these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.” The Spirit can also be hurt by the actions, attitudes, and words of believers as is .indicated by Paul in Ephesians 4:30: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, . . That this is possible and a very real danger is evident because the apostle has positively stated that the be liever must be careful not to do this. However, it is unfortunate, but true, that even more serious injury than this may be done to the Spirit; it is possible to insult Him, as is declared in Hebrews 10:29. This latter situation is the case if a professing Christian should repudiate Jesus Christ as His Saviour; this action the apostle describes as “despite unto the Spirit of grace.” But the worst of all sins which may be committed against the Holy Spirit is described by our Lord Himself in Matthew 12:31, 32. Verse 31 states: “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall 'be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” You will observe that He is not only a person who can be lied unto, grieved, and insulted, but that He is such a great person that blasphemy against Him is unforgivable. The personality of the Holy Spirit is attested not only by His characteristics and activities; it is indicated by the associations in which He is placed in the Bible. There are three different groupings of these relationships. First, He is associated with the Father and the Son at the time of the latter’s baptism. Matthew has recorded this scene in the following words: “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16, 17). In this passage the Holy Spirit is an Actor with the other members of the Trinity in this great scene. Moreover, the fact that He assumed a visible form indicates personality and not just inanimate power. The Spirit is also associated with the Father and the Son in the Great Commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Mat thew 28:19). He appears with them also in the familiar apostolic benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen” (II Corinthians 13:14). Now it stands to reason that the name of the Spirit would not appear with those of the Father and the Son if He also were not a person. If otherwise, there would be an obvious incongruity in the Givers of the Commission and the benediction. Second, the Holy Spirit appears in the company of the Lord Jesus, whose per sonality is unquestioned. He appears as a co-worker with the Saviour in such a passage as John 16:14: “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” Only a person could take the substance of the teachings of Jesus and reveal it unto others. Third, the Holy Spirit is found in close association with believers. One passage will suffice, because this one re veals clearly the fact that as in the case of Christ and the Spirit, so in the relationship between the Spirit and believers, they are working together as associates, or as two persons associated with one another. This truth is set forth in the decision of the Jerusalem Council enunci ated in Acts 15:28: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.” Notice how in this verse the Spirit and the believers are working together in the closest of relationship and harmony. Furthermore, as has been indicated already, see how in this verse is also
set forth the fact that the Spirit is able to communicate His will to the disciples, and that He is able to reason through things to reach a conclusion. One other matter should be considered before leaving the evidences of the Scripture for the personality of the Spirit. That is the way in which the personal pronouns of thé New Testament are used when referring to Him. Already it has been pointed out that the Greek word for Spirit is in the neuter gender. Nevertheless, in the New Testament He is called the Paraclete, as in John 14:16: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you an other. Comforter, that he may abide With you forever.” The word Comforter comes from the Greek Paraclete which in gender is masculine. Moreover, masculine pro nouns are used in various places when referring to the Spirit as in the first word of John 16:14: “He shall glorify me. . . .” At this point one might ask the question: “What diffeience does it make whether I believe that the Holy Spirit is a person or not?” It makes a lot of difference in our attitude toward the Holy Spirit. Knowing that He is a person, we become more cognizant of His im portance to us and of our relationship to Him. We are always more careful of our relationships with persons than we are with things; we always treat persons more re spectfully and carefully than we do things. Understand ing that the Holy Spirit is a person will also enrich our appreciation of the great salvation which the Lord has provided for us. We shall realize that we are em powered, not by an unintelligent, blind force which drives us we know not whither, but by an intelligent person who knows the end from the beginning, who is concerned for our personal welfare and well-being, and who is able to provide both comfort and strength as we have need. Then, from the theological point of view, R. A. Torrey saw the importance of a proper understanding of the Spirit’s personality, for he says: “Anyone who knows God the Father, and God the Son, and does not know God the Holy Spirit, has not attained unto the Christian conception of God, nor to a full Chris tian experience” (The Holy Spirit, p. 12). The deity of the Holy Spirit is as easily demonstrable from the Scriptures as is His personality. Names are generally significant and tell us something about the objects or persons named. So it is with the Holy Spirit. There are two clear illustrations of this in the Old Testa ment when they are compared with the parallel pas sages in the New Testament. In Exodus 17:7 we find a reference to the Lord: “And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” This same passage appears in Hebrews 3:7-9 where the Holy Spirit is represented as the One who was tested: “Wherefore (as the Holy Spirit saith), Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.” The same thing appears in Isaiah 6:3 and 8-10. Verses 8 and 9 read as follows: “Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but under stand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive no t” This very passage of Scripture in which the LORD spoke so clearly is taken by the apostle Paul in Acts 28:25 and applied to the Jews of his day. However, in this passage as in the one before, the New Testament writer ascribes the words in the Old Testament passage to the Holy Spirit: “And when they agreed not among themselves, (continued on next page)
JU N E, 1963
15
Made with FlippingBook Online document