All About The Holy Spirit

Pentecost is drawing near, just four weeks away, Sunday, May 19. The Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of the Spirit. Today I'd like to ask and answer some questions about the Holy Spirit. What is the Holy Spirit? Is it the third person in a Trinity? There are many Christians today that believe that the Holy Spirit is, that God is one, but yet there are three separate entities in that one. They have a difficulty really explaining that, and it's called a mystery even by many who believe in it. Is God three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit coexisting in one being or substance? That's what they believe.

Today, let's answer these questions then about what is God's Holy Spirit? What's the function of the Holy Spirit? How does it work in our lives? I'd like to first of all address the question, is there a Trinity? Does the Bible teach the Trinity? What's the origin of the Trinity? Is it from the Bible? If not, where's the origin from? Just how is God revealed in the Bible? Well, the Trinity is one of the mainstream doctrines in Christianity today. Very accepted and very revered. And in fact, some say that you cannot be saved unless you believe in the Trinity. Some believe that. Yet at the same time, they confess that the Trinity is a mystery, how you can have three beings and yet all somehow dwelling in one substance, in one.

A mystery. One quote is that it's impossible to understand.

Does the Bible teach the Trinity? No, it does not. The word Trinity is simply not found in the Bible and also the doctrine of the Trinity is not found in the Bible either. So where did it come from?

It came from the world and it worked its way into Christianity, so-called Christianity, several hundred years after the age of the New Testament church, around the 300s A.D.

The Trinity doctrine was actually then when we study into it, conceived and invented by man. The Oxford Companion Bible, companion to the Bible, says it is striking that the term does not appear in the New Testament. Three co-equal partners in the Godhead cannot be clearly detected within the confines of the New Testament canon. And the New Bible dictionary says the term Trinity is not itself found in the Bible. It received wide currency and formal elucidation in the 4th and 5th centuries. At the Council of Constantinople in 381, that's a long time after the apostolic age, at the Council of Constantinople 381, the divinity of the Spirit was affirmed. What did the church fathers, by church fathers, I mean those in Rome, get this Trinity doctrine? You know, there was in ancient beliefs a belief in Trinitarian gods. You go back to Sumeria and you will discover that they had a triad of the great gods. In Babylon, they had a belief in the three persons in one god. This idea of a Trinity, or triad, or three, in Egypt the three gods were consumed, subsumed into one. Kind of a Trinity, you might say, a preliminary belief that led later to the doctrine of the Trinity. In Greece, Plato and Aristotle, you know, the Greek philosophers tried to figure out meaning and purpose in life, and they believed in a divine triad of God, ideas, and world spirit. They had this triad of ideas or beliefs. And the false church fathers were influenced by these ancient views when they tried to understand the nature of God.

Here, they accepted Christianity, they accepted Christ, and they read the Bible, and they tried to understand about Christ and who He was, and about God, and about the Holy Spirit.

And they debated on the nature of God for a couple of hundred years. It was the time of Tertullian in the late second century, about a hundred years after John, that he was one of the first ones to bring up the idea of the Trinity. And so by 325 AD, there was a council in Nicaea, the Council of Nicaea, where Constantine the Emperor presided. And the Trinity doctrine was discussed and accepted beginning at that point, but it was 381 AD, some years later, at the Council of Constantinople, that it was formally adopted as the doctrine of the church, and any who disagreed with it were branded as heretics. The Trinity is simply a false doctrine of the world. It was added after the New Testament era, added after the Bible was complete. We have an excellent booklet, if you'd like to study this in more detail. Is God a Trinity? The first couple of chapters discuss in much more detail just how the Trinity teaching came to be a part of the false church of this world. So I won't get into that extensively. You can study that out more if you would like. But how is God revealed in the Bible? We've done a lot of study on that. And God is revealed as two separate beings functioning as one. One God, family, composed of two separate spirit beings, not in the same substance like this Trinity doctrine tries to say God is one, yet there are three in the same substance. No, Christ and the Father are two separate beings, two totally separate entities. We'll briefly read a few verses on how God is revealed in the Bible before we get into the study on the Holy Spirit. Let's turn to John 1 and verses 1-3. This takes us as far back in time as we have any revealed knowledge. This goes back before Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1.

