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What does justified in the Spirit refer to in
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.
What is its relation to Godliness?
What does justified in the spirit refer to in 1Timothy 3:16
According to the book "Truth in Translation" by Jason David BeDuhn , an associated professor of religious studies at Nothern Arizona University, a correct rendering is that of the NRSV which follows Paul's language without tempering with its meaning. (The NRSVACE, NCV and NRSV also follow the same rendering). He writes that there is no reason to think that "Holy Spirit" is involved in this passage. The parallel that is drawn with "in flesh" rules out such rendering.
1 Timothy 3:16 (NRSV)
16 "Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory."
A similar verse is that of 1 Peter 3:18 , the majority of translations render it as :
1 Peter 3:18 (NRSV)
18 "For Christ also suffered[a] for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you[b] to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,"
Conclusion.
Jesus Christ by being faithful to the end , was made "alive in the spirit" was given immortality, declared righteous for the unrighteous, exalted to a higher position, sat at the right hand of God in heavens ,and so has set pattern for others to follow. Compare verses below.
1 Corinthians 15:42,45 (NRSV)
42 "So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit."
1 Timothy 6:16 (NRSV)
16 "It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen."
Philippians 2:9-11 (NRSV)
9 "Therefore God also highly **exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,**10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
This is not justified as "made just" (like us sinners), but justified from all slanders. Vindicated or defended by the Holy Spirit, would be the idea here. Let see some examples.
The miracles that Jesus did were by the power of the Spirit
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. [Luke 4:18-19]
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. [Matthew 12:28]
After suffering on the cross, Christ was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit.
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. [Romans 8:11]
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead [Romans 1:4]
The teaching of the Apostles comes from the Spirit
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. [John 14:26]
And all the miracles that the Apostles performed in the name of Christ were by the same Spirit.
For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. [Romans 15:18-19]
In all this Christ is placed in His exalted place, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit. Not only then, but also now. All these actions combined:
make our godliness possible. And that's the mystery, how can we become godly? Through the work of Christ, here summarized by Paul.
Yeshua's dedication to doing right out weighed any desire of his own flesh once he put childish ways behind him. He matured well physically and spiritually not letting sin rule over him. That's what justified him. I believe he didn't fast for 40 Day's in the wilderness for no reason. He was letting God know, Hey I'm here and I'm yours and I'm dedicated to you and all you do. Then Satan came to test him and that's what put the icing on the cake for God. God knew at that point that the plan was definitely still in motion and full speed ahead
See I looked at it differently. Yes Yeshua was Halfway God in the flesh. He had mortal blood from his mother as well. So the iniquities of her forefathers along with the learned behavior from Yosef who knows what small sin could have been committed. And that's all it takes to be a sinner. So I think this verse (Tim 3:16) is explaining that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory. But as Yeshua grew up he had the knowledge and the guidance from the father to become just(justified,vindicated) both meaning cleared of wrong doing. He was justified by the spirit and declared sinless, blameless and made whole by the father himself, THE righteous Judge, the Honorable ancient of days Elohiym
