Holy Spirit: person or power?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Some claim that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal power. But viewing him in that way falls far short of what the New Testament teaches, undermining a full understanding of one of the most exciting and encouraging dimensions of our relationship with God.

In teaching about the Holy Spirit, the New Testament uses analogies related to both power and personhood. But why the mixture? If the doctrine of the Trinity is so important, why didn’t the New Testament authors spell it out more clearly?

It’s important to remember that the Bible was written within a particular cultural setting where some things were understood without detailed explanation. It’s the same today. If I mention “Monday morning quarterbacking” to Americans, most know what I mean without elaboration. But people unfamiliar with American football culture would not understand.

As we read what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, we need to ask, are we expecting it to answer questions that were not questions in its original cultural setting? Would the original audience have assumed without further explanation that the Holy Spirit was personal and acted as a powerful agent? Scripture shows us that the answer is yes.

There are many places in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is referred to in personal terms. In John 16:14, Jesus refers to the Spirit using a personal (rather than a neuter) pronoun, saying “He will glorify me.” In Acts 15:28, the apostles spoke of the Spirit in personal terms when they said “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” The characteristics of a person are assumed by the biblical authors when they spoke of the Holy Spirit acting as do human persons: teaching, comforting, guiding, giving, calling and sending. They spoke of the Spirit as being resisted (Acts 7:51), argued with and personally replied to (10:14-20), grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and lied to (Acts 5:3-9). They also spoke of the Spirit distributing gifts according to his own will (1 Corinthians 12:11).

The early church recognized that “Holy Spirit” was used throughout Scripture as a proper name, just as are “Father” and “Son.” Jesus indicates that all three are personal names when he directs his disciples to baptize in “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). This command hearkens back to Jesus’ own baptism where the Father, the Son and the Spirit were each personally present (Matthew 3:13-17).

Jesus distinguished the Spirit from himself in a personal sense when he said, “I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away, the Comforter [Paraclete] will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” (John 16:7 KJV). Jesus regarded the Holy Spirit not as an effect (comfort) but as a person who brings comfort (the Comforter).

In saying that he would send the Holy Spirit, Jesus distinguished the Spirit from himself and the Father in a personal sense: “But the Counselor [Paraclete], the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 RSV). “When the Counselor [Paraclete] comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me” (John 15:26 RSV).

Because the name Paraclete is unfamiliar to us (my spell-check keeps asking if I mean “parakeet”!), English Bibles translate it as Counselor, Helper, Advocate or Comforter. But these translations fall short in conveying the name’s full meaning. Those who spoke Koine Greek understood Jesus’ meaning—they recognized that Jesus was speaking in personal terms when referring to “the Paraclete,” just as he was speaking in personal terms when referring to “the Son” and to “the Father.” Though these personal names were revolutionary, they were not ambiguous.

In the ancient world, paracletos often was used in a legal sense—like our words advocate, attorney or lawyer (though likening the Spirit to a lawyer might not go down so well today!). Paracletos also was used in a military sense. Greek soldiers went into battle in pairs, standing together as they fought off the enemy. The Greeks called this trusted soldier and friend a paraclete. So when the first disciples heard Jesus refer to the Spirit as the Paraclete and speak of him otherwise in personal terms (as in Acts 1:5, 8), Jesus’ meaning would have been apparent to them without further explanation.

From the beginning, the early church was functionally and implicitly trinitarian. Like Jesus, it spoke of the Father, the Son and the Spirit using personal terms. However, as Christianity spread, other teachings arose. Church leaders had to counter heretical teachings concerning the nature of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the relationships between the divine persons. Out of these debates came the doctrine of the Trinity, which was formalized in the Nicene Creed (shown below) where the Father, Son and Spirit are presented as unique divine persons who are inter-personally related. Note this comment from Thomas Torrance:

A definite doctrine of the Trinity was found to arise out of a faithful exegetical interpretation of the New Testament and out of the evangelical experience and liturgical life of the Church from the very beginning. It made explicit what was already implicit in the fundamental deposit of faith. It was with the formulation of the homoousion [meaning “of one being”—the term used in the Nicene Creed] clarifying and expressing the essential connection of the Son to the Father upon which the very Gospel rested, and with the application of the homoousion to the Holy Spirit to express his oneness in being with the Godhead of the Father, that the theological structure of the Trinitarian understanding of the Godhead unfolded and established itself firmly within the mind of the Church (The Trinitarian Faith, p. 199, emphasis added).

