John Had a Bigger Vision of the Holy Spirit Than We Do
Most conversations about the Holy Spirit in church today orbit around the same gravitational pull: gifts, tongues, manifestations, falling down, “is this revival?”, and the ongoing questions around Spirit baptism and what it really means to live a Spirit-filled life.
Important questions? Definitely.
Central to John’s Gospel? Not really.
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Somewhere along the way, we shrunk the Spirit into the shape of our church preferences. But John — the theologian, the pastor, the poet, the last-surviving apostle sitting at the far end of history — gives us something far bigger. Something foundational. Something that could actually heal the Spirit-wars currently dividing churches (again).
This post is my attempt to bring that 30,000ft view into the here and now. To show us what John actually says the Spirit does… and why it matters for the church today navigating a secular, post-Christian, spiritually hungry world.
If Acts shows us the Spirit in action through the church, John helps us understand who the Spirit is and how to view His work.
II’m a Word-and-Spirit guy. I want a real, living experience of God through His Spirit. I want to see the Kingdom breaking through in power. And I want to uphold the integrity of Scripture, learning to understand and discern the work of the Spirit correctly in light of the Word.
I haven’t always carried that balance well. There have been seasons in ministry where I leaned too heavily toward the Word—teaching, studying, structuring—while not hungering, seeking, risking, or making space for the Spirit to move. And there have been other seasons where I toned down my teaching gift in pursuit of experience. I know the tension firsthand.
That’s why I find John so refreshing. He refuses the false choice. He brings Word and Spirit together in a way that is both deep and grounded, mystical and practical. So let’s allow him to lead us.
John gives us three primary ways to understand who the Spirit is and how He works:
1. The Spirit Who Reveals Jesus (and Gives Life)
If you want to understand John’s theology of the Spirit, start where he does — not in an upper room, not in a revival moment, not in tongues of fire… but at a river.
John the Baptist is standing waist-deep in water, scanning the crowd, waiting for a sign. Not a miracle. Not a dove-shaped Instagram moment.
A revelation.
God told him:
“You’ll know the Messiah because the Spirit will descend and remain on Him.” (Jn 1:33)
In John, the Spirit’s first job is not to energise a meeting or empower a ministry.
The Spirit’s first job is to reveal Jesus.
This is the blueprint.
This is the axis the whole Gospel turns on.
This is the Spirit’s job description:
make Jesus known.
John is telling us something profound:
You don’t come to see Jesus clearly through logic, emotion, argument, or upbringing.
Revelation is a gift — and the Spirit is the giver.
And once the Spirit reveals Him, the Spirit gives something else:
life.
New birth.
A new kind of humanity.
Nicodemus comes at night with his theological flashlight, still unable to see. Jesus gently switches the light on:
“You must be born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:5–6)
Life in John is relational. You don’t achieve it; you receive it.
You don’t climb your way into God; God breathes His way into you.
The same breath that filled Adam’s lungs in Genesis 2 is breathed again into frightened disciples in John 20:
“He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (Jn 20:22)
New creation begins here — at the intersection of breath, Spirit, and revelation.
Wherever someone finally sees who Jesus is… the Spirit is there.
Wherever someone steps into eternal life… the Spirit is there.
Wherever death gives way to living water… the Spirit is there.
This is John’s centre of gravity.
2. The Spirit Who Is With Us (and Empowers Us)
Now let’s step into the upper room — John 13–17 — the longest sustained teaching about the Spirit anywhere in Scripture.
Jesus is hours away from betrayal.
The disciples are confused.
The future is foggy.
And Jesus says something stunning:
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate.” (Jn 14:16)
The word is paraklētos.
Advocate. Helper. Encourager. Intercessor.
Someone called to your side.
Think less “personal assistant,” more “divine counsel for life.”
Here’s the key:
Jesus calls Him another Advocate — meaning the Spirit will continue the work Jesus started, without replacing Him.
The Spirit won’t become incarnate.
The Spirit won’t die for sins.
The Spirit won’t be a “second Jesus.”
Instead:
He will make Jesus present.
He will teach what Jesus taught.
He will remind us who Jesus really is.
And — this is remarkable — the Spirit will bring the future into the present.
Jesus says He’s going to prepare a place for us, but then adds:
“My Father and I will come and make our home in you.” (Jn 14:23)
Heaven begins now.
Presence begins now.
Abiding begins now.
This is why John’s Spirit is never reduced to an event or a spiritual “moment.”
He is the ongoing presence of the risen Jesus within and among His people.
The Spirit is the abiding presence that empowers believers to live out the life Jesus promised.
3. The Spirit Who Is the Gift of Jesus
John’s Gospel makes a strong claim:
The Spirit is not a general divine resource that Jesus channels.
The Spirit is the personal gift of the Son.
Everything in John crescendos here:
Jesus baptises with the Spirit (1:33)
Jesus gives the Spirit “without measure” (3:34)
The Spirit flows from within Jesus like living water (7:37–39)
Blood and water flow from His side (19:34) — life pouring out
He breathes the Spirit on His disciples (20:22)
John wants us to see this clearly:
The Spirit flows from Jesus because of who Jesus is.
Only God can give God.
Only the Son can give the Spirit.
This is high Christology — and it means this:
The Spirit is not a “bonus feature” of Christianity.
The Spirit is the continuing ministry of Jesus in the world.
If you want to encounter Jesus, you will encounter Him by the Spirit.
If you want to live the life Jesus promised, you will live it by the Spirit.
If you want to participate in Jesus’ mission, you will do it by the Spirit.
So… Why Does This Matter for the Church, for Pastors, for Us?
Because right now, our world is spiritually hungry but religiously suspicious.
People want something real, something transcendent, something rooted, something true.
They want Word and Spirit, but most churches still divide along preference lines:
Word churches: grounded but dry.
Spirit churches: alive but untethered.
I see this constantly as I work with pastors and churches — Spirit communities longing for theological depth, Word communities longing for encounter. John refuses that dichotomy.
He is a theologian who writes like a mystic.
He gives the largest theology of the Spirit in the Gospels.
He anchors it in Jesus, relationship, revelation, and mission — not manifestations.
And maybe… just maybe… his theology could help unify a divided church.
Imagine if churches agreed on this:
✔ The Spirit’s first role is to reveal Jesus.
✔ The Spirit gives life — actual, eternal life.
✔ The Spirit is the abiding presence of Jesus with His people.
✔ The Spirit empowers the witness of the Church.
✔ The Spirit is a gift from Christ Himself.
Suddenly, the conversation moves from tribal hot-button issues to the core of Christian identity.
Suddenly, Word and Spirit are no longer competing… but cooperating.
A fusion our cultural moment desperately needs.
A Final Word
John invites us into a richer, deeper, higher experience of the Spirit — one that doesn’t minimise charismatic practice, but roots it in the larger story of God.
His theology gives us a Spirit who:
reveals Jesus
gives life
dwells with us
empowers us
and flows from the heart of Christ Himself
This isn’t a Spirit for one stream of the church — it’s the Spirit for the whole church.
And if we embrace John’s vision, perhaps we’ll find ourselves more united than divided, more missional than tribal, and more alive than ever before.
This is the kind of church our world is waiting to see.
