The Holy Spirit
Does no one think it strange that in all these pages of Scriptures the "holy spirit" was not even mentioned so much as once? If the holy spirit is an EQUAL to the Father and Son, it sure seems it is being shortchanged in all these profound Scriptures. Could it be that just as Jesus is the Son "of" God and not God Himself, that the holy spirit is the spirit "of" God and not God Himself? Yes, that is what the Scriptures clearly teach. We have the Son "of" God and the spirit "of" God and yet God is "of" NO ONE!! Is there anyone who wishes to challenge this? God Almighty is out of NO ONE! God Almighty is of NO ONE!
Let it be known: NONE of these Scriptures take away from the glories of God’s grandest achievements in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. His name is now and will forever be ABOVE ALL ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE! AMEN!
Here is the main Scripture used by Trinitarians to try and make people believe that God is a trinity:
"Going, then, disciple all nations baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit {Authorized, ghost}..." (Mat. 28:19).
And how does this verse prove that God is a three-in-one trinity? I DON’T KNOW! It certainly doesn’t say that these three form ONE GOD. Or that these three are coequal with one another. They are just all three mentioned in one verse, that’s all.
The mention of the "holy spirit" in this verse no more proves that the holy spirit is the third God part of a trinity than the mention of "the Comforter" in John 15:26 proves that it is the fourth God part of a quartet, or the mention of "the spirit of Truth" in this same verse in the fifth God part of a quintet! But why stop here. If we look for phrases such as "the holy spirit" being representative of some kind of personal being of a multi-person Godhead, we can find a plethora of "gods."
Let’s count them
God
The Father
The Highest
The Holy Ghost
The Holy Spirit
The Spirit of God
The Spirit of Christ
Jesus Christ
The Son of God. We are now up to a TRIPLE trinity.
The Mediator
The Mind of God
The Spirit of truth. Now we have a quartet of trinities
The Word was God
And to these we could add "The SEVEN Spirits of God (Rev. 4:5), etc., etc.
We are now up to twenty potential coequal candidates for this so-called triune godhead. Clearly, God is NOT a trinity or a collection of trinities. By the way, "Godhead" is not a proper translation of any Greek word, it should be translated "Deity" or "Divinity."
No matter how many different spirits there are, one thing is certain: ALL SPIRITS ARE IN SUBJECTION TO THE FATHER - NONE ARE EQUAL TO OR WITH THE FATHER, because we have Scriptural proof that God is superior to all spirits, seeing that:
"Yet shall we not much rather be subjected to the FATHER OF SPIRITS..." (Heb. 12:9)
To him who has an ear to hear; let him hear!
No, there are NOT twenty members of a coequal godhead. Not ten or even five. There are not even three or two.
"...there is ONE God, the FATHER..." (I Cor. 8:6)
Bare with me a moment now. Do we all agree that this verse is from the Scriptures and that it is a TRUE statement? Good! Because if this statement is true, then to say that "God is a trinity composed of the Father, the Son and the holy ghost {spirit} HAS GOT TO BE A FALSE STATEMENT, because the two statements absolutely CONTRADICT.
Back to the Trinitarians' favorite proof text to support their theory.
"Going, then, disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit..." (Mat. 28:29).
Does anything in this verse preclude the "holy spirit" from being "the holy spirit OF God?" Of course not. God the Father is "holy" {Greek, hagios} (John 17:11), and God the Father is "spirit" {Greek, pneuma} (John 4:24).
No one is denying the close relationship between the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit. But close relationship does not prove or even necessarily suggest SAMENESS.
Let's try a different example using the same wording. Most of us are familiar with the Catholic Church and its hierarchy, who for the most part, formulated this theory of the trinity. Suppose a letter of Comfort was sent to Catholics of South America from the Papacy with the following benediction:
"May all your hearts be comforted in the name of the Pope and of the Cardinal Secretary and of the Holy See."
Does anyone have trouble understanding that statement? Does anyone believe that the Pope, the Cardinal Secretary, and the Holy See are ONE AND THE SAME? Does anyone believe that they are all COEQUAL? Does anyone believe they are a HOLY TRINITY? Then why should we believe that the Father, the Son, and the holy ghost {spirit} are all coequal members of a trinity? There is NO justifiable reason to believe such a thing.
