God The Holy Spirit: His Personality.

by J. Miller | Category: The Holy Spirit | Jan 1961

The principal subject for this magazine in its issues for the twelve months of this year is the important subject of the Holy Spirit. In all human knowledge, the knowledge of God should occupy first place in the mind of man. This is as it should be, seeing that man is the creature of God's creation and is brought into this earthly scene that he may gain a knowledge of his Creator, and the manner in which' it is the good pleasure of his Creator to reveal Himself. The life that is lived in this scene without acquiring a knowledge of God is a life that is vainly and wantonly thrown away. But it is no new thing for men on this earth to live and die without the knowledge of God. Of old, many lived their lives in this fashion, so that in that psalm which contains a message for all inhabitants of the earth, we find the psalmist saying, "Man abideth not in honour: he is like the beasts that perish," and again, "Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish" (Psalm 49.12, 20). The beasts have no consciousness of a Divine Being, consequently no beast whatever has ever shown any disposition to worship, not even objects that are seen which have been the objects of man's veneration and idolatry. Man is different; and even some of the most degraded specimens of humanity have their idols of sticks and stones, of four-footed beasts and creeping things. Though man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish, man does not perish and cease to be like the beasts. The statute of heaven is, " It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgement" (Hebrews 9.27). No doubt many, when their life of selfishness and sin is over, would wish to die like a beast, and, perchance, this is the hope of such as leave instructions for their body to be cremated; but whether or no, " there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust" (Acts 24. 15), whether the body is destroyed by fire or is reduced to dust in mother earth.

In the knowledge of God it is of great importance that we should seek to understand what God means when He speaks to us in His word of the Holy Spirit, and what we ourselves mean when we speak to others of the Holy Spirit. The question that forces itself upon us is, Is the Holy Spirit a Person, or is the Spirit impersonal, as some hold the Spirit to be? Is the Spirit some kind of undefined and undefinable influence or force which proceeds from the Almighty, in some sense like that electric fluid, as some call it, which we call electricity? In a word, we may ask the question, Is the Holy Spirit a Person or a thing? Such a straightforward question demands a straightforward answer.

We propose in this article to seek to answer the question from what God says in the Holy Scriptures, for there is no other source of information open to us by which we may reach a satisfactory conclusion. Human reason will not help us. If human reason cannot define what electricity is, though man knows what it does, how can man say who or what the Holy Spirit is apart from divine revelation?

The Greek word for "spirit" in the New Testament is pneuma, which means "spirit, breath, wind." It is a neuter noun, but we must not assume that because " spirit" is neuter in Greek, therefore, the Holy Spirit is impersonal. "God is a Spirit" (John 4. 24), but He is not impersonal. Angels are spirits (Hebrews 1. 14), and they are not impersonal. Demons are unclean spirits (Luke 4.88, 86), yet they are not impersonal. God calls men things (neuter) in 1 Corinthians 1.27, 28 and they certainly are not impersonal. Thus the fact that the Greek word pneuma is neuter does not in anywise support the notion that the Holy Spirit is impersonal.

Let us state at once our faith in what God has revealed in His word as to the Holy Spirit (and it is by faith we understand the mysteries of God and His works (Hebrews 11.8), and as to His being one of the Persons of the Godhead. "There is one God" (1 Timothy 2.5; James 2.19; Deuteronomy 6.4, etc.). One in Deuteronomy 6.4 is from the Hebrew word Echad, which properly means "united," and is derived from the word achad, "to unify." We can see the composite character of echad from its earliest uses. " There was evening and there was morning, one day " (Genesis 1.5). "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (be glued) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2.24). Thus evening and morning made one, and a man and his wife make one, but the husband is a different person from his wife. Thus, while God is one, the Divine Being is not one Person, but three Persons, a composite unity, a tri-unity or Trinity. The Trinity is in evidence in many places in the Scriptures. In Matthew 28.19, the Lord taught His disciples that baptism was to be into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is the name of the Trinity. See also 2 Corinthians 13.14; Revelation 1.4, 5. At the Lord's baptism the Father spoke of His delight in His Son, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and the Holy Spirit came upon the Son like a dove (Matthew 3.16, 17, "in a bodily form, as a dove," (Luke 3.21,22). The same fact of the Trinity is seen in the fulfilment of Isaiah 61.1, 2 in the synagogue in Nazareth when the Lord read, " (1) the Spirit of the (2) Lord is upon (3) Me" (Luke 4.18). As we read the Scriptures we come across, again and again, references to the Trinity.

The earliest reference to the Spirit of God is in Genesis 1.2, where He is seen as moving upon (or brooding over) the face of the waters with which the earth was enveloped. The last view we get of the Spirit is in Revelation 22.17, where we read, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come : he that will, let him take the water of life freely." This is the water of life of the river which flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22.1). Between the first chapter and the last chapter of the 13ible we have numerous references to the Spirit and His work, and this is especially so when we come to the New Testament, for in this unique dispensation the Holy Spirit has been given to all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now as to what is required in personality. A person is an individual being having a distinct personality, as distinct from a thing. There is distinct personality in the Godhead in the Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, though there is but one God. In personality three cardinal facts emerge. A person is a being of (1) Emotion, (2)Mind, and (8) Will. Emotion is that from which love, joy, grief spring. Mind is the seat of thought. Will is the seat of decision and action. All three are found in connexion with what is written of the Holy Spirit. An impersonal thing of force or influence has no emotions, no mind or will.

