Doctrine of Holy Spirit

Doctrine of Holy Spirit

Introduction

There is no doubt whatsoever that a knowledge of what the holy Scriptures teach concerning the Holy Spirit is of supreme importance. The need to get a Bible-based view of the Holy Spirit becomes more and more evident as various charismatic movements appear on the scene. The study is indeed profound as any consideration of the great eternal God must be. The Unitarian, who denies the deity of Christ, has the same problem regarding the Holy Spirit. His personality is denied and He is relegated to being merely a divine influence or a manifestation of divine power. Judged by the Scriptures, this view is completely defective and must be rejected by all who value and want to attain to the knowledge of God's truth. We make no attempt in this work to deal with the Trinity.

This has been done in other studies. We would re-iterate that while the word 'Trinity' does not occur in the Bible, yet the fact of it does. Owing to the way the word 'person' is used today, usually being synonymous with an individual, separate from all other individuals, this word is better avoided as far as possible in dealing with the Godhead, though it is very difficult not to use it, as we have no satisfactory English word as an alternative. As Dr. W.H. Griffith Thomas wisely remarks, 'instead of meaning the fact of separate individuality, personality in God is intended to convey an idea of inner distinction which exists in the unity of the divine Nature. The facts from Scripture demand from us an acknowledgment of the unity of the Godhead and at the same time those interior distinctions between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which we can only express by our word "person".

While therefore, it is true that the term is used today in connection with human life in a way that is quite different from its use in connection with the Godhead, it is also true that no other term has yet been found adequate to express the essential distinctions in the Godhead' (The Principles of Theology p.95). Let us consider the following passages of Scripture: 'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost' (Matt. 28:19). 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen' (2 Cor. 13:14). It should be obvious that both Matthew and the apostle Paul place the same emphasis on the Holy Spirit as they do on the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It would be quite improper, irreverent and misleading to associate the Holy Spirit in this way with the Godhead unless He was equal with the Father and the Son. Moreover, in connection with the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter accuses them of lying to the Holy Ghost (Acts 5:3), lying to God (verse 4), and ...