The Spirit
Was

Not Yet

Paul Cozza

A Place in the Wilderness

The Spirit Was Not Yet

© 2024 Paul Cozza

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Paul Cozza
A Place in the Wilderness

Email: paul@aplaceinthewilderness.com
Website: aplaceinthewilderness.com

Scripture quotations are from the
American Standard Version of the Bible (1901)
unless otherwise noted.

Cover design: Nuggitz Creative Services (Nuggitz.com)
Cover photo: josemiguelsangar | Freepik.com

Note: An asterisk before a reference number indicates a text footnote (as opposed to a verse reference).

The Gospel of John is a book of mysteries. One that is particularly difficult to apprehend is seen in John 7:39. There, according to the Greek, the apostle says, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Changing the Bible

Nearly all translations of the Bible add a word or two to this verse. Most often it is translated, “The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Sometimes it is translated, "The Spirit was not yet received ” or “not yet experienced.” It is very rarely translated according to the literal Greek. Of the numerous English translations of the Bible, I have found only four that render this verse literally.

Why would the translators add a word or two words to this verse? This should not be done lightly. It is a serious matter to add something to the Bible. In fact, in Revelation1 we are warned not to add anything to that book under penalty of receiving the plagues described in it.

The reason why translators add words to John 7:39 is that, to them, the literal translation of the Greek makes no sense. How could the Spirit not yet be? Wasn't the Spirit of God present in the Old Testament?2 Wasn't the Spirit of God present at Jesus' incarnation and baptism?3 And, there is only one Spirit, isn’t there?4 Since the answer to these questions is, absolutely yes, how could the Spirit not yet be? Because of this seeming impossibility, most Bible translators have added something to this verse to make it understandable—that is, understandable to them.

However, if John—the writer of this book—meant the Spirit was not yet given, or experienced, or received, would he not have said so? Are we to believe that the Apostle made a mistake when he wrote this verse? Did John somehow leave out a word? The answer to these questions is, of course not. John wrote exactly what he meant to write, and he understood what he was writing.

By adding a word or two to this verse, the Bible translators obscure a profound and meaningful mystery. How could John say the Spirit was not yet? The key to understanding John 7:39 is this phrase: the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive. John was speaking of the Spirit the believers receive, not the Spirit of God per se, who came upon man. While He is the same Spirit, there is a difference between the One who came upon man in the Old Testament and the One we receive. To understand this, we must delve deeply into the Bible, starting with Genesis.

The Fall

Shortly after man was created, he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and fell.5 Adam's fall was not simply a matter of disobedience. While it is true that Adam's disobedient act was serious, that was not Adam's major problem. When Adam fell, he not only disobeyed God, but he also took something into himself. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil imparted something into Adam, something poisonous and damaging. This element within man mutated him. It changed his body into what is termed the flesh.6 It is in this flesh that this evil element—called sin—dwells.7

Sin is not a thing that damages man's body. No, rather, sin is an active and aggressive force moving within mankind to take over man's soul, change his thoughts and thinking, damage his emotions, and weaken his will. This evil force—the evil nature—within man is something of Satan, imparted from him to destroy man and frustrate God's purpose.

Guarding the Way

In the Garden of Eden, there were two trees that God named particularly: the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Adam partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, shortly after that, God set an angel with a flame and sword to guard the way to the tree of life.8

God was wary that man might stretch forth his hand, take of the tree of life, and live forever.9 Why was God concerned? It was because if man had taken of the tree of life while he was in the condition he was in, he would live forever in that fallen condition. He would forever be struggling within with sin, and subject to its great power forever. There would be an eternal struggle in man between sin and the life of the tree of life. There would never be a way to resolve that struggle.

Life

Life is imparted to us by the Spirit. Indeed, it is the Spirit who gives life.10 He is even called the Spirit of life.11 The life of the tree of life comes to us through the Spirit.

However, here we can see the great problem. If man were to take in this Spirit of life, when He was simply the divine Being He was in the Old Testament and at Christ’s incarnation and baptism, this would result in man struggling forever with the sin in his flesh. There would be no way for the Spirit—as only the divine Spirit—to overcome the sin within man.

Christ’s Death

Therefore, it was for this cause God became a man. This man, Jesus, died on the cross and then resurrected. It is true that Jesus died for our sins, but that is not all he accomplished on the cross.

Recall that it was through death that He destroyed the devil.12 Concerning His crucifixion, the Lord said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”13 Moses lifted up a brass serpent, not an actual one. Similarly, Jesus was in the form of a serpent when he was crucified. Although he did not have the serpent's nature, He did have the serpent's form.

