049. II. Divinity Of The Spirit.

II. Divinity Of The Spirit. The argument in this case is much the same as for the divinity of the Son. It is grounded in the same principle, which underlies all science, that every thing is what it is by virtue of its essential and distinctive qualities. As on this principle we found the proof of the divinity of the Son in his possession of the distinctive facts of divinity, so in the same method we prove the true and essential divinity of the Spirit.

1. Attributes of Divinity.—These attributes are not so fully ascribed to the Spirit as to the Son; yet the ascription is entirely sufficient for the argument. If only one were so ascribed, all must be included; for they cannot be separated. More than one is in the ascription. The eternity of the Spirit must be manifest in his creative agency, which will be separately treated. It may here suffice that the Spirit is plainly declared eternal (Hebrews 9:14). The attribute of omniscience must be manifest in the offices which the Spirit fulfills. In the declaration of his knowledge of God there is a profound expression of his omniscience: “For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). No man can know the secret things in the mind of other men, but the Spirit searcheth and knoweth all things. The deepest emphasis is in the fact that he searcheth and knoweth the mind of God. The searching is the absolutest knowing. This is the sense of έρευνά, as the term is used in other texts (Romans 8:27; Revelation 2:23). There is no stronger expression of an absolute omniscience in the Scriptures. This is the omniscience of the Holy Spirit.

“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?” (Psalms 139:7) is a central question in a long passage, which, in the strongest sense, expresses the absolute omnipresence of God. That omnipresence is as strongly expressed by interrogation as by affirmation. The question respecting the Spirit is in the affirmative sense of his absolute omnipresence. The same truth will appear in the works of the Spirit.

2. Works of Divinity.—The works of the Spirit are manifold, and of such a character that they can be possible to his agency only on the ground of his essential divinity. The moving of the Spirit upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2) signifies a creative agency, which brought order out of chaos, clothed the world with light, and produced the forms of organic life.^[260] The symbolical inbreathing of God into the nostrils of Adam, as yet a lifeless bodily form, signifies an agency of the Spirit in quickening him into life. The action of God, as figuratively expressed, was in this case as the action of the risen Lord and Saviour, when he breathed on his disciples, as a sign of the gift and power of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). As in this case the sign-act of the Saviour signified the agency of the Spirit as the source of their spiritual life and the power of their ministry, so that sign-act of God meant the agency of the Spirit as the original of life in Adam. There are other expressions of the work of the Spirit in creation. The garnishing of the heavens is his work (Job 26:13). This carries one’s thought back to the beginning, when, as we saw, the Spirit transformed the chaotic mass into a cosmos. So he clothes the heavens in their light and beauty. In respect to this world, the Spirit is ever and every-where operative as the source of life (Psalms 104:30). This may suffice for the creative work of the Spirit.^[261] Such works are conclusive of his divinity.

^[260]Lewis:Six Days of Creation, pp. 63-67.

^[261]Morgan:Scripture Testimonies to the Holy Spirit, pp. 5-8. The Spirit is the source of prophetic inspiration: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). In a more specific application, the prophecies respecting the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow were the utterance of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:10-11). Many of his sufferings, long foretold, sprang from free causalities in the volitions of men. Were these the only prophecies of the Spirit, they would prove his absolute prescience. Only an omniscient mind could unerringly predict such events. The vastly broader scope of prophecy, comprehending all the predictive utterances of the Spirit, deeply emphasizes the requirement and the proof of his omniscience.

Christianity is replete with the agency of the Spirit. The Gospel, in distinction from the law, is designated “the ministration of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:8). This accords with the prophecy of Joel and the promise of Christ respecting the fuller presence and power of the Spirit 9Joel 2:28; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). Fulfillment of both the prophecy and the promise began on that memorable day of Pentecost—only began, because this was the initiation of a fuller ministry of the Spirit permanently distinctive of the Gospel. The outward signs which attended this manifestation, with some extraordinary gifts, might cease, but the presence and power of the Spirit must abide. The life of the Church and the saving efficiency of the Gospel are in his presence and power. Hence the agency of the Spirit in the many forms of his operation is fully expressed in the Kew Testament. This agency is conclusive of his divinity. We may group a few facts for the illustration and proof of our statements. The saving efficiency of the Gospel is in the power of the Spirit. This truth is in the promise of Christ to endow his disciples with power for their work of evangelization (Luke 24:49); and this truth they ever recognized and exemplified (Acts 4:31; 1 Thessalonians 1:5). It is definitely the office of the Spirit to make the truth a convincing power in the conscience of men (John 16:8-11). Regeneration, that mighty transformation of the soul out of a state of depravity into a true spiritual life, is the work of the Spirit (John 3:5-6). Also, the Spirit is an assuring witness to the gracious adoption and sonship attained through regeneration (Romans 8:16). All the graces of the new spiritual life arc the fruitage of his renewing power and abiding agency in the soul (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9). Through the power of the Spirit we are transformed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). He is a Helper and Intercessor in all truly earnest and availing prayer (Romans 8:26-27); the source of all strength in the inner spiritual life (Ephesians 3:16); the necessary helping agency in all gracious access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). The union of believers, the unity of the Church, is through the gracious work of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 12:13).

