The Trinity

Well, brethren, again, we've been going through the fundamental doctrines of the Church, and we've come up to the one dealing with the Holy Spirit. And we've been discussing the topic of the Trinity. You know, right along with this, because the world believes that God is three-in-one. And, of course, in order to have that, you have to make the Holy Spirit a being, a personal being. And as we will see today, that is not what the Bible teaches.

Again, I'm using, as the basis of our discussion, the slide presentation put together for Ambassador Bible Center by Mr. Jim Franks. So let's go through this, but first of all, we're going to have a review. Remember the last time we were discussing and covering the topic of Christ, the divinity of Christ, and some of the things concerning the Trinity. Now, all of you ought to be able to answer these questions just like that, you know, without a doubt. Explain the doctrine of the Trinity as it relates to Christ. I asked my wife this this morning, and she got it right on the button.

She must have been looking over my shoulder. But now, the Trinity considers Christ as God and the second person of the Godhead. Now, the third person would be the Holy Spirit. I mean, that's the way they would look at it. Explain the Arian position and understanding the nature of Christ. Any of you remember Arius, what he believed in? He believed that Christ was what? A created being. He believed that Christ is not eternal, that he's of the fragile order, therefore he was created.

Actually, the Trinity doctrine was developed by the Catholics as a rebuttal of Arius, because Arius taught that Christ was created. So therefore, they tried to say that he's a being, and so they went in that direction. Explain the theory that Christ was the angel of the Lord. Well, there are several references in the Old Testament to the angel of the Lord. Remember back in Genesis 16, verse 7, where Hagar, Ishmael, were driven out in wilderness, and the angel of the Lord came and spoke to them.

Well, the idea is that God, the God of the Old Testament, the one that we would know as Christ, was only an angel, therefore he was a created being. I mean, that's how they would look at this. But the word that is translated, angel, comes from the Hebrew word, malek. Do you know what it means? What does the word malek mean?

Well, it means angel or messenger. So the word messenger, in other words, the Bible refers to Christ in many places, especially in the book of Malachi, as the messenger of the covenant. So when you read the word in the Old Testament about angel of the Lord, it very well could be translated the messenger of the Lord, or the angel of the Lord, because that's exactly what it means.

Then we have here lists the verses in the New Testament which prove that Christ is God and has existed for all eternity. There should be one or two verses that you could think of that would apply. John 1.1, John 17, Titus 2.13, Hebrews 1, 6 through 10.

You know, all of these show that Christ has existed from the beginning. Remember, John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 17, Christ prayed that the Father would glorify Him, the glory He shared with Him, before He came to this earth. And so you can go through all of these Scriptures. Explain John 1.1. Well, John 1.1 says Christ is the Word and He has eternally existed. Define the Greek term monogenes as it is used in John 1.18. Remember in John 1.18, it talks about being the only begotten Son of God?

What does it mean to be the only begotten Son of God? Well, the Word in John 1.18 means one-of-a-kind, unique. Jesus Christ is the only one who came from the divine realm as God to the human realm, divested Himself of His divinity, took on the form of the human being, actually was born through a woman, and then born and was God in the flesh. The rest of us as sons of God were born what? First of all, as human beings. Then God gives us His Spirit, so there's a completely different approach. So He is the only begotten Son or was at that time.

Explain Titus 2.13 as it relates to Jesus. Christ is our great God and Savior. Now, let's go over there and read that. I know we explained this, but let me come back to this.

So I did a little more research on this, and this was mentioned in the write-up, but I thought maybe to clarify it even a little more. You'll notice in verse 13, it says, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Now, in the Greek, when it says our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, you'll find that many will argue that's talking about the Father, the great God, and then Jesus Christ as our Savior. But in the Greek, it's referring to the same person. And the way we know that is what we call Granville Sharp Rule, G-R-A-N-V-I-L-L-E, Granville Sharp's Rule, which says when there are two nouns in the same case connected by the Greek word kai, which is the word an, kai, the first noun having the article. So the first noun has an article before it, like the great God. The second noun not having the article, so there's nothing before Savior here. The second noun refers to the same thing as the first noun does and is a further description of it. Thus, Granville Sharp's Rule is employed twice in this verse.

