THE DEITY AND PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Goal: To understand the Deity and Personality of the Ruah HaKodesh as revealed in G_d’s Word.
Lesson Objectives:
Bible Verses: Gen 1:2; Ex 31:3; Numbers 11:17, 25, 26, 29; Judges 3:10; 1 Sam 16:13; 2 Sam 23:2; 1 Chron 28:12; Neh 9:20, 30; John 3:5-8, 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15; Rev 22:17.
Memory Verse: John 14:16-17
Introduction:
The Ruah HaKodesh is the Third Person of the Compound Unity. In John 14-16 (in the Upper Room ministry) the Adonai Yeshua stated categorically that the Ruah HaKodesh is YHWH and has the same personality as Himself when He told His disciples that G_d the Father would give them another Comforter [i.e. Greek word ALLOS (Strong's numbering 243) another like Himself] to indwell His chosen ones or believers after His glorification (John 7:39, Acts 2:33). The Adonai Yeshua, the Second Person of the Compound Unity, said in Heb 10:5 that G_d the Father had prepared a body for Him when He became incarnate. The bodies of His callout ones have been prepared through the substitutionary, redemptive and propitiatory sacrifice, suffering and separation of the Adonai Yeshua for the Ruah HaKodesh to convict, convert, regenerate and indwell. Hence the bodies of His believers are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). Thus the Holy Spirit is a Person like G_d the Father and the L_rd Yeshua. In fact the Holy Spirit is co-equal, co-eternal, co-sovereign, co-omniscient, co-omnipresent, co-omnipotent and co-sufficient as YAHWEH HA AV and the ADONAI YAHSHUA (BEN ELOHIM).
We will consider the deity and personality of the Ruah HaKodesh under the following headings:
[A] The Harmony within the Godhead
[B] His Holiness and EL Shekinah (Glory)
[C] His Humility and Grace
[A] The Harmony within the Godhead
Gen 6:3, Job 26:13, 33:4; Isaiah 11:2, 61:1; Matt 12:28-32; Luke 1:35, 4:1, 14, 18-21; John 3:34.
YHWH HA AV, BEN ELOHIM and the RUAH HAKODESH, the compound unity of the G_dhead, are always of one mind and one accord. They always agree in thoughts, feelings, disposition and action. This was clearly evident in the creation of the heaven and the earth. Gen 1:26-27 reveal truly the unity of mind and purpose of the ADONAI ECHAD (compound unity) in creating man in His own image after His likeness. Gen 1:26 indicated a discussion among the Father, the Son and the Spirit to create man with dominion over the other creations that the Triune Lord God had made. Gen 1:27 stated the fact of the creation. Gen 2:7 summarised what the Triune Lord God did to make man a living soul. Whether the Father, the Son and
the Spirit thought, said or worked in accord (harmony) or association (co-operation and co-ordination), they were individually and collectively absolutely with one another! In fact the Father, the Son and the Spirit are of the same essence, nature and even attributes! Hence there is harmony within the Godhead. That is why the Israelites were taught the truth that "The Lord, our God is one Lord" (Deut 6:4).
The Spirit is distinctly identified in the creation in Gen 1:2 "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Besides, by His Spirit the Lord God had garnished the heavens (Job 26:13). Moreover Elihu reminded Job: "The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty has given me life" (Job 33:4).
The deity of the Holy Spirit is evident in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the Spirit is God, He could come upon and overshadow Mary who was appointed by the Lord God to bring forth the Son of God as a babe in a manger in Bethlehem (Matt 1:18, 20; Luke 1:35; 2:7). The Spirit filled the life of Jesus Christ from birth and He was always full of the Holy Spirit (John 3:34, Luke 4:1, 14, Matt 12:28 - 32; Acts 10:38). In fact in the synagogue in Nazareth the Lord Jesus applied to Himself the prophesy in Isaiah 61:1-2 viz. the Holy Spirit was upon Him because the Lord God had anointed Him to preach the Gospel to the poor and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Besides, the Lord Jesus always attributed what He did during His three and a half years of public ministry to the Holy Spirit in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and to the Father in the Gospel of John. This again confirms the harmony within the Triune Godhead. Moreover, the Lord Jesus affirmed the deity of the Holy Spirit when He told the Pharisees that "whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matt 12:32).