John chapter 1 and verse 1, "...in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." We have two beings here. One's called the Word, the other is called God. And yet the Word also is God, two God beings. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. And so the Word, Jesus Christ, who became Jesus Christ, you can read on down, then is the actual hands-on creator of all things. Other verses say that God the Father created all things through Jesus Christ. God the Father ultimately is the creator of all things, but He did it through Jesus Christ. He delegated it, you might say, and did it through Christ. So we have two beings here, and that's why in Genesis chapter 1, when God was creating human life, we read, let us make man. God said, let us make man in our image. There are two beings there. The plural, Eloim, in the Hebrew means more than one. And so two beings who are both God beings, separate entities, yet made of spirit, the same spirit, and yet separate, just like human beings, you know, husband and wife are two separate beings. They are one family, and they are to have one purpose and one mind, and they dwell together as one, but yet they are two, in the same way that God and Christ, or the Word, dwell together as one.

So the Bible reveals God in the Bible as two beings when Jesus was on the earth. Read the Gospels. You don't have Jesus relating to two other beings, the Father, to other entities, separate the Father and the Holy Spirit. You always have Him and the Father. He said, the Father is greater than me. And he talked about coming from His Father and going back to His Father.

And so in the Gospels, you have that relationship referred to often, the relationship of Jesus and the Father. But you don't have that type of relationship described with the Holy Spirit as like a separate entity, as in the Trinity. You don't have that teaching. It's just not there. It's just not there. And in our booklet, there are many that state, as well, I read a couple of quotes, but just many, many other additional quotes that there's just not any biblical support for the Trinity teaching and that the Holy Spirit is a separate being.

There is a lot of Bible support for two beings, two God beings, dwelling together as one in the God family. The Apostle Paul, another good proof, is in the Apostle Paul's letters. Turn, for example, to Romans chapter 1 and verse 7. We will not take time to turn to all of Paul's letters. You could turn to each of Paul's letters after this one, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, right on down the line. You could turn to Paul's letters and find this same proof that there are just two beings in the God family at the present time.

Romans 1 and verse 7, to all those who are in Rome, all who are who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You will find this same greetings in the first few verses of each of Paul's letters. He says, grace, or maybe greetings from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Just two beings, just two beings, God and Christ. Not any mention of greetings from God the Father and from Jesus Christ and from the Holy Spirit. We just don't find that. Another indication and proof in the Scriptures too that makes it very clear would be in Revelation chapters 4 and 5.

In the description of God's throne in chapter 4, we have God, who would be the Father, pictured. And in chapter 5, we have this book that no one is able to open, the book with the seven seals, and then the Lamb, who of course is Jesus Christ, comes and takes the book and he is worthy to open the seals. Just two beings, God, our Father, and the Lamb. And actually when you get to Revelation 21 and 22, the Father will come down from heaven and the Lamb is described as being in the holy city that will be set up on the earth.

And just two original beings in the God family are referred to there. So we just don't have any reference to the Holy Spirit being a person, not in the Bible. This is something that was invented by human beings after the New Testament era. So just two beings in the God family at this present time. Of course, we know that God's family is going to ultimately include many, many additional sons of God. And we may have the privilege of being those children of God that will be added to the family. But how is the Holy Spirit revealed in the Bible? We're going to find that the Holy Spirit is revealed as the very power of God.

Let's turn to a verse in Matthew chapter 1 that certainly would itself prove that the Holy Spirit is not a personal being, not a personal entity. In Matthew chapter 1 and in verse 18, it talks about the birth of Jesus Christ. And before Joseph and Mary came together, Mary was found with child.

It says, of the Holy Spirit. Oh, well, maybe the Holy Spirit is a person then. When she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. You know, if we just read this one passage only, we might conclude that. We read on down that Joseph was a just man. Verse 19 was going to put her away secretly. And while he thought about it, then God appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you, Mary, your wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Well, is the Holy Spirit then a separate person in a trinity?

