What does it mean that God is spirit?
The statement "God is Spirit" (John 4:24) is one of the most profound declarations about the nature of God in Scripture. Spoken by the Lord Jesus to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, it comes in the context of true worship — but its implications reach far beyond worship into the very essence of who God is.
The Nature of God
The phrase "God is Spirit" speaks of what God is in His essential being — His nature, not merely one of His attributes. Just as John elsewhere writes "God is light" (1 John 1:5) and "God is love" (1 John 4:8), so here the Lord reveals that Spirit is not something God has but something God is.
J.N. Darby draws out a vital distinction between the names "God" and "Father" in John's writings, showing that "God is Spirit" speaks of His nature and our responsibility, while "the Father seeketh such to worship Him" speaks of His grace:
J.N. DarbyAll through John's writings, whenever it is a question of God's nature or of man's responsibility we always get God; whenever the operation of grace is spoken of we get the Father and the Son. So we have "fellowship with the Father;" "God is light." "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" — there we have responsibility; "for the Father seeketh such to worship him" — there we have grace.
In another work, Darby elaborates on this same distinction:
DarbyThe difference between the names of God and of Father is always distinctly maintained in John's Gospel. When it is a question of the nature, and of the acting of God according to that nature, as the origin of redemption, and of the responsibility of man, the word God is employed; when it is a question of the grace which acts in Christianity, and by Christ in us, it is the name of Father. Thus "God so loved the world"; and in chapter 4, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth"; but, in grace, "the Father seeketh such to worship him."
God Is Spirit — and Man Has a Spirit
F.W. Grant draws a remarkable connection between God's nature as Spirit and the fact that man, unlike the beasts, was given a spirit by the breath of the Almighty:
F.W. GrantHe has a spirit, as "God is spirit," and thus by creation, as Paul quotes from the Greek poet to show the general sense of man, declares, "We are God's offspring."
Because God is Spirit, He made man with a spirit — a capacity to know God that no animal possesses. Yet sin has darkened that capacity, so that only by the new birth and the indwelling Holy Spirit can man truly approach God as He is.
What This Means for Worship
Because God is Spirit, worship must be in spirit and in truth — it must correspond to His nature. Outward forms, places, and ceremonies cannot reach Him. This was the revolutionary truth the Lord unfolded to the Samaritan woman: neither Mount Gerizim nor Jerusalem would define true worship any longer.
W.T.P. Wolston brings this out with great clarity:
W.T.P. WolstonCoupled with the worship of the Father, you will observe, is this expression, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" — in the power of the Spirit, and according to the truth of the revelation He has given us of Himself. It is important to dwell for a moment upon this. You may say, I really can go and call Him "Father." Thank God if you can. It is your right and privilege... But there is more than this. Can you draw near to God — get right into His holy presence — with this sense, I am welcome here; I am wanted here; I am fit to be here; I am delighted to be here? Does the blest knowledge of God fill your soul with joy and delight?
Hamilton Smith brings out the full sweep of the change in worship:
Hamilton SmithOn the authority of the Lord she is asked to believe that the hour was at hand when worship would no longer be a question of worshipping in a place, such as the mountain at Samaria or the temple at Jerusalem, but it would be the worship of a Person. Moreover it would no longer be the worship of a Person who is unrevealed, but of God revealed and known in grace as the Father. Further it would no longer be an outward worship by forms and ceremonies, but worship in spirit and truth. Again God will no longer be demanding worshippers, but as the Father He will seek worshippers. Finally, Christian worship is according to the true nature of God. "God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."
William Kelly points out that "God is Spirit" has implications for the full Godhead — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
William Kelly"God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him [it is not merely the Father, but also God] must worship Him in spirit and in truth." If we say God, the Father only is not meant, but the Trinity. Evidently, then, we worship the Father in saying God, but we also worship the Son and the Holy Ghost; for Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are equally God.
The Father Seeks Worshippers
Darby, in his Notes on the Gospel of John, captures the heart of the matter — that this truth about God's nature was deeply personal to the Lord Jesus, bound up with the Father's own desire:
But there shall be true worshippers. Such the Father seeks. He needeth not. His nature is too high for these proud rejecters. Yet is there no pride in seeking in truth, answerable in mind and understanding to Him, His will, and what He is as revealed, and in spirit according to what He is. The Father then seeketh, but it is such He seeketh.
And further:
47004EBut God is a Spirit, and they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth; they must so from His nature; they do not worship Him insofar as they do not.
W. Kelly draws it together in his introduction to John's Gospel:
W. KellyFirst, we must worship, if at all, in spirit and in truth. This is indispensable; for God is a Spirit, and so it cannot but be. Besides this, goodness overflows, in that the Father is gathering children, and making worshippers. The Father seeks worshippers. What love!
Synthesis
That "God is Spirit" means, first, that God in His essential nature is not material — not confined to places or temples, not approachable through outward rituals. He is above and beyond all that is physical and visible. Second, it means that worship answerable to Him must be spiritual — wrought by the Holy Spirit in hearts that know God as He has revealed Himself in Christ. Third, because God is Spirit, He gave man a spirit capable of knowing Him — but that capacity, ruined by sin, can only be restored through the new birth and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And finally, this truth is inseparable from grace: while God's nature demands spiritual worship ("they must so from His nature," as Darby puts it), the Father in love seeks worshippers, finding them — as He found the Samaritan woman — through the Son who reveals Him.