Luke reports on several occasions that the Spirit spoke to the disciples (Acts 8:29; 10:19-20; 13:2, 4; 21:11). When God gives us his Spirit, he is not just giving us a helper and a comforter. Dr. McKay Caston. We should not confuse the Holy Spirit with the way He might make us feel sometimes, or with the power that He has. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of “Christian Science,” characterized the third person of … The Holy Spirit has a mind. What does the Bible say? This is a vitally important concept. Michael is the founder of christian-faith.com and New Hope TV, is married to Marilena, has two girls and works as a school teacher in Australia. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55-56 ESV). The idea that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal active force that emanates from Jehovah God, like an energy source comparable to electricity, may sound simple enough, but it is not. Speaking of this in advance, in John 14-16, Jesus affirms that the Spirit will guide His disciples in truth, that He will serv… The Jehovah Witnesses believe and teach this. #1 The Holy Spirit is Not Sporadic. Personalized Scripture prayers, by theme. “The Holy Spirit—Third Person of Trinity or God’s Active Force?” Watchtower, July 15, 1957, 433. In its opening words, the Bible speaks of the holy spirit —also rendered “God’s active force”— as “moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” ( Genesis 1:2 ) In the account of Jesus’ baptism, while God is described as being in “the heavens,” the holy spirit appears “descending like a dove” upon Jesus. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Watchtower, 1995), 204. Does it go back when its function is complete? Summary: The Watchtower Society teaches that the Holy Spirit is not a divine person existing eternally with the Father and the Son but is instead an impersonal, active force emanating from Jehovah God when he employs his power or energy toward the world. He cannot be slung around, gathered up, or dispensed. He is a person of the God-head. Those who challenge the idea that the Holy Spirit is God suggest that the Holy Spirit may simply be an impersonal force of some kind, a source of power controlled by God but not fully a person Himself. In the Bible, the word “spirit” is translated from the Hebrew word ruʹach and the Greek word pneuʹma.Most often, those words refer to God’s active force, or holy spirit. There are a large number of both non-Christians and Christians who believe The Force is like the Holy Spirit. I noted in a previous post that, according to a recent study by Lifeway Research, 56 percent of evangelical Christians say the Holy Spirit is a force rather than a person.In that same study, a quarter (28 percent) said the Spirit is a divine being but not equal to God the Father and Jesus. The Holy Spirit will only get into the world (via) indwelling your life. How do we know? These are all legitimate questions, especially considering that Jehovah’s Witnesses commonly insist that there can be no “mysteries” or theological paradoxes in true doctrine. The Watchtower famously compares holy spirit specifically to electricity: The holy spirit has been likened to wind. “Do You Appreciate Our Special Heritage?” Watchtower, 15 Feb. 2013, 9. The whole episode of Acts 2…now, pretty much all of the book of Acts speaks of what happens when the Holy Spirit empowers human beings to do God’s work. The Holy Spirit came to Jesus’ disciples after Christ left the earth, as recorded in Acts 2. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit is male (nor is God, even though the metaphor of Father is often used.) In this sense, there is no such thing as the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is not a thing at all, but the very presence of the personal God himself—with us, in us, and around us. 4 While it remained, was it not your own? 31:1-8). 31:3; 35:31; Micah 3:8; Luke 1:15, 41, 67; 4:1; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17; 11:24; 13:9, 52; Eph. In John chapters 14, 15, and 16, for example, Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as “He”. The Jehovah of the Watchtower is a remote deity that did not make the world himself and is not immanently involved in its history and redemption. The point here is not that such reasonable questions disprove the Watchtower doctrine. Have you beg God to ‘show up’ or ‘come’ The Holy Spirit lives in you (John 14:17, 1 John 3:24, Rom. He shares the strengths of God the Father and Jesus, such as omniscience, omnipotence, and eternality. I noted in a previous post that, according to a recent study by Lifeway Research, 56 percent of evangelical Christians say the Holy Spirit is a force rather than a person.In that same study, a quarter (28 percent) said the Spirit is a divine being but not equal to God the Father and Jesus. Famously, God appeared to Moses in a bush that appeared to be on fire (Exod. (Micah 3:8; Luke 1: 35) God sends out his spirit by projecting his energy to any place to accomplish his will. Most likely, the Old Testament did not speak clearly about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct persons because its focus was on teaching Israel to believe in and worship the one God who made and rules the world, a notion that cut across the grain of their polytheistic civilization. One of the topics we discussed while standing on the front porch was the Holy Spirit. It is worth noting that when people refer to the Holy Spirit as “he,” the masculine pronoun can be confusing. We would not normally expect visions of heaven to include embodied or visible representations of the Holy Spirit because of the distinctive way he works. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). You cannot lie to electricity, or to a fire. Support Michael's mission work here - paypal link. 12:13); they are “baptized” (Matt. 1:24). Jehovah’s Witnesses and Unitarians invariably point out that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit is described as acting like wind, water, breath, or other impersonal substances or forces of nature. How to protect your home and break curses! Therefore, the Holy Spirit is NOT a personal being. First, the Holy Spirit is not a “force” or energy or an “it,” but He’s a person. The Holy Spirt is the third person of the Trinity in traditional, orthodox Christian theology. Anti-Trinitarians not only reject the Holy Spirit is one of three members of the Godhead, (Trinity) they reject that the Holy Spirit even exists as a person at all! The Son “testifies” (13:21); the Holy Spirit “testifies” to the Son (15:26). The Holy Spirit's name describes his chief attribute: He is a perfectly holy and spotless God, free of any sin or darkness. Learn more about the importance of the Holy Spirit in Christianity. In this same context, Jesus made it clear that he did not expect his disciples to grasp fully what he was saying until the Holy Spirit came to be their new Advocate (John 14:25-26; 16:13-14). Do YOU have a testimony to share? Support Michael's mission work here - paypal link. Such a deity is not the God of the Bible. Misrepresented Spirit? Gian Lorenzo Bernini, The Holy Spirit as a Dove, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (ca. Thus, Jesus taught that the Spirit would come in his stead and perform personal functions comparable to the things Jesus himself did while he was physically present with his disciples. The Son “taught” the disciples (6:59; 7:14, 28); the Spirit “will teach” them (14:26). Your Financial Gifts will really Make a Difference. Some teach that the Holy Spirit is not deity, but a thing, a force. Some churches say "Don't worry about the Holy Spirit. Antony Billington, Tony Lane, and Max Turner (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1995), 90–115; Tricia Gates Brown, Spirit in the Writings of John: Johannine Pneumatology in Social-scientific Perspective, JSNTSup 253 (London:  T&T Clark International, 2003), 23–61. He is a person equal in every way with God the Father and God the Son. This may help explain why Jesus did not refer to the Holy Spirit in John 17:3. Three Circles. And that simply is not true. The issue cannot be settled by raising such “how” questions, whether in relation to the Watchtower’s doctrine or in relation to the orthodox view. “The Holy Spirit: But according to the Book of Mormon, as well as other Scripture, there is also a Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Holy Ghost, which is not a person, but rather a divine essence, a force, or fluid–for want of a better term–which permeates all that exists,” (John A. Widtsoe and Franklin S. Harris, Jr., Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon, pp. Before we compare the Holy Spirit and the Force, we need need address four thing. Real Faith—Your Key to a Happy Life (Watchtower, 2010), 24. Welcome to our series about The Core 24! All of such is what a person uses to accomplish what they desire to. No Mere Force. We are not asking if He is a human being – we know that the Holy Spirit is not a human and does not take on the form of a man. 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