THE PERSON OF THE HOLY GHOST: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS!
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STUDY THE GREAT TRUTH OF HOLY SCRIPTURE AND NOT SEE THE PREPONDERANCE OF THE PRESENCE AND BEAUTY OF GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT. From the first chapter of Genesis, the going forth of the Father’s glorious presence cannot be separated from the Person of His Spirit. The unity of God’s Trinity is the ‘Heart Throb’ of the whole Holy Bible. No action of God ever departs from the whole of His Godhead. The Father is the Great Center of Wisdom, the Son is the Perfect Center of Mercy and Truth and the Holy Spirit is the going forth of all that is God.
Only when we arrive at the eternal future can we comprehend the awesome height of all that is God. No wonder Apostle Paul stated, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (I Corinthians 13:9-11) It’s very important that we understand this truth and not try to comprehend that which mortal man can never perfectly know. Our future will be full of truth that is still beyond reach on this side of the veil.
The Father, by His Son and His Spirit, has revealed to us everything needed for redemption and holy, victorious and triumphant living. He wants us to long for the day when with Him, the things now unseen, will become joys forever. Isaiah stated, “Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.” (Psalm 92:13) When we are revealed in our new bodies we will have unlimited and incorruptible fullness, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12) Only the foolish soul can dare live without the Hope of our eternal immorality.
Let’s try to understand as much as possible about His Holy Ghost. Many questions have been answered in the previous chapters of this notebook. There will be some duplication but they can only serve to emphasize great truths on this subject.
1. IS THE HOLY GHOST A DISTINCT PERSON?
Absolutely! It does great injustice to the Third Person of the Godhead to reduce Him to simply an office or a kind of impersonal influence. The Holy Ghost is a Divine Person that goes forth from the Father and the Son to fulfill all the glory of His Godhead with which He is One. He can be grieved, rejected, resisted and sometimes blasphemed.
2. EXPLAIN THE OMNIPRESENCE OF THE HOLY GHOST.
The Father is seated on His Throne of splendor and absolute glory. The Son is seated at His right hand, but the Holy Ghost gives omnipresence to all that the Father and Son are. The Holy Ghost fills this universe with God. David cried out, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:7-10)
3. IS THE HOLY GHOST THE ESSENCE OF ALL LIFE?
This universe would instantly die, vanish into oblivion should the Spirit withdraw His living presence. This life which the Spirit gives to the universe is the life of God and Christ that emanates from their Persons. Romans states to the church and the world, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” (Romans 13:1-2) Listen to this, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” (Acts 17:28)
4. CAN WE SEPARATE THE ACTION OF THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY GHOST?
Sometimes in Scripture there is a direction given to each of these three members of the Godhead. We must take the whole Bible to understand that the offices each fulfills are different, but always in perfect harmony. St. John tells us of Christ as Creator and sustainer, but the Spirit of Christ is equally a part of this action. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (St. John 1:1-5) We can simply say it was the Father in Christ and was manifest by the going forth of the Holy Spirit.
5. WHY DO THE “JESUS ONLY” DENY THE DISTINCTION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF THE GODHEAD?
When men intrude beyond the Scripture because they have to figure God out, they err in dark ways. Our God is awesome and sovereign and He defies our limited understanding. When God said to His Trinity, Let us make man after our likeness,” He was setting forth the triune truth of His entire universe. John said it best. “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” (I John 5:6-10)
6. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE SUPERNATURAL PERSON OF THE HOLY GHOST HAS CEASED HIS MIGHTY MANIFESTATIONS?
It’s absurd to suggest that this member of the Godhead has or ever can change His purpose or part in the Godhead. The Father spoke for all He is when He declared, “For I am the LORD, I change not…” (Malachi 3:6a) Again it was said, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8) The Father has not changed and literally cannot change and still be the Eternal God. Neither can the Son of God or the Holy Ghost of God. Forget that thought forever, it is from the devil.
Please read every chapter in this notebook and place your life totally in His supernatural possession. He is even as I write, going about this universe searching for the life that is fully ready to follow Him and His church. “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (II Chronicles 16:9a) He wants you and you will never find a Lord to give yourself to that will so supernaturally care for every need.
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Ed Wood
Are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all one God yet distinct personalities of him?
Yep!
Here’s the most direct proof I know of from the Gospel of Mark:
{1:9}And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. {1:10} And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: {1:11} And there came a voice from heaven,
[saying,] Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. {1:12} And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.
Here we have an account of the direct physical manifestation of each person of the Trinity:
1) Jesus himself who was just baptized.
2) The Father’s voice expressing how pleased he was with his Son.
3) The Holy Spirit appearing as a dove descending upon Jesus and then directing him into the wilderness.
Now, even though the reality of the Trinity is really beyond human comprehension, the evidence here nevertheless demonstrates IT IS A FACT!
I don’t know how God brought Jesus back from the dead, but accept on faith according to the historical evidence that he did just that. Just because we don’t understand something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen or doesn’t exist!
jaimie
Dear Pastor,
The Lord has provided me with much, so shall i be accounted for much. There is no end to his grace, mercy and compassion. Without such,we would perish.
God Bless
Sean
Oh, Joseph the antiCatholic hatemonger has sent me a new piece of bigoted lies and anti-Trinitarian heresy.
Who cares? You refuse to post my replies, so that means you’re scared of the truth.
Enjoy Hell.
jaimie
Dear Pastor
Dear Ann
I second that!
God Bless
Ed Wood
Perhaps one of the most amazing things about the Bible is that when it comes to the fundamentals, such as salvation and Jesus being the ONLY MEANS by which this is possible, is so clear that one need not be a religious scholar to understand it. That the Trinity is a reality is likewise clear as I mentioned in an earlier post here. It seems to me that the people who have trouble getting this are those who have formal “religious educations.”
By the way, want further proof of the Trinity? Here it is from Jesus himself:
Matthew {28:19} Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: {28:20} Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
My experience with many clergy in the Episcopal Church and surprisingly even with the conservative recently formed Anglican Church in North America, is that their seminary years have done more to make them doubters of the Bible than believers. Of course, super-liberal entities such as TEC (the Episcopal Church) even cast doubt on the Trinity, physical resurrection of Jesus, his virgin birth, and him being the only means to be saved, as well as every other fundamental of the faith including God’s intent and design for human sexuality.
What it pretty much boils down to is that we as Christians must always study the Bible on our own and let the Holy Spirit direct us to the truth just as Jesus said he would:
John {16:13} Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Therefore for anyone to “take as gospel” the pronouncements, commentaries, or traditions of men without using the Bible as the prime source of weighing the validity of all doctrine is, in my view, exceedingly unwise. I believe this is a general principle which should be applied to the Protestant and non-Protestant world alike.
Here’s what Jesus said in a very similar situation in his own time:
Matthew{7:5} Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? {7:6} He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with [their] lips, but their heart is far from me. {7:7} Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men. {7:8} For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
{7:9} And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Now I am certain that this will not go over well with the defenders of his or her denominations which have in many ways set their own pronouncements above that of Scripture, but I believe what I’ve said is a valid point.
On the fundamentals Pastor Joseph and I are in complete agreement, even if we do disagree over certain details. I’m also not about to wish him or anyone else to hell simply because he or they disagree with me in such a case. Here is what Paul said about being judgmental in such circumstances:
Romans {14:4} Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or
falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.