Logos Pneumatology: The Spirit of God as the Word.
John 1 has been a subject of Christological debates for a better part of 2000 years, Arian and Trinitarian Christologies claiming it is about a pre-incarnate person becoming human, namely to be Christ Jesus. Below, I put out the case that we should leave tradition on the shelf and let John interpret John as much as possible, and thus should not understand the Logos, not a Christological, but as Pneumatological, that is to say, instead of teaching the identity of the Word is Christ, it is teaching the deity of the Holy Spirit.
Before I begin, I will explain the color coding. BLUE and bold = the Word. ORANGE and bold = Christians. Underline = message of the good news. BLACK and bold = the action of indwelling. PURPLE and bold = the activity of the Logos. RED = my commentary. I now present to you my take on the Logos of John 1.
Joh 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; 5 and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
The identity of the Logos is the God himself.
Joh 1:12-14 But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to the ones believing into His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God. 14 And the Word becomes flesh and dwells in us. And we behold His glory, glory as of an only begotten from the Father, full of grace and of truth.
Here, we have the logos becoming flesh when we believe and are born of God. The Logos comes and dwells in us.
1Jn 1:1-3 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld, and what our hands touched, as regards the word of Life. 2 And the Life was revealed, and we have seen, and we bear witness, and we announce to you the everlasting Life which was with the Father, and was revealed to us. 3 We announce to you what we have seen, and what we have heard, that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
In this passage, the logos is used to talk about the gospel which Christ, and then the disciples preached. By “the beginning,” John means the beginning of their movement as Messianic Jews in the ministry of Yeshua.
1Jn 1:5-7 And this is the message which we have heard from Him, and we proclaim to you: God is light, and no darkness is in Him, none! 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and we walk in darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
1Jn 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us the sins, and may cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.
Those not born of God and whose sins have not been forgiven, do not have the Logos of God abiding in them. This necessarily implies that those who have been forgiven of their sins, do have the Logos dwelling in them.
1Jn 2:14 Fathers, I have written to you because you have known Him from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil.
1Jn 2:20 And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
John switches from Logos to talking about the anointing abiding in the believer.
1Jn 2:24 Then what you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you will abide both in the Son and in the Father.
1Jn 2:27 And the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and as He taught you, abide in Him.
The anointing of God teaches us all things and abides in us. John is echoing what our Master said, as John records him saying of the Pneuma (Spirit) in his gospel.
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He abides with you and shall be in you.
Joh 14:26 but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and shall remind you of all things that I said to you.
1Jn 3:9 Everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
Here, it is the seed of God that abides in the one that is born of God. We are told by our Master in Luke’s gospel that the seed is the Logos of God. John would have certainly know of this teaching, as he was a disciple of our Master.
Luk 8:11 And this is the parable: The seed is the Word of God.
1Jn 3:24 And the one keeping His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He gave to us.
We know that God abides in, but the fact that we have His Pneuma (Spirit).
1Jn 4:12-16 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love having been perfected is in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because of His Spirit He has given to us. 14 And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one abiding in love abides in God, and God in him.
The Word of God= the Seed of God= the Anointing of God= the Spirit of God= God.
To conclude, John 1:1 is teaching us that The Logos, the Spirit of God has existed from the beginning with God, and by identity none other than God himself.
Before I begin, I will explain the color coding. BLUE and bold = the Word. ORANGE and bold = Christians. Underline = message of the good news. BLACK and bold = the action of indwelling. PURPLE and bold = the activity of the Logos. RED = my commentary. I now present to you my take on the Logos of John 1.
Joh 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; 5 and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
The identity of the Logos is the God himself.
Joh 1:12-14 But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to the ones believing into His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God. 14 And the Word becomes flesh and dwells in us. And we behold His glory, glory as of an only begotten from the Father, full of grace and of truth.
Here, we have the logos becoming flesh when we believe and are born of God. The Logos comes and dwells in us.
1Jn 1:1-3 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld, and what our hands touched, as regards the word of Life. 2 And the Life was revealed, and we have seen, and we bear witness, and we announce to you the everlasting Life which was with the Father, and was revealed to us. 3 We announce to you what we have seen, and what we have heard, that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
In this passage, the logos is used to talk about the gospel which Christ, and then the disciples preached. By “the beginning,” John means the beginning of their movement as Messianic Jews in the ministry of Yeshua.
1Jn 1:5-7 And this is the message which we have heard from Him, and we proclaim to you: God is light, and no darkness is in Him, none! 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and we walk in darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
1Jn 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us the sins, and may cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.
Those not born of God and whose sins have not been forgiven, do not have the Logos of God abiding in them. This necessarily implies that those who have been forgiven of their sins, do have the Logos dwelling in them.
1Jn 2:14 Fathers, I have written to you because you have known Him from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil.
1Jn 2:20 And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
John switches from Logos to talking about the anointing abiding in the believer.
1Jn 2:24 Then what you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you will abide both in the Son and in the Father.
1Jn 2:27 And the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and as He taught you, abide in Him.
The anointing of God teaches us all things and abides in us. John is echoing what our Master said, as John records him saying of the Pneuma (Spirit) in his gospel.
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He abides with you and shall be in you.
Joh 14:26 but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and shall remind you of all things that I said to you.
1Jn 3:9 Everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
Here, it is the seed of God that abides in the one that is born of God. We are told by our Master in Luke’s gospel that the seed is the Logos of God. John would have certainly know of this teaching, as he was a disciple of our Master.
Luk 8:11 And this is the parable: The seed is the Word of God.
1Jn 3:24 And the one keeping His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He gave to us.
We know that God abides in, but the fact that we have His Pneuma (Spirit).
1Jn 4:12-16 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love having been perfected is in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because of His Spirit He has given to us. 14 And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one abiding in love abides in God, and God in him.
The Word of God= the Seed of God= the Anointing of God= the Spirit of God= God.
To conclude, John 1:1 is teaching us that The Logos, the Spirit of God has existed from the beginning with God, and by identity none other than God himself.