TFS19: Who is Jesus? According to the Bible Part 6

Who is Jesus? According to the Bible - this is the sixth installment in this series where we will discuss what the Bible has to say about Jesus This series seeks to answer the question Who is Jesus? In this sixth instalment we discuss what the Bible has to say about Jesus as the giver of the Holy Spirit and as the Great High Priest and Intercessor for all who have put their trust in Him for the forgiveness of their sin against a Holy God..

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Who is Jesus? According to the Bible - Series Recap

In part one of this Who is Jesus? According to the Bible series, we covered the importance of a correct understanding of who Jesus is so that we can be sure that we actually have a saving faith by believing in the biblical historical Jesus and not a false faith like that of the cults and false religions around us who believe in false Christs created by the imaginations of men.
In part two we examined the pre-incarnate christ followed by his incarnation
and sinless birth.
In part three we examined the ministries of Jesus and his accomplishments on the cross: as the atonement, propitiation, and expiation for our sins and Jesus as redeemer and reconciler of those who put their faith in Him
In part four we talked about the verifiability, irrefutability, and four-fold invaluability (yes i believe i invented that word) of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
In part five of this series “Who is Jesus: according to the Bible” we will discussed what the Bible has to say about Jesus’ ascension, exaltation, His current position in heaven and His dominion over creation.

This brings us to part six where we will answer the question Who is Jesus? according to what the Bible has to say about Him as the giver of the Holy Spirit and as the Great High Priest for believers in Him.

Giver of the Holy Ghost:

Jesus’ current role as the Giver of the Holy Spirit was a topic of great controversy as both Western and Eastern churches in the high middle ages struggled with this concept. This all centers around a small phrase into a document called the Nicene Creed (which was sworn to never be changed) and the small phrase which was added was called the “filioque”.

First of all, the Nicene Creed was created to establish orthodoxy (sound Christian doctrine and belief) in the Christian church. The doctrine itself wasn’t created, just the creed which included the doctrine and this was necessary to battle heretical groups like Arianism, Gnosticism, Montanism etc which were popping up all over and perverting the truths handed down by the Apostles. This is still being done today with the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarian Universalists and Charismatic/Pentecostal cults.
There is a statement within the Nicene Creed which reads regarding the Holy Spirit, that He “proceeds from the Father” and it was read and recited this way for nearly 600 years in both the East and the West. However, around the 10th-11th centuries, the Western Church (today known as the Roman Catholic church) added the phrase “and the son” which is the Latin word “filioque”. From that point, the Nicene Creed began to be read and recited with the added phrase the Holy Spirit, “…who proceeds from the Father and the Son”
This infuriated the Eastern Church (now known as the Eastern Orthodox Church), not so much for the doctrine itself but for the Western Church, yet again, overstepping its authority and changing a document that was never supposed to be changed as it codified sound Christian doctrine. Ultimately, this resulted in the Arch Bishop of the Eastern Church being excommunicated from the Western Church and the Pope of the Western Church being excommunicated from the Eastern church in a grandiose “tit for tat”. Ending in two distinct churches – the West now the Roman Catholic Church and the East the Eastern Orthodox Church. All this over the discussion around which member or members of the Trinity, sent the Holy Spirit to believers. I cover this in greater detail on truthforsaints.com on both the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic pages if you want to know more about this bizarre event known as “The Great Schism”.
Even though there was a great deal of controversy surrounding the doctrine of The filioque, it isn’t necessarily wrong and can be argued from Scripture which we will show here. The doctrine of who and how the Holy Spirit is sent to mankind hadn’t yet been fully thought through and debated from Scripture, at least not by the time of the Nicene Council but it has since been fully examined in the light of scripture which does show that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is indeed sent from the Father and the Son, Jesus, look with me in Luke chapter 24 vs46-49 – particularly verse 49:

“Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Luke 24:46-49

First of all take a look at vs47 “REPENTANCE” and Remission of Sins. We get lots of people preaching remission of sins but they skip the repentance part because they are afraid to “offend” or maybe they think that somehow turning from serving self to serving Jesus is somehow a ‘works’ effort at trying to earn salvation…it is not.
Second of all, I find it fascinating that Jesus referred to Himself in the third person on a fairly regular basis and this passage is an example of that vs46 “necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead…” and in verse 47 that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in “HIS” name – again Himself – name here isn’t the modern western definition and usage of ‘name’ – it is the ancient near-eastern definition whereby the “name” is a person’s reputation, character, authority and position – all of WHO THEY ARE – not just what they are called. I make mention of that because I see many charlatans casting and binding “in the name Jesus” and then they repeat “Jesus Jesus Jesus” – which is a mere multiplication of words in hope of gaining a hearing like the pagans. Christians don’t use Jesus’ “name” in this way.
Finally, the key verse here is clearly verse 49 “Behold, I…SEND…the Promise of My Father upon you…remember the clause is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND THE SON (filioque) and this passage does indeed appear to support that. Now lets look in the Gospel of John Chapter 15….

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

John 15:26-27

In Luke the Holy Spirit is called “the Promise”, here in John He is referred to as “the Helper” and “the Spirit of truth”. In vs26 Jesus says “I…SHALL…SEND to you from the Father…the Spirit of Truth who PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER. Jesus reveals that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father but nowhere is He said to proceed ONLY from the Father on the contrary, we see that He comes to us as believers by way of the Father AND the Son – the giver of the Holy Spirit. Let’s look a few verses later in Chapter 16 (remember the chapter and verse breaks were added about 1500 years later so John 15:27 and John 16:5 are only about 5 verses apart in the letter:

“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

John 16:5-7

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Here again, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Helper and makes it clear that it is a good thing that He (Jesus) returned to the Father because that meant that you and I, all believers receive the Holy Spirit. The person whom Jesus says in verse 7 “I WILL SEND HIM TO YOU” – This is Jesus the giver of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds to you and I from both the Father and the Son.
I have also, left in verses 8-11 because I think they are a clear communication of what the role of the Holy Spirit is both to believers as the Comforter or Helper but also to the world as the One who convicts them of sin, righteousness and judgement. As a former Pentecostal and Charismatic “dabbler” I have been in a large number of Pentecostal churches and this role of the Holy Spirit is completely lost on the modern day Pentecostal Charismatic.
First of all, it doesn’t say that we need to spend 15 hours in a secret room praying, begging, pleading, “cleansing our wicked souls” in order to receive the Holy Spirit as William Seymour and Azusa Street folks taught. It doesn’t say that we need to go to “THE MAN OF GOD” – (a horrible term many charismatic preachers take for themselves) whereby if we jostle our way to the front of the “altar” (again another term that is not found anywhere in scripture for Christian gatherings) and have him “impart” by his “laying on of hands” etc. NO the Holy Spirit is given to ALL genuine believers as a PROMISE from God the Son – not a “part” or “in part” but the Holy Spirit of Truth – the very person who can be in all places at all times.
Also, there are a number of very wicked false teachers like Bill Johnson, Che Ahn, Kris Vallotton, Randy Clark etc who have a different spirt altogether than the Holy Spirit mentioned in these verses. Their ‘spirit” grabs people by force and convulses them and shakes them writhing on the floor – moaning and weeping and gasping. This is NOT the Holy Spirit who comes into the world to convict it of sin which it is dying in, of righteousness – that is by believing in Jesus Whom they cannot see and of judgement of satan and his condemned cohorts….I felt that it was important that as we discuss Jesus as the giver of the Holy Spirit, that I differentiate between the Holy Spirit of Scripture and the false spirit preached by these false “apostles”. Let’s proceed a few chapters later in the book of John:

"So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit."

John 20:21-22

Here again, we have John’s eyewitness account of Jesus “sending” the disciples – thus changing their titles to Apostles which means “sent ones” and then breathing on them as His direct method of giving them the Holy Spirit.

There are other scriptures to support Jesus as the giver of the Holy Spirit: For instance Acts 1:8; 2:32, 33; and Acts 5:32. Not only is Jesus currently the giver of the Holy Spirit – along with the Father and God of all genuine believers, but Jesus is also our Great High Priest:

GREAT HIGH PRIEST

The High Priests in the OT acted like intercessors and mediators between God and man: They would attend to the sacrifices in order to facilitate God’s temporary atonement for their own sins and the sins of the people (Thank God we are not under that burden of the Law because we’ve already seen Jesus as providing Himself as the eternal full and complete atonement for our sins on the cross. Now we have seen that He has been resurrected, He has ascended, and is glorified/seated at the right hand of God. Which, incidentally, in the ancient near eastern culture and customs meant that to sit “at the right hand” did not mean geographic location – but actually was more used as a sort of “sitting IN” the throne with the Father – not separate from Him but one in being with Him.

