NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
Who or what is the Holy Spirit is a question that has caused a lot of strife and division among the religions of this world where no one seems to have a convincing Bible-based answer. There are many denominations that hold to the idea that God is a trinity i.e., 1 being composed of 3 beings: God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. However, the word trinity cannot be found in the Bible and there is no verse or combination of verses that show clearly or even suggest that God is 3 persons or entities in one person or entity.
Other religious groups believe that the Holy Spirit is the power of God that emanates from Him and which He uses as a tool to accomplish various tasks. It is then not a person but a thing which is part of God. God then becomes composed of two beings, God and the Word.
So what is the truth of the matter and can we find it using the Holy Bible? The Holy Bible is the Word of God and the only means that we have of knowing about spiritual things or things of the spirit world which are impossible for men to feel, touch, smell, taste, hear or see.
Let’s open up our Bibles and see what we can find.
God and the Word
Let’s start at the very beginning before even the creation of the universe and of the earth.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
And in Colossians 1:17 we read that the Word existed before anything was created.
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Before anything existed, there was a being called the Word and this being was with another being called God and, the Word was also God i.e. a spirit being with the very same kind of existence and powers as the spirit being God. These 2 beings had the same nature, they were both spirit and God beings. And as we read in John 1:3, all things were created by this second God being called the Word who existed before anything was created.
What else do the Scriptures tell us about the Word?
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Word made flesh was Jesus Christ and at that time He was the only begotten of God. God then became a Father and Mary became the mother of Jesus which in Luke 1:35 is called the Son of God.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Christ was the first begotten son of God but He was not to be the only one.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Christ is the firstborn among many brethren that are also to be begotten as Christ was begotten i.e., by God the Father. Jesus was both begotten i.e., conceived in Mary’s womb by God the Father and after having spent several months in Mary’s womb (the typical human gestation period is 9 months) He was born fully a human being his mother being Mary and fully God, His father being God. Jesus from the moment of His conception had the fullness of the God Spirit in Him.
Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
The Word who is God and who was with God (John 1:1) was made flesh and dwelt among men (John 1:14) and had the fullness of the God spirit in Him in that Jesus was also fully God.
In the Book of Philippians we learn that Christ Jesus was God, that He was made in the likeness of men and died on the cross and in whom resided the full God spirit i.e., Jesus was the Word in the flesh.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The Word who became Christ is the God being who created all things. He existed before all things i.e., before anything was created; He is “…..before all things…..” (Col 1:17)
And how did He create all things?
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Psa 33:7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Psa 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
Psa 33:9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The Word created the universe by the breath of his mouth which is to say, he simply spoke it and it was done.
Psa 148:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Psa 148:2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Psa 148:3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Psa 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Psa 148:5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
These verses again make clear that the Word who was with God is the God being that created all things. But what about the Holy Spirit for which there are no verses telling us that “he” or “it” was with God in the beginning and existed before all things were created. Where did “it” or “he” come from?
The Comforter
In the Book of John we read about something called the Comforter and we are told clearly who is that Comforter if we will take the time to carefully read and understand the following verses of the fourteenth chapter of the book of John.
Joh 14:16 And I [Christ] will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Christ was the Comforter that was with the disciples and He tells them that the Father will give them another Comforter that will be with them forever. The Comforter that was with them was not a thing or being called the “holy spirit”; no, it was Christ who was their Comforter.
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he [Christ] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
This Comforter is referred to by Christ as being the spirit of truth that the world (the unconverted) cannot receive because it does not see him or know him. BUT, and it’s a big BUT, you, the disciples know him because he dwells with you and shall be in you.
Did you get what was just said here? Read it again slowly and carefully.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I [Christ] will come to you. [Plainly here, Christ says that He is the Comforter that will come to the disciples and by extension all true Christians.]
