Truth Seeker - Spirit

Spirit · Holy Spirit, etc

The term spirit is without a doubt the hardest word to understand in the Bible and perhaps in the English language. Spirits in English may refer to hard liquor, to angels, and to demons. Anything else?

Spirit may refer to an angel, to God, to God's Holy Spirit, to Christ's spirit, to the spirit within animals and humans, to man's attitude, to God's attitude, to a husbands spirit of jealousy, special gifts God imparts to a person, special inborn ability, etc.

I have no idea how many other things it may refer to! There is a plethora of scriptures with a great many variations of usage that may all refer to the same thing, or perhaps not.

So as not to expand this subject into a multi-volume encyclopedia, only selected items will be considered.

God is a spirit (John 4:24) refers to what his being consist of. His being is not of this reality; as such it is non-physical, that is not of our universe. Still, he inhabits a spirit body. (See God )

Those that worship God must do so with truth and spirit. (John 4:24) Conjecture makes me say that spirit here refers to being in accordance with God's nature, his likes and dislikes, his revealed preferences, his commands.

Gen 1:1b, . . .and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters . . . (ASV)

This refers to God's Holy Spirit or that which he uses to cause, to affect, to create, or to move, etc. -- therefore, an explanatory term such as God's enabling power or creative power may be employed. Many scriptures refer to God's Holy Spirit as a power.

Luke 24:49, And I send the promise of my Father upon you: but stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high. (DRC)

Mark 5:30, . . . Jesus, when he recognized in himself that power went forth from him . . . (ACV)

Luke 1:35, And having answered, the agent said to her, Holy Spirit will come upon thee, and the power of the Most High will overshadow thee. Therefore also the holy thing that is begotten will be called the Son of God. (ACV)

Luke 4:14, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee . . . (ASV)

In a human being, a totally inadequate analogy might be our hands with which we work. God's spirit is omnipresent, with it he senses all things. As Jeremiah below affirms, there is no hiding from God anywhere. (Why this scripture isn't referring to God's body is explained on the page God.)

Jeremiah 23:24, Is any one hidden in secret places, And I see him not? an affirmation of Jehovah, Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? An affirmation of Jehovah. (YLT)

God's Holy Spirit

God's Holy Spirit and the Helper are two different expressions of God's Holy Spirit. The Helper, Comforter has been given to Christ who gives it to his brothers, the Saints, only. (Also see link: The Helper = Holy Spirit?)

God's spirit was and is used directly by God to accomplish, make happen, whatever God wishes to. God also gave of his Holy Spirit to his prophets and to individuals among his covenant people in the past. Even now God gives Holy Spirit to those among his people that request it.

Psalm 51:11, Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy Spirit from me. (ASV)

This permitted physical feats such as Samson's and Elijah's. It also inspired the prophets to speak on God's behalf.

The Helper

God's Spirit, Christ's Spirit?

First a conundrum: Rom 8:9!

But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, this man is not of him.

In Romans 8:9 God's spirit is referred to as Christ's spirit ! This question is addressed below.

John writes that the helper cannot come without Christ going to heaven.

John 16:7, "But I the truth say to you; it is better for you, that I should go away. If for not I should go away, the helper not will come to you; if but I go, I will send him to you. (Diaglott)

Why?

Acts 2:33, Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and
having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,
he has poured out this which *ye* behold and hear. (Darby)

The resurrected and glorified Jesus had to be given the Holy Spirit from God, his Father, before he could give this one to his disciples.

John 14:26, but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, *he* shall teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you. (Darby)

John 15:26, But when the helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. (ACV)

John tells us that only after Christ receives God's Holy Spirit from God in heaven can his Father, Jehovah, send it in his son's name. This permits us to understand Roman 8:9!

Conclusion

God's spirit equals Jesus' spirit in the case of the Advocate, the Helper, because God gave his Holy Spirit to Jesus and sent it to Jesus' disciples in Jesus' name.

Therefore, Romans 8:9 is worded the way it is! As stated above, Christ had to be resurrected and appear before Jehovah to receive Jehovah's holy spirit before he could send this as the helper to the Saints, the Born Again.

The scripture shows that Christ received God's Holy Spirit in a permanent manner--The Paraclete, the Comforter became Christ's to dispense.

In this manner, God's Holy Spirit became Christ's, and therefore Rom 8:9 says, God's spirit = Christ's spirit – because they are one and the same spirit when we are talking about the Helper, the Comforter.

So the conclusion, as shown, is that Christ's spirit in Rom 8:9 equals God's spirit. It must be kept in mind that the spirit mentioned here must be the Helper. Read the information about the Helper below.

This does not affect the separate identities of either God or his Son; the Bible shows that the identity of Christ and God are not the same but different.

Section 2 – The Helper

How does it differ from God's spirit given to the prophets of old?

Since earliest times, God's spirit has moved his servants, taught them, spoken through them, and caused them to pen the Bible for our sakes. The antediluvian Enoch prophecied (Jude 14) by means of it. By means of it, John the Baptist as an unborn child sensed Jesus' presence though he also was not yet born .

The workings of the Holy Spirit are too numerous to mention. It's activity is noted from Gen 1:1 and permeates the Biblical account.

What then is the Helper and why is it different from the Holy Spirit?

The fact that it is different, this partial quote from (ASV) John 16:7 brings out, " for if I go not away, the (1) Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you.(1) Or Advocate ; Or Helper ; Gr Paraclete )"

Since God's Holy Spirit has been at work before on earth before humans were created, through humans, etc. since early times, then the Helper, the Comforter cannot, equal this Holy spirit of God because it couldn't come until after Christ's going home to his father – there must be a difference!

At this point I apologize for asking those not familiar with this subject to study the Born Again page before continuing.

Helper's Purpose

The Helper's purpose as stated on the Born Again page was twofold. A. The Helper was sent to seal the anointed, the born again, the Saint, with Holy Spirit. The sealing gave / gives each one a conviction, a personal understanding that he now was / is a child of God, a son of God. This would be irrespective of a person's gender.

Gal 3:26-29, For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as were baptized (immersed (ACV)) into Christ did put on Christ. 28There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. 29And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise. (ASV)

Since this Helper had to come after Christ's ascension, after he received God's spirit, and after God sent it in his name, the Helper effectively may be stated as being Christ spirit and Helper – with the qualifying terms as stated.

B. The Helper also taught and guided the first Christians in their preaching activity and in their establishing new Christian guidelines according to the fact that the Old Covenant had become obsolete.

Thus it seems proper and safe to state that the Helper only affects, seals and teaches the Saints, the born again,the Anointed.

This would be the main difference between God's Holy Spirit and the Helper! Any dissenting opinions are welcome. Please let your comments be salted with scriptures. However, some points have no true scriptural answer except that time – a long time – will solve all riddles.