(1) As to the emotions of the Holy Spirit, Paul in writing to the Romans says, "I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me" (Romans 15.30). In consequence of His love, He is a gracious Person, and as such He is described by Paul as "the Spirit of grace " (Hebrews 10.29), and, alas, it is possible to do despite unto Him. We read also of the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1.6). Then we are exhorted, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4.80). What 'can be true in regard to grieving the Holy Spirit in this dispensation, was true of what took place in the dispensation of law. It is said of Israel, in whose midst God put His Holy Spirit, that " they rebelled, and grieved His Holy Spirit" (Isaiah 63.10, 11). The believer today in whom the Holy Spirit is grieved may become not only a sad person, but also a morose and murmuring individual, one who has no joy in the Lord and little joy in any other: one who nurses his misery until it may become a veritable giant. Let such as may be in such a case hasten to their heavenly Father in confession and get forgiveness, so that the sunshine of the love and joy of the Spirit may flood their souls again. Of old the backsliding Naomi said, "Call me not Naomi (Pleasant), call me Mara (Bitter) for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me" (Ruth 1.20). Naomi even blamed God for her troubles. She is not the last to do that. The Holy Spirit may also be quenched in His operation within us, by our own actions or by the actions of others (1 Thessalonians 5.19).

(2) As to the mind of the Spirit, this is referred to in connexion with His intercession on behalf of God's children. These have two Comforters or Advocates, one in the Holy Spirit within them (John 14.16-18), and the Lord Jesus who is an Advocate with the Father (1 John 2. 1). The Lord said, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you for ever." The Comforter is called " the Spirit of truth." The word "another" in "another Comforter" is the Greek word Allos, which means, another of the same kind. Imagine if the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, were a thing, how could He be another of the same kind as the Lord? A thing could have no emotions to give comfort to distressed children of God with that kindliness that the word Comforter conveys. The thing is ludicrous to think of. The Spirit helps the infirmity of God's children who know not how to pray as they ought, so He makes intercession for them with groanings which cannot be uttered. And we are told that "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" (Romans 8.26, 27). The Spirit knows the need of God's children on the one hand, and He knows the will of God on the other. A thing would have no mind to know these. These two verses glow with the fact of the Spirit's personality and with the perfect knowledge which He possesses. His mind is such that He makes no mistakes in His intercession. The same thoughts relative to the mind of the Spirit are clearly seen in 1 Corinthians 2.10, 11, where we read, " The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God." The Spirit has a mind which penetrates into and searches the infinite depths of divine thought, and it is His good pleasure to reveal the thoughts and purposes of God to believers, and to enlighten their minds, so that they may be able to receive and assimilate divine thought. Of old God asked Job, "Who hath given understanding to the mind?" (Job. 38.86). The answer to the question is obvious, even He who made man. Of the spiritual revelation to the mind of believers John writes, "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5.20). Please read this verse in the light of John 16.12-14. The mind of the Spirit, as well as His emotions prove conclusively His personality.

(8) The Spirit also has a will. Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 12.4-6 speaks of the gifts of the Spirit, the ministrations of the Lord, and the workings of God, and says in verse 11, "All these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as He will." While the Father has a will, and the Son has a will, and the Spirit has a will, there is and can only be one will in the Godhead. Consequently the action of the will of the Trinity is ever one. Such unity of action springs from the fact that God is one. We see the will of the Spirit in action in His guiding Paul and his fellow-workers, for thus we read, "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not" (Acts 16.6, 7). The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus are the same Person. The will of the Holy Spirit is clearly seen in these verses.

Another evidence of the personality of the Holy Spirit is seen in the fact that He both hears and speaks, even as the Lord said of Him, "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth; is come, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come" (John 16.13). David also speaks of the Spirit speaking by him,," The Spirit of the LORD spake by me" (2 Samuel 23.2. See also 1 Peter 1.11 ; 2 Peter 1.21). Then in Revelation 2.7, etc., we read, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." Paul too adds his testimony to the speaking of the Spirit. He said, "But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons." Thus we have the testimony of the Lord, of David, of Peter and John and Paul to the speaking of the Spirit.

As we draw to an end this contribution on the subject of the Holy Spirit, we would point out two Scriptures which attest that the Holy Spirit is both God and Lord. In the tragic incident, as recorded in Acts 5.1-11, in which Ananias and Sapphira his wife agreed together to lie in the matter of the sale of their property, Peter asked, "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? ... thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." Thus we see that the Holy Spirit and God are one and the same. The Scriptures show clearly, that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but though the three Persons of the Trinity are God, there are not three Gods, but one God. Then again Paul shows that the Holy Spirit is Lord. "Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty... we all... are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3.17, 18). Here again, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord, but there are not three Lords, but one Lord, even that holy and gracious Being who is the Lord our God.

J. Miller | Jan 1961
The Holy Spirit