By: David K. Bernard

Since Pentecostals are identified by a strong emphasis on the Holy Spirit, the question arises, What or who is the Holy Spirit? Various groups have defined the Holy Spirit as an abstract principle, an impersonal force, a fluid-like substance, an angel, a subordinate divine being, or the third person in a triune Godhead. But what does the Bible say?

GOD IN SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY

God is "the Holy One" (Isaiah 54:5). Only God is holy in Himself; all other Holy beings derive their holiness from Him. Furthermore, God is Spirit (John 4:24), and there is only one Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:4). The title of Holy Spirit describes the fundamental character of God's nature, for holiness forms the basis of His moral attributes while spirituality forms the basis of His nonmoral attributes. Thus it describes God Himself, the one Holy Spirit.

For example, Peter told Ananias and Sapphira that they had lied to "to the Holy Ghost" and then said they had lied "unto God" (Acts 5:3-4). Similarly Paul wrote, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" and then, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?" (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).

The Bible calls the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of the LORD (Jehovah), "my (Jehovah) spirit," "the Spirit of God" and "his (God's) holy Spirit" (Isaiah 40:13; Joel 2:28; Romans 8:9; I Thessalonians 4:8). These phrases show that the Spirit is not distinct from God but rather pertains to God or is God Himself in Spiritual essence. For example, when we speak of the spirit of a man, we do not refer to another person but to the inward nature of the man himself. The man is his spirit and vice versa.

The Bible compares a man and his spirit to God and His Spirit: "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" (I Corinthians 2:11). The former is not two persons, and neither is the latter. We speak of a man's spirit in order to refer to his thoughts, character, or nature, but we do not thereby mean that his spirit is a different person from him or is any less than the total personality. Nor does speaking of God and His Spirit introduce a personal distinction or plurality in Him.

If the Holy Spirit is God Himself, why is this additional designation needed? What distinction of meaning is intended? The title specifically refers to God in spiritual activity, particularly as He works in ways that only a Spirit can.

The first biblical mention of the Spirit is a good example. Genesis 1:1, speaking in general terms, says, "God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:2, focusing on a specific act of God, says, "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Important spiritual activities of God are regenerating, indwelling, sanctifying, and anointing humanity; thus we usually speak of the Holy Spirit in connection with them. (See Acts 1:5-8.)

The roles of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are necessary to God's plan of redemption for fallen humanity. In order to save us, God had to provide a sinless Man who could die in our place--the Son. In begetting the Son and in relating to humanity, God is the Father. And in working in our lives to transform and empower us, God is the Holy Spirit.

We should note that the titles Holy Ghost" and "Holy Spirit" are interchangeable; both are translations of the same Greek phrase. The King James Version uses the former more frequently, but it also uses the latter. (See Luke 11:13; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30.) The latter is usually more understandable to modern English speakers, especially those unfamiliar with the Bible. Frequently, the Bible simply speaks of "the Spirit."

THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER

The Bible identifies the Father and the Holy Spirit as one and the same being. The title of Holy Spirit simply describes what the Father is. There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). The "only true God" is the Father (John 17:3), and He is Spirit (John 4:24).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, not a different person from the Father. For example, Jesus said that in times of persecution God would give us proper words to say, "for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you" (Matthew 10:20). Jesus spoke of God as our Father in terms of personal relationship, but with reference to supernatural indwelling and anointing Jesus spoke of God as the Holy Spirit.

By definition, the one who begets (causes conception) is the father of the one begotten. The Holy Spirit is literally the Father of Jesus, for Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 20). If the Father and the Holy Spirit were two persons, then Jesus would have two fathers. When the Bible speaks of the man Christ Jesus in relationship to God it uses the title of Father, but when it speaks of God's action in causing the baby Jesus to be conceived it uses the title of Holy Ghost so that there will be no mistake about the supernatural, spiritual nature of this work.

THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST

In Jesus Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Thus the Holy Spirit is literally the Spirit that was in the man Jesus Christ.

