To what was Paul referring when, after stating that "God was manifest in the flesh", he mentions that He was "justified in the Spirit" (1 Tim 3.16).
The phrase, "justified in the Spirit" is found among couplets of truth concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Many think that the verse is part of a hymn sung in the early church. The word godly, or godliness, is frequent in this epistle and this main theme is seen in the verse. We may notice the contrast seen in each pair: the flesh and Spirit, heavenly angels and earthly nations, the world below and the glory above. In these statements we have the blessing of godliness, the power of godliness, and the reward of godliness seen in Christ. It is important to understand that the Lord being manifest in the flesh refers not merely to His birth, but to His life on earth which had its just and worthy reward in glory. What an end for the Lord! The angels never saw godliness in perfection until Christ came.
Having briefly touched on the verse, we now turn our attention to what "justified in the Spirit" means. To understand the phrase it is better I think to give a capital to the word, and I believe that the AV is quite correct here in spelling "Spirit" with a capital letter. In this view the word "Spirit" denotes the Holy Spirit and means that the Lord through, or by means of, the Holy Spirit was declared righteous. Perhaps the word "vindicated" as opposed to "justified" would be better, and shows us that the Lord in His life in the flesh was vindicated by the Spirit. The Lord was rejected and misunderstood by the world, but the Holy Spirit gave witness to the Lord's character and claims. We see the Spirit at the Lord's baptism, and working through the Lord in wonderful fullness. Is it not especially true that by means of the resurrection of Christ from the dead God through the Spirit fully vindicated the claims of Christ? There is a good link with Isaiah 50.8 where the Messianic Servant says, "He is near that justifieth me". When did this vindication occur? It must be in the Lord's resurrection and His exaltation to heaven.
John J Stubbs
What is the "rest" that is found eleven times in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4?
The writer to the Hebrews speaks of "a promise being left us of entering into his rest" (4.1); thus God's original promise of rest remains. It is "his (i.e. God's) rest". This rest of God is a future rest; it is God resting in His love when everything will be in accord with His holy nature and man resting there as well.
We are then told of the character of God's rest: "the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (4.3), "And God did rest the seventh day from all his works" (4.4). The only condition for entering this rest is clearly stated: "For we which have believed do enter into rest" (4.3). It is not a question of weak or strong faith, but of faith or no faith. The present tense, "do enter into rest", is not historical but absolute; there is no thought of actual entrance now.
The writer goes on to say, "if Jesus (i.e. Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day" (4.8); so it is not possible to maintain that Israel's entry into Canaan was God's rest or man's entrance into it. Whatever Israel enjoyed under Joshua, it was not the realisation of the rest as God had intended. The writer has now proved that Jesus, the Messiah, is better than Joshua, since He provides a better rest than Joshua did, for that was a temporal, physical and material rest; the Lord Jesus leads into an eternal and spiritual rest.
We then read, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (4.9). The Greek word used occurs only here in the New Testament; it means a sabbath keeping or sabbath rest. It points back to God's original rest and marks the ideal rest, the rest of perfect adjustment of all things to God, a sabbath keeping that will never end, an eternal rest which will be enjoyed by all who have been redeemed. One day God will rest and those who believe will rest with Him.
It is wholly future - in the days of Moses, Joshua and David (Ps 95.7-8) this rest was not appropriated. Man's portion in the divine rest, inaugurated at creation, has never really been enjoyed. No present rest is therefore the rest of God.
David E West
