Who Is The Witness Of The Salvation Of Your Soul?

Mark A. Smith

Apr 30, 20243 min read

NICENE CREED

Who proceeds from the Father and the Son

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son because He is “the likeness” of the divine image of the deity of Jesus Christ (Gen.1:26-27; 3:22; Jn.4:24; Col.1:15). The likeness of His person in the uniting factor that joins our corruptible souls to the incorruptibility of the divine nature (2Pet.1:2-4). Our souls, however, are corrupted through the spirit of the world, the god of this age, who is the prince and power of the air (Rom.8:15; 1Cor.2:12; 2Cor.4:3-4; Eph.2:1-3; Rom.1:23, 25). Therefore, this distinction must be made so that we may discern between the spirit of error (1Jn.4:5-6), which is the original heresy (Jn.8:44; 1Jn.2:21; Rev.21:27), and the Spirit of truth (Jn.14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13-15), which is born in us through the incorruptible Seed of Christ’s work and the Father’s will (James 1:16-18; 1Cor.15:53-54, 1Pet.1:3-5, 23; 1Jn.3:9), which has become the law of the Spirit of life in those who believe and obey the gospel (1Cor.15:45; Rom.8:2, 10-11; 2Cor.3:6; Gal.6:8).

The total corruption of the soul was born in us through the spirit of the serpent, who deceived Eve under the economic image that Adam was charged to protect in the garden of eternal life, on the principle of the law of the tree called the knowledge of good and evil (Gen.2:8-9, 15-17). This spiritual law separated Adam from permission to represent the image of eternal life through economic liberty of the tree of life working in him the curse of that law (Gen.3:4-5, 22-24; Rom.2:13-15; 5:12-14; 1Cor.15:56; Gal.3:2, 5, 10). Therefore, the spirit of sin and death proceeded from Adam’s fall into total corruption of the soul (Rom.3:9-20; Jer.13:23). The opposite is true concerning the Holy Spirit, for He proceeds from the work of Christ into our hearts (1Cor.15:45; Jn.15:26; 16:7; Rom.5:15-21).

In the law of the Spirit of life (Rom.6:15-23; 7:4-6), we are liberated from the law of sin and death when our time under the economy of faith is fulfilled (Rom.7:14, 25; 8:1-4; Gal.4:1-3; 1Cor.13:8-13), which proceeded from Adam’s sin as the representative of the fallen race (Rom.5:12-14), but in Christ as the representative the divine race (1Cor.15:44-49), for we become ambassadors of the heavenly man through the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:14-17, 23-27; 2Cor.5:14-21). But without the Father accepting the work of the Son, fulfilling the law of sin and death as our representative substitute (Rom.8:3-4; Phil.2:5-11; 1Cor.2:12-16), in place of Adam (Gen.3:21-22; Jn.3:13-15), as the last and final Adam (1Cor.15:45), the Holy Spirit could not be sent into the world to work our salvation in past, present, and future sanctification of the world (Rom.8:28-30); for the life, death, and resurrection of the Son was prepared from before the foundation of the world (Rev.5:6, 12; 13:8; Gen.1:2). Therefore, the Holy Spirit does not work salvation apart from the work that Christ has done on behalf of the Father’s command to give eternal life given to Jesus to love to the very end and to intercede for their faith by His blood eternally (Jn.3:3-8, 16-17; 5:39; 6:54; 10:26-30; 12:50; 13:1; 17:2-3; Acts 13:48; Lk.22:31-34; Heb.7:24-28).

Therefore, we should have great hope in the knowledge that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son into our corruptible souls to preserve us by the new and living way (Heb.10:19-25), leading our souls into incorruptibility (Tit.2:6-8; 1Pet.1:3-4), doing the work of sanctification in our hearts by the one and same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (1Cor.12:4; Jn.3:34; 2Cor.3:17-18; 1Cor.12:13; 15:48-49; Eph.2:18; 4:4). The Father cannot lie when He has made this promise through Christ (2Cor.1:21-22; Eph.1:13-14), that He would seal us by the divine Spirit, through the total surrender upon the gospel of the Son (Matt.21:42-45; Lk.20:17-8; Rom.10:4-21; 11:4; 2Tim.2:19; Col.1:12-14; 2Pet.1:4; Acts 17:29-31).

Tertullian is a writer from whom we should naturally expect useful information on the subject of baptismal creeds. He wrote a full-length treatise concerned wholly with baptism (defending it against detractors, it must be admitted, rather than delineating its ritual), and his works abound in illuminating glimpses of baptismal procedure.