Condemning Sin

Furthermore, by taking the form of a serpent, on the cross Christ allowed God to condemn sin in the flesh.14 Through Christ's death as the brass serpent, much was accomplished. In God's eyes, on the cross Christ was sin,15 and through this God was able to judge that sin. Sin was judged and Satan destroyed.

Incorporated

But how could these things be applicable to us? We are told that when Christ died, he offered himself through the eternal Spirit.16 That is, all that Christ passed through in His death and resurrection occurred in the Spirit. The Spirit incorporated Christ's death and resurrection.

Furthermore, in resurrection, Christ became the life-giving Spirit.17 So, today, the Spirit is not merely the divine Spirit. He is the divine Spirit—with all that Christ is and all that Christ has accomplished—incorporated within Him. Once, the Spirit was merely divine, but after Christ's death and resurrection, He contained the elements of Christ's death, resurrection, human living, and all that Christ is and has done!

The Holy Anointing Oil

This is seen in the Old Testament with the holy anointing oil. Oil is a type*18 of the Spirit. However, the holy anointing oil was not simply oil. Rather, it contained spices: flowing myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia.19

All these spices typify different aspects of Christ's death and resurrection. Flowing myrrh was a fragrant and costly spice, which was used in Christ’s burial.20 It speaks of the preciousness and sweetness of Christ’s death.

Cinnamon was a fragrant and sweet spice often used for medicinal or culinary purposes. It signifies the sweetness and effectiveness of Christ’s death.

Calamus is a fragrant reed which sprouts up from water in marshes. It, too, has medicinal purposes, and tells us of Christ’s resurrection.

Cassia is a sweet, aromatic, and pungent spice known to possess insecticidal properties. It signifies the power of Christ’s resurrection.

So then, the holy anointing oil—a type of the Spirit who anoints us21—consisted of not simply the oil (the Spirit), but also of various spices (crucial aspects of Christ’s human living and accomplishments, namely His death and resurrection).

The Spirit Today

This shows us who and what the Spirit is today. He is not simply divine, as He was in the Old Testament. Today He has within Him the elements of Christ's humanity and all His accomplishments as a man. Today the Spirit is even more wonderful than the Spirit of God in the Old Testament!

The Spirit we receive today has Christ's death and resurrection within Him. It is through that death and resurrection that sin within us is judged, put to the cross, and killed. Christ died to judge sin not just in a general way, but to judge sin within our own flesh.

Before His death, the Spirit did not contain that element. After His death and resurrection, the Spirit does. And so, today when we receive the Spirit, we receive the life of God and with that the effectiveness, sweetness, and power of Christ's death and resurrection, which puts to death the evil one within us, ending forever the struggle within. How blessed we are!

Glorification

It says in John that the Spirit we receive was not yet because Christ was not yet glorified. How was he glorified? Through His death and resurrection.22 The Spirit we receive—that is, the Spirit with Christ's death and resurrection—was not yet, because Christ had not yet died and been resurrected. The Holy Spirit was there—the Spirit of God was there—but not the Spirit we receive.

We receive the Spirit with Christ's humanity and His accomplishments. When we see this, we also see why John wrote the way he did. Indeed, the Spirit we receive was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Today, the Spirit is not only the Spirit of God23 and the Holy Spirit,24 He is also the Spirit of Christ,25 the Spirit of Jesus,26 and the Spirit of Jesus Christ.27 This Spirit is both divine and human in nature.

How wonderful what Christ has accomplished on the cross and in His resurrection! Today to us, the power of sin within can be terminated by the wonderful flowing of the Spirit. We no longer wrestle with sin. Rather, we pray, “Lord, I open to You. I open to Your Spirit. I let all that You are and all that You have accomplished spread within me, putting to death everything of the evil one and bringing me up in resurrection with You. How I thank and praise You, Lord, for such a wonderful Spirit.”

Revelation 22:18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:

Genesis 1:2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Judges 6:34 But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.
1 Samuel 11:6 And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him;

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;

Genesis 3:1–7 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Genesis 6:3 And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.

Romans 7:17–18 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.

Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Genesis 3:22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—

John 6:63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.

Hebrews 2:14 Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

2 Corinthians 5:21 Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

1 Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

A type is a person, place, thing, or event in the Old Testament that foreshadows someone or something in the New Testament.

Exodus 30:22–25 Moreover Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee the chief spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty, and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin; and thou shalt make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.

John 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

1 John 2:20 And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

John 17:1 These things spake Jesus; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee:
John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Luke 24:26 Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Acts 16:7 and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not;

Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,