Thus, the Blessed Hope is the glorious appearing of our Lord.

So that's connected by the Granville Sharp Rule applied. And our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, the same rule applies to the word the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Both expressions refer to the same individual. The deity of the Lord Jesus is brought out here by a Greek rule of syntax. So verse 13 very clearly shows that Christ is God and He is our Savior.

Okay, that basically, I believe, covers all... well, no, we've got another one here. Explain Psalm 110 as far as review questions.

Remember in Psalm 110 verse 5, the Jews who preserved the text replace Yahweh with Adonai in verse 5. The account shows two beings called Yaveh, or Yahweh. The second Lord is identified in the New Testament as Christ. Now, what you find is that in the Old Testament, the Jews in about 130 different places changed the term Yahweh and substituted Adonai in place of it because in many cases they thought the name Yahweh was too sacred to pronounce. But what they did in many cases is to cloud the true understanding. You can find all of these in the appendix of the companion Bible. If you have a companion Bible and you're interested in going and looking all of these up. But what Psalm 110 shows is that one Lord said unto the other Lord, and so you have both of them being talked about here. Psalm 110, they should have clearly known that there were two beings in the Godhead just by reading Psalm 110.

Now we come to the fundamental belief, 2.1.1, that we're going to cover here this afternoon, which says, we believe in one God, the Father, eternally existing, who is the Spirit, a personal being of supreme authority, or intelligence and knowledge, love, justice, power, and authority. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is the Word, and has eternally existed. We believe in the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God and of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the power of God and the Spirit of life eternal.

So we do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a personal being. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the power of God, His composition, His very essence. Now notice here, if you could summarize this, we believe in one God, the Father, eternally existing. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, and we believe the Holy Spirit is the power of God. Now, very quickly to cover, where did the term Trinity come from? You know, who came up with the idea of using the term Trinity? The origin of the term Trinity. This is taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia online edition. In Scripture, there is yet no single term by which the three divine persons are denoted together. The word trias, of which the Latin triantus is a translation, is first found in Theophilus of Antioch, about A.D. 180. He speaks of the Trinity of God, the Father, His Word, and His wisdom. The term may, of course, have been in use before His time. Afterwards, it appears in the Latin form of triantus in Tertullian. In the next century, the word is in general use. It's found in many passages of Origen. Now, you never find the word Trinity in the Bible, in the Scriptures, but you do find it among Catholic theologians. This is what we're talking about here. That's who we're referencing here. Ancient drawing illustrating the Trinity. We saw this before. The idea that you have God. In other words, one God, but He's Father, He's Spirit, He's Son.

These are three beings, and yet they're only one person. Now, I ask you, how do you explain that?

I'm one being. You know, me. Now, how could I be three beings?

Well, you know, this is what they try to say with the doctrine of the Trinity. Now, they will tell you it's a mystery. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit Taken from the doctrine of the Holy Spirit here, notice. What is the meaning of the Blessed Trinity? The name Blessed Trinity expresses the revealed truth that God is one in three persons. In the unity of the one divine nature, or essence, there are three distinct persons. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each one of these is God, yet there is but one God. Now, this is the most sublime of all Christian mysteries. The most inaccessible to human reason. As with all the truths of our faith, we believe it because God Himself has revealed it. Now, I would challenge that statement that God has revealed Himself as a Trinity. I don't believe you will find that in the Bible. God has revealed this mystery not all at once, but gradually leading up to it as to a climax in the course of the history of salvation.

So, they think that this was something that was a progressive revelation. It didn't all happen at one time. So, again, the Trinity, there are three distinct persons. God has revealed this mystery, but not all at once, but gradually leading up to it as a climax in the course of the history of salvation. This is, in essence, what the Trinity doctrine is all about.

