The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian faith

by R. A. Torrey

ye see the glory of Jehovah; for that he heareth your murmurings against Jehovah: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?" Here we are told that the murmuring and provocation of the children of Israel in the wilderness were against Jehovah, but in Hebrews 3:7-9, we read: "Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, to-day if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by proving me, and saw my works forty years." In this New Testament passage we are told that it was the Holy Spirit that they provoked in the wilderness, making it clear that the Holy Spirit occupies here in New Testament thought the position Jehovah occupied in Old Testament thought in Exodus 16:7.

To sum up the passages under this head, we see that statements which in the Old Testament distinctly name the Lord, God or Jehovah, as their subject, are applied to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. That is to say, the Holy Spirit occupies the position of Deity in New Testament thought.

4. The fourth way in which the Deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly taught in the New Testament is that the name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God the Father in a way that it would be impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite being with that of

Deity. There are numerous illustrations of this. Three will answer for our present purpose.

(1) We read, for example, in I Corinthians 12:4-6: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all." In this passage we see the name of the Holy Spirit coupled with that of God and of the Lord in a way in which it would be impossible for an intelligent worshipper of God to couple the name of any finite being with that of the Deity.

(2) We see the same thing again in Matthew 28:19: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." If the Holy Spirit is not God, it would be shocking to couple His name in this way with that of God, the Father, and of the Lord Jesus, His Son.

(3) Another striking illustration of this is found in II Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." Here the name of the Holy Spirit is coupled on a ground of equality with that of the Father and of the Son. In all these passages, the name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way in which it would be impossible for a reverent, thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite being with that of Deity.

5. The fifth and last, and, if possible, more decisive way in which the Deity of the Holy Spirit is taught in the Bible is that the Holy Spirit in so many words is called God. This we find in Acts 5:3, 4: "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." In the third verse we are distinctly told that it was to the Holy Spirit to Whom Ananias lied, and in the fourth verse we are told that it was to God that Ananias lied. Putting the two statements together, it is evident that the Holy Spirit is God.

To sum up all that we have said under the head of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, we see that by the ascription of all the distinctively divine attributes, and several distinctively divine works, by referring statements which in the Old Testament distinctly named Jehovah, the Lord or God, as their subject, to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, by coupling the name of the Holy Spirit with that of God in a way in which it would be impossible to couple the name of any finite being with that of Deity, by calling the Holy Spirit "God," in all these unmistakable ways God in His Word distinctly proclaims that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person. It is absolutely impossible for any one to go to the Bible to find out what it actually teaches,

and not merely to twist and distort it to fit into his own preconceived notions, and come to any other conclusion but that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, that He is God.