If so, we'd have to say the Holy Spirit then would be the Father of Jesus Christ. Well, we know that's not true. So how do we understand this? Luke makes it very clear that the Holy Spirit was the power that proceeded out from the Father. And that's how the conception took place. Let's read about it in Luke chapter 1 verses 34 and 35.

Luke chapter 1 and verse 34, Mary said to the angel when she was informed about bearing Jesus Christ, she said, or bearing a son, Jesus Christ, how can this be since I do not know a man? She was a virgin. The angel said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

The Holy Spirit, the power of the highest will overshadow you. So you see, the Holy Spirit is that power of the highest. That'd be the Father. He is the very highest in the family. The power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One who is born will be called the Son of God. So the Holy Spirit is the power of God. And we can read many verses about the Holy Spirit being the power of God. God is spirit, and His Spirit radiates or let's say goes out from Him to perform that which He desires. That's how the universe was created, the Spirit of God. God has that ability to send out His Spirit and to perform what He in His mind wants it to perform.

That's an awesome power. Mankind has that power to send signals and to do certain things, but it's very limited compared to what God is able to do. Let's notice in Luke chapter 4 and verse 14.

Luke chapter 4 and verse 14, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and use of Him went all around the region. Let's also read Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. Just a few verses.

There are many, many others we will not read, but many verses that show that the Holy Spirit is the power of God. We believe it is that awesome power that we need to have in order to grow, in order to be transformed, in order to be converted. We cannot be in God's kingdom without the power of God's Spirit helping us to to overcome and develop godly character and nature. In Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, you shall receive power, Jesus told His disciples. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses then in Jerusalem and Judea, and so forth. Let's read on over in Acts chapter 8 also. I'm sorry, Acts chapter 10.

Acts chapter 10 and verse 38. Acts 10 and verse 38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. See, God anointed Him. God sent that power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil.

So verse after verse shows the Spirit of God to be the power of God by which the work is accomplished. Let's go to also Romans chapter 15 and verse 19. We'll have one final verse among the many that we could read showing that the Holy Spirit is the very power of God. Romans 15 and verse 19, here's how Paul was able to accomplish what he did in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God. He said that from Jerusalem and round about in Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. You know, brethren, that's the same power that we are using today. What is the powers? Not by our own human might and strength and power. That same power is what empowers us as a church to preach the gospel to the world. It's also the power that empowers us to grow and to overcome individually and personally. We cannot make it to God's kingdom without the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Well, then the Holy Spirit is the power of God. Let's notice some of the non-personal attributes of the Holy Spirit. Just further prove that the Holy Spirit is not a separate personality or separate entity. The Holy Spirit is called a gift.

You read that in one place is in Acts 2, verse 38. A gift. We don't usually think of a person, you know, if somebody is a person as a gift. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. We will read a couple of verses here showing an attribute of the Holy Spirit that certainly is non-personal.

These are non-personal attributes of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2, verse 17.

Peter was explaining what happened that day when people saw the speaking in tongues, and they heard this rushing wind in verse 2 and the tongues as of fire in verse 3.

He said in verse 17, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, It shall come to pass in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh. We don't think of a person, do we, being poured out upon all flesh. Here's something that's being poured out, sort of like you pour out water. You pour it out on all flesh. In verse 33, being there, therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. So God's Spirit then has that non-personal attribute of being able to be poured out. Verses bring out that we are baptized by one Spirit into the Church of God, and that we may drink of the Holy Spirit. Again, we drink of water. We don't refer to drinking a person. That is found in John 7 verses 37 to 39, drinking of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is something that we may partake of, that can be given to us then, and that we may be filled with it. We don't think of being filled with a person, but to be filled with God's power and God's Spirit. And also the Holy... Well, let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6. Notice that Paul says, I remind you to stir up the gift of God. Here's called the gift of God. It's also something that we can stir up. Obviously, something we can let it let become not as active in our life as it should be. You know, that's something to think about between now and Pentecost. Is God's Spirit as active in your life as it should be? Are you filled with the power of the Holy Spirit? Is it being poured out upon you? Are you drinking in of it, partaking of it, and filled with it, and being renewed by it? As other verses point out, stir up the gift of God, which is in you, through the laying on of my hands. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. So we get the very distinct feeling that the Holy Spirit is not a personal being, not a personal entity. These non-personal attributes that we just have read. Also, there are symbols and manifestations of the Holy Spirit that are also non-personal, such as in Acts 2 and verse 2, the Holy Spirit came like a rushing, mighty wind. Holy Spirit is compared to wind, the wind in that verse. And then in the next verse, tongues of fire. So fire, also a reference as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. And then Jesus, with the woman at the well, talked about the water that a person could drink and not thirst. And he was talking about God's spirit in John chapter 4.