Though the Nicene Creed made explicit the personhood of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, some Western thinkers (particularly since the Enlightenment) have explained God’s nature in impersonal, mechanistic and creaturely ways, including saying that the Holy Spirit is not God, but an impersonal power that emanates from God. But impersonal explanations of God’s nature always fall short. Why? Because God is not a creature, nor is he a mechanism. His true nature as a tri-personal, relational God is known only by revelation, from Jesus, recorded in Scripture. There the Holy Spirit is revealed as the Paraclete—a divine Person who is personal just as are the Father and the Son.

Grounded in this stunning revelation, we may think, speak, worship and act with assurance, knowing that the Holy Spirit is God just as the Father is God and the Son is God. One God; three persons: blessed Trinity!

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

PS. For more on this topic I recommend these articles at GCI.org and The Surprising God:

The Deity of the Holy Spirit (http://www.gci.org/God/deityHS)
Is the Holy Spirit God? (http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/2011/06/is-holy-spirit-god.html)
The Eternal Spirit—an article in a series on the Nicene Creed (http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/2011/11/eternal-spirit-nicene-creed-7.html)

For an eye-opening study on the Bible’s cultural context, see the book, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by Richards and O’Brien.

Marty Davey

Marty Davey, who pastors GCI congregations in Jacksonville, Florida and Woodbine, Georgia was born in North Carolina but spent much of his early years moving between Florida and Tennessee. “This was due to my mother having open-heart surgery several times, beginning when she was age 30. My parents had to depend on proximity to their parents since I was one of four kids and our mother was usually ill. She was one of the original patients of Dr. Michael DeBakey in Houston who pioneered open-heart surgery. His surgeries were successful and my mother lived to be 67. She died in 2004.”

Though Marty grew up in a Baptist family, he shared that “we did not often attend worship or practice our beliefs. After struggling through my high school life with troublesome behaviors and relationships, I left home in Tennessee at 17, moved in with my grandparents in Florida and there began turning to Jesus to straighten out my life. I started reading the Bible during my senior year in high school and started worshipping with WCG in Gainesville, Florida in January 1976. I was baptized in June 1976.”

Marty went to Ambassador College in 1977 and there met Australian native Yvonne Verwater. They graduated from Ambassador College in 1981 and were married in August that year. They just celebrated their 32nd anniversary. They have three children, Amanda (Rick) Larson, Michael and Michelle.

Hired upon graduating from AC, Marty and Yvonne began their ministry in Houston, Texas. Since that time they have served as assistant pastor or associate pastor in Charleston, West Virginia; Cincinnati, Ohio; Mount Poconos, Pennsylvania; Muncie and Richmond, Indiana (their first assignment as a senior pastor) and since 1995 in Jacksonville, Florida and Woodbine, Georgia.

“Sharing God’s love and Jesus’ beautiful teachings with others,” is Marty’s favorite part of being a pastor. His most memorable moments include, “baptizing my three children and coming to see Jesus more clearly in his New covenant.”  What he loves most about being part of GCI is, “being around the sincerely committed members and ministers as, together, we live out our new life in Christ.”

Speaking of Yvonne, Marty says, “Yvonne has been and still is, the perfect pastor’s wife: always faithful, deeply caring about the parishioners and serving others with a wonderful spirit of teamwork and humility. She presently coordinates the preteen children’s Sunday school program in our Jacksonville church and is a great encourager and source of wisdom. While she is active and supportive in church ministry, she maintains her own identity, interests and relationships, which help her to have a balanced and healthy outlook on life and ministry.”

In his free time Marty loves to fish. “I like fishing for real fish almost as much as I like fishing for disciples, but I’m not very good at either—yet.”

When asked about a mentor, Marty said, “I have learned many good things from all six of the pastors under whom I’ve served. Probably the most helpful mentoring came from Hal Baird, the first pastor who trained me. He was one of the kindest, warmest and most caring pastors one could imagine. His approach showed me what true ministry looked like.”

Marty says he feels closest to God “when prayerfully reading his word, or when peacefully observing the beauty of nature around me.” Regarding his passion, Marty said, “I like everything good in life and hope to stay around as long as possible in reasonable shape. I really like being human, so far, though I am excited about the new model as well!”

Staten Island Women’s Retreat

Hands for Christ Community Church, a newly planted GCI congregation in Staten Island, New York, recently held its first women’s retreat. The 18 women who attended (some pictured below) shared a meaningful and insightful time.

women's retreat

The topic of discussion on Friday evening was Women of the Bible—letting God talk to his daughters and princesses. Each participant played the role of a woman in the Bible; seeking to see life through their eyes.

The topic on Saturday was What Is Sin? Related questions were addressed and participants jotted down some of their deepest struggles, tossing what they had written into a pit to be destroyed by fire. In this way, personal struggles were given over to God.

The event ended with communion, solidifying the women’s bond of fellowship and accountability.