Now, concerning the Holy Spirit, Karen Armstrong, in her book, The History of God, says this, The doctrine of God the Holy Ghost came very late in the Trinitarian theology of the fourth and fifth centuries. It was the last after the Father and the Son to be declared to be God. The Apostle's Creed knows nothing of it. Its appearance in the Nicene and the Athanasian Creed has, according to some authorities, the appearance of being an afterthought, something that was just added in later. Now, I want you to notice here, it says that this is a doctrine that came along in the late fourth and the fifth centuries.

It's not found in here, so where did it come from? Well, it came out of the mind of Catholic theologians. I mean, they will readily admit this.

Going on, the Triune God by Edmund Fortman says this, although this spirit is often described in personal terms, it seems quite clear that the sacred writers of the Hebrew Scriptures never conceived or presented the spirit as a distinct person. So, nowhere in the Old Testament do you find the Holy Spirit referred to as a person, which is interesting. We do find two beings back in Psalm 110. Both of them are called God. We find Genesis 1, let us make man in our image, so God referring to himself in the plural. You find that all through the Old Testament. The Jews never regarded the spirit as a person, nor is there any solid evidence that any Old Testament writer held this view. The Holy Spirit is usually presented in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and in Acts as a divine force or power. Now, notice the Catholic Encyclopedia here, another quote.

Nowhere in the Old Testament do we find any clear indication of a third person.

New Catholic Encyclopedia, in case you don't like the Old Catholic, we'll look at the New Catholic. The Old Testament clearly does not envisage God's Spirit as a person. God's Spirit is simply God's power. It is sometimes represented as being distinct from God. It is because the breath of Yahweh acts exterially. The majority of the New Testament reveals God's Spirit as something, not someone. Something. There's a difference between something and someone that is especially seen in the parallel between the Spirit and the power of God.

Catholic Dictionary, in the Old and New Testament, like the Old, speaks of the Spirit as a divine energy and a divine power. The third person was asserted at the Council of Alexandria in 362 and finally by the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. Now, I want you to notice, Jesus Christ was crucified in 31 AD. New Testament canon was finished by John at the end of the first century.

At the end of the first century, nobody believed in the Trinity. At the end of the second century, some Catholic writers were beginning to talk about it, but it was not codified. It was not something that the majority of them believed in. It wasn't until you get up to 362. And again, as a rebuttal to Arius, that you find this as a doctrine developed. So, what we need to realize is that the doctrine of the Trinity is not predicated upon Scripture. You do not find it in the Bible, but it is some theologian who has come up with the idea. Now, notice McClint talks strong cyclopedia of biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature. That's mouthful. Matthew 28, 19 proves only that there are three subjects named, but it does not prove by itself that all the three belong necessarily to the divine nature and possess equal divine honor. This text, taken by itself, would not prove decisively either the personality of the three subjects mentioned are their equality or divinity.

Now, I will just mention something. If you don't have a copy of it, you probably can't see it back there, but we have a booklet titled, Who is God?

It goes through the divinity of Christ, the divinity of the Father, and what is the Holy Spirit? It discusses the subject of the Trinity and that the Trinity is not a correct teaching of the Bible. Now, one of the sections in there I just like to quote is, what about Matthew 28, 19, and 20? Now, Matthew 28, 19 is sometimes misunderstood concerning the Trinity to doctrine. It says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, our write-up says, Remember the important principle that the Bible interprets the Bible. What this particular passage shows us is the proper baptismal formula, not a description of the nature of God. Now, I may have mentioned before I've been asked this question on many occasions. Do we baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? Or do we baptize in the name of Jesus Christ only? They throw it out that way. Because in the book of Acts, you'll find many times it says they would baptize them in the name of Jesus Christ. So, they can point to more scriptures that say Jesus Christ as opposed to this one scripture. Well, to them it's an either-or. To us, we do both. Whenever I baptize somebody, I say I baptize you into, is what the word ace means there, into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And I do it in the name of, which is by the authority of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. Whenever you do something in the name of Christ, it means that you have the authority to do it.

