Sabbath: The Divinity of the Holy Spirit
Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 5:1-4; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; Isa. 63:10-14; Titus 3:4-6; Rom. 8:11; 1 Pet. 1:2.
Memory Text: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14, NASB).
Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com
All through the Bible, the deity of God the Father is simply assumed. We find this truth expressed both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It is one of the most crucial and foundational of the many revealed truths in the Word of God.
The deity of Jesus also is affirmed in many places in Scripture, especially of course in the New Testament, both in the Gospels and the Epistles.
However, the deity of the Holy Spirit is taught in more subtle terms. It can be inferred from various indirect biblical statements. Here we need to compare scripture with scripture in order to study carefully what God has revealed in His Word about the Holy Spirit. In doing so, we should not affirm less than what Scripture states, and we also should not “exceed what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6, NASB). This topic demands a teachable attitude of humility; we should not make our human reasoning about God the standard of how the Holy Spirit should be understood. Instead we should accept and testify to what Scripture affirms, no matter how hard some of the concepts might be for us to grasp fully.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 21.
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The Holy Spirit, is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God in Jesus, and given to us through Calvary so one day we can become one with Christ, one with God- John 17:21-23. When God talks about the Holy Spirit, He is referring to Himself, the(Holy) Spirit ...in work in us. \"God is Spirit and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.\' John 4:24
Amen, Marie. Very clearly and rightly said.
Is the Holy spirit the working force of God or it is God himself?
I could be cheeky and just answer, "yes". (Those of you who know the logic of "or" operations will understand the significance of that answer). The long answer of course is that the Holy Spirit is both God, as an individual personality, and is the force of God in the work that it does. I am not entirely sure if there is any benefit in trying to break that notion down into any greater detail.
I have come to believe that the Holy Spirit is the primary motivator of God the Father, His only begotten Son, and all His created and adopted sons and daughters.
The fruit of The Holy Spirit is Love. This is the foundation of God's law and His Character.
We are invited into the oneness of God through the motivation of His Spirit.
I now baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19. Well I don't cause I am not the pastor. That was really our pastor speaking during a recent baptismal ceremony. That makes the Holy Ghost Devine as one of the Trinity.
I believe in God our Father
I believe in Christ the Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Our God is three in one
I believe in the resurrection
That we will rise again
For I believe in the name of Jesus
Thanx John. I believe when Jesus was baptised, the Holy Spirit in a form of a dove showed up from Heaven. The Heavens were opened and God spoke "This is my beloved Son..." I want to believe that this is the perfect scenario where God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the 3 in 1 all there working together but individually. Jesus was born of Mary to do God's work, the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus before Jesus could start with His ministry, God the Father affirmed the anointing of Jesus.
Try these texts out. Grace from the Father, Mercy from the Son, Peace from the Holy Spirit. Titus 1:4, 1 Timothy 1:2.
Well the Holy Spirit's name is not mentioned because He works behind the scenes.
In Luke 1:32 Jesus is described as the "Son of the Highest," but in Matt. 1:20,it is stated that he was "conceived ... from he Holy Spirit." My question is: Is Jesus the Son of the Highest or the Son of the Holy Spirit? Isn't the Highest equivalent to God the Father?
The Holy Spirit is the third Member of the Godhead. He is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit does the work of the Father and the Son. He is God. Both He and the Father are Spirit. Only Jesus is God incarnate. The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role, although behind the scenes, in the life of a believer. With regard to the church, God, the Father is the One who adds to it, Jesus is the Head and the Holy Spirit equips us with the gifts we need to edify each other and to reach the world. When Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, He is not referring to the Father. Both the Son and the Holy Spirit come from the Father but they are individual Persons of the Godhead.
When we look at certain people we know well, we can often say they have a particular spirit about them – they might be fiercely loyal, or jovial…seemingly always upbeat and just fun to be around, or have another characteristic about them that defines who they are to those that know them. We know that this “spirit” that they have is not a separate entity but really is the embodiment of who they are.
