Humans have limitations.
One of these is that we have finite minds.
This limitation is never more apparent than when we contemplate God, who
is infinite. (Psalm 147:5) It is humbling to think about
the magnitude of God. While we remain in
our earthly state, it is difficult to understand some of the things God tells
us about Himself in the Holy Bible. However,
believers have been given the mind of Christ. (1Corinthians 2:16) We can find and
understand the truth about God if we earnestly seek it. (Matthew 6:33; Jeremiah 29:13) Peter
taught the priesthood of all believers, and Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit
would guide us into all truth. (1Peter 2:9; John
16:13-14)
Not all those who call
themselves Christians believe the same way about the nature of God and the Holy
Spirit. My sincere desire is to give you
what has been Christian doctrine throughout Church History, and to provide some
of the Bible verses that support it.
Christians believe in
one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) who exists for all eternity (past, present, and
future) in three distinct persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit. To be clear, Christians are
monotheistic. We do not believe in three
gods. We believe in one God in three
persons. We call it the Doctrine of the
Trinity. We believe that each person of
the Trinity is God, having fully the essence of the one, true God. (Galatians 1:1-3; John 14:8-11; John 20:28; Acts
5:3-4; Titus 2:13) Thus, they are equal.
As equals, each person
of the Trinity possesses all of the of the attributes (traits, characteristics)
of God. This is not a complete list, but
it covers many of the attributes of God commonly found in Christian writings.
·
God is the
creator. All things, seen and unseen,
were created by God through Jesus Christ.
The universe and everything in it was made for Christ Jesus and He holds
everything together. (Genesis 1:1; Colossians
1:16-17)
·
loving (1John 4:8,16),
·
immortal (1Timothy 1:17, 6:16),
·
eternal (Psalm 90:2; Revelation 1:8),
·
immutable/unchanging
(Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8),
·
all knowing (John 21:17; John 3:20; 1Corinthians 13:12),
·
perfectly holy (Deuteronomy 32:3-4; Revelation 4:8; Matthew 5:48),
·
perfectly wise (Romans 11:33),
·
faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9),
·
merciful (Romans 9:15-16; Ephesians 2:4-8),
·
omnipresent - always
present in all places (Psalm 139:7-10;
Jeremiah 23:23-24; Hebrews 4:13),
·
all powerful (Genesis 17:1; Jeremiah 32:17)
·
sovereign (Daniel 4:34-35; 1Timothy 6:15)
·
and
self-sustaining (Acts 17:24).
Since they are of one
essence, the persons of the Trinity are never at cross-purposes, and they never
contradict each other. (Luke 22:42; John
18:10-11) Each has His own job, or ministry, and they
act together to accomplish God’s plan for the ages. (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19; Mark 1:10-11; John 14:8-26;
1Corinthians 12:4-6; 2Corinthians 4:1-6, 13:14; 1Thessalonians 1:1-5;
2Thessalonians 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1Peter 1:1-2, 4:14; Ephesians 5:15-21;Romans
8:1-11)
This post is longer
than usual. Please be patient and
prayerfully ask for the leadership of the Holy Spirit as you read it. It is not a list of facts to be understood by
the mind alone. The things of God must
be understood spiritually, by both the mind and the heart, under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews
10:14-18) Therefore, since the Holy Bible is the
inspired Word of God, (2Timothy
3:16), it speaks for itself about the Holy Spirit
and His ministry:
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over
the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters. (Genesis 1:2 ESV)
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from
your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol,
you are there!
If I take the wings of the
morning
and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall
lead me,
and your right hand shall
hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10 ESV)
And I will give you a new heart, and
a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from
your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you,
and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV)
“And it shall come to pass
afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
And
I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns
of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood,
before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. (Joel
2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21 ESV)
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18 ESV)
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the
water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice
from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:15-17 ESV)
And
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty
days, being tempted by the devil. (Luke 4:1-2 ESV)
When they deliver you over, do not be
anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say
will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the
Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew10:19-20
ESV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold,
I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)
And
the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be borne will be called holy—the Son of God. (Luke 1:35 ESV)
What father among you, if his son asks
for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a
scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13
ESV)
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he
dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17 ESV)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I
have said to you. (John 14:26 ESV)
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to
your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not
come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in
me; concerning righteousness, because
I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this
world is judged … When the
Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth … (John 16:7-11,13 ESV)
… I wrote about all
that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to
heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he
had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave
many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of
forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he
was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father
promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ...