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Christ tells His disciples that, “….at that day….“ when the Comforter comes to them, they will know that He, Christ, is in the Father and that they, the disciples, are in Him and that Christ is in them, the disciples. Please notice that nothing is said of another being called the “Holy Spirit” being the Spirit of truth coming into the disciples after Christ’s return to His Father; rather, what is very plainly stated is that Christ in His glorified state is the Spirit of truth that will come to them and be in them.
John 14:17-20 are probably the most significant and important verses of the Bible when it comes to explaining who is the Holy Spirit. Christ told the disciples that they knew the Spirit of truth because that Spirit dwelt with them i.e., it was with them and had been teaching them since their calling. That spirit of truth was Christ who was God in the flesh. The Spirit of truth was with them and after Christ’s glorification and ascension to His Father it would be in them (last part of John 14:17). This would occur on the day of Pentecost. Christ says He would not leave them comfortless; He would come to them (John 14:18). Christ is the one that would come to them to comfort them after His ascension to His Father. He would come to them and all true Christians until the end of God’s plan of salvation for mankind (Act 2:39).
Christ, who is God’s Spokesman, the means by which God speaks to true Christians (Heb 1:1-2) is the Comforter or the God being that is “holy” and “spirit” that dwells in true Christians (last part of John 14:17).
Could anything be any clearer.
The Holy Ghost
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Here in John 14:26 we have the term “Holy Ghost” being used to refer to the Comforter. For some reason the translators chose to use this expression for the Comforter. Supposing it is a good translation, what this means is that the Comforter who is Christ as we have just seen is the “Holy Ghost” that will come to them. The Greek word is “pneuma” which refers to: by analogy or figuratively a spirit, that is, (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, daemon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy spirit: – ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind.”
So, basically, “Holy Ghost” is another way of saying “Holy Spirit.”
We know that God the Father and the Word are holy (Rev 4:8; 6:10); that they are spirit (John 4:24) and that they are one (John 14:10-11) so they are both holy spirits.
You have probably noticed that I am not capitalizing the words “holy” and “spirit.” The reason is that they are adjectives or qualifiers of God the Father and of the Word or Spokesman. This Spokesman became the Son of God by being begotten by God in Mary’s womb (God then became God the Father and Christ became His son) and was born as a man according to the flesh. So, we then have two holy spirit beings: the holy spirit God and the holy spirit the Word. The words “holy” and “spirit” describe two of the principal defining characteristics of God and the Word.
There is no mention whatsoever anywhere in the Bible of a stand-alone, separate and distinct God personage called “the” Holy Spirit that existed before all things with God and the Word. Also, please notice, and this is of the greatest importance, that it is only at the very end of Christ’s first ministry to Israel that we read about something called the “Comforter.”
Why?
In John 7:39, we read that the Spirit was not yet given at the time when Christ attended His last, Last Great Day celebration before dying on the stake and this, because He had not yet been glorified.
Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Why is it that Christ first had to be glorified and have returned to His Father before the Spirit could be made available to men or be “given” as stated in John 7:39? If the holy spirit is a separate and distinct being in the Godhead why was it necessary for Christ to first be glorified?
The answer simply is that Christ IS the holy spirit being that works in the minds of the truly converted or children of obedience in the same way that the Satan is the evil spirit that works in the minds of the children of disobedience (Eph 2:2).
Another condition that needed to be fulfilled was that a perfect sacrifice that would forgive sin was needed for God to be able to dwell with men. It was not possible for the Word who became Christ and for God the Father to dwell in men because all have sinned until there was a perfect sacrifice that forgave the sins of mankind which was Christ’s death on the stake.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
God cannot dwell with sin. This is why God will not come down to live on the earth until the creation of the new heaven and of the new earth when there is no longer any sin on the earth (2Pe 3:13) which is the time after the Great White Throne Judgment when the wicked are burnt up in the Lake of Fire and all the others became glorified spirit beings and members of God’s Kingdom.