After the Lord Jesus had declared that "All authority has been given unto Me in heaven and in earth," He told His disciples to go and teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:18-20). The use of the singular Name for the Three Persons in the Triune Godhead signifies the oneness of the Father, the Son and the Spirit in the commission given by the Lord Jesus. The harmony within the Triune Godhead is seen in the redemptive and propitiatory work on the cross in Heb 9:14 "How much more shall the blood of Christ Who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" The Father, the Son and the Spirit also work in unison in the resurrection of Christ Jesus from among the dead. In John 2:19 Jesus told the Jewish aristocrats: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Holy Spirit reveals in Rom 6:4 that Christ was raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father and in Eph 1:19-20 that the Father raised Christ from among the dead with His almightiness. Rom 8:11 states that the Holy Spirit raised up Christ from among the dead.
[B] His Holiness and Glory
Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 63:10-12; Rev 3:1, 4:5, 5:6.
Although the Holy Spirit is mentioned many times in the Old Testament, He was often called the Spirit of God (Gen 1:2, Ex 31:3, 35:31, Numbers 24:2, 1 Sam 10:10, 11:6, 19:20, 23, 2 Chron 15:1, 24:20, Job 27:3, 33:4, Ezekiel 11:24), the Spirit of the Lord (Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 13:25, 14:6, 19, 15:14, 1 Sam 10:6, 16:13, 14, 2 Sam 23:2, 1 Kings 18:12, 2 Kings 2:16, 2 Chron 20:14, Isaiah 11:2, 59:19, 63:14, Ezekiel 11:5, 37:1, Micah 2:7, 3:8), the Spirit (Number 11:17, 25 [twice], 26, 27:18), My, Thy or His Spirit (Gen 6:3, Numbers 11:29, Job 26:13, Psalm 139:7, Isaiah 44:3, 48:16, 59:21, Joel 2:28, 29, Haggai 2:5, Zech 4:6, 7:12). King David was the first person to address Him as the Holy Spirit in Psalm 51:11 though what David asked would not be applicable to Christians as the Holy Spirit indwells every true believer and seals the believer till the day of the redemption of the body (Eph 1:13-14, 4:30). David also addressed Him as "Thy free (or generous) Spirit" (Psalm 51:12). He is again called the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 63:10 and 11. It is to be noted that He was called the Holy Spirit when His holiness was violated in both instances to remind us of the essence and excellence of His Person. As the truth concerning the Triune Lord God was not revealed to the Old Testament saints, they did not know the Holy Spirit as revealed by the Lord Jesus to His disciples in John 14-16.
What is holiness? It is the sum total of all the attributes of the Triune Lord God that make Him as the Godhead collectively or as Persons individually uniquely, distinctly and differently separated from all others. Whenever any of His attributes is disregarded, despised, denied, dishonoured or defied by any person, His holiness is sinned against by that person! Like God the Father and the Son of God, the Holy Spirit is essentially and eternally holy. Hence the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22:23) though not the sum total of all the attributes of the Triune Lord God tells us that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are individually love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kind, good, faithful, meek and self-control.
As the Triune Lord God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), the Holy Spirit is love (Rom 15:30, Col 1:8) and He sheds abroad the love of the Triune Lord God in the hearts of the believers. As joy characterises God the Father (Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 16:11, 104:31), it also is in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17, 1 Thess 1:6). As the Triune Lord God is the God of peace (Phil 4:9, 1 Thess 5:23, Heb 13:20), there is also peace in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17, Eph 4:3). Unless the Holy Spirit is longsuffering, kind, good, faithful, meek and self-control, He cannot manifest His fruit in the lives of believers (without unconfessed sins) walking in Him.
The Lord Jesus was, is and will always be full of the Holy Spirit. He was endued with the full measure of the Holy Spirit during His earthly sojourn (John 3:34). He has the seven Spirits of God as the Head of every local church as indicated in Rev 3:1. In other words, by the full measure of the Holy Spirit Who gathers the saints to the Lord Jesus and motivates and moves the saints to worship or pray to Him (audibly or inaudibly), the Son of God directs and controls every local church. Rev 4 and 5 reveal the presence of the seven Spirits of God where the Lord Jesus will be after the church rapture. This surely indicates the glory of the Holy Spirit as He shares in the glory of the Son of God. The Holy Spirit reveals in 1 Pet 4:14 as the Spirit of glory resting upon saints reproached for the Name of Christ to encourage them as heirs of glory and of God in their testimony for Christ.