Following on from last week’s lesson regarding the apparent elusiveness of the Holy Spirit and the lack of physical appearance that we see in the Father & Son, it is easy to see why many Christians circles view the Holy Spirit not as a separate entity but as we might see in our friends, an overtly influencing characteristic that appears to have a life of its own & defines who we know them to be.
As a people of the Book, and before taking our study any further, it should be clear in our minds from the bible itself that the Holy Spirit is indeed the third part of the Godhead, separate in identity while one in purpose.
And following on from your comment; I think there are times when the word Spirit is used in reference to God to describe his character rather than the Holy Spirit. We went through this exercise in Sabbath School class yesterday and there are a number of such references. There are quite a few OT references where the word "spirit" means breath. That does not preclude the Holy Spirit as part of the Godhead - it is just a different use of the word.
If I was to add anything to the comments already posted, I would say that our study should not lose sight of the clear proclamation of "The LORD our God is one(united, equal, alike) God". Deut 6:4. Doesn't this eliminate any questions concerning the Divinity of the Holy Spirit? He(?) is one with those who made man "in our image and likeness". (now if we could see them standing together, would they look like triplets? We don't know.)
What we can safely conclude from God's Word is our great need of being led/taught/empowered by the Spirit of God in order to realize the salvation promised, that we might be fit to stand in the presence of God "with exceeding joy", having in this way overcome sin in our lives.
''This topic demands a teachable attitude of humility; we should not make our own reasoning about God the standerd of how the spirit should be understood''
how i loved the above statment about the holy spirit
we can't understand it by our own way but through God the father we can but when we don't know God the son nothing can be understood
my point is trinity can easly be clealy known as it is.
The Trinity. God has taken human form in the past. The three personalities that visited Abraham to assure him of their promise that he would in fact have a son from his wife Sarah. Isn't it amazing how there were three heavenly personalities in human form that came to visit Abraham. All of the three Divine personalities could have taken human form as the baby in Bethlehem and history would have been the same---Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, etc. The Holy Spirit is also a person and He was probably one of the three that visited Abraham too.
The deity of the Holy Ghost should not attract any divergent views among Seventh-day Adventists. The Adventist Fundamental Belief #5 categorically states: "God the eternal Spirit was active with the Father and the Son in Creation, incarnation, and redemption. He inspired the writers of Scripture. He filled Christ’s life with power. He draws and convicts human beings; and those who respond He renews and transforms into the image of God. Sent by the Father and the Son to be always with His children, He extends spiritual gifts to the church, empowers it to bear witness to Christ, and in harmony with the Scriptures leads it into all truth." (Gen. 1:1, 2; Luke 1:35; Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38; 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:11-12; Acts 1:8; John 14:16-18; John 14:26; John 15:26-27; John 16:7-13.)
Moreover, the Holy Bible ascribes to the Holy Spirit works of creation, conversion, and inspiration. Furthermore, He is said to have the most emphatic Divine attributes such as eternity (Heb. 9:14); omnipresence (Ps. 139: 7-10); omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10, 11; John 14: 26; John 16.12, 13);omnipotence(Luke 1:35) ascribed to the Him in the Bible; Creator (Job 33: 4; Ps. 104: 30; Gen. 1: 3); Author of Scripture (2 Samuel 23: 2, 3; 2 Peter 1: 21). The Holy Spirit is called God in the Bible : The Holy Spirit is called "Jehovah". (Ex 17:7; Heb 3:7-9; Num 12:6; 2 Pet 1:21); The Holy Spirit is invoked as "Jehovah". (Lk 2:26-29; Acts 4:23-25; 1:16,20; 2 Th 3:5); The Holy Spirit is called "Jehovah of hosts". (Isa 6:3,8-10; Acts 28:25); The Holy Spirit is called "Jehovah, Most High". (Ps 78:17,21; Acts 7:51). Divine names and titles are applied to Him for instance He is referred to as the Spirit of Life (Ezek 37:1-10; Jn 6:63); the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah (Isa 61:1-3); the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:19); the Spirit of Glory (1 Pet 4:14); God (Acts 5:3-4); the Spirit of Life (Rom 8:2); the Eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14); The Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29); the Spirit of Jehovah (Isa 11:2).