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
The righteousness that will dwell in the heavens and the new earth is that of God the Father, God the Word and God’s saints resurrected to glorified spirit life who fully share in the very nature of God.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
The men referred to here are God’s called, chosen and faithful who inherited salvation, are parts of God’s Kingdom and in whom dwells the righteousness of God.
Why Spirit not Available to OT Israel
A perfect sacrifice for sin was needed that would make the forgiveness of sin possible which would then make it possible for God the Father and the Word who are both holy spirit beings to dwell in those that would be called, chosen and faithful.
The requirement for salvation is not to be without sin as it is impossible for men not to sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
However, God has provided a way for sin to be forgiven which is the grace that resulted from Christ’s death on the stake but there is a condition that needs to be fulfilled for one to be under grace. For a Christian to always have their sins forgiven after their conversion they must maintain a sincere attitude of wanting to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities. This is something which is in their power to do and is their part in the salvation process. When they do this Ps 32:2 and Ps 103.10-14 applies to them.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. [These are those whose attitude is to obey Him in all things to the best of their abilities.]
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
The Holy Spirit could not be made available to OT Israel because Christ has not yet died on the stake and accepted as the perfect sacrifice for sin by God the Father. God cannot dwell with sin.
Once there was such a sacrifice with Christ dying on the stake, it then and only then became possible for God to call men to salvation which requires among many other things, the in-dwelling presence of the holy spirit being called the Word in men’s minds.
Jesus is the God being called the Word, the Logos, the Spokesman who in the beginning dwelt in eternity with God and is the God personage through which God the Father speaks to men i.e., once they are chosen (Heb 1:1-2). God the Father, who is holy and spirit, starts off the process by being the one who calls men out of the world (John 17:6) and, if they accept their calling and become chosen, (they are then spiritually begotten and God becomes their father spiritually speaking) then it is the Word who became Christ that continues the process of showing them more truth from the pages of God’s Holy Bible as they pray and study.
Joh 17:6 I [Christ] have manifested thy name unto the men which thou [God the Father] gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou [God the Father] gavest them me [Christ]; and they have kept thy word.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
God the Father spiritually begets sons who are then given over to Christ whom we have just seen is the Comforter to all true Christians. And, in John 14:26 (quoted here below) we are plainly told that the Comforter teaches true Christians all things. Christ, God’s Spokesman as a human being taught His disciples and as a glorified holy, spirit being after His resurrection and ascension to God the Father, is the holy spirit being that entered the disciples on the first Day of Pentecost and taught them all things and brought to their remembrance all that He, Christ had said to them while He was with them as a human being.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Remember that Christ said that the spirit of truth dwelt with them (Christ is the spirit of truth that dwelt with them as a human being] and that it would be in them (Christ would be in them as a spirit being after His glorification and ascension to His Father).
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
The reason for there being a need for the Comforter to come to members of God’s New Testament Church was that it is the spirit of truth which the disciples, as well as all other true Christians, would need once Christ was no longer physically with them. The Comforter would come and bring all things Christ had taught them to their remembrance and it would teach them all things i.e., them and all those God would call on, and after, the Day of Pentecost.(see John 14:26 quoted below).
Here, I again quote John 14:16-20 as I think it makes it easier for the reader if he has the verses before him to understand the explanations being given. Read them all again keeping in mind the explanations given so far.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he [Christ] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I [Christ] will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
And in John 16:7 we learn that this Comforter would not come to them unless Christ after His resurrection from the dead, went back to God the Father:
Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
It could not come to them until Christ returned to His Father because Christ is the Comforter who dwelt with the disciples as a human being and who would be in them, in their minds, as a holy spirit being, making it possible for their minds to understand God’s spiritual truth. The Comforter is something that Christ will send unto them and it is also something that comes from or proceeds from the Father (John 15:26).