Now, not every time Dick and Harry's been given the authority to baptize, lay hands on people, anoint people, marry people. And this is what the baptismal formula is talking about. We baptize people into the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And it is through the Holy Spirit, then, that everyone then has connection with the Father and the Son. It goes on to quote here Acts 2.38, where Peter said, repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Important as it is, baptism alone is not sufficient. It must be followed by the biblically mandated laying on of hands. And so you find in Acts 19 verses 1 through 6, there were a group of disciples who had been baptized according to John's baptism. And when Paul met them, he asked them if they had had hands laid on them. Had they received the Holy Spirit? And they said, no. They hadn't even heard of the Holy Spirit. Well, he rebaptized them, so showing that it's not wrong to rebaptize. And then he laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. So it is through the laying on of hands that you receive the Holy Spirit. It's that baptism that your sins are forgiven. Now let's notice over here in 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 and 4.

I think it pretty well shows you what the Holy Spirit is here.

2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3 says, As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceeding in great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

So through the divine power of God, that's His Spirit, but we receive God's divine nature. It is the Spirit of God that is the power of God.

So back in Matthew 28, verse 19, what it's talking about at baptism, we all enter into a personal family relationship with God, the Father, and His Son through the Holy Spirit, and thereby we receive the name of God. We become the children of God.

Okay, let's move on here because we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Notice Gregory of Nacianus in 380, what he had to say. Of our thoughtful men, some regard the Holy Spirit as an operation. Some as a creature, and some as God, while others are at a loss to decide, seeing that the Scripture is determining nothing on the subject. Now, they couldn't find anything in the Scriptures. I find a whole lot in the Scriptures about the Holy Spirit. What I don't find is that it's a person. Okay. Okay.

The Holy Spirit, a definition.

It is completely misleading to read into the Bible a third person, the Holy Spirit.

Notice Luke 1.11. I just read that. I think Luke 1 verse 11 is a very interesting Scripture.

You'll notice here it talks about the Spirit of Elijah.

It says, He also shall go before him, talking about John the Baptist, in the Spirit and the power of Elijah. The Spirit of Elijah, Luke 1.17, is not a different person from Elijah.

Nor is the Spirit of God a different person from God. It is His Spirit, His mind, His essence, His composition. The Holy Spirit is the operational presence of the mind and influence of God, as well as His character. It is God extended to His creation. God is able to extend Himself through billions, trillions of miles, light years, to have connection with us through His Spirit. Now, there are a number of Scriptures that are used to try to prove the Trinity.

Now, let's take a look at one of them here. Acts 5 verses 3-4. Peter said, Ananias, Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?

While it remained, was it not your own? Of course, when you had the land, it was your own. You could do anything you wanted to with it. And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? See, again, you could have given half of it, a fourth of it. But why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You've not lied to men, but to God. Aha! They say. Lying to the Holy Spirit means that they were lying to God, so therefore God is the Holy Spirit.

I mean, this is the way the reasoning goes. Let's go over to Acts 5. I think this is an important Scripture.

To understand and to understand what was going on.

First of all, let me read to you from one of the commentaries on the New Testament. It says, Ananias and Sophia wanted to gain the reputation for being more spiritual than they actually were.

Now, I want you to notice a pitfall that all of us can fall into.

When others brought their donations, these two were jealous and wanted the same recognition. Now, back up to chapter 4 and verse 34.

Remember, the church started on the day of Pentecost. People were gathered from all over the world. Many of them stayed over. Their second tithe ran out. The apostles were trying to get these people grounded in the truth about Christ and what we were supposed to do. So, a lot of people went out and sold their property and gave it to the church so the people could be housed and fed.

