【读圣经学英语】那时还没有那灵

三十九节说，『耶稣这话是指着信入祂的人将要受的那灵说的；那时还没有那灵，因为耶稣尚未得着荣耀。』很多基督徒不懂这一节『还没有』这话的意义。神的灵从起初就有了，（创一1～2，）但那灵，就是基督的灵，（罗八9，）耶稣基督的灵，（腓一19，）在主说这话时还没有，因为祂尚未得着荣耀。耶稣是在复活时得着荣耀的。（路二四26。）祂复活后，神的灵就成了那成为肉体、钉十字架、复活之耶稣基督的灵。基督在祂复活的晚上，已将这灵吹到门徒里面。（约二十22。）现今这灵乃是另一位保惠师，就是基督受死之前所应许实际的灵。（约十四16～17。）当这灵还是神的灵，祂只有神圣的元素；当祂藉着基督成为肉体、钉十字架并复活，成了耶稣基督的灵，祂就兼有神圣与属人的元素，带着基督成为肉体、钉十字架和复活的一切素质和实际。因此，祂现今乃是包罗万有耶稣基督的灵，作了活水给我们接受。

我们可用一杯清水，加入许多别的成分作例证。清水经过一个阶段，把奶加进去；又经过几个阶段，分别加进蜂蜜、茶和盐，最终成了包罗一切的饮料。在清水经过这一切阶段以前，还没有这样美妙的饮料，虽然杯中已经有清水。现在，杯中有包罗一切的饮料。照样，主耶稣在七章三十九节和十四章十六至十七节所应许的灵，不是那只有神性作内容的灵，乃是有神性、人性、包罗万有的死、复活和升天各种元素的灵。如今我们不单有神的灵，也有耶稣基督的灵。乃是这样一位包罗万有的灵，把生命水的河流赐给我们。

Enlightenment:

Verse 39 says, “But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Many Christians do not understand the words “not yet” in this verse. The King James Version adds the word “given” in italics, showing that the translators were troubled by this verse. But verse 39 does not mean that the Spirit “was not given”; it means that the Spirit was “not yet.” The Spirit was not there yet. The Spirit of God was there from the very beginning (Gen. 1:1-2), but the Spirit as “the Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9), “the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19), was “not yet” at the time the Lord Jesus spoke this word, because He was not yet glorified. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected (Luke 24:26). After His resurrection, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Jesus Christ, who was breathed into the disciples by Christ in the evening of the day He was resurrected (John 20:22). The Spirit is now the “another Comforter,…the Spirit of reality” promised by Christ before His death (John 14:16-17). When the Spirit was the Spirit of God, He had only the divine element. When He became the Spirit of Jesus Christ through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, He had both the divine and human element, with all the essence and reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Hence, He is now the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ as the living water for us to receive.

We may use the illustration of a glass of pure water into which many other ingredients are added. The pure water passes through one stage, and the milk is added. It passes through other stages in which honey, tea, and salt are added. Eventually, it becomes an all-inclusive drink. Before the pure water passed all these stations, such a wonderful drink was “not yet,” although the pure water in the glass was there already. Now it is an all-inclusive drink. Likewise, the Spirit promised by the Lord Jesus in 7:39 and 14:16-17 is not the Spirit with only divinity as His content, but the Spirit with divinity, humanity, the all-inclusive death, resurrection, and ascension. Now we not only have the Spirit of God, but also the Spirit of Jesus Christ. It is such an all-inclusive Spirit that gives us the flow of the rivers of water of life.