The Holy Spirit - God's Spirit
E-book and Audio series
PART 1 - The Being and Nature of the Holy Spirit
Chapter 7 - Person and Personality
Summary: A consideration of the term "person" as applied to the Holy Spirit.
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Study Notes
(This is an outline only - there is greater detail in the audio message.)
In the previous study, we began considering a two-part question - Is the Holy Spirit the third Person of the Trinity? - and we focussed on one part of this question, namely, "Is the Holy Spirit part of the Trinity?"
In response, I would say that the Spirit is certainly part of the Being we know as God, but that God is bigger and more complex than the rather limiting concept of the Trinity. The term Trinity is not inaccurate, but it is not all-encompassing either.
In this study, we will discuss, the other part of the question, namely, "Is the Holy Spirit a Person?".
This is a difficult issue, and the only thing I can say for sure, is that I’m sure I don’t understand it fully! So the following thoughts about the Holy Spirit being a “person” are just that – i.e. my thoughts, and I concede that I may be wrong in some ways. As we have seen in a number of our studies so far, God has not revealed everything about Himself to us, so it is prudent to become familiar with what has been revealed first, before we begin to speculate, in order to draw conclusions.
Is the Holy Spirit a “person”? Some would say that the Holy Spirit is very much a person.
Like the term “trinity”, the word “person” does not ever occur in the Scriptures to describe God’s spirit, so if we’re going to use that term, let’s be sure it’s the right term to use.
We’re going to look at two issues tonight – “Person and Personality”, but we will begin by considering the personality aspect first.
Personality of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is shown to have traits of personality, and is not an IMpersonal force.
God’s Spirit is intangible, but nevertheless interacts with mankind in ways that we can equate with being a person.
READ John 14:16-18 – Counsellor, Helper, Advocate – these are not descriptions of an inanimate force
Some other examples of the Spirit interacting with mankind with traits of personality are below …
Acts 5:3,9 lying to the Holy Spirit – may be lied to and tested
Acts 5:30-32 - a witness
Acts 9:31 – comfort / encouragement
Acts 13:2 – Holy Spirit "speaks" (this is the only record I can find of the Holy Spirit’s words as quoted in a narrative section.)
Acts 13:4 – Holy Spirit “sent forth” Barnabas and Saul
Romans 8:26,27 - interceding
1 Cor 12:10,11 – dividing as He wills - a mere force does not have a will
Ephesians 4:30 – grieve not the Holy Spirit of God – a mere foce cannot be grieved. A similar example is found in Isaiah 63:10
Possibly also … 1 Timothy 4:1 – the Spirit speaks expressly
Hebrews 10:28,29 – offending the Spirit
All of the above are examples in Scripture of personality being displayed through the Holy Spirit.
The term “person” as used of the Holy Spirit
Despite the Holy Spirit displaying attributes of personality, the word “Person” is not actually a term I prefer to describe the Holy Spirit, as I think it conjures up too many images that are human-like, such as a figure standing or sitting. Notably, the word “person” does not ever occur in the Scriptures to describe God’s spirit. Christ was and is a person, because there is physically a human aspect of Him; but whether God the Father or God’s Spirit can be accurately called “persons”, is much more doubtful.
The term “person” comes from the Latin “persona”, and has the idea of being a mask – the inference being that in the person of the Holy Spirit, this is the side of God we see. But the reality extends beyond the same Being merely wearing a different face – there are physical differences, differences in roles and differences in activities.
While it is not incorrect to say that the Holy Spirit is just one of the faces God presents to us, it certainly isn’t the full picture.
The term “person”, as used of the Godhead, does not occur in the Scriptures – the only possible exception being where some translations place it in Hebrews 1:1-3. This passage has been used to show that God is a Person, so it is worth considering for a few moments ...
1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
1:3 in the KJV / NKJV says “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person (Gk: hypostasis)”.
Other versions say …
NIV – “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Gk: hypostasis)”
ASV – “who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance” (Gk: hypostasis)
Darby – who being the effulgence of his glory and the expression of his substance (Gk: hypostasis)
RSV – He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature (Gk: hypostasis)
The Greek word hypostasis is used for a wide variety of meanings in the Scriptures, with the root sense being “foundation” or “basis”.
upo = under; stasis = standing
By extension, it can refer to a range of meanings such as:
• "the foundation of a building" (i.e. that which is under the building),
• "the source of something"
• "substance/reality" as opposed to a semblance. (Ancient Greek usage – an image in a mirror is a reflection of the real item; i.e. a reflection of the hypostasis basis from which an image is reflected.)
