John Calvin Commentary John 7:39

"But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet [given]; because Jesus was not yet glorified." — John 7:39 (ASV)

But this He spoke of the Spirit. The word water is sometimes applied to the Spirit because of its purity, as it is His role to cleanse our impurities. However, in this and similar passages, this term is used in a different sense: that we are destitute of all the sap and moisture of life, unless the Spirit of God gives us life and, so to speak, waters us by His secret vigor.

In one part He includes the whole, for under the one word water He includes all the parts of life. From this we also infer that all who have not been regenerated by the Spirit of Christ should be considered dead, regardless of the pretended life they boast of.

For the Holy Spirit was not yet given. We know that the Spirit is eternal. However, the Evangelist declares that as long as Christ lived in the world in the humble form of a servant, the grace of the Spirit, which was poured out on people after Christ’s resurrection, had not been openly manifested.

And indeed, he speaks comparatively, just as when the New Testament is compared to the Old. God promises His Spirit to His elect and believers as if He had never given Him to the Fathers. At that very time, the disciples had undoubtedly received the first-fruits of the Spirit; for from where does faith come but from the Spirit?

The Evangelist, therefore, does not absolutely assert that the grace of the Spirit was not offered and given to believers before the death of Christ, but rather that it was not yet as bright and glorious as it would later become.

For the highest adornment of Christ’s kingdom is that He governs His Church by His Spirit. He entered into the lawful and—what may be called—the solemn possession of His kingdom when He was exalted to the right hand of the Father.

Therefore, we should not be surprised if He delayed the full manifestation of the Spirit until that time.

But one question still remains to be answered: Does he mean here the visible graces of the Spirit, or the regeneration that is the fruit of adoption?

I answer: The Spirit, who had been promised at Christ’s coming, appeared in those visible gifts as in mirrors.

However, the question here relates strictly to the power of the Spirit, by which we are born again in Christ and become new creatures.

The fact that we remain on earth poor, famished, and almost destitute of spiritual blessings—while Christ now sits in glory at the right hand of the Father, clothed with the highest majesty of government—should be attributed to our slothfulness and to the small measure of our faith.