God the Holy Spirit's Foundation for Ministry: Pneumatology in the Gospel of John

God the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from and submit to both God the Father and God the Son (John 15:26, 20:22, 20:26). In John 1:32-33, at the beginning of Christ's ministry, whenever Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, God the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and rested on Him like a dove. The significance concerning this in this section is that God the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father, from heaven, descending and resting on God the Son. Likewise, in John 3:34 Jesus refers to God the Father giving God the Holy Spirit to Himself "without measure." Once again, coming from God the Father, God the Holy Spirit is given to the Son.

In John 15:26 the Apostle John records Christ referring to the Spirit, saying "whom I will send to you from the Father." God the Holy Spirit was at this point with God the Father. This means that God the Holy Spirit too was with God the Father from eternity past, just like Christ was. The same language is used here as the Apostle used in the beginning of this Gospel to describe the preexistence of Jesus. Christ, in John 8:42 said, "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." We must understand that God the Holy Spirit is equally God from eternity past, during eternity present, and will be in eternity future. His deity is without time and space; and thus, without beginning or end.

Furthermore, John clearly communicates here that God the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father. In historic Evangelicalism, God the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is and has always been-as God the Son has as well-in perfect fellowship with God the Father. Also, Jesus says that He will send God the Holy Spirit from the Father. This communicates the double procession of God the Holy Spirit from God the Son and God the Father. God the Holy Spirit is perfectly obedient to Jesus (John 16:7)

In John 16, Christ's disciples are saddened over His coming departure. Through this sorrow though, Christ communicated that it was good for them that He was going away. When Jesus returned to heaven, He was going to send God the Holy Spirit to them. God the Holy Spirit was going to come in power! There are no assumptions here on the part of Christ concerning the Spirit's obedience. He knew God the Holy Spirit was going to come because He was going to send Him. This naturally demands all readers to see the Holy Spirit as obedient and at the "beckoning call" of Christ. God the Holy Spirit spoke what Christ told Him to speak (John 16:13-14)

In John 16:13, Jesus prophesies of His death and the supernatural coming of God the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. God the Holy Spirit was going to guide His disciples into all truth. This is why we can trust the Scriptures because they were either written by the apostles or those closely associated with them. As mentioned in the previous verse, there were things that His disciples could not bear right now, but God the Holy Spirit was going to reveal "all things" to them later. Christians have "all things" in the inerrant Protestant Bible; or all that they need! This means that the Word of God is sufficient. Christians can furthermore trust this Word because God the Holy Spirit did not come with His own agenda apart from Christ; on the contrary, He came to speak "whatever He hears".[1] So, He simply communicates what Christ tells Him too; further validating His procession and submission to God the Son as well as God the Father.

In the next verse (v.14), Christ says that "He [Holy Spirit] will glorify Me." The Spirit took what belonged to Jesus, and declared it to His disciples. We further know that these words came from God because Peter wrote, "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet. 1:21)." God the Holy Spirit was going to continue His Old Testament ministry through divinely inspiring the New Testament writers as well. So everything God the Holy Spirit revealed, exalted and proceeded from Christ, and thus also from God the Father. These truths fly in the face of the neo-orthodox and postmodern approaches to the Scriptures.

God the Holy Spirit is submissive to both God the Father and God the Son (John 16:15)

Jesus in John 16:15 claims to be equal with God the Father, saying, "All that the Father has is mine." Everything that God the Son tells God the Holy Spirit; He receives it from His Father. This is another reason why Christians call the Bible "the Word of God." God the Father gave it to God the Son and He gave it to God the Holy Spirit who "carried along" the Scripture writers (2 Pet. 1:21).Jesus furthermore says, "Therefore I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you." Just as God the Son is eternally submissive to God the Father, constantly exalting Him, God the Holy Spirit is eternally submissive to God the Son, living to exalt Him. So, everything Christians have received from God the Holy Spirit, they have received from God the Son, who has received it from God the Father. The Word of God thus has come from the Triune God. This truth rises and falls on whether or not God the Holy Spirit is indeed submissive to God the Father and God the Son in declaring the Word to the Scripture writers.

[1] Steven Thomas, "The Pneumatology of the Johannine Account of Christ's Farewell Discourse"

(Th.M. Thesis, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, May 1992) Theological Research Exchange Network, 086-0014), 121.