• "understanding" – the basis or source of what might make us act in a certain way (hypostasis literally translates into English as “understand”)
• "confidence, assurance" – hypostasis is elsewhere translated with this sense in 2 Cor 9:4; 2 Cor 11:17. Hebrews 11:1; is a sensible rendering of hupostasis Hebrews 11:1 – “faith is the substance (hypostasis i.e. confidence) of things hoped for”. Here it is used in the sense of being the underlying reason for confidence, etc.
Going back to Hebrews 1:3, where some of the English translations seem to indicate that God is a person, we see that the verse not actually talking in terms of God being a person or not. Rather, it is saying that Christ is a visible expression of the invisible foundation or source that is God.
In theological circles, the word hypostasis is used in English as a word to describe the union of God and man in the “person” (hypostasis) of Jesus Christ. Many commentators call this “hypostatic union”. Although Christian commentators have been using the word in this sense since about the 4th Century, I believe that the word hypostasis has actually been incorrectly applied to Christ in that sense in Hebrews 1:3, for the reasons outlined above.
I find it hard to fathom the fact that God is united, but with distinctions such as Father, Son, Spirit.
Instead of the term “persons” to describe the different sides of God, the terms I tend to use are things like: aspects, facets manifestations, etc. instead.
In my opinion...
• Does the Holy Spirit show characteristics of personality?
I would say yes.
• Is the Holy Spirit a Person?
I would say that there are distinctions between the Spirit, the Father and the Son, each with their own unique roles, but the term “person” can be misleading.
A Noble Intention
The act of trying to understand God purely in terms of “Persons of the Trinity” is generally quite noble in intention. However, it may be somewhat akin to an event we read of in the OT (2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13), when the ark of the covenant was being transported. This was a most sacred item, usually housed in the tabernacle within the Holy of Holies, the meeting place of God with man. On one occasion, when the ark was being transported on a cart …
1 Chronicles 13 …
13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza[h] put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
13:10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.
(cp.Numbers 4:15 – unauthorised people were not to touch any holy thing, or they would die)
It was an honourable intention, and Uzzah was zealous to serve the Lord, but he crossed a boundary he ought not to have crossed. In attempting to serve, he forgot the greater principle of God’s holiness and his law.
Where am I going with all of this? Well, the point I'm attempting to make is that, in our zeal to try to understand God's being, let’s not cross boundaries we ought not to cross, or take liberties we are not permitted to have. Only so much has been revealed about God’s being and nature, including His Holy Spirit. Let’s become familiar with what has been revealed, and be prepared to at some point say, “I believe what has been revealed; I may not understand it all, but praise God for what we can understand of Him”.
Gender
We’ve seen how the Spirit is said to display traits we associate with personality. I’d now like to make a few brief comments about the gender of the Greek word for spirit, pneuma. This involves grammar, and I’ll try to keep it short and not too technical.
In the NT, Greek words have genders, and the Greek word pneuma is a neuter noun, not masculine or feminine. It’s often said that this indicates that the Holy Spirit is a force less than God Himself – not masculine, but neuter – not a “He” but an “It”.
I'd like to make two brief comments about this:
(1) There’s more to it, but, in summary, John 16:13,14 reads:
v.13 “When he [ekeinos – masc.sing.; not ekeino which is neuter], the Spirit [neuter] of truth comes, he will guide you …
v.14 He [ekeinos – masc.sing.; not ekeino which is neuter] shall glorify Me …
In the English Bible versions, there is some interpretation as to whether some of the occurrences of “He” should be “He” or “It”, purely from a grammatical approach. However, these two examples in John 16:13,14 cannot be read any other way but “He”.
(2) In the OT, the Hebrew word for Spirit, ruach, is feminine. Verbs in Hebrew agree in gender with the nouns, but there is some flexibility with this when we have a phrase like “The Spirit of the LORD”. The word LORD (YHWH) is masculine, Spirit (ruach) is feminine. In this instance, the verb is usually feminine (agreeing with the feminine noun, ruach), but sometimes masculine (agreeing with the masculine noun YHWH). In other words, the gender of the relevant words in the original languages is not an indication of a greater theological truth. It is simply a function of the grammar of these languages that the word for "spirit" is in the neuter gender in Greek, and in the feminine gender in Hebrew.