These manifold and great works require an infinitude of personal perfections. Giving efficiency to the ministry of the Gospel, applying the truth with convincing power to the conscience of men, renewing depraved souls in true holiness after the image of God, sustaining the life of the Church through a quickening influence in the mind and heart of believers individually—these are works which God only can perform. In this agency the Spirit must be operative through the whole Church, in the mind of every believer. Indeed, the sphere of his agency is vastly broader; for he is a light and influence in every mind of the race. His personal agency must therefore be every-where operative. This is conclusive of his omniscience and omnipotence; for it is only through such attributes that a personal agency can be omnipresent. Hence, in every view of the work of the Spirit in the economies of religion, and especially in Christianity, he is truly and essentially divine.

3. Supreme Worshipfulness.—The worship of the Holy Spirit is not so fully revealed as that of the Son. It is neither so explicitly enjoined as a duty nor so frequently exemplified in instances of worship. Yet there are facts of Scripture which clearly give the sense of his supreme worshipfulness. Such is the fact that he may be the subject of the deepest blasphemy (Matthew 12:31). Blasphemy is the use of reproachful or impious terms respecting God or against God. Its specially deep impiety arises from the infinite perfections of God and his supreme claim upon our devout homage. When, therefore, we find in the Scriptures a blasphemy against the Holy Ghost of the very deepest turpitude and demerit the fact must mean his supreme claim upon the reverence and worship of men. The sanctity and responsibility of an oath arise from the perfections of God, in whose name alone it must be taken, and ever with reverence (Deuteronomy 6:13; Matthew 5:33-36). Otherwise an oath is profane and impious. Yet there is an asseveration of Paul in the presence of the Holy Spirit which is of the very essence of an oath: “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 9:1). “This being an appeal to Christ and to the Holy Ghost, as knowing the apostle’s heart, is of the nature of an oath.”^[262] “This is one of the most solemn oaths any man can take. He appeals to Christ as the Searcher of hearts that he tells the truth; asserts that his conscience was free from guile in the matter, and that the Holy Ghost bore him testimony that what he said was true.”^[263] The best commentators are agreed that this is a form of solemn protestation partaking of the nature of an oath. . . . The full sense of the words is: ‘I protest by Christ that I speak the truth. I take the Holy Spirit, who knoweth my heart, to witness that I lie not.’”^[264] Thus did Paul asseverate in the name and presence of the Holy Spirit, with all that constitutes the substance and solemnity of an oath, just as elsewhere he more formally made oath in the name of God (2 Corinthians 1:23). Such an oath is utterly irreconcilable with the religious faith and life of Paul, except with devout reverence for the Holy Spirit, such as is central to the supreme worship of God.

^[262]Macknight:On the Epistles, in loc.

^[263]Clarke:Commentary, in loc.

^[264]Bloomfield:Greek Testament, in loc. The Holy Spirit occupies the same position in the form of baptism as the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19). This sacrament has a profound religious significance, and its administration is a very real religious service. In this service the faith of the Church embraces the central truths of the Gospel, and her prayers are poured forth for the great spiritual blessings which the baptism signifies. Truly there is profound worship in this service. In the light of Scripture, as in the deepest consciousness of the Church, even from the beginning, these great blessings come more immediately from the Holy Spirit. Did our Lord in the institution of this sacrament mean that the Holy Spirit should be omitted from the supreme worship in its proper administration? Surely not. Else, he has very strangely enjoined the administration in the name of the Holy Spirit, just as in the name of the Father and of the Son. What is true of the form of baptism is equally true of the apostolic benediction. This benediction is an invocation of blessings from the Holy Spirit, just as from the Father and the Son (2 Corinthians 13:14). It is an invocation, with adoration of the Spirit, just as of the Father and the Son. The divine attributes, divine works, and supreme worshipfulness of the Holy Spirit are conclusive of his divinity.

4. Relative Subordination.—The Spirit is of one and the same substance with the Father and the Son. Any divergence from this doctrine must be either tritheistic, or Arian, or purely Unitarian. Yet the Church early accepted, and still holds, the doctrine of an economical or relative subordination of the Spirit to the Father. This subordination appears in the offices which the Spirit fulfills in the divine economies of religion, particularly in Christianity. After the adoption of the Filioque, the procession of the Spirit from the Son also, there was for the Western Church the same sense of subordination to the Son. There is a mission of the Spirit from both the Father and the Son, and in this mission appears the subordination of the Spirit. The subordination, however, is purely on the ground of procession, not from any distinction in true and essential divinity.

General reference.—Owen: Discourses on the Holy Spirit; Pearson: Exposition of the Creed, article viii; Smeaton: On the Holy Spirit; Morgan: Scripture Testimony to the Holy Spirit; Walker: Doctrine of the Holy Spirit; Hare: The Mission of the Comforter; Parker: The Paraclete, Essays on the Personality and Ministry of the Holy Spirit; Heber: Personality and Office of the Comforter, Bampton Lectures, 1816; Buchanan: Office and Work of the Holy Spirit; Daunt: Person and Offices of the Holy Spirit, Donnell Lectures, 1879; Cardinal Manning: Internal Work of the Holy Ghost; Stowell: The Work of the Spirit, Congregational Lectures, 1849; Moberly: Administration of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ, Bampton Lectures, 1868.