All of Christendom confesses that Jesus is Lord, and II Corinthians 3:17 plainly identifies the Lord as the Spirit: "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." The Bible also describes the Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of Christ," "the Spirit of his (God's) Son," and "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Romans 8:9; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:19). The way that Christ dwells in our hearts is as the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11; Ephesians 3:14-17).

"Another Comforter"

Trinitarians often point to John 14:16 as evidence that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person: "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." But the context reveals that Jesus was speaking of Himself in another form--in Spirit rather than in flesh.

In the next verse He identified the Comforter as someone who already dwelt with the disciples: "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" (John 14:17). Jesus was the One whom they knew and who dwelt with them. The difference was that the Comforter would soon come in them, in a new relationship of spiritual indwelling rather than physical accompaniment.

And in the following verse Jesus plainly identified Himself as the Comforter: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18).

Some trinitarians try to avoid this clear designation by saying Jesus was speaking of His physical return, either by the Resurrection or the Second Coming, but both explanations ignore the immediate context. Moreover, the Resurrection would have fulfilled the promise only for forty days, while the Second Coming would not have fulfilled the promise for many centuries, long after the listeners' deaths. Clearly, Jesus spoke of coming and abiding in Spirit, as parallel promises show: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20); "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).

"HE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF"

Trinitarians also point to John 16:13 as evidence for an independent personality of the Holy Spirit: "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." The Greek text literally says, "He will not speak from Himself," meaning, "He will not speak on His own authority" (NKJV).

A trinitarian explanation of the verse is inadequate, however, for the third person would be in a very subordinate role and possibly would not even be omniscient, contrary to the trinitarian doctrine of coequality. He would not be able to say or know anything except what he received from another person. How then could this third person be God and have the power of God? In fact, this verse says the Spirit does not have independent authority or identity. He does not come under another name but in Jesus' name (John 14:26).

In actuality, Jesus was describing the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the working of the Spirit in the believer. (See John 16:7.) It seems that He was trying to counter the tendency that sometimes arises among Spirit-filled people to think that they have some kind of supernatural authority in their own right. In other words, people who receive the Holy Spirit do not thereby have authority to establish any doctrine or teaching of their own. Though they may exercise the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues, the Spirit within them will not speak as a separate entity residing within them. Rather, the Spirit in them will only speak what is communicated by the mind of God-what is consistent with the Word of God.

To that extent, John 16:13 makes a conceptual (but not personal) distinction between God as Father, Lord, and Omniscient Mind and God in action, operation, or indwelling. The distinction is similar to that in Romans 8:26-27 and I Corinthians 2:10-16. The latter passage says we can know the mind of God by having the Spirit of God in us, for the Spirit of God knows the things of God. But, as we have already seen, the passage clearly does not envisage a personal distinction inthe Godhead, for it compares God and His Spirit to a man and his spirit.

Romans 8:26-27 says, "The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." In other words, when the Spirit prompts us and speaks through us in intercessory prayer, we can have confidence that our prayers are in God's will. The Spirit of God will certainly make intercession in accordance with the will of God, for the Spirit is God Himself working tn our lives. God will act in harmony with Himself as He first motivates our prayers and then hears and answers our prayers.

Conclusion

Pentecostals are sometimes accused of glorifying the Holy Spirit at the expense of Jesus Christ. Oneness Pentecostals are certainly not guilty of this charge, for we recognize that God is one Spirit and that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the risen, living Christ. Receiving the Holy Spirit is the way we receive Jesus Christ into our lives.

We do not have two or three divine spirits in our hearts, nor can we identify distinct religious experiences with each of three divine persons. Both the Bible and personal experience tell us that there is one Spirit, the Spirit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As our Father, God has told us how to live; in the Son God has shown us how to live and provided an atonement for our sins; and as the indwelling Holy Spirit God enables us to live for Him every day.

(The above material appeared in a June, 1989 issue of the Pentecostal Herald.)

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