Joh 15:26 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 testify of me:
In other words, God the Father is a spirit of truth like Christ and Christ and His Father are one. So, the spirit of truth shall come from the Father and the spirit being called the Word who has the Spokesman role, will teach true Christians all things as they study God’s word, the Holy Bible.
Let Us Reason Together
God and the Word have always existed, both of them are God beings i.e., they fully share in the same nature as for example is the case for all human beings. And, as is the case for all human beings, though they all share fully in the same nature, they are not one being or entity; they are all different and distinct beings. In the same manner, God and the Word who are both holy spirit God beings are also two separate and distinct beings. When the Word became a man He was not still with God, when He died on the stake, God did not die with Him and when Christ prayed to His Father, He was not talking to Himself.
Another characteristic that they have in common is that they are both spirit beings;lthey are both holy and spirit. Holiness is a God-level characteristic which is only possessed by God and the Word.
Then, God and the Word are both holy spirits; however, only one of them is the Word or Spokesman i.e., the one through whom God the Father speaks to truly converted Christians as we have just read in Heb 1:2 and this, since the foundation of His New Testament Church on the Day of Pentecost . You will recall that on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to Christ’s disciples and in Acts 2:38-39 we learn that it would also be given to as many as God the Father shall call.
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [the correct translation is holy spirit]
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Christ as the Word or Spokesman is the holy spirit through which God speaks to truly converted Christians. (Heb 1:1) This is why Jesus told His disciples that He had to go away i.e., go back to God the Father so that the Comforter which proceeds from the Father and which He would send could then come to them (John 16:7).
How can we know that the Holy Spirit is not a separate and distinct being from God the Father and Christ and that it is not a being unto itself?
The Spirit that Works in the Children of Disobedience
In the Bible we learn about Lucifer who rebelled against God and who became Satan the Devil. We also learn that the unconverted are referred to by Paul as being the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
And in this verse we learn that the prince of the power of the air is the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience i.e., Satan is the evil spirit who is influencing the minds of those who have yet to be called by God. Notice that this is not saying that the “evil spirit” is a separate and distinct being from Satan and that it, separately and on its own, goes about influencing the minds of those who are disobeying God.
And there is nothing said in the Bible that Satan is a duality and that he and the evil spirit constitute the Satanic “duality”. The traditional false Christian religions of this world who argue that God is a trinity have never stated or maintained that Satan is a “duality” made up of Satan and the evil spirit. Yet, Satan is a spirit being and his spirit is evil and therefore using the same reasoning used for God and the Word, Satan would be a “duality” but they have never ever said anything of the sort.
If Satan whose spirit is evil is not a duality made up of Satan and of a separate and distinct being called the “evil spirit” then it does not make any sense to say that God and the Word are a trinity because it is assumed the holy spirit is a separate and distinct being that lives with them with no biblical verses in support of this assumption.
Let us Reason Some More
If Satan and the “evil spirit” are not two separate and distinct entities living as one being in a duality and that Satan is said to deceive the whole world (Rev 12:9) and to be the spirit that works in the children of disobedience (Eph 2:2) then it stands to reason that God through the Word is the holy spirit that works in the mind of those who have been called and chosen (the children of obedience) and that the “holy spirit” like the “evil spirit” is not a separate and distinct, stand-alone entity existing in the Godhead.
Satan influences unconverted mankind’s mind by his spirit which is evil and God through the Word who is God’s Spokesman influences the minds of the converted by His spirit which is holy.
The Bible tells us that God and the Word are the only two beings that were in existence at the beginning before anything was created and that God through the Word created all things.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
The Word is before all things that were created i.e., before Him there were no other beings in existence except God the Father. In the Bible we read about the creation of Lucifer and of the angels but nowhere do we read about the creation or the pre-existence of a 3rd being called the Holy Spirit dwelling with God and the Word.
