The Holy Spirit is not one of three gods that form a trinity. Nowhere in Scripture are we told that the Spirit of the Gods (Father and Son) is itself a third God. The “Spirit of God” (Rom. 8:9) / “Spirit of Jesus” (Phil. 1:19) shared by Father and Son does not make that Spirit a third god any more than “the spirit that is in man” (Job 32:8) turns one man into two. In 51:10 Job asks God to make his (Job’s) spirit right. Having a spirit, as all humans do, does not double the population of earth. So exactly what is the Holy Spirit? As is always the case for those who seek God’s Truth, He tells us. Those who do not know what the Spirit is do not know because they do not want to know. The Lord’s promise that “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free” applies only to those who truly want to know the Truth. The other 99% of the world’s population prefer their own truth.

In Luke 1:35 we are told in plain language that THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE POWER OF GOD. Here the angel Gabriel is speaking to Mary, telling her that the Holy Spirit of God would “overshadow” her. He then identifies the Spirit as the “power of God” that would impregnate her. In the series titled Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man? I prove that Jesus was 100% man and to no degree a God. As a man He was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. That He was totally man is proven by the following facts: a God cannot die, cannot be harmed, knows all things and can do anything and everything by His own power.  Jesus confessed that none of those traits applied to Him. Even the words He spoke were given Him by the Father through the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit by which He conducted His ministry. Let us be reminded that He neither preached a sermon nor performed a miracle until the Holy Spirit came on (into) Him at His baptism. In this case the Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. Later it would appear as tongues of fire. As was the case with Jesus, God’s true messengers depend totally on the Holy Spirit for the power to do and say what they do and say. While in the act of speaking, words have come to me that I did not know. God gave them to me the instant before I spoke them.

In John 5:19,20,21,26,39; 6:38 and 12:49 Jesus openly proclaimed that He could do nothing by His own power or on His own initiative. He made it clear that it was the Father “in” Him (in the form of His Spirit) that enabled Him to conduct His ministry. Without the Holy Spirit Jesus was no different from any other man. Before His baptism God’s Spirit was “with” Him. Following His baptism the Spirit was “in” Him. Such is the case with all who obey the Giver of the Spirit. The Spirit of God was “with” the disciples while Jesus was alive and “in” them following His death. Because, and only because God’s Spirit was “with” them were they able to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils, etc. while Jesus was alive. On the Day of Pentecost, 31 A.D. that same Spirit entered them and all others in the upper room where it empowered them to do whatsoever God commanded of them.

Earlier Jesus had miraculously appeared to the 11 disciples and had told them: “Behold, I (now) send THE PROMISE of the Father (His Holy Spirit) unto you. But tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are “endued” (endowed) with POWER (the Holy Spirit) from on high” (Lk. 24:49). Note that God’s “promise” is the same thing as His “power.” The promised enduement (to receive internally) of the Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost when it appeared as tongues of fire on the heads of the 120 before taking up residence within them. The event is recorded in Acts 2:2-4. In verse 4 it is written: “And they were all FILLED WITH the Holy Spirit  ….” where it would reside and empower them to fulfill their various assigned tasks. In Acts 1:4-8 we find Jesus appearing to the disciples several days after His resurrection and reminding them of God’s promise to give them His Spirit. In verse 8 He says to them: “But you shall receive POWER when the HOLY SPIRIT comes upon you ….” This was the third time the HOLY SPIRIT is identified as God’s POWER.

Following the Day of Pentecost no matter where the apostles (sent ones) went the Holy Spirit was in them empowering them to do God’s work. Nothing has changed. No matter where God’s messengers are on the earth the Holy Spirit is  “in” them, making them “one with” the Godhead. Through the Spirit they were “in” God and Christ Who were “in” them,  thereby making them “one” with the Godhead and with one another–TWELVE TRUE TRINITIES. This is what Jesus prayed for in John 17:11,21,22. Note that in verse 20 Jesus says that the Father’s “in,” “one,” “one with” rule would apply to all of those who would be converted through the apostles’ words (which they would speak through the power of the Holy Spirit residing within them).  However, there is a Truth about the Holy Spirit that few know about. And many who know about it refuse to admit it. That Truth is: GOD GAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HE CAN REMOVE IT. The “man after God’s own heart” wrote on his subject following his great sin.

In Psalm 139:7-10 a deeply repentant king David wrote about the Holy Spirit the Lord gives His obedient servants. He also warns the reader that God will remove His Spirit from saints who sin. Note that when David prays to God using expressions such as “Your Spirit,” “Your presence,” and “You” he is referring to the same entity–the “Lord” (see vs 1). In 2 Corinthians 5:17,19,21 we are told that true saints are “in” Christ in the same way that God was “in” Him during His time on earth (vs 19)–via the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere we are told that the true saint is “in” the Father and “in” the Son, and that Father and Son are “in” the saint, making God, Christ and saint “one”–THE TRUE TRINITY. Though Father and Son are “in” one another and are “one,” they remain two distinct entities–two Gods, each having His own unique part to play in running the universe. A saint being “in” or “one with” another person does not make the two of them one person as the following will prove. It is at this point that trinitarians get off of God’s track.

Return with me to John 17 where we find Jesus asking the Father to make the 12 disciples “one” in the same way that He and His Father were “one” (vs 11). In verse 21 Jesus asks God to make them (the disciples) “… ‘ALL’ to be ‘ONE’ as You, Father, are IN ME and I IN YOU, that THEY might be ONE IN US–TWELVE TRUE (SEPARATE AND INDIVIDUAL) TRINITIES. In verse 22 He again asks that the 12 disciples be made ONE just as He and God were ONE. In verse 23 Jesus prayed: “I IN THEM AND YOU IN ME SO THAT THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT IN ONE.” Obviously, neither God and Christ nor the 12 disciples were one in number. Being “in,” “one” and “one with” another applies only to the spiritual realm. Trinitarians do not understand this, which has led them to embrace the three-headed, one bodied god worshiped by pagans in times past. Pagan trinitarians are continuing in the tradition of their heathen ancestors. In the next posting we will learn how this heathen concept came to be a foundational belief in the Counterfeit Church L.J.