Life, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee)