Since God created all things by the Word who existed before all things, would the Bible not give us information on this third being. If it is part of the Godhead as part of a trinity as is thought by many of the world’s religions, would this God level entity not have been mentioned in John 1:1 where the Bible tells us that in the beginning there existed only 2 beings before anything else was created? If there is a third person or being in the Godhead then John 1:1 is not true which in itself poses a rather big problem as if one part of the Bible is demonstrably not true, the Bible as a whole cannot be considered true.
So how does God’s Holy Spirit work in truly converted Christians?
We read in the Bible that there is a spirit in man which at death goes back to God who gave it.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
We also learn that this spirit in man plays a role in man similar to that of God’s Spirit.
1Co 2:11 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.
God’s truth which comes from a spirit being and which is therefore spiritual, has never been known by any man but by God’s Spirit revealing it to him. And how does the spirit of God reveal to converted men the things of God?
God’s truth is revealed by the holy spirit being called the Word dwelling in the minds of converted men in the same way that the spirit of man makes it possible for men to know and understand the things of men. The holy spirit being called the Word dwelling in men’s minds makes it possible for converted men to know and understand the things of God as revealed in God’s Holy Bible. The minds of converted individuals acquire the ability to know and understand spiritual truth because of a new ability added to their mind through the presence of the Word in it. In today’s world we could say that having God’s Spirit dwelling in our mind is like having a new program being added to a computer which gives it new functionality. Without this capacity added to our minds, we are like the unconverted or the natural man; we are unable to know or understand correctly God’s truth contained in the Holy Bible; not only do we not understand it correctly, it is all foolishness to us.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The natural man is the unconverted man who has not had the Holy Spirit added to his mind and who is incapable of understanding correctly God’s Holy Bible.
How Does God’s Spirit Dwell in Men?
When Christ was on the earth He told His disciples that the Father dwelt in Him as He dwelt in the Father.
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
As we all know that did not mean that on a physical-material basis Christ was in the Father and the Father in Christ but rather that God the Father who is a spirit being was in the mind of Christ and Christ in the mind of God.
How can that be possible?
It is like when we say that my parents’ spirit live in me because I conduct my life in accordance with the training they have given me. The way I act is like they would act if they were confronting the same situations. My father and mother could have been dead for several years but still their spirit lives on in their obedient children who live their lives according to the training received from them.
God’s spirit in converted men’s minds enables them to understand God’s truth contained in the Holy Bible and when they live their lives accordingly, they are being led by God’s Holy Spirit. When they do this, God and the Word’s spirit is in them in somewhat the same way that parents’ teachings remain with their obedient children even when they are no longer physically present in their lives.
Christ was no longer with God the Father; He was on the earth as a man but He still thought and acted the very same way as His Father would if He were on the earth. God the Father and the Word are of the same mind; they both see everything in exactly the same way. Truly converted Christians as they grow in knowledge and understanding and seek to apply it to their lives are then of the very same spirit as God the Father and Christ. Christ acted as His Father would have acted when He was on the earth and truly converted Christians conduct themselves to the best of their abilities as Christ did. When they do this, Christians, Christ and God the Father all then share in the same spirit i.e., the mind of God; they think like God.
God the Father was in Christ as Christ was in the Father and truly converted Christians are in Christ and God the Father, not physically of course, but spiritually in that though being separate and distinct individuals with their own minds, they nevertheless believe the same things and they live their lives according to the same knowledge and principles. If human beings could live their lives perfectly in accordance with God’s perfect law then they would be perfectly in God and Christ as Christ and God are in each other’s minds; again NOT physically but spiritually. Truly converted Christians strive to think and act like God and in this way the mind or spirit of Christ and God the Father is in them.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The Bible talks about the mind of Christ which Christians are to have. This is talking about the knowledge and understanding of God’s law being in true Christians as it was fully in Christ who was in perfect obedience to His Father. Our obedience to God’s law to the best of our abilities results in us having in us (imperfectly while human beings but perfectly in the resurrection) the mind of Christ which is also the mind of God i.e., God and the Word are of the same mind on everything. Christ is then in us as well as God the Father who is in Christ.
