By Inspiration
God inspired the Bible: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16).
In more detail, the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets of old: "And so
we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark
place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no
prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will
of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit." (2 Peter 1:19-21).
The fact that authorship of the Old Testament is indifferently
ascribed by New Testament authors to God the Father, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit, is
one of the classic proofs of the Trinity.
That it's the Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets is an
iron-clad proof that the Holy Spirit is God. The LORD God spoke through the prophets:
"'And now, because you have done all these works,' says the LORD, 'and I spoke to you,
rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer'...But
this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My
people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with
you.'...Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent
to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they did not
obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers." (Jeremiah
7:13-26).
...And the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, not by way of a
messenger boy nor an 'active force', but personally:
"And He said to me, 'Son of man, stand on your feet, and I
will speak to you.' Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me,
and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. And He said to me: 'Son of man, I am
sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me;
they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.'" (Ezekiel 2:1-3).
"Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them
by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You
gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands." (Nehemiah 9:30).
Holy, holy, holy
Isaiah saw a vision in the temple of Jehovah God: "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also
the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it
stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he
covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy,
holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the
door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe
is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:1-5).
John reveals that Isaiah saw Christ. After quoting Isaiah 6:9-10, he says that Isaiah said
these things when he saw Christ's glory: "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that
they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him." (John 12:40-41).
Likewise, Paul relates this vision to the Holy Spirit: "And when they agreed not among themselves,
they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the
prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall
not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God
is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." (Acts 28:26-28). Thus, the speaker of
Isaiah 6:9-10, the LORD of hosts, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blasphemy
"And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of
Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be
forgiven." (Luke 12:10).
According to His own will
God distributes the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will: "...God also
bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy
Spirit, according to His own will?" (Hebrews 2:4)
To wit, the will of the Holy Spirit: "But one and the same Spirit works all these
things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." (1 Corinthians 12:11). Consequently,
the will of the Holy Spirit is the will of God.
Be Strong
"'Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says the LORD; 'and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high
priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,' says the LORD, 'and work; for I am with
you,' says the LORD of hosts. 'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came
out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!' For thus says the LORD of
hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I
will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this
temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts." (Haggai 2:4-7). An Old Testament testimony to
the triune God, the resting of whose Spirit is the surety that "I am with you."
Sanctification
"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but
not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not
of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin..." (Isaiah 30:1 KJV).
The Spirit cleanses and renews our hearts: "Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence,
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And
uphold me by Your generous Spirit." (Psalm 51:10-12).
It is the LORD who sanctifies His people:
"Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My
Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you
may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.'" (Exodus 31:13, Leviticus 20:8);
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your
whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1
Thessalonians 5:23).
Namely, it's the Holy Spirit who sanctifies: "Nevertheless, brethren, I
have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by
God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that
the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:15-16).
"And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11).
"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved
by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the
Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our
gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).
"To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the
Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ..." (1 Peter 1:2).
Thus, the Spirit is the LORD.
Born Again
"Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again."
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes
from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'" (John 3:5-8).
Those born of "the Spirit" are children of God: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you...For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of
God." (Romans 8:11-14).
The Lord is that Spirit
"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2
Corinthians 3:17-18).
Signature
When Christ sits down to write a letter, the Holy Spirit also gets a
signature line: "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by
us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not
in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3). Divine works of
authorship have a triune signature line, because the God who wrote them is triune.
The Father and the Son
The same Holy Spirit is called both the Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit of the Son:
"But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it
will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the
Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." (Matthew 10:19-20).
"But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do
not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that
hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 13:11).
"Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how
or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in
that very hour what you ought to say." (Luke 12:11-12).
This same Holy Spirit who is the "Spirit of your Father" is also identified as the "Spirit of His Son":
"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Galatians 4:6).
"For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I
shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body,
whether by life or by death." (Philippians 1:19-20).
"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:9).
"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace
that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was
in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would
follow." (1 Peter 1:10-11).
Thus the Holy Spirit is the bond of unity, self-same Spirit both of Son and Father.
Our Abode
"I answer that, The whole Trinity dwells in the mind by sanctifying grace, according to John 14:23:
'We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.'" (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First
Part Q. 43, Article 5).
Jesus promised that both Father and Son would abide with the believer: "Jesus answered and said
to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to
him and make Our home with him.'" (John 14:23). This occurs through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit, by virtue of the mutual indwelling of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (circumincession): "And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever
-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him;
but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I
will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see
Me. Because I live, you will live also." (John 14:16-19).
There are several dimensions to this passage: Jesus is referring, in part, to His
post-resurrection appearances to the disciples but not the world, but also undoubtedly to His dwelling
within the believer: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).
It is through the infilling of the Holy Spirit that Christ dwells in the believer: "For this
reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Only in the unity of the One God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit could the Spirit be the vehicle
for the indwelling of Father and Son with the believer.
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