The Holy Spirit: His Genuine Personality

 

The Holy Spirit: His Genuine Personality

By Pastor Terry L. Reese, Valley GBC of Armagh; Jan. 16, AD 2022

 

The Historic Grace Brethren Statement of Faith:

Article IV: The Holy Spirit. We believe in the Holy Spirit, in His personality (John 16:7-15), deity (Acts 5:3-4), and His work in each believer…

 

I. The Holy Spirit is Personal—not a mere impersonal “force” or “diffusion of divine energy”—as thought by the heretic Simon Magus (cf. Acts 8:19) or the modern Watchtower.

 

A. He is assigned the recognizable attributes of Personality:

1. Intelligence; He has a mind (Rom. 8:27 and accordingly, demonstrates cognition & self-consciousness (I Cor. 2:11).

2. He has an Emotional existence. He can be grieved (Eph. 4:30); He experiences & inspires love (Rom. 15:30).

3. He has a Purposive Will, directing the steps of Believers (Acts 16:6) and distributing Gifts unto men (1 Cor 12:11).

4. He has Life (Rom. 8:2).

 

B. He acts in accordance with these aforementioned attributes.

1. He speaks (Acts 8:29).

2. He performs miracles (Acts 8:39).

3. He convicts us of sin (John 16:8).

4. He intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26).

5. He issues commands (Acts 13:2),

6. He teaches (1 Cor. 2:13).

7. He bears witness (John 15:26).

8. John 16:13: He guides in all truth, hearing, speaking, disclosing.

 

C. He is associated with personal characteristics:

1. He summons Peter unto obedience (Acts 10:19-21).

2. One can lie to Him (Acts 5:3).

3. One can resist Him (Acts 7:51).

4. We can grieve Him (Eph. 4:30).

5. He can be both insulted (Heb. 10:29) & blasphemed (Matt. 12:31).

 

D. John 16:13-14: Normal grammar is set aside (pneuma is neuter) and the Spirit is assigned a masculine pronoun (“He”).

 

E. He relates to other Persons—both Divine and created—as a distinct Personality (cf., John 16:14, Acts 15:28).

 

F. His association with the Father and the Son would seem most bizarre if the Third Member of this Trinity were a mere “power” instead a Person (cf., Matt. 28:19 & 2 Cor. 13:14).

The Church Fathers on the Holy Trinity…

(The Message of the 1^st Council of Constantinople, AD 381)

 

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

 

And [we believe] in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us, humans, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. He rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

 

And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.