Now that Jesus is seated IN His Father’s throne WITH the Father, Jesus certainly isn’t sitting idle while his church – those who are true believers/trusting in His death for the forgiveness of sines) are going through difficulties and hardship here on earth. That would be more like the Roman Catholic view of Christ: Seated far away busy with important matters and certainly not personally involved in the matters of the Roman Catholic – which is why the false doctrine of the goddess Mary was invented. Pray to Jesus’ Mom and SHE will get little ol’ you a hearing.

This is a terribly false view of Christ and the idolization of Mary whom the Catholics now call the “Queen of Heaven” and the “Mother of God”. God has no mother nor does His Kingdom have a “queen” – Christ is the Groom, his church of true believers is His bride. He is the head of the church and the church of genuine born again believers is the body of Christ. So lets see what the Scriptures have to say about his current role as High Priest for us as believers – this is a passage we looked at in previous episodes when we talked about Christ as the propitiation (turning away of God’s wrath) for our sake:

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 2:17

Here, Jesus is fulfilling His role as faithful high priest, making propitiation for our sins – that is, as our High Priest, He satisfied God’s wrath towards us which we rightfully deserved for our sins against Him, AND He restores us to a place of favor with God – this is the function of propitiation. And if we skip ahead a few chapters in Hebrews we see that Christ Lives to make intercession for those of us who are believers:

For it is attested of Him (Jesus), “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness19 (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath 21(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever’”);22 so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.23The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, 24 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.25 Therefore He is able also to save, forever (to the uttermost-NKJV) those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

Hebrews 7:17-28

I love that that in verse 25 Jesus our High Priest is able to “save us to the uttermost” that is “forever saved!” those who draw near to God THROUGH HIM! How do we know this will happen? Same verse – Because Jesus our High Priest LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION for us. This term intercession also finds its roots in the Old Testament. An intercessor puts Himself squarely in the gap between the fallen and broken sinful man and the holy pure God – the intercessor would plead for God’s mercy and grace when a person is in a position of judgment, sin or need. How about you? Have you drawn near to God through the Jesus of the Bible whom we have been discussing? If so, are you in need of God’s mercy, grace over your sin or need as a believer? Jesus the Son of God, Seated IN THE SEAT of God with His Father is your intercessor for help in your time of need. Don’t give up, just call out to Jesus as I have done and so many other Christians have done – we don’t have to “get saved all over again” once we have trusted in Jesus, we just need cleansing and washing and forgiveness for our shortcomings as believers. Is that you? Are you hearing me now? If you aren’t hearing me then I sincerely hope you are hearing the word of God. The Lord Jesus LIVES to make intercession for His people.
And the verse which follows is glorious because it perfectly describes the perfect High Priest who is Jesus…verse 26 and 27 For it was fitting for us to have such a High Priest: HOLY, INNOCENT, UNDEFILED, SEPARATED FROM SINNERS, EXALTED ABOVE THE HEAVENS. You and I are not these things, even as Christians, we fall WAY short of these things and we deceive ourselves if we try to behave or believe we are these things. Jesus is all of this and this perfect man, perfect Son of God, perfect High Priest – makes intercession even for you and for me. We don’t deserve it but that is what grace and mercy is all about – and it is this grace and mercy that the intercessor pleads for on our behalf and GETS for us!
Write down Hebrews 2:25-26 in the notes on your phone or on a piece of paper, and then look it up, write it out in the translation of your choice and keep it close when you feel weighted down and condemned – pull out this scripture and read it out loud to yourself and remember that Jesus is your intercessor. Let’s look a few chapters further in Hebrews

