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Isn't there one indwelling Spirit?

Submitted: 8/21/2012
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Question: John 14:23 Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.' Some say John 14:23 shows that the Father and Son will dwell in us as if they are 2 different persons. But because there is one spirit, then there must be a better explanation. I would be grateful for your thoughts on this scripture.

Answer: As you say, there is one Spirit (not two or three divine persons) who indwells believers. Therefore, any interpretation of this verse must be built on that foundation. The questions is, what exactly did Jesus mean when He said, 'We will come to him...'? To understand this, we must consider that from John 14 through 16, Jesus is imparting important spiritual revelation to His disciples. For example, in John 14:9 He tells them that 'He who has seen Me has seen the Father.' If Jesus had only said, 'I will come to him,' the disciples may of thought He only meant that He would come to them as a man. In fact, just a few verses earlier in verse 18, He did say, 'I will come to you.' But by saying 'We will come' in verse 23, He was emphasizing the point that the One who would come to dwell within them would be the same God who was manifested in the flesh and was speaking with them at that very moment.