So, notice verse 34. Now, nor was there anyone among them who lacked for all who were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

And then, he goes on and talks about it. Here's one Barnabas, having land sold it and brought the money, laid it at the apostles' feet. Now, Ananias and Sapphira see this, and they thought, well, these people are getting a pat on the back and praised. This is one way to be looked up to and exalted and so on. So, in verse 1, a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession, and they kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. Now, what was the problem? Well, they told the apostles that they were giving them the full price. We sold this for, I'll just use the term, for 10,000 pounds, and here it is, when they actually sold it for 20, and they kept back 10.

Now, they didn't have to give it all. They didn't have to give any of it, but they lied. And so, he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it. And Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not your own? After it was sold, was it not your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You've not lied to men, but to God. Okay, with that in mind, let's go on here. And keep in mind that their sin was not stealing money from God, because Peter stated in verse 4 that it was in their own power to use the money as they wish. They could have used it for anything they wanted to. Their sin was hypocrisy. Their sin was hypocrisy, trying to appear more spiritual than they really were. Have you ever put on airs around others and pretended to be something that you weren't? Are you to impress people? Their sin was not withholding some of the proceedings of the sale, but pretending to give all they had received. Satan's desires this kind of prideful deception among the Christian community. And then another quote here, this is from the pulpit commentary on the book of Acts. To lie to the Holy Spirit, it is only one instance among many of the pure spiritual atmosphere in which the church had moved, that a lie to the apostles... Now notice, he said you haven't lied to man, but he did lie. I mean, he blatantly told Peter this, but said that a lie to the apostle was a lie to the Holy Spirit, under whose guidance by whose power the apostles acted. Ananias Frawled was ignoring of the whole spiritual character of the apostles' ministry and was accordingly visited with an immediate punishment for doing so. They were going against the direction of the Holy Spirit, which guides us into all truth. They lied against the Holy Spirit in the sense that it was inspiring and motivating people to sell their property and to give the money to the church. This act of deliberate hypocrisy was an attempt to deceive God Himself. They thought even God would look down upon this and think that they were something, and they didn't realize that God conceived the heart and the mind. So this is not saying that the Holy Spirit itself is a personal being. It just says, you know, when you and I lie, we lie to somebody who is filled with God's Spirit, being motivated by that Spirit. We're lying to God, and not just to that individual.

So they lied to the Holy Spirit and lied. It says, you've not lied to men, but to God. I mean, that's how serious that is. Now, I'm saying that we could do the same thing if we're not careful in how we conduct our lives. In 2 Corinthians 13, verse 14, it says, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. So here it mentions Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit. All in the same verse, doesn't that prove a trinity? Well, no, it doesn't. It talks about the grace that comes through Christ, the love of God, and what? With the Holy Spirit. The communion of the Holy Spirit. This is the same word that is used down here in 1 Corinthians 10, 16, where it talks about the communion of the blood of Christ. The word communion means fellowship or sharing. Once you and I are baptized, your sins are forgiven, you have hands laid on you, you receive the Holy Spirit. What is it that we share in common? We all have the Holy Spirit, don't we? It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to have fellowship with one another. We have a common Father, God the Father, but we have the Holy Spirit. It is that Spirit that unites us with God. So the word here, communion, means fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse, sharing.

So the thing that we share, we have grace extended to us because of the sacrifice of Christ. We have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, and then we all share something in common through the Holy Spirit. That is, God imparts to us through His Spirit, His very nature, His gifts, His power. Matthew 28, 19. Now we, we referred to that here earlier, so I won't spend a whole lot of time here. Matthew 28, 19 about going and baptizing people in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Notice the word, and in the Greek, it is the Greek word, ace. It should be better translated, into. Go ye therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name. The American Standard Version translation translates it this way.