Water. Water is a type, a symbol of God's Holy Spirit in the Bible. Oil is also used as a type or symbol of God's Holy Spirit. And when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, like a dove. And the Holy Spirit is also called the earnest. Earnest. The down payment. Just the very beginning portion of eternal life. So all of these verses in the Bible show how the Holy Spirit is not a personal being. The Holy Spirit then is the power that emanates out from Almighty God. And it can be sent out to every human being, God's Spirit. And of course, we read also about the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of God, our Father. That's the one that we receive at the time of baptism. It's not from Christ, not at the time of baptism, because Christ is not our Father. The Spirit we receive at baptism is from God the Father. Then Jesus Christ does come to dwell in us. And it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ, as the head of the church, like the vine that provides nutrients for the branches. So the Holy Spirit flows on to us from Jesus Christ and from God the Father. It's the same Spirit. It's the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of Christ is referred to in some verses, and the Spirit of God, our Father.

There are some verses in the Bible that I think we need to be aware of, and we need to understand how to explain them. Somebody might come to you and say, well, what about this? And this shows a, to me, this seems to say that God is a Trinity. Well, we need to be aware of that. Let's turn, first of all, to 1 John chapter 5. We're going to have several verses that we will read that people twist. This could be one of them right here in 1 John chapter 5 and verses 7 and 8.

Let me read the verses as they appear in the New King James Version that I'm reading from, and I believe this is also the same as in the Authorized Version, also known as the King James Version of the Bible. 1 John chapter 5 and verses 7 and 8. For there are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three agree as one. Oh, these verses openly support the Trinity. Guess what? About half of these two verses is not found in the early manuscripts. Look at your margin if you have a New King James translation, and they bring out how that this passage is found in only four or five of the very late, late manuscripts. And the Greek has thousands and thousands of manuscripts, and in the earlier manuscripts you do not find this. So it is easy to prove that there was something added here. So beginning with in verse 7, the Father. Here's what should not be in the Bible. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth. Up to that point, then, from the Father to the words on earth should be left out of the Bible. I've got it marked in my Bible. I've left it so I can read it, but indicated that it should not be in the Scriptures. This is pretty commonly recognized. It's not something that we, the United Church of God, understand only and teach being this way. If you happen to have a new Revised Standard Version of the Bible, I think you'll find that this is left out. It's not even included. If you have a new International Version of the Bible, it is also left out. If you have an American Standard Version or New American Standard Version or English Standard Version or New English Bible and quite a number of other translations. Anybody have any of those translations and it's left out? It's just not there. So the Authorized Version, the King James Version, and the New King James Version, both of these included. But there's a note here in the New King James translation that it's not found except in a few of the late manuscripts. So you know what happened? Somebody in a very dishonest way added this to the Bible.

The Trinity had already been accepted into the Church. They added this into the Bible to support their belief. That's not a very honest thing to do, is it? But somebody added this into the manuscripts to prove a doctrine that had come to be accepted in the false Church long after the Apostolic Age.

And this is very easy to prove. It's not something that we have any, you know, just private teaching about is very well known. So 1 John 5, 7, and 8, just do some research on it. Anybody comes up to you, just say, research it, and you can easily prove that those verses supporting the Trinity should not even be there. You might say, well, what about the other, though? The other part that is in the original manuscripts in verse 7, we would have the first part, for there are three who bear witness in heaven, and then you skip down to halfway through verse 8, the spirit, the water, and the blood.

