The Holy Spirit of God
1- Is the spirit of man a different individual to the man?
Daniel 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
– Who was troubled here? Is it the king himself or someone else? It is certainly the king. His spirit, which is his mind, was troubled. His spirit is not a different individual to him!
2- Does God have a spirit too?
2:10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
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.
3- What is the Biblical definition for “Spirit”?
1. God’s spirit is His mind.
Isaiah 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Romans 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor
– Here we learn the plain Bible definition for “spirit”. Spirit = mind. Spirit of the Lord = mind of the Lord.
2. God’s spirit is His word.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
– Jesus plainly taught that His words are two things: spirit and life. Thus teaching that spirit = life. This spirit/life is in his words. Words express our thoughts/mind. God’s words express His divine mind. Now we can build this formula: spirit = mind = life.
3. God’s spirit is His presence
Psalms 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psalms 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
-Notice the parallelism in both verses, the spirit is equated to God’s presence.
4. God’s spirit is His life.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness.
5. God’s spirit is his perfect vision(seven eyes).
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
-The numerical value 7 in Biblical terminology means “perfectness”. Thus seven eyes would mean God’s perfect vision.
6. God’s spirit is His perfect power.
Luke 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.
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
-Notice again the parallelism that the angel employs, the Holy Ghost is equated to the power of the highest. And in Rev 5:6 says that the Lamb has seven(perfect) horns(power).
4- Many people are confused over the ‘Holy Spirit’
Many people are confused over the ‘Holy Spirit’. How does God clarify the matter for us?
1 Corinthians 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 spirit and man’s spirit are comparable to each other. We can learn about the Spirit of God by looking at the spirit of man. That is simple, since man was made in the image and likeness of God.
5- What did Jesus promise before He left?
John 14:16, 17, 26 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. 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.
– Jesus will send a Comforter. The Comforter is the Spirit of truth. It is the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit.
6- Where does this Spirit come from?
John 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.
– The Holy Spirit comes from the Father. Proceeds from the Father. It means to go forth, to issue from.
7- What will this Spirit do?
Mark 13:11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
– The Holy Spirit will give us the right words.
Matthew 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
– It is the Spirit of the Father. So the Father has a spirit, and that spirit is a holy spirit. The word ‘Holy’ is an adjective.
8- How can we hurt God?
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
– When we grieve the holy spirit of God we hurt God Himself, not someone else. We can’t hurt God physically, but we can hurt His feelings.
Genesis 6:3, 6 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
– God was hurt by the wickedness of man before the Flood. They grieved His Holy Spirit, they grieved Him at His heart.
9- If the Father has a spirit, does the Son have one too?
Philippians 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
1 Peter 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
– So Jesus Christ has a Spirit as well.
10- How many sprits are there?
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
– There is only one Spirit, not two or three. This one spirit is shared by the Father and Son. It is both the spirit of God and the spirit of Christ.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
– So the Spirit of the Father and Christ is the same one Spirit. The Father and Son share that one spirit/life/mind.
11- So when we receive the Holy Spirit who do we receive?
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
– In receiving the Holy Spirit we actually receive the Father and the Son, not someone else different to them. The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of Christ Himself.
12- Who comes to us to be our Comforter?
John 14:18, 19 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
– Jesus Christ is our Comforter! It is Jesus, not another person, who comforts us in our trials on this earth.
13- Who will the Father send to the converted?
Acts 3:19, 20 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.
– He will send forth Jesus.
14- We know that Jesus was made flesh in John 1:14, but what else was he made?
1 Corinthians 15:45
– The last Adam is Christ Himself (v.22), He was made a ‘spirit that gives life’ or a ‘life giving spirit’. So Christ was made 2 things: flesh and Spirit.
15- How does the Father send Jesus to us? Is it Jesus in flesh or in Spirit?
Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
– The Spirit of His Son. It is the Holy Spirit of Jesus.
16- When we receive the Spirit of Jesus, is that someone different to Christ?
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
– The Lord is Jesus (1 Corinthians 8:6). So if there is one Lord, and there is one Spirit, and the Lord is that Spirit it follows then that Christ comes to us as the Holy Spirit. He Himself comes as a personal Comforter, not a different individual, nor an impersonal force.
17- What happens to us when we receive the Spirit of Christ?
1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
– We become one with the Lord in the Spirit.
18- How is this process described by Peter?
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
– We become partakers by being joined to the Lord in Spirit.
19- What did Christ say about His words?
John 6:63 The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
– In other words the Spirit is Life. We can obtain this life by taking in the word of God.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
John 15:5, 7 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
– When the word of Christ abides in us we have life. We have the Spirit of God. Christ abides in our hearts by His words, which are spirit and life!
20- What was the only means through which we could obtain this Life/Spirit?
John 10:11, 15 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
– Jesus had to lay down His life for us. He had to lay down His Spirit as a regenerating agent for us.
21- What did Jesus pray just before He went to the cross?
John 17:20, 21 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
– This is done through the Spirit of the Father and the Son: the Holy Spirit. We become one as the Father and Son are one.
22- How are the Father and the Son one?
John 14:10, 20 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. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
– Jesus and the Father are one through the Spirit which they share. This is the Spirit which the Father sends into our hearts.
23- How do we become the sons of God?
Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
– Through the Spirit that God gives us. His own spirit and life becomes ours. So we are adopted into the family of God.
24- What does Paul say that we, as sons of God, are?
1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
– God lives in us, His temple, by His Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is the personal presence of Christ Himself, our Comforter.
25- What is the invitation that Christ offers us?
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
– Christ Himself will come and live in us.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
– This is the hope of eternal life. Only through Jesus, and no one else, is this hope realized. Christ wants to live in our hearts through His Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
We have seen the Bible testimony regarding the Holy Spirit of God. It is the Father and the Son’s own mind, word, presence, life, vision, power-which is the very essence of the Father and the Son. It is God’s own life which He pours on us through His precious Son. The Holy Spirit of God is not an individual being as God the Father and His Son Jesus. This Biblical truth unmasks the deceptive theory of the trinity.
We are thankful to our Father in heaven for not leaving us in the dark regarding who He really is. We have one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, and one spirit – the spirit of Christ- which brings us into the unity of the faith. Amen.
If you would like to download this study as PDF file, click here.