1:4 What does the Spirit of holiness refer to here?
1:4 What does the Spirit of holiness refer to here?
There are some in the church who hold this to be a reference to the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead to demonstrate that He was truly the Son of God (CP Ac 2:22-36; 3:14-15, 26; 4:10; 5:30-32; 17:31).
Others believe that it is a reference to the Spirit of Christ as the seat of the divine nature belonging to His person. They believe that as God is Spirit, the divine nature of Jesus is Spirit, and its characteristic quality is holiness (CP Psa 16:10; Lu 4:34; Ac 2:27; 3:14; 2Cor 5:21; He 4:15; 1Pe 1:16; 2:22; 1Jn 3:5).
Those who espouse this view believe that the power to raise Jesus from the dead operated "according to the Spirit of holiness", Jesus' divine nature - in contrast with "according to the flesh". According to the flesh refers to Jesus' humanity (CP Ro 1:3).
Both these views have merit, and each has scriptures to support them. But we should not argue over which is right and which is wrong, because neither is fundamental to salvation.