(#9) THE TRINITY:  The theory supporting a three-deity-in-one Godhead has no Scriptural basis.  This study will prove that the Holy Spirit is not an equal partner in the Divine Godhead, but is in fact the impersonal power of God the Father and Jesus His Son.

Question: Who is the Father of Jesus Christ?  In Matthew 1:20 an angel is speaking to Joseph about Mary, telling him that the child she is carrying was (begotten) of the HOLY SPIRIT, meaning that the Spirit affected her impregnation.  In Luke 1:30,31 the archangel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to a son.  When asked how this would come about, Gabriel answered: “The HOLY SPIRIT will come upon you, and the POWER OF GOD will overshadow you, therefore that holy One born of you will be called THE SON OF GOD.”  Jesus was the SON OF GOD, not the son of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus prayed to God the Father, never to the Holy Spirit.  In Matthew 26:39 it is written that Jesus prayed, saying, “O MY FATHER ….”  He was not praying to the Holy Spirit.

Question: Is Jesus’ Father and God the same as the saint’s Father and God?  “Jesus said to her, ‘Don’t touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to MY FATHER and YOUR FATHER, to MY GOD and YOUR GOD'” (Jn. 20:17).  His and Her spiritual Father and God were the same deity, Who was not the Holy Spirit, nor did He share His Fatherhood and Godhood with the Holy Spirit.  When Jesus prayed: “OUR Father Who is in heaven ….” He was referring to His and the disciples’ Father, who was “in heaven” in a specific location.  The Holy Spirit, we are told in Scripture, is EVERYWHERE at ALL TIMES.  Read King David’s words in Psalm 139:1-10.  Note in verse 7 that David proclaimed that no matter where he (David) might be, GOD was THERE in the FORM of His HOLY SPIRIT.  David confessed that he could not get away from God’s Spirit.  We know that sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:2), but not His Spirit which is everywhere.  The same principle is applied in the statement: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  CHRIST is IN the true SAINT in the FORM of His HOLY SPIRIT.  Christ, like His Father, is in one place at a time.  Recall in Genesis 1:2 that the HOLY SPIRIT hovered over the water that COVERED the ENTIRE EARTH.  Not so with the Gods (Elohim–plural) Who, using the Holy Spirit, RE-created the earth and the universe back to its pre-war condition.

Question: Whom are we commanded to worship?  Nowhere are we told to worship the Holy Spirit.  When a man called Jesus “good,” He replied that ONLY GOD (not gods) IS (not are) GOOD.”  He also said: “… You must worship the Lord (not Lords) your God (not Gods), and Him (not them) only must you serve” (Mat. 4:10).  If the Holy Spirit is a God, is He not “good.”  Is He not to be worshipped?  When Jesus said, “The Father and I are one,” why did He not mention the Holy Spirit?  When He told Philip: “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”  Did Philip not see the other member of the triune Godhead.  No, because the Godhead is comprised of only God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Question:  What is man’s spirit?  First Corinthians 6:20 refers to “YOUR (MAN’S) SPIRIT.”  Job 32:8 and Proverbs 20:27 also refer to man’s spirit.  First Corinthians 2:11: “Who knows the things of a man except the SPIRIT THAT IS IN MAN?  Even so, the things of God knows no man except (by) the SPIRIT OF GOD.”  The Spirit of God makes known to man the things of God.  If the Holy Spirit is another distinct personage like the Father and the Son, then man’s spirit is another distinct personage within man, making him two men.  Our human spirit is not another separate, distinct person.  It’s job is to enable man to commune with God.  God communicates with man through the Spirit’s “voice.”  Only those who can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit are true sons of God.  They remain sons of God as long as they obey His Words spoken to them by way of His (God’s) Spirit.  Man’s spirit enables him to “hear” the Spirit’s “voice” proclaiming God’s Words.  “But the natural (carnal) man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them because they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them because THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED” (1 Cor. 2:14).  The reason those within professing Christendom cannot believe God’s Words, specifically His “fine print,” is because they do not have His Holy Spirit living within them.  All outside of God’s church–are lacking spiritual discernment and spiritual power, which makes them the enemies of God (Rom. 5:10/ Phil. 3:18).

Question: Did the Apostle Paul recognize a trinity?  In the 14 letters that Paul wrote to the churches, not once did he greet them on behalf of the Holy Spirit.  In every case his greetings were from God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son.  He did not include the Spirit because it is not part of the Godhead.  The Godhead was in heaven on their respective thrones (Acts 2:32,33/ Col. 3:1/ Eph. 1:20) while the Holy Spirit was in the true saints to whom Paul was writing, therefore he did not need to greet them in the Spirit’s name (power).

Question:  Is the Holy Spirit a “he” or an “it?”  Trinitarians point to the fact that the Holy Spirit is referred to as “He” in John 14,15,16 as proof of the Spirit’s Godship.  Many languages, including Hebrew and Greek, assign a gender designation to every noun (person, place or thing).  The gender can be male, female or neuter.  Notice in Acts 2:2,3 that the Holy Spirit is referred to as “it,” and in 5:32 as “whom.”  The writer felt free to refer to the Spirit as either male or neuter.

Question: Whose power did Jesus use to conduct His ministry?  “His (Christ’s) WORD was with POWER” (Lk. 4:13).  “and the POWER was PRESENT (with Jesus) to heal” (Lk. 5:17).  “I can of Mine own self do nothing” (Jn. 5:30).  “… the Son of Man has (not is) power upon (all of the) earth” (Lk. 5:24).

Question:  What power do Christ’s disciples use in ministry today?  After speaking to His disciples for 40 days about the Kingdom of God, Jesus told them not to immediately begin ministering, but to go to Jerusalem and wait.  Why?  “You will RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES UPON YOU ….” (Acts 1:8).  Note that prior to being baptized He had not ministered in any way.  As He came toward John the Holy Spirit came on Him in the form of a dove.  Immediately following the reception of the Holy Spirit He began to minister.  Being a man like all other men, He needed the power of the Spirit to fulfill His commission.  So do those whom God calls today.

Summary: The Holy Spirit is never worshipped, prayed to nor asked to do anything.  He/it makes no decisions and acts only at the command of the Father and the Son.  The “voice” of the Spirit is spiritual, not auditory, and can be heard only by those in whom it/he lives.  The Spirit is the power of God and Christ which gives the true saint the power to obey Their Words.  It/he is called “the Spirit of Christ” and the Spirit of Jesus” in the Scriptures.  As the battery in a flashlight is its power source, the Holy Spirit in Jesus and His ministers provides the power for them to do the “works of God” and the “works of Christ” (Mat. 11:2/ Jn. 6:28).  The Holy Spirit is the instrument by which God communes with His true saints.  The Holy Spirit is not the third member of a triune Godhead.  L.J.