GCI Netherlands

Here is a short video that shows GCI’s members in the Netherlands:

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/hJ2ioNJDCBU

Connecting and Bonding Conference

The 16^thannual Connecting and Bonding Conference was held recently in Ontario, California. Ministers’ wives from across the U.S. and Canada attended. The theme was Resting in Jesus’ Presence, based on Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Jannice May (pictured at right, above, honoring the wives of retired pastors), coordinated the conference, which provided periods of rest along with the meeting of “friendship teams” that focused on enjoying the presence of the Lord.

Guest speakers at the conference were Lucinda McDowell (pictured at left—her presentation was titled: “Renewed, Restored, Revived”), Kathleen Hart (“Intentional Living with God” and “Jesus and the Holy Spirit”) and Naomi Beard (“Stop, Rest, Catch Your Breath”).

Sylvia Fried (a professional worship leader) led uplifting times of conference worship. Another highlight was the second annual concert put on by the ministers’ wives emceed by Sharie Meyer.

Turning activity into efficiency

Though we understand the importance of time alone with God, sometimes ministry activity crowds it out. Wayne Stiles, in an article posted on the SonLife Live 2/6 Network (9/9/13), writes about the “one thing” that Jesus did to keep his priorities straight, turning “activity into efficiency.”

I’ve noticed an unsettling habit in my life. Whenever I find myself with a free moment, I feel compelled to fill it with something productive. Because I hate to waste time, I fill it with activity and justify it as productivity. But I’m learning that constant movement doesn’t represent efficiency. It could, moreover, represent just the opposite.

As with every other part of the human experience, Jesus remains our model of efficiency. But His life—even before the cross—was no easy walk:

The demands on Him were constant.
The needs He faced were overwhelming.
The expectations He encountered were unrealistic.

No person was ever more qualified to do it all, and yet Jesus took life in the fast lane in stride. What was His secret?

Jesus’ Secret to Efficiency

At the end of a busy day of ministry, Jesus’ work followed Him home: “And when evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill . . . And He healed many who were ill with various diseases” (Mark 1:32-34).

Ready for a shock? Notice they brought “all” who were ill, but Jesus only healed “many.” The One who could have done it all, chose not to. Here’s why: “In the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there. And Simon and his companions hunted for Him; and they found Him, and said to Him, ‘Everyone is looking for You.’ And He said to them, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for’” (Mark 1:35-38).

Jesus, more than any other person, could have met the physical needs of all the people that day, but He chose not to. Why? Because Jesus’ priority was to preach, not to heal. Therefore He could say no—without guilt—to legitimate needs in order to focus His time.

The “One Thing”

When we try to do too much we buy into the lie that says the more we do the more productive we are (and the more significant we are). But the more we do, the poorer job we do. Hardly efficiency! Better to do one thing well than to do many things poorly. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, Jesus will evaluate us based the quality of our work—and our motives—not on the quantity (1 Corinthians 3:13). One thing. Jesus wasn’t the only one who practiced this wise principle:

David prayed: “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek . . .” (Psalm 27:4).
Paul wrote: “This one thing I do . . .” (Philippians 3:13).

This “one thing” was the same for David as it was for Paul—and as it was for Jesus. Giving priority to one’s relationship with the Father helps bring all other priorities in line. There’s no other way you’ll know what to let go and what to keep. “The secret of concentration is elimination,” wrote Dr. Howard Hendricks.

The One Thing that Changes Your Activity to Efficiency

Don’t fall for the lie that a “good Christian” never says no to legitimate needs. Even Jesus said no. Saying no doesn’t mean you have no compassion. No one had more compassion than Jesus. But prioritizing simply means you’re focusing where God would have you focus—just like Christ did.

Jesus made it a priority—as should we—to devote time alone with the Father. Why? It helps you refocus and regain perspective on your life. Time with God helps you say no to good things by revealing God’s will for your life.

Refusing to do the many good things you can do allows you to do the one thing you must do.

Rather than cram every available moment with activity and call it efficiency, let’s remember what Jesus did. Since He could have done it all, but chose not to, how much more so should we who can’t do it all, choose not to?

Death of Cathy Deddo’s mother

We are saddened to learn of the recent death of Cathy Deddo’s mother Mary Allin. Cathy is the wife of Gary Deddo who serves as Joseph Tkach’s special assistant.

Mary, who lived in Falls Church, Virginia, is survived by her husband, George Allin, Jr. and by six children, including Cathy.

Members of the family were with Mary near the time of her death. Cathy reports that “signs of God’s grace were plenteous.”

Cards for Gary, Cathy and her family may be sent to:

Grace Communion International

Attn: Gary Deddo

PO Box 5005

Glendora, CA 91740