We shall now proceed to consider some objections, brought by the Anti-trinitarians, against the deity of the Holy Ghost.
Object. A divine Person cannot be the gift of God, for that supposes him to be at his disposal, and inferior to him; but the Spirit is said to be given by him, in Neh. ix. 20. Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them; and, in Acts xi. 17. God gave them the like gift, meaning the Spirit, that he did unto us; and, in Luke xi. 13. God, the Father, is said to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Again, the Spirit is said to be sent, and that either by the Father, as in John xiv. 26. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name; or by the Son, as in chap. xvi. 7. If I depart, I will send him unto you. Again, he is said to receive what he communicates from another, in John xvi. 14. He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you; which is inconsistent with the character of a divine Person, who is never said to receive what he imparts to others, as the apostle speaks concerning God, in Rom. xi. 35. Who hath first given to him? Again, he is said not to speak of himself, but what he hears, when he shews things to come, John xvi. 13. Accordingly he did not know that which he was to communicate before he heard it. Again, he is said to have a mind distinct from God, unless we suppose that there are a plurality of gods, and so more distinct divine minds than one; for this, they bring that scripture, in Rom. viii. 27. He that searcheth the heart, knoweth the mind of the Spirit. Again, he is represented as making intercession, which is an act of worship, and consequently he cannot be the object thereof; ver. 26. The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, &c. this also argues that he is not possessed of the blessings which he intercedes for. Again, he is not only said to be resisted and grieved, which expressions, it is true, are sometimes applied to God, though in an improper sense, speaking after the manner of men; but the Spirit is said to be quenched, or extinguished: thus, 1 Thess. v. 19. this, together with what has been before said concerning him, is not applicable to a divine Person. These are the most material objections that are brought against the doctrine which we have been endeavouring to maintain, and the sum of them all is this; that it is inconsistent with the character of a divine Person to be thus dependent on, and subjected to the will of another, as the Spirit is supposed, by them, to be.
Answ. That we may defend the Godhead of the Holy Ghost, against such-like objections as these, we shall first premise something relating to all those scriptures which speak of the Spirit, as given or sent by the Father, and then apply it to the sense of those in particular which are brought to support the objections, as before-mentioned.
1. It may be easily observed, that in several places of scripture, especially in the New Testament, the Holy Ghost is often taken for the gifts or graces of the Spirit; and more particularly for that extraordinary dispensation, in which the apostles were endowed with those spiritual gifts, which were necessary for the propagation and success of the gospel: these, by a Metonymy, are called the Spirit; and, I humbly conceive, all those scriptures, which speak of the Spirit’s being poured forth, as in Prov. i. 23. and Joel ii. 28. compared with Acts ii. 17. and elsewhere, are to be understood in this sense; and thus it is explained, in Acts x. 44, 45. The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word; upon which occasion it is said, that upon the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. Thus we are to understand that scripture, in Acts xix. 2. We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost; and another in John vii. 39. the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified; the word given is supplied by our translators, probably, to fence against a weak argument of some Anti-trinitarians, taken from that text, to overthrow the eternity of the Spirit; but whether the word be supplied or no, the sense of the text is plainly this, that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were not conferred before Christ’s ascension into heaven; which is a farther confirmation of this acceptation of the word, or of this figurative way of speaking, being used in this, and several other places of scripture, to the same purpose.
2. All those scriptures which seem to represent the Holy Ghost, as inferior to the Father and Son, some of which are contained in the objection, may be understood as denoting the subserviency of the works of the Spirit, which are also called the Holy Ghost, to those works which are said to be performed by the Father and Son: Now it is certain that the subserviency of one work unto another, performed by different persons, does not necessarily infer the inferiority of one person to the other: accordingly we must distinguish between the Spirit, as subsisting, and as acting; in the former sense, he is a divine Person, equal with the Father and Son; in the latter, he may be said to be subservient to them.
But now we shall proceed to consider the sense of those scriptures, brought to support the objection, in consistency with what has been premised. The first scripture mentioned, is that in which it is said, Thou gavest them thy good Spirit to instruct them; where the Holy Ghost is described with a personal character, and probably it is not to be understood metonymically for his gifts and graces; accordingly the meaning of it seems to be this; that the Spirit’s efficiency, in guiding and instructing them, was a special gift of God conferred upon them; and, in this respect, though he was a sovereign Agent, yet he is said to act by the will of the Father, which is the same with his own will: for though the Persons in the Godhead are distinct, yet they have not distinct wills; and it is no improper way of speaking to say, that when a divine Person displays his glory, and therein confers a blessing upon men, that this is given; as when God is said to give himself to his people, when he promises to be a God to them. There is, indeed, in this mode of speaking, a discriminating act of favour conferred on men, upon which account it is called a gift; but this does not militate against the divinity of the Holy Ghost, though he is said to be given to them.
As for the other scripture, in which it is said, God gave them the like gift, as he gave to us, meaning the Holy Ghost, that is plainly taken for the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, the conferring whereof is called, in the foregoing words, a being baptized with the Holy Ghost; as it is particularly explained in that scripture, referred to, in Acts x. 45, 46. where it is said, that on the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost; what this gift is, we may learn from the following words, They spake with tongues, and magnified God.
Again, when it is said, in Luke xi. 13. that your heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him; this is explained by another evangelist, in Matt. vii. 11. where it is taken for good things in general, and so includes the graces of the Spirit, that accompany salvation, when it is said, your Father, that is in heaven, shall give good things to them that ask him; so that here the Spirit is taken for all those blessings which he bestows upon his people, in answer of prayer.
As for those scriptures before mentioned, in which the Spirit is said to be sent, either by the Father, or the Son, they are not, indeed, to be understood in the same sense, as when the Son is said to be sent in his human nature, appearing in the form of a servant, to fulfil the will of God; but when God is said to send his Spirit, the word is to be taken in a metaphorical sense; in which, sending imports as much as giving; and when the Spirit is said to be given, it has a peculiar reference to the grace which he was to bestow upon them. If we enquire into the reason of this metaphorical way of speaking, it may probably be this; that we may understand hereby that the Spirit, which was to produce these effects, was a divine Person, and that the effects themselves were subservient to those works which were performed, by which the Personal glories of the Father and Son were demonstrated.
Again, when it is farther said by our Saviour, in John xvi. 14. that the Spirit shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you; this plainly intends the Spirit’s applying to them those blessings which Christ had purchased by his blood, which tended to his glory; and still it signifies only the subserviency of the Spirit to the Son, in working, as the application of redemption tends to render the purchase thereof effectual, to answer its designed end.