And these three agree in one. But you see, this is not a Trinity, is it? It's just three things that just happen to agree, three vital things in our process of salvation. Water, is that important? Yes. Baptism. Water also symbolizes God's Spirit, and water also is referred to the water of the Word that cleanses us. So the water certainly represents things essential to our salvation. The blood, certainly the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is vital to our salvation. And the Holy Spirit, which God gives to us, the power of the Holy Spirit. All of these do agree in one, don't they? But there's no teaching about the Trinity here. See, these three components of our salvation all work together as one, the Holy Spirit, the water, and the blood. But there's no Trinity or support for the Trinity in these verses. So we need to be able to understand that clearly in case we ever are asked about it. What about Matthew 28 in verse 19? Matthew 28 in verse 19. Some people would say this also supports the Trinity doctrine. So does it?

And let's read the verse, verse 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

And we believe in all of our study of the manuscripts and the Bible, but this is a part of the Bible. This should be in the Scriptures. And we baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. What does it mean? Well, it means that we are brought into a relationship with Almighty God. It doesn't mean that this goes against all the other teachings in the Bible about the Holy Spirit. It doesn't mean that this establishes the Holy Spirit as something other than the power of God. That is, that it is a separate entity in a Trinity. It could yet is used in that manner. The Holy Spirit plays a vital role. It is such a vital role, and it has, even though it is not a personal entity, it has the personal nature and the personal character and everything else that God has. And the Holy Spirit does go alongside us. We'll read about that. It's like a companion. The Holy Spirit is like a traveling companion, that power that emanates out from God. It's not an entity. It's not a personal being.

But we'll read some verses in a few minutes that show that the Holy Spirit carries with it the personal qualities and attributes and character and nature of Almighty God.

And that's what's given to us. That is what makes sonship possible. But this verse, then, is not trying to say that the Holy Spirit is a separate entity in a trinity.

It's just that God's Holy Spirit does play a vital and essential role. And we cannot be in God's family without receiving the power of the Holy Spirit coming from Almighty God, working in our lives. But don't make this verse to stand alone, as some do, to support the trinity. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 13. 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 14.

The grace, concluding words here that Paul wrote, the Corinthians chapter 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 14, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. All right? And the love of God. That would be the Father.

And the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Brother, more than we realize that power that emanates out from God to us is a communion with God. It's that agent which makes communion possible. The margin here says fellowship. The Holy Spirit, that power that comes from God, makes fellowship and communion with God possible. It's a warm and personal thing. Even though it's not an entity of itself, but it's a warm and comforting helper, as it's called in the one verse we'll read in just a few minutes. So, no, this is not a theological statement here about the trinity either, just like in Matthew 28-19. It just shows that the Holy Spirit is that agent that emanates out from Almighty God, that brings us together in fellowship and communion with God and Christ, and with one another. Let's go to John chapter 14. I just recently had some questions about this. Somebody, you know, people write to us all the time just trying to disprove our teachings, and so we have to defend our teachings, and if our teachings cannot be defended, then we would want to change them. We believe our teachings are defensible. We can defend them without any problems, and we want to be able to defend them. In John chapter 14 and verses 16 and 17, I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper. The word in the Greek is parakletos, P-A-R-A-K-L-E-P-O-S. You may have that in your margin as I do in my New King James Version, parakletos, and also comforter, the comforter. I believe the King James Version uses comforter.

The word in the Greek means one or that which, that which goes alongside to help.

And so the New King James translation translates it as helper. That's not a bad translation. A helper is one that goes alongside you, doesn't, to support you, to help you. And comforter, maybe that's not a bad translation either. Comforter, helper. So I will send you another helper that he may abide with you forever. Now in verse 17, even the Spirit of Truth, so he's talking about the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit that God will send, that will abide with us forever. Well, you see that seed of eternal life that comes at the time of baptism, that when God gives us, his spirit is going to abide forever, isn't it?