Understanding Spiritual Truth
Man’s animal brain has mind power because of a spirit essence God placed in it i.e., the human spirit. This mind power gives man the ability to acquire vast amounts of knowledge and to think. This human spirit like the Holy Spirit is not an integral part of man; it is something like a marble that is swallowed; it is in the man but not part of him. The human spirit is present in men’s minds but it does not think for the man, it merely give man’s animal brain the ability to think. It is not something which has its own mind and which actively directs and intervenes in the thought processes of men’s minds. It simply gives man’s animal brain the ability to think and man then does his own thinking.
In a similar fashion, the in-dwelling presence of the holy spirit being called the Spokesman and the Word in men’s minds gives them the ability to know and understand correctly God’s spiritual truth contained and found only in God’s Holy Bible which is the means used by God to speak to His called and chosen ones (Heb 1:1). The holy spirit called the Word like the human spirit does not do the thinking for man nor does it pour knowledge and understanding of God’s spiritual truth in men’s mind without any effort being required on their part. Truly converted Christians must study the Word of God, the Holy Bible which is Christ in writing to gradually learn God’s truth and acquire more and more of God’s mind i.e., an ever growing knowledge and understanding of the way God thinks. At the risk of stating the obvious, Christ nor angels will appear to you in dreams and visions or in a humanly visible and non-scary manner to teach you the truth.
As we have seen, Christ clearly and plainly stated (John 14:17) that the Comforter which is the holy spirit being the Word who for a time was with the disciples as the flesh-and-blood Jesus, would be in them teaching them all things but not only them. As we have read in Act 2:38-39, the promise of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is to as many as God will call and this until the end of the Last Great Day.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Joh 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.
God’s Holy Spirit the Word added to your mind makes it possible for you to study your Bible and understand it correctly. God’s Holy Spirit gives your human mind the ability to understand the spiritual truth of the Bible but you have to make the effort to get it from your Bible; no one else can do it for you. Christians are rewarded according to their works; not the works of others and Christians must have works. God since the day of Pentecost has been teaching the truly converted through His Son, the holy spirit being that works in the minds of the truly converted.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Now one last point of importance before I close off this study.
Man Made According to the Likeness of God
We read in the Bible that when God created mankind they did so in the following way:
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
God said “……Let us make man in our image, after our likeness……” which clearly indicates that God consists of more than one being and that they are separate and distinct beings?
If we want to know what God looks like then all we have to do is look at men who are created in their likeness i.e., according to their physical appearance. Man was also created in their image i.e., with mind power which no other animal created by God has.
How can we know for sure that God looks like men?
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
The Father looks like Christ the man in physical appearance and both the Word who became Christ and God the Father look like men who are created according to their, God and the Word’s likeness.
And what do men look like?
Do we routinely and commonly see men with bodies on which there are two heads or how about two bodies joined together with two heads on them? Has anyone ever seen a human being with a body on which there are 3 heads or 2 conjoined bodies on which there are 3 heads. There are very rare instances of conjoined twins but I don’t think there have ever been any conjoined triplets. And, when conjoined twins occur they are very rare and, but for modern medical science, they would die at birth or shortly thereafter; in other words the very vast majority of mankind is not born with two or more heads on one or more conjoined bodies.
God looks like Christ who had one body with one head on it. And the two of them, God the Father and the Word who became Christ each have one body and one head as Christ said the Father looked just like Him i.e., one body with one head on it. And, God the Father and Christ are separate and distinct being; the Father is not conjoined to Christ or Christ to the Father. When Christ died, the Father did not also die; Christ was resurrected by God the Father. When the Word was on the earth as a man He prayed to His Father who was not on the earth. When Christ prayed He was not talking to Himself.
This should put an end to the argument that God is a trinity and that the Holy Spirit is a third member in the Godhead.
