The Promise of the Father | Sunday, August 10, 2025

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17)

"And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive... But you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you." (John 14:16-18)

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

How a single Latin word divided the church—and why the Holy Spirit was given to keep us focused on the mission, not the argument.

Jesus' Prayer That We Would Be One

Picture first-century Jerusalem, 2,000 years ago. Jesus is just hours from his arrest, trial, condemnation, and death. What is on his mind in that moment? He prays. In John 17, the high priestly prayer, he prays that we would be one with the Father and with him.

He has spent the preceding chapters preparing his troubled disciples for his departure, and he is troubled too. The very next picture of Jesus is in Gethsemane, sweating great drops of blood under the weight of that stress. Yet what does he pray? That they may be one. In John 17 this request comes up five times—in verse 11, twice in verse 21, again in verse 22, and finally in verse 23. Do you think this was important to him?

The Creed That Was Meant to Unite

Now fast forward 300 years to 325 AD. A division has arisen in the church, caused by the teaching of a North African pastor named Arius who called into question the nature of Jesus. Bishops gathered in Nicaea, in what is today Turkey—1,700 years ago this year—and produced the Nicene Creed, a statement of what Christians believe about the triune nature of God.

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most difficult Christian doctrines to comprehend and explain. Any honest pastor will admit that at the end of his explanation you may be left scratching your head, and so may he, because our finite minds cannot fully grasp the infinite triune God. Yet Scripture reveals that God is one and exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The creed was intended to unify the church around this belief held since the beginning.

But there is a problem. The creed we have been reading together this summer is not the original creed of 325, nor the revised creed of the First Council of Constantinople in 381. It is actually a creed that came out of a council in Toledo, Spain, in 589 AD—sometimes called the divisive creed. That which was intended to bring unity caused division through one Latin word, translated into three English words.

One Latin Word: Filioque

When the Toledo council declared that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son," that addition became so significant to the Eastern church, centered in Constantinople, that it split from the Western church centuries later in 1054 AD in what is called the Great Schism. They cited this one Latin word as the reason.

Now, the stated reason is rarely the only reason. The Christian church has experienced two splits resulting in three major groups. You are in a Protestant church, the result of the second split, the Protestant Reformation, which centers on Martin Luther in 1517 in Germany. The first split, the Great Schism of 1054, divided the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople from Roman Catholicism in Rome—and they cited this very portion of the creed.

I want to suggest the actual reason had far more to do with personality, politics, and control, which is almost always the reason for splits within the church. But there were doctrinal issues too, and the one we examine today has everything to do with the Holy Spirit.

The Filioque Is a Distraction

The word is filioque, and it has come to be known as the filioque clause. It was added in Toledo in 589 AD by leaders still dealing with the Arian heresy. Wanting to make crystal clear that Jesus is God, they added this word so the creed reads that the Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father and the Son." They likely didn't even realize they had committed a major faux pas, but they tossed a pebble into the lake of Christianity, and the ripples moved toward Constantinople.

So let me add to the stir. Point number one: the filioque is a distraction from the main point and purpose of the Holy Scripture and the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying these three words are unimportant—but they are a distraction. The point of this section is the Holy Spirit, who is exceedingly important in the life of the believer. The whole statement affirms that the Holy Spirit is equally God with the Son and the Father, and that he comes from God to us for a purpose.

The night before his crucifixion, Jesus prepared his troubled disciples. "Let not your heart be troubled," he said. They were worried he was leaving. He said, "I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you." He would not be physically present, but he would send another helper, the Spirit of truth.

So did the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father to us? Yes—Scripture proves it. Did he proceed from the Son? Toledo says so, and some argue passionately for it. But is this one-word change worthy of such enormous division? I am not entirely convinced it is worth all the noise. God sent his Spirit for a reason: to be in us, to enable and empower us to fulfill Christ's mission by his indwelling power.