[C] His Humility and Grace
John 7:39, 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-15
Though the Holy Spirit is essentially and eternally equal with God the Father and the Son of God, He is the One Who always submits to the Father and the Son as indicated in the promise of the Lord Jesus to His disciples in John 14:26 and 15:26. There is no revealed record that He sends even the Son of God though in line with the counsel of the Triune Lord God, He "drove" the Lord Jesus into the wilderness for the forty days' temptation (Mark 1:12). In the other two Synoptic Gospels, it was written that the Lord Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness (Matt 4:1; Luke 4:1).
In John 16:13-15 the Lord Jesus Himself revealed to His disciples that like Himself, the Holy Spirit does not speak on His own initiative or independently: for He only speaks the things that God the Father or the Son of God has asked Him to say. Moreover His glorious goal in the lives of the Lord's people is to glorify the Son of God and God the Father. He is indeed the most self-effacing Person in the Godhead and even among the created beings in human history. It is for this reason that the Lord Jesus had to warn the Pharisees, the scribes, the chief priests and the people during His public ministry against any blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as any one guilty of it would not be eternally forgiven (Matt 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). Hence meekness is evident in the fruit of the Spirit. Meekness and humility always go together as the Lord Jesus described Himself in Matt 11:29 "I am meek and lowly in heart."
While the humility of the Holy Spirit is seen in His relationship with God the Father and the Son of God, His grace is seen in His relationship with the human beings especially with the saints in the church age. God the Father has given His Spirit to indwell in each of His people for each to depend on Him by His Spirit for His Word, walk and work. Unfortunately, many believers do not recognise or acknowledge the Holy Spirit in their lives.
The Lord Jesus told His disciples in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit would be sent by the Father to teach His disciples all things. The Holy Spirit confirms in 1 Cor 2:11 and 1 John 2:27 that He alone can teach us all things. However to learn God's Word in dependence on the Spirit requires each believer to have no unjudged and unconfessed sins (1 John 1:5 - 2:2) and to abide in the Lord Jesus and He and His Word in him/her (John 15:5, 7). Besides, the Holy Spirit will teach the believer more about His Word only if he/she puts into practice the truth that has been taught him/her. Many believers do not realise that they sin against God the Father by virtue of having sinned against another person. Moreover they are not occupied with the Lord Jesus and do not obey Him and His Word that has been taught them. As they have not been convicted by the truth revealed to them, they are contented to conform to the truth outwardly. The Holy Spirit is grieved by any of these deeds and will graciously continue to convict each of them of his/her sins until he/she judges and confesses his/her sins to God the Father for His family forgiveness, cleansing and restoration to Him.
This is one of the reasons why many believers resort to know God's Word from the oral or written ministry of other Christians and thus they disregard, despise or deny the Holy Spirit in them. Without the conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning His Word, such believers have only head-knowledge of what they intellectually understand to be God's Word. That is the reason for them to continue to live their own lives without being submissive to God's Word. Thus there is no inward truth in them. For instance, they do not live in the light of the imminent of the Lord Jesus.
In Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit would have left the sinning saints as He did to David when he sinned against the Lord God in his affair with Bathsheba. But as the indwelling Holy Spirit, He strives patiently with each sinning believer to bring him/her to repentance each time he/she sins against God the Father. Amazing grace indeed! The Third Person of the Triune Godhead should be so wickedly treated by those whom He has so graciously brought to Christ for salvation!
LIFE APPLICATION:
2 When does the Holy Spirit cease to help you as a Christian? What does He do then in your life? Why?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1 Show from God's Word that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person in the Triune Godhead.
2 Who has revealed more of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit to us? Give reasons.
3 Why must the Holy Spirit have the same attributes of the Lord Jesus?
TEST
1(a) Can any Christian on his own be Christ-centred or Christlike? Why?
(b) Why are you as a Christian on your own cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit?
Discuss the difficulties.
"2(a) What do you understand by the term ""being filled with the Spirit""?"
(b) How can you be filled with the Holy Spirit? What evidences do you have to prove
that you are being led or controlled by the Spirit?
3(a) Why have God the Father and the Lord Jesus given the Holy Spirit to dwell in each
believer?
" (b) Have you been filled with Spirit? As a Spirit-filled or -controlled or -led believer, what"
have you done in the past year and will do to prove it?