The trinity is a manmade theory that is detrimental and opposed to the Biblical teaching that God has a growing family. Yes, God is a growing family.
"Consequently, then, no longer are you strangers and sojourners, but are fellow-citizens of the saints and belong to God’s FAMILY..." (Eph. 2:19).
The trinity is like a closed triangle where no one gets in. That is what Satan would like people to believe. But, dear reader, God desires a very large family wherein you and I are family members! When were you taught such a marvelous truth in Sunday school? Ultimately, everyone in the entirety of the Universe is going to be one, holy, united, happy, glorious, giant, FAMILY OF GOD!!!
"...that God may be ALL IN ALL (I Cor. 15:28).
And all the while Christendom is out there spending hundreds of millions of dollars telling the world that a few are going to play harps in heaven while many of their friends, neighbors, and relatives, and indeed the rest of the universe will burn in hell forever. This they proclaim is the good news GOSPEL of God, while Satan chortles in his joy!
Now we are getting down to what the Bible really teaches. God has a family. God is "The FATHER" of His family. Jesus Christ is "the Firstborn SON" of God’s Family.
"Who rescues us out of the jurisdiction of Darkness, and transports us into the kingdom of the SON OF HIS LOVE, in Whom we are having the deliverance, the pardon of sins, Who is the Image of the invisible God, FIRSTBORN of every creature..." (Col. 1:13-15).
Hey! I’m a "creature." You’re a "creature." This verse is talking about US!
We are now, already, in spirit, a part of God’s family!
"For you did not get slavery’s spirit to fear again, but you got the SPIRIT OF SONSHIP in which we are crying, ‘Abba, FATHER!’ The spirit itself is testifying together with our spirit that WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD." (Rom. 8:14-16).
Yes, God wants sons (and daughters, of course).
"Blessed be the God and FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who blesses us with every spiritual blessing among the celestials, in Christ, according as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world, we to be holy, and flawless in His sight, in love designating us beforehand for the place of a SON..." (Eph. 1:3-5).
If God is a closed triune Godhead (as theologians call it), then there would be NO PLACE FOR SONS INSIDE OF THAT CLOSED TRINITY! God could never be, "...ALL IN ALL."
Everything that God the Father gave to His son Christ Jesus, He is going to GIVE TO US! And this includes being His CHILDREN.
"Now when the full time came, God delegates His Son, come of a woman, come under law, that He should be reclaiming those under law that WE may be getting the place of a SON. Now, seeing that you are SONS, God delegates the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! FATHER!’ So that you are no longer a slave, but a SON. Now if a SON, an enjoyer also of an allotment from God, through Christ" (Gal. 4:6-7).
God almighty will be the same "Abba FATHER" to us, as He was also "Abba FATHER" to our Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 14:36). Did you catch that it is the "...spirit OF His {the Father’s} Son..." That comes into our hearts. It is NOT the "the holy spirit which is supposedly the third person of the trinity" that comes into our hearts, but Christ’s spirit. The spirit of God and the spirit of Christ are the same spirit and it is THEIR spirit not a third person (God) of a trinity!
So God is the Father of Jesus Christ His Son. But who or what then is the "holy ghost" {spirit}? The Bible speaks much about Christ’s relationship with the Father. It says NOTHING of a relationship with "the holy spirit." And yet, Jesus was CONCEIVED by the HOLY SPIRIT!
"...the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is CONCEIVED IN HER IS OF THE HOLY GHOST" (Mat. 1:20).
Here is a Scripture so simple that any child above the age of seven can surely understand. And with its understanding comes the total demise of the trinity theory. We learned in Eph. 1:17, that God is both the GOD AND FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ,
"...the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, THE FATHER of glory..."
Okay, here it is - you’re going to love this: If the holy ghost is actually and literally "God" as Trinitarians maintain, and Jesus was "CONCEIVED" by the Holy Ghost, then Jesus would have to be "The Son of the Holy Ghost" and not the Son of God the Father! It is not physiologically or Scriptural possible to be "conceived" by one person and then when born, be the son of another person! Whoever causes a women to conceive is also the FATHER of the child conceived, NOT ANOTHER AND DIFFERENT PERSON! Jesus was conceived by the holy spirit "OF" God. It was the spirit OF the Father, not some other spirit or ghost that caused Mary to conceive. Therefore "God," not the "spirit of God," is the FATHER of Jesus. So much for the trinity theory.
