Putting the pieces together Holy Spirit is a person

Content 6. Holy Spirit is a person

“Putting The Pieces Together” article.

holy spirit is a personThe Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God. . . . The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” {Evangelism, pp. 616, 617}

The quoted verse (1 Corinthians 2:11) is the key to understanding the statement. According to Paul man and his spirit is comparable to God and His Spirit. Just as man’s spirit is not a different person to man, even so God’s Holy Spirit is not a different person to God. Just as man’s spirit is his very own person, even so God’s Spirit is His very own person. When we use the Testimonies as the key, we will discover some very important basic principles.

The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. “The Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Psalm 11:4); yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand. {E. G. White, Education, p. 132}

In giving us His Spirit, God gives us Himself, making Himself a fountain of divine influences, to give health and life to the world. {E. G. White, Testimonies Volume 7, p. 273}

If we keep the above principles in mind things will be much easier to understand. The Spirit has a personality because God has a personality. In giving us His Spirit, God is giving us Himself, not someone else. When God gives us Himself (in Spirit) it is not devoid of personality. It is not just some impersonal force or essence. No, it is very personal and intimate. It is God’s own person, having God’s very own personality. The same goes for the fact that the Spirit is a divine person. This is because God is a divine person. You see, God is a spirit, and yet a person.

God is a Spirit; yet He is a personal Being; for so He has revealed Himself: {E. G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 413}

The Holy Spirit is a person because God is a person, and the Holy Spirit is the person of God. It is also the person of Christ.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Christ is not here referring to his doctrine, but to his person, the divinity of his character. {E. G. White, Review and Herald, April 5, 1906 par. 12}

Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent. {E. G. White, Manuscript Releases Vol.14, p. 23}

This is why the Spirit has a personality and is a person.

Book – Putting the Pieces Together 

(1) “the heavenly Trio”
(2) “there never was a time”
(3) “life, original, unborrowed, underived”
(4) “eternal heavenly dignitaries”
(5) “as much a person”
(6) “Holy Spirit is a person”
(7) “third person of the Godhead”
(8) “three highest powers”
(9) “gave themselves”
(10) “three holiest beings”

Appendix I
(Dr. Kellogg & the Trinity)

Appendix II
(How many divine beings?)

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