The Greek word for in or into is ace. You notice it right there, ace. Into is a better translation than in, as found in the King James, New King James Version. It's translated into 538 times in the New Testament as compared to in 138 times. So it would be translated either way, but into in this particular case is a better translation. You have ace, ace here. Markers of the means by which one event makes another event possible by means of through a by. Ace retains the force of entering into anything where one thing is said to be changed into another. After verbs are going, coming, leading, ace is joined to nouns, designating the condition or state into which one passes falls. And this is taken from Thayer's lexicon. So when it says we're baptized into, it means that we're entering into a state where we have fellowship with the Father and the Son through His Spirit. And it is the Spirit of God that makes that possible. What is it that we have that the rest of the world does not have? We have God living in us through His Spirit. Christ lives in us. Galatians 2.20. You know, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yeah, not I, but Christ lives in me. God lives in us through His Spirit. And so, you know, that's what we find mentioned here. In the Greek, we have another problem that arises at time. And it's the Greek word pneuma.

Pneuma hagion, meaning the Holy Spirit, and paracletos, meaning Comforter.

These are Greek words. In Greek also English, there are three persons. And we're not talking about the Trinity here. We're talking about grammar.

We have the first person. This is singular or plural. We say, I, is I singular or plural? Singular, right? I, I'm going to do something. We say we, that's plural. Second person, singular, plural. Say you. And then we say you. Now, that's a problem, isn't it? How do you know if you're talking about plural or singular? Well, Southerners have overcome that. Y'all, ewins. But the world doesn't accept that. Third person, singular, plural. He, she, are it, our, us, they, those. Pronouns must agree with the noun that it refers back to in person. So if it's a singular noun, it's got to be a singular pronoun. Plural, plural. I mean, that's something I think we understand.

Numa, hagion, is the noun. It is neutral and therefore should have the pronoun it and not he. It's neutral whenever you you see Numa. It should have the neuter pronoun.

And I'm just looking here. I think I've skipped over it here. I have a write-up on this I want to refer to. Romans 8 16 translates it itself. This is in the King James Version. You'll find in the New King James more modern translation it translates it himself instead of itself. But Romans 8 16 is one place, at least in the King James Version, where it's properly translated itself instead of himself. Now, it's a matter of grammar.

Let's notice 1 Corinthians 6 19. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you've received from God and you are not your own? Notice the Holy Spirit who. Now, it doesn't say the Holy Spirit which or it is in you. No, it says who referring to a person is in you. And then Titus 3 5 through 6 the same thing. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy. He saved us through the washing of regeneration and your renewing by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior. So notice the Holy Spirit whom he poured out. Again, whom referring to a person. Now, with that in mind, let me just read something. In going through these slides, I didn't feel that was thorough enough so I thought I would supplement it a little bit here. Much of the confusion among English-speaking people. That's us, including all the Southerners out there. And in English translations of the Bible regarding the nature of the Holy Spirit centers on the Greek languages used of gender pronouns. Greek, like the Romance languages, Spanish, French, Italian, and others, uses a specific gender for each noun. Every object, animate or inanimate, is referred to as being either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Now, when you look at a man, is he masculine or feminine?

Should be masculine, shouldn't be. Look at a woman. She's feminine. This table is a what?

Well, it's probably an it. I wouldn't call it a her. Now, you know, in inanimate objects, we normally refer to in the neuter sense as it. However, it's not that way in the New Testament. In the New Testament, the words used most often from reference to the Holy Spirit are a mixture of masculine and neuter. The Greek word paracletos, translated comforter, or helper, the comforter that Christ promised he would send to the disciples in the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John, is a masculine word, and thus would be referred to by masculine pronouns, he, him, his, himself. Throughout these chapters, however, this is strictly a grammatical tool and not a statement on the nature of the Holy Spirit.

Now, notice it mentions also here, a noun gender is usually arbitrary and has nothing to do with whether reality refers to something masculine or feminine. For example, in French, a book is referred to by in the masculine sense as he. So you would say a book he.

