DOGMATICS: DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Lecture # 4)

The Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit

September 1, 2023

Preliminary
Note: The depersonalizing of the Holy Spirit is almost an essential feature of anti-Trinitarians…
Point: Once the personality of the HS is granted, His deity becomes a matter of logical assumption…
[ Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation, vol. 2: 311 ] – “With reference to the second person, the
crux of controversy was almost always his deity—generally speaking, his personhood was not in dispute—in the
case of the Holy Spirit it was his personhood that primarily sparked the polemics. If his personality was
acknowledged, his deity followed naturally.”

The Personality of the Holy Spirit

[ JI Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs ] – “Paraclete ministry, by its very nature, is personal,
relational ministry, implying the full personhood of the one who fulfills it. Though the Old Testament said much about
the Spirit’s activity in Creation (e.g., Gen. 1:2; Ps. 33:6), revelation (e.g., Isa. 61:1-6; Mic. 3:8), enabling for service
(e.g., Exod. 31:2-6; Judg. 6:34; 15:14-15; Isa. 11:2), and inward renewal (e.g., Ps. 51:10-12; Ezek. 36:25-27), it did not
make clear that the Spirit is a distinct divine Person. In the New Testament, however, it becomes clear that the Spirit is as
truly a Person distinct from the Father as the Son is. This is apparent from Jesus’ promise of ‘another Counselor.’”
1. Personal faculties are ascribed to Him
(a) Mind; Rom 8:27 = He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is
(b) Will; 1Cor 12:11 = One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills
(c) Affection; Eph 4:30 = Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God
2. Personal actions are attributed to Him
(a) Teaching; Lk 12:12 = the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say; Jn 14:26; 1Cor 2:13
(b) Speaking; Jn 16:13; Ac 8:29; 13:2 = the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul…”
(c) Leading; Mt 4:1; Lk 4:1; Rom 8:14 = as many as are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God; Gal 5:18
(d) Interceding; Rom 8:26, 27 = the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses… the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us
3. Personal actions may be done to Him
(a) Blasphemy; Mt 12:31 = the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men; Mk 3:29; Lk 12:10; 1Pt 4:14
(b) Obedience; 1Pt 1:2, 22 = you have purified your soul in obeying the truth through the Spirit
4. Personal pronouns are used for Him; Ac 10:19f = The Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, three men are seeking you… I have
sent them.’ (cf. 11:12); 13:2 = Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them…
Important Note: The Spirit is distinguished from His power… Lk. 4:14; Acts 10:38; Rom. 15:13
 This refutes cultic equation of the Spirit with power
 This cautions Charismatic treatment of the Spirit like a power-formula
[ Michael Horton, Rediscovering the Holy Spirit: God’s Perfecting Presence in Creation, Redemption, and Everyday Life: 23
] – “Even in broader Christian piety, there is a tendency to treat the Holy Spirit as a force or source of power more than a
person who is powerful. People are looking for “empowerment.” We still want to be in charge, but we would like to
know where we might find additional resources for physical and spiritual health so that we may fulfill our dreams… No
doubt, this tendency is part and parcel of an age obsessed with human autonomy, in which we try to find a place for God
in our story of personal meaning, success, and achievement rather than allow ourselves to be written and cast into God’s
story of the cross and resurrection.”

The Deity of the Holy Spirit

1. He is expressly, or derivatively, called God
Acts 5:3, 4 = Lying to the Spirit = God; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2Cor. 6:16 = the church as temple of God = of the Holy Spirit
2. He is identified with OT Divine designations: Psa 95:7-11 = Heb. 3:7-11; Isa. 6:8, 9 = Acts 28:25, 26
3. Divine perfections are attributed to Him
Eternal = Heb. 9:14… αἰώνιος, (aiônios) used of God’s eternity… 1Tim 1:17
Divine Presence = Psa. 139:7-10 = Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Omniscience = 1Cor. 2:10, 11 = For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
Omnipotence = Micah 2:7 = Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted? Lk. 1:35 = the Holy Spirit… the power of the Highest
Sovereign = Jn. 3:8; 1Cor. 12:11 = distributing to each one individually as He wills
4. Divine works are ascribed to Him
Creation = Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; 33:4 = The Spirit has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life; Psa. 104:30
Providence = Isa. 40:13-15 = Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord? Ac. 16:6, 7
Inspiration = 2Pt. 1:21 = holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Regeneration = Jn. 3:6; Tit. 3:5 = the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
Sanctification = 2Thes 2:13f = salvation through sanctification by the Spirit; 1Pet 1:2
5. Divine honor is rendered to Him
Mt. 12:32 = blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; Mt 28:19; 2Cor. 13:13, 14 = participation in the Divine Name
 Pastoral Significance: The Spirit works as a Person with intelligent purpose and
sovereign will… This serves as a warning against the current treatment of the Spirit
as an influence that can be manipulated…