I have spent 26 years studying the Scriptures, much of the last decade at a formal level. I can argue historic theology all day long, and academic theologians love to argue. Yet sometimes in the middle of a seminar I find myself thinking, does any of this matter? As a theologian, I'll grant that Toledo probably shouldn't have added the word. But you can also argue the addition is perfectly fine and truly established by Scripture. Either way, the argument has become an unnecessary distraction from the mission Jesus commissioned us to—and from the very reason he sent his Spirit.

The Spirit Was Given to Empower the Mission

Point number two: the Holy Spirit was promised and given to empower God's people to accomplish God's mission. I am an applied theologian. What you believe about theology should transform the way you live. James said, "Faith without works is dead." Do you know who would not have cared about the filioque controversy? The Apostle James.

Why? Because just before he left, Jesus commissioned his church: "All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." How is Jesus with us always? By the Spirit. In John 14:25-27 he promised the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who would teach them all things and bring his words to remembrance, leaving them his peace so their hearts need not be troubled.

We have a huge mission—to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples. In ourselves, we cannot accomplish it. Therefore he promised a huge Helper for our huge mission. Because we have a Helper, we don't have to be anxious. Consider the audacity of John 16: "It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you... And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment."

Here's a problem some of us Christians have: we think it's our job to convict people of sin. Let me free you—that's not your job. You don't have to convince your spouse they're wrong. You can pray that the Holy Spirit would do that, but be aware: when you pray it, you might be the one who gets convicted. Convicting the world of sin is the Spirit's work, not yours.

Splitting Hairs Over Greek and Latin

Jesus says, "I will send the Spirit to you." Does that mean the Spirit comes from Jesus? Some would divide over that very question. But there's more. In John 15:26 Jesus says, "When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father." There it is—"proceeds from the Father," exactly as the original creed has it. So the Spirit proceeds from the Father, yet is sent by the Son. Can he also proceed from the Son? Some say no, because the text doesn't say "proceeds."

The Eastern church was very passionate about the Greek, because they had the Greek manuscripts and read and spoke Greek. The Christians in Toledo spoke Latin, not Greek. The Greek-speaking church in Constantinople looked down on those who didn't read Greek and said, "You don't understand the truth in Greek." There was no arrogance in that at all—but there kind of was.

This may seem like splitting hairs. The Protestant Reformers looked down on the medieval scholastics for arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. And there is truth to it: all the while Constantinople argued over the finer points of language, the church was not pursuing its mission—until the city was sacked by the Ottomans in the fifteenth century. Can you see why I would say the filioque is a distraction from the main point and purpose of Holy Scripture and the Holy Spirit?

The Issue That Caused Division Distracts from the Mission

Point number three: the issue that caused the division is a distraction from the mission. Wouldn't it be like Satan to sideline God's people by getting them to argue over the finer details of language? This started a series of events that over several hundred years divided the church. And while they claimed the real issue was doctrinal, the study of that history shows the major issue was personality, politics, and control.

You may not know that the Calvary Chapel family of churches, of which we are part, split within the last decade. I know the names and players, and I can tell you it had very little to do with doctrine and a great deal to do with personality, politics, and control. There are some big personalities.

The Western church in 589 was on mission, trying to reach people confused about who Jesus is. Christianity is about Christ. They wanted to declare that Jesus is equally God with the Father, and that's why they said the Spirit proceeds from both. They never imagined the firestorm they caused. But all of it led to missing the point: we have a huge mission, and Jesus does not want us distracted from it. And we have the empowering, indwelling Holy Spirit to help us fulfill a mission too big for any of us alone.

Wait for the Promise of the Father

In every gospel and in Acts, Jesus commissions his followers to preach the gospel. "Go and preach the gospel to every creature," he says in Mark 16:15. Someone asked me after the first service if that means preaching the gospel to our cats. I said they might be heathens—you might want to. But it speaks of the totality of the mission and the dominion the church has been given over all creation.

In Luke he says, "Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem... Behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you; but tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." Go—but don't go without the empowering of the Holy Spirit, because apart from him you can do nothing.