You're reading him, you wouldn't say you're reading her, or you're reading it, or you know, or what, but it would be referred to in the masculine. In German, a girl, matron, is referred to in the neuter sense by it. So all you matrons out there would be its.

By contrast, in English, nouns that aren't specifically masculine or feminine are referred to as by its. So what you have is that you have these quirks, and it's only a grammatical thing. It has nothing to do with whether the comforter is actually masculine or feminine or neuter. It's just a grammar situation. The other word used most often of the Holy Spirit is the Greek word numa. It is translated breath or spirit, and means breath, breeze, wind, or spirit. It is the root of our modern word pneumatic, and meaning pertains to it, or operating by air or wind. Numa is grammatically neuter, and thus should be referred to in the English by such neuter terms as it, its, or itself. So I think it's important to understand that, because I've heard a lot of controversy, people reading and especially referring back to the comforter as he or him. That's a correct translation, as it applies grammatically, but has nothing to do with whether the comforter is a masculine person. So I hope that's clear.

Now notice in Matthew 1.18, Matthew chapter 1 verse 18, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit. Question. Who was the Father of Jesus Christ? God or the Holy Spirit?

What says here, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit.

Now, Christ is begotten of the Spirit, for Christ was the Son of God the Father, who did he pray to all through the Bible? My Father, our Father, which art in heaven. And then he said, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. So the Holy Spirit is never referred to as the Father of Christ. Never find that used in the Bible. Never find Christ praying to the Spirit. Romans 1.7, grace to you. I want you to notice that Paul consistently leaves the Holy Spirit out of his greetings.

Fourteen books in the New Testament are ascribed to the Apostle Paul.

They all start the same way except Hebrews with this beginning, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, if I were the Holy Spirit, I'd get my feelings hurt because I'm never referred to.

I mean, this is true of all the books. 1 Corinthians 1.3, God our Father, Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians, grace, peace, God our Father, Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, grace, peace, God the Father, Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1, grace, peace, Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on and on. He never refers to the Holy Spirit.

Now, I want you to notice that why would he leave the Holy Spirit out if the Holy Spirit were part of a Trinity? He would say grace and peace from God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

But he doesn't do that. Now, the Holy Spirit was involved in creation, but is not the Creator.

Genesis 1.2, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. And, you know, helped to recreate, refashion the earth. But we are told in the New Testament, other places, that all things were created through Jesus Christ. Colossians 1.16, for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, or on earth. So, all things, whether they're visible or invisible, were created by Christ.

So, who did the creating? Christ or the Holy Spirit?

Well, the Holy Spirit was the power that Christ used.

Father and Christ sat down and planned it out. Time came for it to be carried out. Father said, okay, you go do it. Christ went out there. And through the Spirit of God, the power of God, the energy of God, boom! It was done. And God created.

Now, the Holy Spirit is received as a gift. As we know, Acts 2.38, repent that if every one of you be baptized, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, it's a gift that you receive. It's also through the laying on of hands. Acts 8 of 17, when they laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 19.2, those who had never heard of the Holy Spirit, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe? So, they said to him, we've not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God.

Now, notice 2 Timothy 1, verses 6-7.

Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. So, what do you receive through the laying on of hands? God's Spirit. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. So, God gives us His power through His Spirit.

The Spirit of God is our connection to God.

When you and I are first conceived, apparently within the womb, the Spirit of man enters.

And the Spirit of man is what gives us a mind.

Now, God's Spirit unites with that Spirit, and there is a new creation that takes place. Just as much as there is a new creation, when an egg enters into a... or a sperm, I should say, enters into an egg within the womb or the uterus of a woman. You have a new begettle.

Now, we have... Also, Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

I want you to notice, in all of these cases, the Spirit of God is referred to, not in the term you would think of as a person, but here you find fruit, that a spirit produces fruit, just like a tree produces fruit.

The Holy Spirit is the power of God.

Now, I'll just throw a bunch of these up here.

I'm not going to read these to you, because these are scriptures that show that the Holy Spirit is the power of God.

