Friday, May 30, 2008
Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."
GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT
Non-Trinitarians believe that the spirit is "the force or essence of the divine mind that both Father and Son use to do their work. It is not a separate being, any more than the 'spirit of man' is a separate being inside each human" (Church of the Great God statement of faith).
But look at how the Spirit is described in the Bible: "And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him." Does that sound like an essence to you? Is that the description of a force? No!
The Holy Spirit is not just a force or an essence, but a distinct person of the Godhead, with His own work for the salvation of lost souls.
In the greeting of his first epistle, Peter describes the various work of the three persons of the Trinity: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied" (1 Peter 1:1-2).
The Spirit's work of conversion is so important, that to reject Him and His work is to commit the unforgivable sin (Matthew 12:31-32). The Holy Spirit is also true God with the Father and Jesus Christ, our precious Comforter!
In the Athanasian Creed we confess: "So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, So are we forbidden by the catholic [i.e. universal] religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords."