So in Acts 1, being assembled with them, "he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father... For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." And what do the disciples do? They instantly get distracted—squirrel. "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus refocuses them: "It is not for you to know the times or seasons... But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

He's with Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the rest. He tells them they'll be his ambassadors to all the world, empowered by his Spirit—and immediately they're distracted. We're easily distracted too. So Jesus has to refocus us back on the mission, and the Holy Spirit does that in our lives frequently.

The Spirit Focuses, Empowers, and Bears Fruit

Point number four: the Holy Spirit helps us focus on the task and accomplish the mission. He empowers us—"you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." He emboldens us. In Acts 4, when the church was persecuted for preaching, they gathered and prayed, and "while they prayed, the Holy Spirit came upon them again, and they were filled with boldness."

He equips us. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says the Spirit gives gifts to each of us as he wills, to equip us for works of service for the furtherance of the gospel. He remains with us forever—"Lo, I am with you always." And he produces in us the evidence of God's presence: the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.

These are the evidences that God is in you. This is what your friend, family, neighbor, and coworker need to see in your life. "Though I have all knowledge of historic theology and doctrine, and understand all mysteries, and have faith to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13). What your coworker needs to see is that you have self-control, kindness, peace, and patience. I don't have that in myself, and neither do you. But by the Spirit's enabling power, we can and we do.

The Fullness of God's Presence Today

Point number five: the Holy Spirit brings the fullness of God's presence and power into our lives today. He makes it real right now, when I need it—in the very moment you are tested, and you will be tested. It won't even take five hours after this service.

Here's a test I know you'll face: the test of your patience. Got kids? God gave you your child to change you. I thought I was raising them; quite the contrary. When you're tested in patience or self-control, you can pray, "God, give me your patience, give me your self-control, because I don't have it." The Holy Spirit brings the fullness of God's presence and power into your life today.

Can you see why the devil would want us distracted and divided over minor issues like whom the Spirit proceeds from? The church has been divided for centuries over this and other issues, and still is. If this issue divides your fellowship, you're missing the point of why God gave you his Holy Spirit. The chief evidence that you have the Spirit is self-control and love. If you have all the answers but not that, you're missing the point.

Is Christ Divided?

It is devastating that a confession describing the unity of the triune God became the very thing that brought the first division in the church. Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 1, "Is Christ divided?" It's rhetorical. The answer is no. I don't say this to flatten every disagreement between Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox—there are real doctrinal issues that will ultimately be sorted out in God's presence. Even now we contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. But we must keep our focus on Christ, his mission, and his call.

In Ephesians 4, Paul—imprisoned for the faith—writes: "I beseech you that you would walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." One thing never evident in division is lowliness or humility—it's always arrogance: "I know more than you, I have deeper insight than you." "For there is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all."

He gave gifts to the church—"some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers"—why? "For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." It's a mistake to think ministry is done only by professional clergy. It's done by the church. My job is to equip you. The goal: "till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

God wants to make us more like Jesus, so we are no longer children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and the trickery of men. The enemy is at work here. But "speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ," the whole body knit together, "for the edifying of itself in love."

I don't say all this to imply there are no rational, doctrinal disagreements among the flavors of Christianity. I say it to emphasize that Jesus' prayer for us was that we would be one in him: "that they may be one... that the world may believe that you sent me... and that the world may know that you have loved them as you have loved me."

Church, we have a mission, and it's easy to get distracted from it. But the Holy Spirit was given to keep us focused, to guide, empower, embolden, and equip us. There is a world out there in desperate need of the gospel of the kingdom for which we are ambassadors. God, help us not to be distracted.

Closing Prayer

God, thank you for your word. I pray that you by your Spirit would help us apply your word to our lives today and help us live out our faith as we are empowered by you. Holy Spirit, do a work in us, a work of sanctifying grace, transforming us by the renewing of our minds that we would show forth in our daily lives your good and perfect will. Holy Spirit, produce in me and in my brothers and sisters love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in abundance. Father, if there is anything that needs to be pruned from our lives—dead branches not producing fruit—remove and prune them so that we would bear much fruit for your glory, that the world would know that you are God. We ask this today in Jesus' name, and all those who agreed said, "Amen."