I've got others that I think are better. I'm not saying these are bad, but I think there are others that more clearly explain the power of God.

We read 2 Timothy 1.7, right?

Let's notice Luke 1 verse 35.

Luke chapter 1 verse 35, talking here to Mary, the Mother of Christ, the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. So the Holy Spirit is going to come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

So that power of God was going to come from the Father. Acts 1.8, Christ told His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That's Acts 1.8.

Now Acts 10.38 says, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Where did He get the power to perform the miracles? Cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, and do all the miracles that He did. Well, sue the Holy Spirit.

So you find the same power that enabled Christ to perform many mighty miracles during His ministry was the same power that God used to energize the apostles in doing their work. In Romans 15.9, you find that God worked through Paul in many mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God. Now there are a lot of other ones that we could read, but those are the most obvious ones. As I said to me, those may be even a little clearer than some of these that are listed here as scriptures that deal with the Holy Spirit as the power of God.

Now notice the Holy Spirit is also used symbolically in the Bible.

It's described as breath or wind, as oil. Psalm 45 verse 7, as a dove, as wind, as water, as a seal, or sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Bible talks about a sword. Word of God is like a sharp sword.

Lamps before the throne of God. Now, if the Trinitarians are going to teach the doctrine of the Trinity, they've got to explain to us Psalm 33 and verse 6. So let's go back to Psalm 33 and verse 6.

Psalm chapter 33 and verse 6.

It says, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth.

Where God commanded by his breath of his mouth, by his spirit, so to speak, and they were created.

You can read that in both ways, but they had to be able to explain that. Hebrews 6 verses 4 through 6 talk about God giving us his spirit and our being able to have powers of the world tomorrow now.

Hebrews 6 verses 4 through 6. John 20 verse 22.

We'll go read that one. John chapter 20 and verse 22.

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.

So he breathed on them, and not that they received it at that moment, but that they were going to receive the Holy Spirit. And his breathing on them was a type of that Holy Spirit being sent. John 3, chapter 3, verse 34. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

So you find that as far as Christ, God did not give to him the Spirit by measure, and so he had it without measure.

It's important to realize not one prayer, not one psalm, not one hymn we're referring to in the Bible, not one prayer psalm or hymn to the Holy Spirit in the Bible.

There's just nothing to the Holy Spirit where you would think that if the Holy Spirit were a person, it was a third person of the Godhead, that there'd be all kinds of tributes to this person, but it's just not there.

Again, who was the Father of Jesus Christ?

That's a question that has to be answered. In 17 epistles in the New Testament, only once is the Holy Spirit referenced in a greeting. And you can read that back in 1 Peter 1 and verse 2.

1 Peter 1, 2. In every other case, there is absolutely no reference to the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1, 2. When Stephen was martyred, he sees heaven open, he sees the Father, he sees the Son.

Does he see the Son on the right hand of God and the Holy Spirit on the left?

No, he doesn't. He sees the Father, he sees the Son. No Holy Spirit. Was the Holy Spirit out on assignment? Had it gone to bed? Where was he? Well, it's just not a person.

Revelation doesn't picture the Spirit. You go to Revelation 5, Revelation 7, Revelation 21, and you find Revelation 5 and 7 picture the throne of God. You don't find the Holy Spirit. You find the Father, you find the Son, you find the Lamb on the right hand of God, and you've been pictured many times. Where is this Holy Spirit?

Well, the Holy Spirit is not a person. That's why it's not pictured there. It is God's very essence. That's why he's composed of. He is the Spirit. It's His power, His mind, His ability to radiate out to us. So these are just some things that Trinitarians have to explain if they're going to believe in their doctrine. So that brings us to end, not of class, but of Bible study here for today. Next time, next Bible study, next month, we will be covering the Word of God. Now, is this the Word of God? And how do we know? So we will go through that. If you want to look it up, it's fundamental belief, 2.1.2, the Word of God.