In John 14:23, Jesus is speaking of himself and the Father and uses the terms ‘we’ and ‘our’. These terms have led many to use John 14:23 to support the idea of the trinity. Jesus’ use of the word ‘we’ has been used to proclaim multiple ‘persons’ within the Godhead. Does this verse intend to describe the interworkings of the Godhead? Was Jesus claiming that the Godhead is made up of ‘persons’? What did he mean by ‘abode’? Who is the ‘we’ and ‘our’ he’s referring to?

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

In John 14:23 Jesus reveals that he and the Father will come unto us and make an abode with us. Jesus was not trying to describe the Godhead. If he were trying to describe a trinity he would have included the Holy Ghost. This verse describes the union of the Father and the Son in the life of the believer. This verse actually describes what the Holy Ghost is- a union of the Spirit of God and the characteristics of the quickening spirit of Jesus imparted unto us to lead and guide us into righteousness.

The human spirit of Jesus was made a quickening spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

A quickening spirit is a saving spirit. The Greek word for quickening is zoopoieo.

2227 zoopoieo {dzo-op-oy-eh’-o} Meaning: 1) to produce alive, begat or bear living young 2) to cause to live, make alive, give life 2a) by spiritual power to arouse and invigorate 2b) to restore to life 2c) to give increase of life: thus of physical life 2d) of the spirit, quickening as respects the spirit, endued with new and greater powers of life 3) metaph., of seeds quickened into life, i.e. germinating, springing up, growing

‘Our abode’ is a description of believers being filled with the Holy Ghost. In order for us to be filled with the Spirit of God we need a buffer. If the pure, holy Spirit of God dwelled in us without a buffer we would be destroyed.

If Jesus was trying to teach multiple ‘persons’ within the Godhead he most definitely would have included the third member, the Holy Ghost. Instead, he claimed that it was the Father and himself that would dwell in the believer, completely ignoring the Holy Ghost altogether. This is a problem for the Trinitarian view.

If Jesus was trying to portray a triune God, then he is claiming that two of the three ‘persons’ are indwelling the believer, requiring each of the three ‘persons’ to have his own spirit to indwell with, which means Jesus is talking about two or more divine Spirits. There is only one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

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

Placing John 14:23 in its proper context it is clear it is not referring to persons within the Godhead.

Jesus explained who the Comforter is.

John 14:16-18 ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;  ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  ¹⁸ I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jesus is the Comforter. He said that he would send the Comforter, but then concluded that he was the Comforter. Why didn’t he just say that they already had the Comforter since he was already with them? He wasn’t with them in the form of the Comforter. He was with them as God manifest in flesh to become the sacrifice for sin, but in order to become the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, he would have to resurrect and ascend to heaven in order to become a quickening spirit. This is why he would send the Comforter. He would return in another form.

When we receive his spirit, the Holy Ghost, he will abide with us and we will abide with him.

1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

1 John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father dwelling in us.

Matthew 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

The Holy Ghost is the spirit of Christ in us.

Romans 8:8-11 ⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  ⁹ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  ¹⁰ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  ¹¹ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

When we receive the Holy Ghost, we are receiving the Spirit that was in Jesus. We are not only receiving the pure, holy, Spirit of God, but we are also receiving the characteristics of the quickening spirit of Jesus from his humanity. This does not mean that we receive two Spirits. We receive the Spirit of God that is buffered with the characteristics of the redeeming, saving, Spirit of Jesus. In Jesus, the Father and the Son are fused into one. Jesus is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily- God manifest in flesh.

Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

We cannot have the Father without the Son or the Son without the Father. In Jesus, the Deity of God was permanently fused with humanity. The Spirit of God and the human spirit of Jesus are fused together, never to separate.

The Spirit of God that dwells in us includes the redemptive work of Jesus. Before the redemptive work of Jesus the Holy Spirit of God would destroy us the first time we were not perfect. God could not dwell in our human bodies without a buffer- a mediator. You can’t put new wine in old bottles.

Matthew 9:17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

This does not mean that we have two Spirits within us when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We do not literally have the human spirit of Jesus in us. We have the characteristics of the Divine and human Spirit of Jesus within us. We receive the characteristics of the Father and the perfect attributes of the Son, who was made a saving spirit.

When Jesus said ‘our abode’ he was referring to the Comforter that the Father would send. Jesus is the Comforter.

John 14:16-18 ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;  ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  ¹⁸ I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

This Comforter, the Holy Ghost, gives us strength and power to be overcomers. Through the incarnation, Jesus was God and man fused. This fusion makes available to us the Divine qualities of the Father and the overcoming characteristics of the Son. Through this abode, we are born of the Spirit and we gain power and strength to live for God.