Objection Answered:
Objection: There are biblical assertions and suggestions of the Spirit’s subordination to the Father/Son
Answer: Subordination is covenantal and official, and not essential – subordination in function, not inferiority of attributes
Implication: The subjective is subordinate to the objective [ cf. John Murray’s Redemption, Accomplished and Applied ]

His Trinitarian Relation

1. Equality – It necessarily follows from His deity [ REVIEW: Doctrine of the Trinity, Dogmatics # 2 ]
2. Distinction – We must resist attempts to confuse or absorb Him with the two other Persons of the Godhead
Matt. 28:19 – a kai with an article tou precedes each of the Threefold Name
John 14:16 – “another Comforter” is ἄλλος (allos) cf. 4:37; Mt. 5:39; 10:23 = another of the same kind
Acts 2:33 – Noted here are distinct though related actions involving the Three Persons
3. Procession
In Christology: Eternal Generation = The Son is begotten by the Father
Athanasian Creed: The Spirit was “neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding”
Filioque Controversy – The Western Church inserted the words “and the Son” in the part of the Nicene Creed that speaks
of, “the Spirit proceeds from the Father”
 The Western Fathers favored the dual procession view… opposed by the East (Constantinople)
 In the Council of Toledo (589), filioque was officially inserted in the Nicene Creed
[ Augustine, On The Trinity ] – “For if whatever the Son has, He has from the Father, certainly He has it from the
Father that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him.... The Son, however, is born of the Father; and the Holy Spirit
proceeds principally from the Father, and since the Father gives [to the Son all that He has] without any interval
of time, the Holy Spirit proceeds jointly from both Father and Son.” [15, 26:47]
Key Text: John 15:26 = But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who
proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
 ἐκπορεύομαι (ekporeuomai) literally means to go/come out of… cf. Jn 5:29; Lk 4:22; M 4:4
 The Son is sending the Spirit from the Father = cf. 14:26 = The Father is sending the Spirit in the name of the Son
 This procession is eternal in the past, and therefore, not one that has a beginning; the Spirit is not originated
Definition: By an eternal act of the Father through the Son, their whole identical divine essence is communicated to the
Holy Spirit… This does not detract from His voluntary character…
(a) It is appropriate to construe order in the Persons of the Triune God
(b) This order is not to suggest as establishing rank, nor detracting from individuality
[ John Calvin, Institutes: I. 23. 18 ] – “It is not fitting to suppress the distinction that we observe to be expressed in
Scripture. It is this: to the Father is attributed the beginning of activity, and the fountain and wellspring of all things;
to the Son, wisdom, counsel, and the ordered disposition of all things; but to the Spirit is assigned the power and
efficacy of that activity…. the observance of an order is not meaningless or superfluous, when the Father is thought
of as first, then from him the Son, and finally from both the Spirit. For the mind of each human being is naturally
inclined to contemplate God first, then the wisdom coming forth from Him, and lastly the power whereby he
executes the decrees of his plan.”

Relation of the Spirit

(a) He is given by God, the Father… Lk. 11:13; Jn. 14:16, 26; 1Jn. 3:24
(b) He is sent by the Son… Jn. 14:26; 15:26; Gal. 4:6
 The Holy Spirit is designated the Spirit of the Son/of Christ… Rom. 8:9
 The Holy Spirit’s mandate is to glorify the Son… Jn. 16:13
(c) He is the personal union of the Father and the Son
[ S. Ferguson, 77 ] – “The personal ‘procession’ of the Spirit from the Father may quite acceptably be viewed as ‘to
the Son’, and similarly ‘from the Son’ to the Father. In this general sense we may agree with Augustine that the
Spirit is the bond of love between them. His relationship to each is distinct; yet both experience the Spirit in
common in mutual union and communion. This is precisely the implication of Jesus’ analogy between the
union of the Father and Son and the union of the Son and believers (Jn. 14:20; 17:20-23) – the one Spirit is
common to both. The mystery of the Spirit’s ministry thus points to the glory of the Christian’s communion
with God. Our fellowship in the Spirit is with the Father and the Son (1Jn. 1:3)”

The subjective experience of the Spirit must always have its base on the objective work of the Son