Nowhere but nowhere in the whole Bible is God referred to as a trinity or is even the word “trinity” to be found. When Christ replied to Philip’s question there was then for Him the golden opportunity to explain how God is a being with three heads on one or more conjoined bodies but that is very clearly not what He said.
Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
That should make things clear for everyone that has the mind to understand spiritual truth that God is not a trinity or a duality but two separate and distinct beings with their own body, head and mind.
And now we can answer the question asked at the beginning of this study.
Who or What is the Holy Spirit?
It should now be clear that the Holy Spirit is not a separate and distinct being in the Godhead but rather that it is God’s own spirit added to truly converted men’s minds through the in-dwelling presence of the holy spirit being called the Word. The presence of the Word in their minds makes it possible for their human mind to understand God’s spiritual truth in the same way that the spirit in man makes it possible for men to understand the things of other men.
1Co 2:11 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.
The spirit of man is a spirit essence from God which as we have seen returns to God at the time of death (Eccl. 12:7).
God’s holy spirit the Word present in men’s minds renders men’s mind able to understand Gods’ spiritual truth in the same way that the human spirit added to men’s animal brain gives them the ability to understand the things of other men.
Christ is God’s Spokesman i.e., the God being in the Godhead through which God the Father speaks to those who have been given the mind to understand spiritual truth (Heb 1: 1-2).
The holy spirit being called God is the one that spiritually begets men i.e., it is the holy spirit being that is with men while they are being called and which gives them enough truth for them to be able to decide whether to commit themselves to obeying Him or to return into the world. This is the first part of the process; afterwards, the holy spirit being called the Spokesman will then work in the minds of those called and who have chosen to obey God, teaching them all things as they study their Bible.
When truly converted Christians study their Bible they are then being taught by the holy spirit being called the Spokesman which became Christ.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you ALL THINGS, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Summary
In actuality as we have seen, the holy spirit is not a separate and distinct being in the Godhead. Rather, the Bible shows that the Godhead was composed, from the beginning before anything existed or was created, of only two beings that are holy and spirit, God the Father and the Word or Spokesman. They both existed before all things and all things were created by the Word or Spokesman.
Each of these holy spirit beings play a role in the salvation process. The holy spirit being that is God the Father is the God being that spiritually begets men and the holy spirit being that is the Word or Spokesman is the holy spirit being that teaches all things to those who have been called and chosen i.e., they have been spiritually begotten by the holy spirit being God the Father because after having been shown some of God’s spiritual truth they have committed themselves to obeying God in all things to the best of their abilities.
The holy spirit being called God and the one called the Word or Spokesman are both fully God beings with God the Father being the highest in authority and God the Son being in perfect submission to His Father.
Both of these holy spirit beings are one. They have the same God level existence and are of the same mind on everything. Their oneness is spiritual and the Word is in perfect submission to God.
They both work in the minds of men. First God the Father calls men to salvation and upon men accepting their calling and being chosen, God the Word or Spokesman teaches them all things as they study God’s Holy Bible which is Christ in writing.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the foregoing explanations adequately answers the question of what is the Holy Spirit or I should say, of how the holy spirit God the Father and the holy spirit the Word or Spokesman work in the minds of those who are being called and in the minds of those who are chosen. Though it is two different and distinct spirit beings working together to make salvation possible for mankind, it is still the same spirit as God the Father and the Word are one i.e, they are of the same mind on everything and Christ teaches the truly converted the very same things God the Father would teach them if He had the Spokesman role which has been given to Christ who is God’s Word or Spokesman.
Truly converted Christians are all taught by the God being called the Word which is also God’s Spokesman which we have in writing i.e., God’s Holy Bible.
The responsibility of individual Christians is to grow in knowledge and understanding by doing the necessary work of regularly studying their Bible with a mind enabled by God’s Holy Spirit so as to have growth in knowledge and understanding of God’s spiritual truth.
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God's Spiritual Nation 