Christ was Vindicated by the Spirit
The Breakdown: In addition to His manifestation in the flesh, the church confesses that Christ was “vindicated by the Spirit.” The word vindicated means “to justify” or “to declare righteous.” This means that, by the Spirit, everything that Christ did and claimed about Himself was fully established. Jesus was the sinless sacrifice “who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God” (Heb. 9:14). Although all His works proved Himself to be true, it was especially the resurrection of Christ that the Spirit fully vindicated Christ’s words and work. Rom. 1:4 says that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead.”
Activate: Jesus was manifested in the flesh to die on the cross and the Holy Spirit affirmed His work to be true by raising Him from the dead. He lived the perfect life, made perfect atonement through His death, and proved such perfection in His resurrection.
A Thought: Although Christ “was despised and rejected by men” (Isa. 53:3), He was proven to be true as He was vindicated by the Spirit. And as we believe this truth, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16).