It's going to, we're going to grow and develop in godly character and nature until God will change us into spirit, our vile bodies. And so this spirit is just the beginning of something that will be there forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him, that's what it says in my New King James version, nor knows him. That shows, you know, that shows gender, doesn't it? Oh, that would, and people write in to say, you see, this is proof of the Holy Spirit being a separate personality in the Trinity. This verse is used to support the Trinity. It neither, neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. What about the personal pronouns here that give it the masculine gender? Is that correct? Well, you know, it's a matter of language. It's a matter of language. In the Greek language, the word for helper, paracletus, is masculine.

And so, if you were reading verse 16 in Greek, then it would be grammatically correct to use the masculine pronoun. Well, you know, we don't read it in Greek, do we? We read it in English.

And in translating from one language to another, you have to translate according to how personal pronouns are used, whether masculine, feminine, or neuter. For example, the French word for book, L-I-V-R-E, is masculine. And so, if you refer to a book, I brought it home. You would say, I brought him home. And the French would just be fine with that. The Spanish word for table, mesa, is feminine. I sat down beside it. You sat down beside the table. I sat down beside her. It would appear in the Spanish. But, you know, we don't say that. If we translate that into English, it would not make a bit of sense, would it? I brought her home, the book. I sat down beside, brought him home, you know, the book. I sat down beside her. It doesn't make any sense in English. When you translate from one language to another, you have to be true to that language, that the grammatical structure of that language. And so, in these verses, translating them into English, I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper or comforter and that it may abide with you forever. It would be the correct grammatical structure. I think it's important that we understand this point in being able to defend our teaching, the teaching of the Bible, concerning the Trinity. Because these are verses that are misused. And people take those personal pronouns and say, that's proof of the Holy Spirit being a person. What about verse 17? There's even something else here in verse 17 that we should be aware of. Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world ... all right? See, whom which the world cannot receive. The word spirit in Greek is numa.

Numa. Sometimes it's translated wind or breath or spirit. The Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive. Numa, guess what, is neuter. It's neither masculine or feminine, even in the Greek.

I looked at my interlinear. Look, if you have an interlinear, look it up. I was very interested to see that when they have the great words, and right down below it each great word is the English word, and they had it correct. It. In verse 17, the Spirit of truth, it. So they did not translate with the personal pronouns. So those who are aware of the proper grammar in the original Greek, as well as in translating into English, would... Here's how verse 17 would read. Even the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it neither sees it nor knows it, but you know it, for it dwells with you and will be in you. But guess what? If you have a New King James translation, I think many others, many times when the word spirit is used in the New Testament, and the pronouns are used, it will be the personal pronouns, he and him. You will notice that. Why? Because the translators believe in the Trinity, and they think that's how it should be translated.

But they are incorrect. And we need to be aware, then, of the correct pronouns to use.

And it is not the personal pronouns. We'll see an example or two, even before we're done today, of some other verses that incorrectly translate as far as the pronouns are concerned.

What about personal activity verses? It says we will not turn to that, but Ananias and Sapphira, when they falsely claim to have given everything that they sold, and Peter said, why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? Oh, that seems to say the Holy Spirit is a person. You can lie to the Holy Spirit. They did. But yet that same verse goes on to say they lied to God.

They had the Spirit of God. They could have done the right thing. They had the power of God available for them.

They denied and even lied to the way that Spirit would lead them.

So, God's Spirit can be given like a personal activity or, you might say, personification.

The Bible uses personification sometimes. Hills are described as clapping, and valleys, and trees, and rivers shouting and crying out, clapping. God told Cain after he killed Abel. He said, the voice of your brother's blood cries to God from the ground. Well, that blood wasn't saying anything, but you know, so things that are not actually persons can be personified in the Bible. Things like blood, and like trees, and rivers, and valleys.

That would also explain in Acts 13 where the Holy Spirit said, separate me, Paul, and Barnabas. God's Spirit led the ones there in Antioch to see that Paul was being separated for a special work, as we know what he did. The Holy Spirit said, separate me, Paul, and Barnabas for the work I've chosen them to do.

So sometimes there can be personification, and that doesn't prove that you have a separate entity.

So you see, all of these are things that have to be put into the larger context of the verses that we read that the Holy Spirit is the power of God, that the Holy Spirit has non-personal attributes like being poured out, and like we can drink of it, something we can stir up.