He said to
them: “It is not for you to
know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:1-5, 7-8 NIV)
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group
numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and
sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit
spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those
who arrested Jesus. (Acts
1:15-16 NIV)
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in
one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty
rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And
divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of
them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in
other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4 ESV)
“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of
this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s
right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to
pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. (Acts 2:32-33 NLT)
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31 ESV)
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to
lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of
the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after
it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived
this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” (Acts 5:3-4 ESV)
Peter and the other
apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of
our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a
cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he
might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses
of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who
obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32 NIV)
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had
received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down
and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had
not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the
Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17
ESV)
And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this
chariot.” (Acts 8:29 ESV)
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his
hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the
road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be
filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell
from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;
and taking food, he was strengthened. (Acts 9:17-19 ESV)
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit
fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the
circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy
Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them
speaking in tongues and extolling God. (Acts 10:44-46 ESV)
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy
Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have
called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on
them and sent them off. (Acts 13:2-3 ESV)
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And
when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down
to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia
was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help
us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go
on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to
them. (Acts 16:6-10
ESV)
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul
passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some
disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy
Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said,
“Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of
repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,
that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit
came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There
were about twelve men in all. (Acts
19:1-7 ESV)
And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I
don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city
after city that jail and suffering lie ahead … So guard yourselves and God’s
people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own
blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. (Acts 20:22-23, 28 NLT)
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character
produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)
Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it
was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the
flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully
met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Those who live
according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but
those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the
Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind
governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:1-6 NIV)
You, however, are not in
the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone
who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if
Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you … For if you live
according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will
live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:9-11,14 ESV)
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not
know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what
is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints
according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 ESV)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in
hope. (Romans
15:13 ESV)
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not
a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before
the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they
had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
“What no eye
has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the
heart of man imagined,
what God
has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us
through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of
God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person,
which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the
Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by
God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by
the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able
to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual
person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who
has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the
mind of Christ. (1Corinthians 2:6-16 ESV)
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s
Spirit dwells in you? (1Corinthians
3:16 ESV)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties
of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For
to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the
utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by
the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to
distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another
the interpretation of tongues. All these
are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one
individually as he wills. (1Corinthians 12:4-11 ESV)
It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ.
He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing
the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees
everything he has promised us. (2Corinthians
1:21-22 NLT)
We are confident of all this because of our great trust in
God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do
anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us
to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws,
but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new
covenant, the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NLT)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2Corinthians 13:14 ESV)
But I say, walk by the
Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the
desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are
against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing
the things you want to do … But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no
law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires.
If
we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us
not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians
5:16-17, 22-25 ESV)
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy
Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV)
… according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love
of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God. (Ephesians
3:16-19 ESV)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30 ESV)
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen
you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power
and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction … And you became imitators of
us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy
of the Holy Spirit. (1Thessalonians 1:4-6 ESV)
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks
in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but
test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
(1Thessalonians 5:16-22 ESV)
And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be
revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.
Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing
by the appearance of his coming. (2Thessalonians 2:6-8 ESV)
… God chose you as the
firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief
in the truth. (2Thessalonians 2:13 ESV)
Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times
some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and
teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars,
and their consciences are dead. (1Timothy 4:1-2
NLT)
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior
appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness,
but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of
the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)
… how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify
our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14 ESV)
For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to
death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just
think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the
Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as
if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit
who brings God’s mercy to us. (Hebrews
10:28-29 NLT)
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that
has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to
you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,
so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are
insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of
glory and of God rests on you. (1Peter
4:12-14 NIV)
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men
spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Peter 1:21 ESV)
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son,
Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who
keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that
he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1John 3:23-24 NIV)
But
you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of
our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in
the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These
are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life. (Jude 1:17-22 NKJV)
There is a nice little book by the late Pastor Jack Hayford
if you want a quick read that discusses the Trinity and the three persons of
the Trinity in more depth than I can provide here:
Hayford, Jack. The Trinity
(Biblical Truth Simply Explained). Chosen Books. 2003.
Acknowledgements:
Believing in the
doctrine of the Trinity and the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit is one
thing. Trying to correctly explain them
is quite another. These websites helped
me to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity, the attributes of God, and to
locate the Bible verses quoted or referred to here. All of the verses quoted were copied from https://biblehub.com/
https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holy-spirit/10-roles-of-the-holy-spirit-in-christian-life.html
https://www.moodybible.org/beliefs/positional-statements/holy-spirit/
https://www.openbible.info/topics/holy_spirit
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/15-amazing-attributes-of-god-what-they-mean-and-why-they-matter.html
https://www.theopedia.com/trinity
