It is important to orthodoxy to affirm the personality of the Holy Spirit for several reasons. Three of these are as follows. First, showing the personality of the Holy Spirit is important because it shows that He is part of the Godhead, and thus it validates the concept of the Trinity and the Godhead. Second, as one better understands and is better able to relate to the personality of the Holy Spirit, then one can also better benefit from and understand His works in this world. As Mr. Erickson points out, we are not dealing with an impersonal force. And lastly, it is important to affirm the personality of the Holy Spirit in order to see and understand how He is the applier of the Gospel.
The first reason that orthodoxy seeks to affirm the personality of the Holy Spirit is that doing so confirms the Trinity and Godhead. While the concept of our three-in-one God is difficult for mortal man to comprehend, the Bible nevertheless does teach that the Godhead is one God, that is monotheistic, yet at the same time, it is also made up of three Persons. Since God is taught in Scriptures to be a Person and Jesus clearly was a Person, it only seems reasonable, and probably even mandatory, that the Third Person of the Trinity also be a Person, or Personality. The converse side to this argument is that if the Holy Spirit of God is not a Personality, then God also is not a Personality, hence Jesus Who was a Person would not be God, and God could not have been or be a God Who intervenes into the affairs of His people. Consequently, the personality of the Holy Spirit is an important issue when dealing with the validity of the Trinity and the Godhead.
The attributes of personality are intellect, emotions, and will. In the matter of the Holy Sirit, because H has all three, He can do certain works, and He can feel certain things. In John 14:26, John 15:26, and John 16:13, the Holy Spirit is shown to be the great Teacher Who, as Jesus was telling His disciples, would teach them all things about the Christ. Also because of the Spirit's intellect, He has been and is, as stated in I Corinthians 2:10-11, the One Who has taught all Christians the things of God. But the Holy Spirit can also feel, hence show His emotional side. In Ephesians 4:30, the Apostle Paul admonishes us to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Christians can cause the Holy Spirit of God to feel sorrow and anguish simply by their behavior and attitude. Finally, in this discussion of the attributes of personality, the Holy Spirit possesses the last attribute in that He can effect His will on people's lives, a truth which is demonstrated in I Corinthians 12:11.
Thus, understanding the personality of the Holy Spirit and the above attributes to His personality can help a person to better understand the Holy Spirit's work in this world. In John 16:8-11, His three-fold mission is revealed. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come into the world to reprove or convict the world of sin, that He would convince the world about what is right, and that He would reprove the world of judgment. As the Holy Spirit completes these tasks, one can easily see His part in the Salvation Plan of God. God the Father sent God the Son to earth so that He could live a sinless life, offer Himself on the cross at Calvary to pay the penalty for the world's sins, and then be resurrected from His bloody death to obtain our pardon and victory over sin and the grave. The Bible teaches in Romans 10:13 that God's Plan is available to all who call upon Him. God the Son, Who of course was and is Jesus, did His part in God's Plan by being willing to undergo the humiliation and suffering of the Plan. Jesus was our sacrificial Lamb, Who literally was offered on our behalf. And finally, the Holy Spirit, as Third Person of the Trinity, as the One with the attributes of personality, performs His role in God's Plan by convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment so that He might draw men and women, boys and girls to Christ.
Mr. Packer states in his book, "Knowing God," that if it were not for the Holy Spirit, then there would be "no gospel, no faith, no church, no Christianity in the world at all." Truly, the Holy Spirit performs a great function for the Godhead, as He pulls together all of the various pieces of God's plan for this present world.
Tom of Spotswood "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Lesson 21 - The Attributes And Properties Of God
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