The Mystery Demystified
Chapter Five
Where is The Third Person?
In studying the word of God we sometimes encounter passages which seem to contradict each other, or to be in conflict. One example of this is the two statements by the apostles Paul and James concerning justification. Paul says:
“... A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Rom. 3: 28)
But James says:
“... By works a man is justified and not by faith only.” (James 2:24)
Do these statements contradict each other? At first sight they may seem to. The person who has little faith will say, “see the Bible is not dependable. It contradicts itself.” However, the person who knows that the Bible is the true infallible word of God, will say, “well, here is something that needs to be examined more carefully. Let me see how these two verses. can be harmonized with each other.”
Which of these two attitudes is the proper one? Of course it is the second one. Such a person will find that the Bible is indeed in perfect harmony when it is properly understood. He will find that it is he who needs understanding and not the Bible which needs correcting. He will discover that what at first seemed to be contradictory and puzzling was really the Avenue to a richer and deeper understanding of God and his ways.
Why don't we apply the same rule when studying the subject of the godhead? Why is it that so many of us seem to believe that the subject is taboo and must not be discussed? Why is it that we cling to the popular long-accepted theory and refuse to examine all of its contradictions? Is this the true spirit of a learner? Of a humble Bible student? Of a child of God?
As soon as the subject of the godhead is raised and the inconsistencies of the popular belief are pointed out, one word is trumpeted:
Mystery! Mystery!
This is supposed to cover all. This word is the end of all discussion and the end of all reasonable examination of the subject. This is not a safe attitude to take towards any doctrine of the Scriptures. The moment we take that attitude that is the moment when our learning comes to an end. We may expect such a response from dogmatic institutions such as the Papacy and others which are of a similar spirit. But this, surely is not the spirit of the Protestants who broke the mental shackles of popery by daring to examine the Scriptures and to accept what they found there.
Does the Bible teach that there is a third Being in the godhead called The Holy Spirit? There are some Scriptures which may seem to suggest that there might be such a being. On the other hand, there are many Scriptures which indicate that there is no such person. What are we to do with these Scriptures? As believers in the truth of God's word, let us examine them without bias and without traditional leaning and see if we can find how these verses are in harmony with each other.
Trinitarian Verses?
Let us first of all examine some of the more popular verses which are said to teach that the Holy Spirit is a third member of the godhead, separate from God the Father and His Son.
1. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: .... (Gen 1:26)
Here we find that God was talking to somebody, but not necessarily to more than one person. Who was He talking to? After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried our their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image.” there is nothing here to suggest that there was a third Person there.
2. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Mat 28:19)
In this verse we are told that we should baptize in a certain name. A name in the Bible, of course, indicates authority and character. The apostles went out and baptized in the name of Jesus. Were they disobedient to the command of Christ? No. They understood that what He meant was that every new believer should accept the authority, character and work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in his life. The Father Gave His Son and His life to mankind. We must accept the gifts of His love in the gift of His Son, and His life and power in His Holy Spirit. If we fail to receive one or the other, then our salvation would not be complete. Is there any teaching here that the Holy Spirit is a third Being separate from Father and Son? No. Only if we read something into the Scriptures which they do not say.
3. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mat 3:16,17)
Here, we are told, there were the three members of the godhead all in one place. The Son was baptized, the Father spoke, and the Holy Spirit descended on the Son in the form of a dove. Again we see that there is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But what is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is an extension of the Father. It comes directly from the Father. In Luke 11:20, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “ The Finger of God.”
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. (Luke 11:20)
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)
4 . The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)
In this verse, three powers are mentioned, but notice, only one of them is called God. One is the Lord, and the other is the Holy Ghost (spirit) through which we have communion or fellowship with God and Jesus. A little later we will see how other Bible passages explain this one very clearly.
5. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (1 John 5:7)
The great majority of Bible Commentaries tell us that this verse has no legitimate place in the Scriptures. In the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, it says,
“The passage as given in the KJV is in no Greek MS earlier than the 15th and the 16th centuries. The disputed words found their way into the KJV by way of the Greek text of Erasmus (see Vol. V, p. 141). It is said that Erasmus offered to include the disputed words in his Greek Testament if he were shown even one Greek MS that contained them. A library in Dublin produced such a MS (known as 34), and Erasmus included the passage in his text. It is now believed that the later editions of the Vulgate acquired the passage by the mistake of a scribe who included an exegetical marginal comment in the Bible text that he was copying. The disputed words have been widely used in support of the doctrine of the Trinity, but, in view of such overwhelming evidence against their authenticity, their support is valueless and should not be used. In spite of their appearance in the Vulgate A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture freely admits regarding these words: “It is now generally held that this passage, called the Comma Johanneum, is a gloss that crept into the text of the Old Latin and Vulgate at an early date, but found its way into the Greek text only in the 15th and 16th centuries” (Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1951, p. 1186) ( The SDA Bible Commentary, comments on 1 John 5: 7)
However, even if we were to accept this verse as a legitimate part of Scripture, does it teach three Beings? In verse 8 we are told that there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, the water and the blood. Here we see that one does not have to be a living person to bear witness. The water bears witness and the blood bears witness, yet no one would suggest that the water and blood are persons. Why then should we insist that because the spirit bears witness in heaven it must be a living person?
There are three ways in which witness is borne to the truth in heaven. These witnesses are one, or they bear a united witness. It does not mean that they are one person, one being, or one God. Jesus explained what this oneness means when He prayed that we all might be one as He and His father are one. Not that we might become one human, but simply that we might be in perfect harmony even as He and His Father are in perfect harmony.
In heaven, God bears witness to the truth, so does Christ, and so does the holy spirit! However, while God and Jesus may witness audibly by the words they speak, the holy spirit, whether in heaven or on earth, witnesses by making impressions on the hearts of those who are willing to learn, giving them understanding of the truths of the plan of salvation. In heaven there are three avenues of witness, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, on the earth, there are three, the water, the spirit and the blood. Are the three in heaven a trinity because they are mentioned in the same breath? By this reasoning we would have to conclude that the water, the spirit and the blood are also a trinity, and that the water and the blood are persons.
The Third Person is Missing
Let us now examine some of the places where the Holy Spirit is missing. In these places, the Holy Spirit would have to be present if he were a third member of the godhead.
1. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)
Where is the Third Person?
2. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Rev 21:22)
Where is the Third Person?
3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
Where is the Third Person?
4. T hat which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)
Where is the Third Person?
5. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. (Luke 10:22)
Where is the Third Person?
6. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)
Where is the Third Person?
Harmonizing The Scriptures
The truth is, there are times when the holy spirit is referred to as “he” in the Scriptures. Why is this so? The reason is that the Holy Spirit is not just a force, but is actually the very real presence and personality of both the Father and the Son.
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor 3:17)
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14:18)
God the Father and Jesus Christ are with us, but not in a form where we can see, or touch them, but in an invisible, intangible, but very real spiritual form. Because this is the presence of God, it is holy. Because it is in a spiritual form, it is spirit. Hence, The Holy Spirit.
This is the only explanation of the godhead which will fit all the facts. God has a Son, and He has a Spirit. The Son proceeded from God :
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. (John 8:42)”
But the Holy Spirit proceedeth from God:
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (John 15:26)”
The Son is a separate Being from the Father, while the Holy Spirit is an extension of the Father, by means of which He is present everywhere.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (Psa 139:7)
The Father dwells in His Son by His spirit. Thus, they are one. Then the Son dwells in us by that same spirit, so we also are one in God, as He and His Son are one:
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22)
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)