And the symbols and the manifestation of God's Spirit is water, fire, wind, oil, and earnest eternal life. So these are some things we should be aware of that people use to try to support the Trinity. We should be aware of that. Well, let's get into some things here, onto the latter part of the sermon. We've got a few more minutes, probably about 10 more minutes. But how does the Holy Spirit work in our lives? We've now proved the Trinity doctrine false. We've proved there are just two beings, two entities, who function as one family, one God family. We've proved the Holy Spirit is not a personal being or entity. We've also explained verses that are misused in the Bible. What is the truth of the Holy Spirit? Right here, I'm still in John 14. Are you? Let's read these verses. Let's read some verses in John 14, 15, and 16 that show what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. It's a vital agent, the power that emanates out from God. Okay, it is a helper in John 14 and verse 16. It's a comforter. It's there to support and go along beside us. It is that which comes from God that goes along beside us to lead us all the way from the beginning to eternal life to our destination of entering God's kingdom and actually to be with us forever. It's the Spirit of truth, verse 17, that the world cannot receive because it doesn't see it or know it.

Let's skip on down to verse 26, John 14, verse 26. The helper, the comforter, that which goes alongside, whom the Father will send in my name, and he sends it to each and every human being. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things I've said to you. You know, that Spirit that God sends to us serves to teach us. It brings things to remembrance.

As we think about the process of conversion, it helps us to sort it out, helps us to realize when we're not going quite right, or when things need, if we are maybe not stirring up the Spirit as much as we should, it brings to remembrance that we should be then doing that and praying more and drawing closer to God. In John chapter 14 and verse 23, it shows God's the Spirit of God, our Father, and the Spirit of Christ both. The same Spirit, Jesus said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him. And we, see, Christ and the Father, we will come to him and make our home with him.

So just two beings, and that Spirit from our Father and that Spirit that comes from Christ, certainly God does make his home, they make their home with us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In John chapter 15 and verse 26, when the Helper comes, the Pericletos, the Comforter, the one that goes, or that which goes alongside to help us, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the Father, it will testify of me. I'm going to read it with the correct translation without the personal pronouns. And I hope that you will pick up on that as well. But you see, the translators, believing in the Trinity, believed that that's the way it should be translated.

But the Holy Spirit is that Helper. It is the Spirit of Truth. It does testify of Christ, doesn't it? How does it testify of Christ? Well, that he was the Son of God, that he was God in the flesh, that he brought a message about God's kingdom, that he gave his life so that our sins may be forgiven. The Holy Spirit testifies of all of that, helps us to comprehend it more deeply as we go along, year by year. Let's also read John 16. And this is maybe some of the best verses in the Bible showing exactly what the Holy Spirit or that Comforter does.

John 16 and verse 7, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send it to you.

And when it has come, it will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin because they do not believe in me. Of righteousness because they go to my Father, and you see me no more. Of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. See, that shows what God's Spirit is busy doing in your life and mind. It's convicting us of righteousness.

It's helping us to learn the holy and righteous way of God.

Pointing out to us that way we should live and think and conduct our lives. Of sin! We come to see sin as something that is very bad and we don't want to continue that way. And we know that we're being judged by what we do. So we understand about judgment. Verse 12, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. The Holy Spirit helps us to bear them, to understand them. However, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth, for it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears, it will speak and it will tell you things to come. It will glorify me, for it will take of what is mine and declare it to you. God's Spirit does do that. It does declare to us the things of God. Helps us to understand the things of God. Let's read about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. God's Spirit, I hope this sermon will help us to even do some deeper thinking about the power that God gives to us at the time of baptism and that we have working in our lives. It is an awesome power, and I hope that we have a deeper respect for it after today's sermon and also as we study more deeply into it in the days ahead. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9, I has not seen, human eye that is, or ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. For God has, but God has revealed them to us, how?

Through what we're talking about today, his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. Brother, we can do some deeper thinking than people in the world that don't have God's Spirit.

