I have previously blogged concerning the divinity of Jesus at jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2009/10/16/the-divinity-of-jesus/ as well as the concept of the triunity of the Godhead from an Old Testament perspective at jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2009/07/30/god-is-one/
You know that there are several religions and cults that recognize the nature of God as being “one” but mostly there concept of oneness portrays God as being “one” numerically versus a oneness as related to a unity of being which incorporates three persons which are of the same substance or essence as a compound unity .
When discussing theology I find that one of the many mystery’s about God are His definable points related to His incorporeal nature and being. Perhaps it is easier to describe His attributes rather than the very nature of His existence. Anyway I have already discussed these issues in these other blogs that I have previously posted.
So to begin with there are those who see the Holy Spirit as just an emanation of God’s power as being some type of indirect source. For them the Holy Spirit is just another synonymous term as related to God without any particular uniqueness.
Others may see Him as one of the several split personalities of God as one being.
While others view the Holy Spirit as one of many Gods which depicts tritheism or polytheism. As you can see there is a variance of different outlooks on the Holy Spirit and I’m not even for sure if I understand everyones opinion or position on this matter .
Anyway I will be discussing the Holy Spirit in this blog mainly from a New Testament perspective. Though the Old Testament may imply a separate identity for the Holy Spirit it is not as well defined or developed as the New Testament text.
My main objective in this post is to show that the Holy Spirit is a “person” rather than just a “thing.”
There are about 35 personal attributes to the Holy Spirit which are located in the scripture and these describe Him as a distinct person being unified in His role and purpose as a part of the triune Godhead.
The Holy Spirit has individual characteristics which are harmonious and yet unique as a personal being apart from the Father and the Son.
Some of the confusion comes because the Holy Spirit is so closely related as being unified as God that the scripture relates to His being as the Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of God, Spirit of Jesus, etc.
Yet there are personal references that clearly show his identity apart from the Father and the Son as in John 14:16.
It’s this possessive state that confuses others and yet this same possession is referred to of Jesus as related to the Father who is the Lord’s Messiah, Luke 2:26.
Also Jesus talks about the unity of God by stating that He and the Father are “one” in a special sense but in actuality they are two persons.
Jesus also states if you have seen Me than you have seen the Father John 14:9. There is such a unity that to speak of one is to refer to the other likewise.
In discussing the personhood of the Holy Spirit I will keep with referring to just a few choice scriptures and yet it may behoove you to do a fuller unbiased analysis to His person and work in relation to the content of this blog.
Anyway one of the main personal references to the Holy Spirit is by relating to Him through the use of various pronouns in using such words as “He” which is often associated with or used when referencing the Holy Spirit. John 15:26, 16:7, 8,13
In addition to this the Holy Spirit carries a title which indicates an individual who possesses personal qualities as a “Comforter” or “Counselor”
John 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7
Another reason why the Spirit is not just a synonymous word for God is that in John 16:13 its says that the Spirit of truth will not speak on His own but will speak only what He hears. Not only does it show that the Holy Spirit has a will but that He hears from another source and cannot speak on His own authority. If He is just an emanation of the numerically one absolute God then how is it that the Spirit of truth needs a directive on truth if He is the primary source of truth. The Holy Spirit isn’t just hearing voices but rather He is hearing from the Godhead.
In Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2 these scriptures relate to the divine triunity of God which show all three personalities present in a unified sense as God.
I realize the debate isn’t so much in seeing the Spirit as God but rather it is seeing the Spirit as being a separate person. I guess from a reverse angle it hard for us to even imagine this concept as it applies to us since we have both a material and a immaterial state of being but often when we view a person we often think of them as a whole being.
One thing we have to be mindful here is that the contributors of the New Testament text were raised in a Jewish culture and they were seen as fierce monotheists and as confessors of the one true and only God and for someone to misunderstand their position on that would be a critical misunderstanding.
Though these scriptures, that are under scrutiny, seem to show at times a separation of the Godhead these Jews were loyalists to the God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob who confessed their God as being “One” as found in the Shema Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29. Again I discuss more fully the oneness concept of God as related in my other blogs.
There are many mystery’s contained within the bible for the modern reader and there were even great difficulties among the contemporaries of Jesus who were his personal disciples. They were continually grappling with the truths that Jesus taught. It wasn’t until the Spirit of truth was deposited that they received a fuller revelation of understanding regarding the application of the word of God.
Even with the advent of the Holy Spirit the church struggled with difficult issues that needed clarification of which we see explained in many of the epistles.
Those who were the primary apostles of Jesus had debates such as the whole Gentile thing and how they were to to fit into God’s plan of redemption.
Even the angelic beings strain to gain insight into matters as related to God 1Peter 1:12.
Also Jesus in His humanity stated that there were only things of which the Father had knowledge of such as his returning in Matthew 24:36.
So I find it difficult for any believer to be overly dogmatic on understanding every little minute detail to this subject of God’s being and the bible states that on this side of eternity that we look through a glass darkly and that we know in part which shows that there is an obscurity or limitation to understanding everything with a perfected state of knowledge.
I am not saying that we shouldn’t strive to gain an understanding of the deep things of God through the spiritual intellect that he has gifted us with but perhaps there is a point where we need to simply accept the testimony of the scripture and avoid speculation.
I truly believe that God reserves the right to keep somethings a mystery and if one of these thing is His very being than I’m ok with that.
You know we can’t even understand the intimate dynamics of the Holy Spirit that indwells our being spatially let alone understand a God we have never seen Joel 2:28, Romans 8:11, Acts 2:4, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Galatians 4:6.
Perhaps where the scripture is silent than maybe thats a clue for us to remain silent. If God wanted us to know everything related to His existence then He would of made it perfectly clear. If this matter was to be made known fully than it would have been God’s agenda and objective in establishing this kind of revelation truth to His earthly creatures. Yet it seems like other themes such as the redemption of mankind took a higher precedence versus discussing every theological inquiry.
There is no way to limit God through the publishing of 66 books because there could never be enough books in the universe written to contain exhaustively His glorious description. So to say that we know everything about God is both arrogant and ignorant.
You know what is scary in regards to all of this is not the fact that we don’t have all the answers for every question but rather its being deceived into thinking that we do have an answer when we don’t.
I prefer to allow God to be God to the degree that the bible describes and this also includes the person of the Holy Spirit.
Lastly this may not answer every question to the nature of the Holy Spirit but perhaps this may open up other possibilities on how you view His person.
superb article . Will definitely copy it to my blog.Thanks.