Blog post June 29th, 2026

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. I Timothy 3:16

All of the phrases in this verse are pretty straight forward and can be taken at face value accept "vindicated by the Spirit." Maybe its just me but I have to dig a deeper to understand what that means.

Most people understand vindicated to mean being cleared of blame, guilt, or suspicion after being doubted or accused. For those who believe Jesus to be who He declared Himself to be, its almost offense to think that He needs to be vindicated. Yet He came to His own people and they received Him not. So to the unbelieving world He needs to be vindicated, or proven to be Who He declares Himself to be.

From His baptism and performing miracles, to His resurrection Jesus was proven by the Spirit. He was proven to be innocent of sin. He was proven to be sent by God the Father and One with Him. He was proven to be greater than death and the devil in every way. He was proven to be the resurrected Christ who will one day return in the same way He left. By the Spirit of God Jesus was truly proven to be more than a man. He was proven to be one with the great "I AM."

In the original Greek, the word used is dikaioō, was used for vindicate which fundamentally means "to be declared righteous" or "proved to be in the right." Many times Jesus was tested and in every case He was proven to be in the right. In no other case could it be said that the Spirit of God vindicated a man.

There is a word which is close to vindicated which is the word justified. I like the idea that when we stand before God we will be "justified" by the One who was "vindicated". We will be declared innocent by the only One who could make us so. Isn't that a beautiful thought?

Heavenly Father thank you for today's wonderful verse which takes a little thought but once the light bulb came on, it is a true blessing. Thank you for Jesus' vindication and our justification. AMEN AMEN!