Understanding:
The Father
Son
Holy Spirit

Index

• Introduction
• The Holy Spirit
• Jesus the Messiah
• The New cannot contradict the Old
• God sends Jesus the Messiah
• How did Jesus become God?
• Who benefits from Jesus becoming God?
• Questions to ponder
• But what about these proof texts?

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is God, but it is not a separate entity, yet still an equal member of a triune God. It is simply the presence and power of God Himself. Nowhere in the Bible is the Holy Spirit ever said to be an equal member of a trinity. Nobody ever prays to it, nobody ever talks to it, none of the New Testament writers ever send greetings from the Holy Spirit. Even when theologians decided that Jesus was God in 325 AD, they did not include the Holy Spirit until fifty-six years later in 381 AD. The Holy Spirit is how God extends His presence and power to His creation. Psalm 139: 7 states:

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?"

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words defines the Hebrew word spirit as: breath of life. 2. mind set, of one’s mind or thinking.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God’s mind renewing your mind. This is why our way of thinking changes when we receive the Holy Spirit. Through God’s mind comes His power. 1 Corinthians 2:11 states:

"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit (mind) within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God," (the mind of God).

The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as God’s Spirit or the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit (the mind) of the Holy One, "God." It is not a person separate from God.

Examples:

Matthew 3: 16, 1 Corinthians 2: 10, 1 Corinthians 2: 14, 1 Corinthians 3: 16, Romans 8: 11.

These are just a few of many.

People have tried to make the Holy Spirit an independent, co-equal , omniscient, omnipotent, entity, who is really now called "God the Holy Spirit," (a name which does not exist in the entire Bible) who is a member of a triune God. There is no evidence for this claim. People have taken simple verses and filled them with conjecture. Let me give you an example:

2 Corinthians 13: 13 or 14 depending on the translation states:

The New American Bible says of this verse, "This final verse is one of the clearest Trinitarian passages in the New Testament."

If this is one of the clearest Trinitarian passages, imagine what the others must be like.

Just because you mention God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the same sentence does not make them the same being. In Luke 9: 28 it says:

"About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray."

If we hold to the same logic that is being applied to 2 Corinthians 13: 13, then Jesus, Peter, John, and James are the same being. This is the extent of this argument. I honestly look at this verse and I do not see anything that implies that they are three in one. Do you? What this verse means is exactly what it says, that the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is how God communicates and relates to us. Even if we say that they are three distinct persons, it still does not imply that they are the same being. Look at it objectively and not the way human tradition dictates it must be looked at. The other few verses that are used for the same purpose are identical in structure. All they do is mention God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the same paragraph. Puzzling? Yes. Biblical? No.

The Old Testament never thought of the Holy Spirit as a person distinct from the Father. J.D. Michaelis who is an eminent professor of biblical languages states:

"It cannot be proved, out of the whole number of passages in the Old Testament in which the Holy Spirit is mentioned, that it is a distinct person in the Godhead."

Remember that the New Testament cannot contradict the Old Testament. There was no exchange of God’s. It is the same God throughout the Bible.

In many Bible translations people have tried to make the Holy Spirit a person by translating the "Paraclete" as "him" instead of "it," as in John 14:15-17. It should be "it". People have translated it as "him" for theological reasons. The Roman Catholic New American Bible among others, translates the Paraclete correctly as "it" and has an excellent footnote:

Note on John 14:17: The Greek word for "spirit" is neuter, and the Greek text and manuscript variants fluctuate between masculine and neuter pronouns."

If the Holy Spirit has always been the third person in a triune God, then why did they not include the Holy Spirit as a member of the Godhead when they made Jesus "God" at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD? Why did they have to wait until the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD to include the Holy Spirit in the formula? The reason is because neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit had ever been considered separate persons of the same God until Greek philosophy started to influence the early church in the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th centuries, mostly by the pen of such men as Origen and Tertullian.

For a brief explanation of the influence of Greek philosophy on the early church, I would strongly suggest that you look up "Platonism" in The Encyclopedia Britannica under the subtitle "Platonism and the influence on the early Christian church."

Index

This page copyright © 2000 by Juan Baixeras