We can think about what happened, the Boston Marathon, what's happening in the world. We can see the need for God's Spirit. And of course, we can look into our own lives and see the need for God's Spirit to be at work. So the Spirit searches all things, the deep things of God. What man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of the man, the sin in the spirit, the human spirit, the human mind? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

So text God's Spirit to really understand the spiritual knowledge that we have.

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

These things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. For their foolishness to him, he cannot know them because they're spiritually discerned. So God's Holy Spirit, you want to just summarize it, empowers our salvation from beginning to end. It opens our hearts and minds to understand the truth, and then along the way to understand it more deeply, God's Spirit makes it possible for us to begin to change the very nature that we have and take on the nature of God. It's that power to salvation. It's the power to transformation, to conversion, and it produces wonderful results in our lives. I'd like to talk about it more in sermons between now and on Pentecost. But God's Spirit produces wonderful fruit in our lives. Let's turn to Galatians chapter 5. Here's what we will begin to see. This kind of fruit will develop, and it's wonderful to think about. It's what we all want.

In Galatians 5 and verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit, that Holy Spirit, that power that God gives to us, that He pours out upon us and gives us day by day as we ask Him for more of it.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

Mr. Armstrong said, if we had those three working in our lives, we'll have all the rest of them, you can be sure as well. Love, the love of God, joy, the happy and the abundant life that God wants us to live. Peace. Peace with God. Peace with ourselves. Peace with one another.

Long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there's no law. These are wonderful fruits. We want to think about these as we now come into the Pentecost season. Simply put, God's Spirit makes that transformation that we must experience possible. Let's go to Romans chapter 12. We cannot be transformed without the Holy Spirit. Any change we humanly might make is not what God's looking for. He's looking for a change from the inside out through the power of His Holy Spirit. He's got to rewrite the whole thing with His character and His mind and His nature. In Romans chapter 12 and verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You know how we prove the good and perfect and acceptable will of God through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives? The more we let God's Spirit work, the more we are proving how good and perfect and acceptable His will is. So God's Holy Spirit is essential. We cannot make it to God's kingdom without it. Finally, in Romans chapter 8, I think we'll stop with these verses and there will be more about the Holy Spirit from me and I hope from the other speakers as well between now and on Pentecost. Romans chapter 8 and verse 7, you can read chapter 7 and see the battle that we humans fight against, the law of sin to center our members. Romans 8 and verse 7 says the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. I think the more we come to see ourselves as we really are, the more we do see that the carnal mind is not subject to God's law and we have to keep putting it down, keep putting it to death, keep and burying it and rising up to newness of life.

Not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you, those of us we have been baptized, we've repented, we have received God's Spirit, we're not in the flesh but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, see there's the Spirit of Christ. We need the, it's the same Spirit, it's the Spirit of the God family, but it's the source. The source at the time of baptism is the Father. Of course the Father continues to help us afterward, but then the Spirit of Christ also as the head of the church comes to us to help us. The Spirit of Christ. If we don't have the Spirit of God dwelling in us and the Spirit of Christ, we're none of His.

If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, which dwells in you. See how often the idea of the Trinity dominated the determination of pronouns, didn't it, in these verses? Verse 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. This shows the kind of life that we should be striving to live. It's not according to the flesh. It's not the way most people live their lives.

But if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, that's what the power of God's Spirit is doing, put into death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out of a father. The Spirit itself—and by the way, the King James translation in a few places even uses the right pronouns. Is this one of them? I don't know if it is or not. The Spirit itself. It is—the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. So God's Spirit empowers us to put to death the fleshly nature and deeds and to rise up to a life of holiness and righteousness. We need that power that works in our lives every day, every moment. So between now and Pentecost, spend some extra time thinking about the power of the Holy Spirit. Read our Holy Day booklet, the chapter on Pentecost. Read our booklet, Transforming Your Life, the Process of Conversion. Go back and review that. Also, it would be beneficial to read the chapters on the Trinity. There are two chapters referring to the Trinity in our booklet, Who is God?

And then, of course, we have the booklet, Is God a Trinity? Both of these would be very good to read.

So, brethren, yes, Pentecost is near. Let's be preparing. How can we grow in the Spirit, this Pentecost? How can we stir up God's Spirit?