Next we will see that the second witness to this same event in Luke 1:35 comes right out and says Who the Father of Jesus is:
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost {spirit} shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son OF GOD."
Not the son of the holy ghost (capital letters were not used in the Greek text and so "holy spirit" has no reason to be capitalized here). "...the HIGHEST..." also refers to God the Father, not the holy spirit.
Let me assure my readers that God did not have intercourse with Mary to cause her to conceive. God, Who is called "the power of the Highest" caused Mary to conceive by and through His own "holy spirit." Hence Jesus is the Son of the Highest, the Son of the Father, the Son of God, but NOT the son of the holy spirit! Back up to verses 30-32
"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God {not favour with the holy spirit}. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the SON OF THE HIGHEST {not the son of the holy spirit} : and the Lord God {not the holy spirit} shall give unto him the throne of his father David."
Ironic for Trinitarians, the Scriptures never speak of Jesus having a relationship with the holy spirit, and yet, according to their own theory, the holy spirit is the father of Jesus. Unbelievable!
In Mat. 12:28 Jesus said He cast out demons "by the SPIRIT of God." Yet the Pharisees claimed He did it by the power of Beezeboul. Jesus told the Pharisees that accusing Him of casting out demons "by the power of Beezeboul," when He did it by the "spirit of God," is blasphemy against the "holy spirit" (Ver. 32).
Here is clear and simple proof that the "spirit of God" and the "holy spirit" are ONE AND THE SAME SPIRIT - not a third person of a so-called trinity!
Again let me state: Anything that is "of" or "from" someone else cannot BE that same someone else! Nothing can be "of" someone and yet, at the same time, "be" that same someone! This is axiomatic.
The holy spirit is something that God the Father possesses - it is not a separate, third god or deity of some fabled trinity. The spirit "of" God is "God’s" spirit. And notice that God offers His spirit as a gift to those who ask:
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13)
The holy spirit is not an entity of its own, but is rather a possession of God which He gives to us.
And notice that even the King James Version in this verse uses the word Spirit instead of Ghost as they normally do in translating the same identical Greek word pneuma.
We read in the latter chapters of John’s gospel just how intimate and loving and close Jesus is with His Father and His Father with Him. This is emphasized over and over again dozens of times in the Scriptures. However, there is NO SUCH INTIMACY mentioned between the holy ghost {spirit} and the Father or with Jesus Christ. The reason is clear. The holy spirit of God is not a deity or god with a personal relationship with the Father or Christ, but is rather THEIR spirit. We will show from Scripture that both the Father and His Son have, and posses "holy spirit," and that They BOTH impart that same spirit to US! And that is how they BOTH dwell with us and in us and make their abode with us (John 14:23).
The holy spirit is not the sister of Jesus, nor the brother, nor the mother and certainly not a SECOND Father! It is futile to try and make the holy spirit into a "god" distinct from Jesus Christ and God the Father. Again, Jesus said that He and His Father are ONE. He never said that He and the holy spirit are ONE. It is rather THROUGH the holy spirit that the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son, and we are in Christ and Christ is in us and the Father is in us!
Next let’s consider who or what is the "comforter" mentioned only in John’s gospel account.
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you {it is not "from" the holy spirit, but "from" the Father} another Comforter {this word does not require a capital letter}, that he {it} may abide with you for ever {Greek: for the aion - eon or age}. Even the Spirit of truth..." (John 14:16-17 KJV).
Remember that Jesus said "I am the truth." How then can this "comforter" be coming from both His Father and Himself? Is this possible? Once we understand just what this "spirit of truth," "spirit of God," "holy spirit," "holy ghost," "comforter" really is, we will see that it certainly DOES come from both the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
It is evident when checking various translations that the translators did not have a clear idea as to just what they should call this "comforter." In the Greek, the word is {parakletos BESIDE-CALLER}.
It can be "consoler" or "Entreater" in I John 2:1.
The Moffatt translation has "...to give you another Helper..."
The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has "...another Advocate..."
The Revised Standard Version has "...Counselor..."
The Monsignor Knox version has "...another to befriend you..."
The Phillips Translation has "...some one else to stand by you..."
And the Amplified New Testament has "...another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby)..."
It should be noted that not all translators capitalize this Greek word parakletos in their translations, nor do all translators use the pronoun "he" but rather "it."