A 03 - the personality and divinity of the spirit

    THE PERSONALITY AND DIVINITY OF THE SPIRIT

TWO views have been entertained concerning the Holy Spirit: (1) That it is a divine (influence proceeding from the Father, an emanation from or manifestation of the divine, or a mere impersonal force. (2) That he is a person and active in all the ways of a personality. That the latter view is the correct and Scriptural one is evident from the following considerations:

1. His WORKS PROCLAIM PERSONALITY.

(1) He speaks. "But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith" (1 Timothy 4:1). A speaker is a person; no influence or principle can speak.

(2) He testifies. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me" (John 15:26).

(3) He teaches and quickens the mind. "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you" (John 14:26).

(4) He guides. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth" (John 16:12-13).

(5) He leads and forbids. "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not" (Acts 16:6-7).

(6) He searches. "But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). In the above passages the Holy Spirit is said to speak, to testify, to quicken, to teach, to guide disciples, to lead, to forbid and to search. All these things unite in showing the Holy Spirit to be a person, for nothing but a person can do them.

2. HE HAS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERSON. We will mention a few of them:

(1) Mind. "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit’’ (Romans 8:27).

(2) Knowledge. "Even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:11).

(3) Affection. "Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me" (Romans 15:30).

(4) Witt. "But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will" (1 Corinthians 12:11).

(5) Goodness. "Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them" (Nehemiah 9:1-38). Goodness, will, affection, knowledge and mind are all characteristics of a person. By no stretch of the imagination can they be ascribed to a mere impersonal influence or principle. These five characteristics form the fingers in the hand of certainty by which we grasp the personality of the Holy Spirit.

3. HE SUFFERS SLIGHTS AND INJURIES THAT CAN ONLY BE ASCRIBED TO A PERSONALITY.

(1) He can be grieved and vexed. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). "But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them" (Isaiah 63:10).

(2) He can be despited. "Of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29).

(3) He can be blasphemed. "Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).

(4) He can be resisted. "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51).

(5) He can be lied unto. "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?" (Acts 5:3). A mere principle can not sustain any of the above slights. Nothing but a personality can be blasphemed, lied to, resisted or grieved.

4. HE IS A DIVINE PERSONALITY. This will be seen from the following attributes, which are the attributes of God:

(1) Eternity. "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14). "Jehovah is great in Zion; And he is high above all the peoples" (Psalms 99:2).

(2) Omniscience. "But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

(3) Omnipotence. "But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin" (Micah 3:8).

(4) Omnipresence. "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? . . . Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me" (Psalms 139:7; Psalms 139:10). "Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah" (Jeremiah 23:24).

5. THE WORKS OP THE HOLY SPIRIT MANIFEST DIVINITY.

(1) The work of creation. "And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). "By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; his hand hath pierced the swift serpent" (Job 26:13). "By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth" (Psalms 33:6). "The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life" (Job 33:4).

(2) The work of providence. "Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground" (Psalms 104:30).

(3) The work of regeneration and resurrection. "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11).

(4) He is the source of the miraculous. "But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you" (Matthew 12:28). "To another faith, in the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healing, in the one Spirit; . . . but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will" (1 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Corinthians 12:11).

Thus in his works, his characteristics, the things he suffers, his attributes and his achievements, we have a fivefold cord of testimony that clearly demonstrates the Spirit’s personality and divinity.