"For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hebrews 9:24-28

Jesus sacrificed Himself ONCE according to this passage in Hebrews. This is why I believe that the Catholic Mass is such an abomination as the Catholic priest is said to crucify Jesus with ever single mass – that is multiple times per week, they believe that they are sacrificing Jesus all over again. V25 – Jesus appeared in the presence of God FOR US! Once and for all.
Verse 27 – this verse destroys the idea of reincarnation – man coming back in various forms over and over again until he works off all of his so-called ‘bad karma’ this verse makes it clear, it is appointed for man to die once, after this is the judgment. Imagine the shock of the Hindu who put their hope in coming back as a bird or another animal en route to their Nirvana – only to die and immediately stand before the Creator of their soul and they must give an account for WHY they have rejected HIM all their lives and opted instead to worship false gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva or Kali which the Bible says are actually just demons masquerading in god suits. You and I who have put our faith in the Son of God verse 28 eagerly wait for the appearance of Christ who will appear to us for salvation and not for sin as He did the first time….This leads us to our final verse for Jesus as our High Priest. Romans Chapter 8

" Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Romans 8:33-34

This is a glorious verse showing the believer that if a charge is brought against us (and believe me, our fallen nature will provide many opportunities for charges against us) we needn’t fear because it was God who justified us in the first place and that wasn’t based on our own behaviour to begin with – it is based on our faith in His Son as our own Savior. Who is the one who ACTUALLY condemns mankind to an eternity of woe? It is the judge who points out the sin of the person who refused to repent and put their faith in Jesus. Who is that judge? The Lord Jesus Himself – the very One who Died and was Raised and is at the Right Hand of God AND….who intercedes for us! So the judge who justly condemns…will not condemn a person whom He is simultaneously interceding for! Remember intercession is a pleading for God’s mercy and grace and if Jesus is doing that for the believer, He is not also CONDEMNING the believer. No, He is our faithful High Priest, living to make intercession for us and there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Well, how about you? Are you in Christ? The Bible says we are all sinners and fail to achieve the glory of God that is to say we “fall short of the glory of God” – and this sin is earning us wages which we will be paid upon our death and passing from this world and opening our eyes in eternity. These wages, the Bible says, are death – which is an eternal separation from God – we had a temporal separation but our physical bodies still received good things from God in this life – but our spirits were dead to Him, we arrive in eternity only to the horror and shock that we’ve rejected our only chance at forgiveness for sin.

The Bible says in Romans 10:13 that all who call on the name of the Lord SHALL be saved – this “CALL” is a cry for mercy and forgiveness from Jesus – won’t you call on HIm TODAY while it is still called TODAY? Our tomorrow is NOT guaranteed and I want you to spend eternity in heaven in the joy of the Lord Jesus the great High Priest for believers. If you call on Jesus for forgiveness and put your faith in Him to hear your cry and do what He said He will do, the Bible says you WILL have eternal life.

In John 5:24 Jesus Himself says, “He who hears my words and believe in Him who sent Me HAS eternal life and SHALL NOT COME INTO JUDGEMENT but HAS PASSED from DEATH to Life. I want you to pass from death to life today if you hear this and you know it is for you.

My hope and prayer is that as you listen to this Who is Jesus? According to the Bible series, you will recognise that the true God of the universe has come to earth and revealed Himself to men through His Son, the Lord Jesus through whom, if you put your faith in Him (Jesus of the Bible) for the forgiveness of your sins - calling out on the name of the Lord to have mercy on you and forgive and wash your sins away - that you would come to embrace the God of the Bible in truth - so that you can lay hold of, and lay claim to, an eternity with Him, and either sonship or daughterhood to Him now, today. And if you are already a believer, my hope is that with this Who is Jesus? According to the Bible series will provide you with a deeper understanding and grounding in God’s word as to what the scriptures have to say regarding the Saviour in whom you’ve come to believe.

Andrew Hamilton, Author "7 Essentials for Bible Literacy" 7 Essentials for Bible Literacy

No one receives eternal life and eternal presence with God (from Whom all good things come – James 1:17), by belonging to the right church, denomination, world religion, or by having a particular world view. Rather only those who trust in the Lord Jesus (preached by the Apostles in the Bible) for their own sin. We will not trust in a Savior for sins that we either don’t believe we have or that we think aren’t deserving of hell. But the Bible says that ALL have sin and the wages of that sin is eternal separation from God (death). The good news is that the Bible says that you can know that YOU have eternal life. Click the button below to see if you are genuinely saved from your sins according to the Bible:

TFS19: Who is Jesus? According to the Bible pt6

TFS19: Who is Jesus? According to the Bible Part 6

Who is Jesus? According to the Bible - Series Recap

Giver of the Holy Ghost:

GREAT HIGH PRIEST

Who do you say that Jesus is?

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