Among the myths and the mistaken concepts that are shared, He has been described as a force, a ghost, and a second-class or replacement god. Along with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, the Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity, which is a name theologians gave to describe the triune nature of God presented in Scripture. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. We want to see what God’s Word says regarding the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, and not … . Or does this language demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is a person who possesses personal characteristics and qualities? The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. Capitalization of Holy Spirit. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries, there was no consensus among church fathers, called “apologists,” about the constitution of the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul states in 1 Corinthians 8:6 that "there is one God, the Father . Would you not expect that to be said about a person, yes, about the “third person” of the Trinity? The same people claim that God is not a person, and yet they say that the Holy Spirit is; there is a flat contradiction here. In fact, for centuries some of the most influential religions of Christendom have attributed personality to the holy spirit. Most of them didn’t think it was important. The Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is probably the least understood person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is indeed a person. The Holy Spirit - A Person or Power? He can also be pleased and satisfied (Acts 15:28–30). When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. The personhood of the Holy Spirit is something many Christians assume. Because we are well used to the idea of the Trinity being a group of three persons, many people come to the texts of scripture with an a priori assumption that the Holy Spirit is person, and that wherever the Spirit of God is mentioned, that is understood to refer to a distinct person from the Father and the Son. Son, and the Holy Spirit. 4:30). Yet some other things attributed to God’s spirit … The New Testament clearly shows the early Christians recognized and affirmed the Holy Spirit as a Person. The fact that the Holy Spirit is a Person has very important implications. The church didn’t always believe this. . The Greek New Testament, however, was written in all capital letters without punctuation and spacing between words. Our difficulty in fully recognizing the Holy Spirit as a person is, perhaps, compounded by the many biblical symbols for the third person of the Trinity: water, anointing oil, fire, the cloud, the seal, and the dove (see this list in the catechism). Is the Holy Spirit a Person of the Godhead? 5 The Holy Spirit has intellect, emotion, and will. These and other Bible passages have led some to conclude that the holy spirit is a person, just as God, Jesus, and the angels are individual spirit persons. White, DG 185.2, 1897) Thus when Ellen White calls the Holy Spirit a “PERSON,” she is NOT referring to another “BEING.” She is referring to Christ by HIS Holy Spirit. He can be angered, frustrated, grieved (Eph. The answer cannot be categorically yes or no, but midway between yes and no. Would the following things properly be said of a mere characteristic or attitude? The Holy Spirit’s attributes also point to His personality. The Spirit is, first and foremost, God’s personal presence. The Holy Spirit has emotions. And is the Holy Spirit a person—the third person of a trinitarian Godhead? The Holy Spirit has life (Romans 8:2), has a will (1 Corinthians 12:11), is omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10–11), is eternal (Hebrews 9:14), and is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7). The Bible also tells us that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, a being with a mind, emotions, and a will. The fact that the Holy Spirit is God is clearly seen in many Scriptures, including Acts 5:3-4. Thus, the decision to capitalize a word is taken from textual clues. As a person the Holy Spirit has a will, emotion, and intelligence. Is the Holy Spirit Really a Person? In fact, it… This passage only makes sense if the Holy Spirit is a person. "The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. Probably the most conclusive passage on this point is Ephesians 4:30. A person is a living, intelligent being, with a mind, feelings, and emotions. by Ernest L. Martin, Ph.D., 1991. The spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17) is not a different person from Elijah. THE holy spirit can be grieved and can speak, teach, bear witness, act as a remembrancer and serve as a helper. No, because in some statements, the Holy Spirit speaks as a portion of the Heavenly Father, not necessarily a separate entity. Nor is the Spirit of God a different person from the Father. Consider the following descriptions of the Holy Spirit. When we say that the Holy Spirit is a person some assume that He has eyes, feet, and hands. In this verse Peter confronts Ananias as to why he lied to the Holy Spirit and tells him that he had “not lied to men but to God.” For the large majority of Christians, the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost, from Old English gast, "spirit") is the third person of the Trinity: The "Triune God" manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each Person … We believe that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son and is of the same essence. Yet He is also distinct from them. So, the Holy Spirit is deemed a full-fledged Person. A mere force could not possess all of these attributes, but the Holy Spirit does. According to the cults, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Holy Ghost is simply God’s “active force,” not God Himself. (Hint: The early Church did not teach that the Holy Spirit is a person. Also, it would make the Holy Spirit the father of Jesus. Each person is not the same person as the other, yet there are not three gods, but one. The Holy Spirit was Addressed as a Person. It is completely misleading to read into the Bible a third Person, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is referred to as a Person in the Bible, and as a “He”, and also as God. Jesus also spoke of the Spirit as the Helper in John 14 and introduced Him as “the Spirit of truth” (14:17; 16:13). Science fiction stories are filled with strange beings, in solid, gas, and even a few liquid forms of sentient beings. In fact, for centuries some of the most influential religions of Christendom have attributed personality to the holy spirit. And if we refer to the Holy Spirit as the third “person,” several Scriptures negate its “personhood” because of non-person qualities such as being: “poured out”; “quenched”; a need for “renewal”, etc. It took hundreds of years for this doctrine to develop!) 7 He tells people's hearts about the truth of … “The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.” (Ev 616) “Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead” (DA 671) Invisible, perhaps, but real. This one God exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Peter obeyed the Holy Spirit when he was commanded to go to Cornelius’s household (Acts 10:19). But, when we start on page one of the Bible, before creation ever even began, we see a depiction of the spirit of God hovering over the dark, disordered waters of … These and other Bible passages have led some to conclude that the holy spirit is a person, just as God, Jesus, and the angels are individual spirit persons. Some may still attempt to argue that the Holy Spirit is a person because the words holy and spirit are capitalized. If the holy spirit were an actual person why would Jesus refer to it as God’s finger? There is good reason to believe that the 'trinity' was fundamentally a pagan idea imported into Christianity - hence the word does not occur in the Bible. The Trinity is the doctrine that there is only one God in all creation, all time, and all places. When a person becomes born again by believing and receiving Jesus Christ 4, God resides in that person through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit Is a Person The fact that the Holy Spirit is a person can be observed in six ways. He is confused with the manifestations themselves, and has even been presented as an incidental figure that appears momentarily. First, we need to notice that the Holy Spirit is a unique person and not simply a power or an influence. and one Lord Jesus Christ," without mentioning the Holy Spirit as a divine person. I think it best for me to simply say a number of things concerning the identity of this Helper with little embellishment. The Holy Spirit possesses the characteristics and qualities of a living spirit Being. This Doctrinal Report concerns the Spirit of God. 6 A primary role of the Holy Spirit is that He bears "witness" of Jesus Christ. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God… The Holy Spirit as a distinct person, however, is again absent—another inexplicable oversight if this Spirit is the third person of a triune God. Philip followed the leading of the Holy Spirit in his ministry also (Acts 8:39). Many places in Scripture the holy spirit is referred to as “God’s spirit” – the apostrophe “s” denoting ownership, meaning that the spirit belongs to God. “When trials overshadow the soul, remember the words of CHRIST, remember that HE is an unseen presence in the PERSON of the Holy Spirit,” — (E.G. As we search the Bible, we will find that the Holy Spirit is the nature, power and essence of God. Christians teach that the Holy Spirit is a person, but what is a person? But these are not the marks of a person. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. The Spirit of God is not a different person from the Father. The Spirit is a person and not merely a force. The marks of a genuine person are knowledge, feeling, and will. Say a number of things concerning the identity of this helper with little embellishment God is the! Also, it would make the Holy Spirit a person can be observed six. 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