THE TRIUNE GOD BEING INSEPARABLE IN OUR EXPERIENCE
Christ is the One who is the embodiment of the complete Triune God, who is inseparable. When we have the Lord Jesus, we have God because Christ is God. At the same time, when we have the Lord Jesus, we have the Father because the Father is in Him and He is in the Father. Furthermore, since Christ has become the life-giving Spirit in His resurrection, when we have Him, we have the Spirit also. John 3:34 says, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for He gives the Spirit not by measure.” He whom God has sent is Christ. He has been sent by God not only to speak the words of God to us but also to give us the Spirit not by measure. He can do this because the words which He speaks to us are spirit and are life (6:63). Every word which He speaks to us is spirit; hence, He gives to us the Spirit not by measure. If we want to receive the Spirit given by Him, we must listen to His words. This indicates that the Spirit is Christ Himself. Hence, when we experience Christ, we experience the Triune God; when we experience Christ, we experience the Father and the Spirit.
John 14:23 says, “Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” This verse tells us that the Father and the Son will make an abode in the believers. Verses 25 and 26 continue to say, “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you; but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things.” Verse 26 mentions the Father and the Son, and it also speaks of the Father’s sending the Holy Spirit in the Son’s name. This means that when we experience the Son, we experience the Father and the Spirit simultaneously. In our experience the three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—are one. Unfortunately, under the influence of the traditional theology of Christianity, many people today consider that when they experience Christ, they experience only the Son without involving either the Father or the Spirit. However, if our experience does not involve the Triune God, it is not the genuine experience of Christ. The Bible clearly reveals that Christ is intrinsically involved with the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Christ does not come alone; He comes with the Father. Furthermore, the Father sends not only Christ but also the Spirit in the name of the Son. Anyone who knows the Bible realizes that a name denotes a person. Hence, the name of the Son denotes the person of the Son. The Father sending the Spirit in the Son’s name means that the Father sends the Spirit in the Son.
John 15:26 says, “But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify concerning Me.” In Greek, the sense of from the Father is that the Spirit of reality, who is sent by the Son, comes not only from the Father but also with the Father. John 14:26 says that the Father sends the Spirit in the Son, and 15:26 says that the Son sends the Spirit from the Father, and when the Spirit comes, He comes with the Father. When we put these two verses together, we see clearly that when the Spirit comes, the Father does not remain in heaven but comes with the Spirit; moreover, the Father does not come alone, but He comes in the Son. This proves that the Son also comes with the Father. This shows us that when Christ comes, the Triune God comes. When we experience Christ, we experience the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Today’s problem lies in the fact that we often have preconceived ideas concerning the truth. Due to our subjectivity, we may not enter into the revelation of the Bible, even though we have read it many times. We need to be poor in spirit and ask the Lord to open the eyes of our heart so that we can see clearly that the Triune God is inseparable in our experience.
When the Spirit comes, the Triune God comes. The Spirit does not come alone and leave the Father in heaven. John 15:26 says that the Spirit comes from the Father and with the Father. The Father is the source, and when the Spirit comes from the source, He does not leave the source but comes with the source. Similarly, 14:10 says that the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father. Hence, when the Father comes, He does not leave the Son but comes in the Son. Furthermore, verse 26 says that the Father sends the Spirit in the Son’s name, that is, in the Son’s person. Since the Son and the Father are one (10:30) and They coinhere mutually, the Holy Spirit who is sent comes not only from the Father but also from the Son, and He comes with the Father and with the Son. This proves that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one God, the Triune God, who reaches us to dispense Himself into us as our life and all our supply. Today, Christian theology has completely separated the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This is due to the lack of the knowledge concerning the Divine Trinity. Actually, it is not possible for us to experience the Son without also experiencing the Father and the Spirit. The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—cannot and should not be separated.
We have seen that in order to be experienced by us, the Triune God needed to pass through two steps. The first step was the Son’s redemption and the second step is the Spirit’s application. Hence, Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through Him [the Son] we both have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” It is impossible to be through the Son but not have access unto the Father. It is also impossible to be through the Son and have access unto the Father but not be in the Spirit. This indicates that if we experience Christ, this will result in our being brought into the experience and enjoyment of the Triune God. If we want to experience the Triune God, we need to experience Christ. Hence, we teach the truth concerning the Trinity not for us to debate with others but for our subjective experience. We all need to have our eyes opened to see that only when we experience the Triune God can we have the real experience of Christ. Our Christ today is not only Christ the Son. He is the all-inclusive Christ, and He is the Triune God.
John 14 says that the Father sends the Spirit in the Son, while chapter fifteen says that the Son sends the Spirit from the Father and with the Father. John wrote both the Gospel of John and Revelation, and Revelation 22:17 speaks of the Spirit and the bride. The Spirit is one with the bride, the church. Since verse 17 is at the conclusion of the entire New Testament, the Spirit here refers not merely to the Holy Spirit but to the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God. In the Spirit are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. When the Spirit comes, the Triune God comes. This is the conclusion of our many years’ study of the Word.
(Four Crucial Elements of the Bible, The—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee)