Concluding thoughts …
So, in responding to the question, “Is the Holy Spirit the Third Person of the Trinity?”, I would remind us that the Spirit is equated with being God time and time again; however, the terms “person” and “trinity” to describe God’s being are generally well intentioned but can be a bit misleading, and perhaps not ultimately very helpful . We need a number of terms to help us build a more accurate picture of the Holy Spirit’s place in the Godhead ... and we should be aware that at some point we will have to admit that many things about the Spirit’s being and nature have not actually been revealed to us!
In this respect, it will help us to remember that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), and we should refrain from trying to apply human logic to things which are spiritual in nature, about which we have relatively little understanding or revelation.
(This is an outline only - there is greater detail in the audio message.)
In the previous study, we began considering a two-part question - Is the Holy Spirit the third Person of the Trinity? - and we focussed on one part of this question, namely, "Is the Holy Spirit part of the Trinity?"
In response, I would say that the Spirit is certainly part of the Being we know as God, but that God is bigger and more complex than the rather limiting concept of the Trinity. The term Trinity is not inaccurate, but it is not all-encompassing either.
In this study, we will discuss, the other part of the question, namely, "Is the Holy Spirit a Person?".
This is a difficult issue, and the only thing I can say for sure, is that I’m sure I don’t understand it fully! So the following thoughts about the Holy Spirit being a “person” are just that – i.e. my thoughts, and I concede that I may be wrong in some ways. As we have seen in a number of our studies so far, God has not revealed everything about Himself to us, so it is prudent to become familiar with what has been revealed first, before we begin to speculate, in order to draw conclusions.
Is the Holy Spirit a “person”? Some would say that the Holy Spirit is very much a person.
Like the term “trinity”, the word “person” does not ever occur in the Scriptures to describe God’s spirit, so if we’re going to use that term, let’s be sure it’s the right term to use.
We’re going to look at two issues tonight – “Person and Personality”, but we will begin by considering the personality aspect first.
Personality of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is shown to have traits of personality, and is not an IMpersonal force.
God’s Spirit is intangible, but nevertheless interacts with mankind in ways that we can equate with being a person.
READ John 14:16-18 – Counsellor, Helper, Advocate – these are not descriptions of an inanimate force
Some other examples of the Spirit interacting with mankind with traits of personality are below …
Acts 5:3,9 lying to the Holy Spirit – may be lied to and tested
Acts 5:30-32 - a witness
Acts 9:31 – comfort / encouragement
Acts 13:2 – Holy Spirit "speaks" (this is the only record I can find of the Holy Spirit’s words as quoted in a narrative section.)
Acts 13:4 – Holy Spirit “sent forth” Barnabas and Saul
Romans 8:26,27 - interceding
1 Cor 12:10,11 – dividing as He wills - a mere force does not have a will
Ephesians 4:30 – grieve not the Holy Spirit of God – a mere foce cannot be grieved. A similar example is found in Isaiah 63:10
Possibly also … 1 Timothy 4:1 – the Spirit speaks expressly
Hebrews 10:28,29 – offending the Spirit
All of the above are examples in Scripture of personality being displayed through the Holy Spirit.
The term “person” as used of the Holy Spirit
Despite the Holy Spirit displaying attributes of personality, the word “Person” is not actually a term I prefer to describe the Holy Spirit, as I think it conjures up too many images that are human-like, such as a figure standing or sitting. Notably, the word “person” does not ever occur in the Scriptures to describe God’s spirit. Christ was and is a person, because there is physically a human aspect of Him; but whether God the Father or God’s Spirit can be accurately called “persons”, is much more doubtful.
The term “person” comes from the Latin “persona”, and has the idea of being a mask – the inference being that in the person of the Holy Spirit, this is the side of God we see. But the reality extends beyond the same Being merely wearing a different face – there are physical differences, differences in roles and differences in activities.
While it is not incorrect to say that the Holy Spirit is just one of the faces God presents to us, it certainly isn’t the full picture.
The term “person”, as used of the Godhead, does not occur in the Scriptures – the only possible exception being where some translations place it in Hebrews 1:1-3. This passage has been used to show that God is a Person, so it is worth considering for a few moments ...
1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
1:3 in the KJV / NKJV says “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person (Gk: hypostasis)”.
Other versions say …
NIV – “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Gk: hypostasis)”
ASV – “who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance” (Gk: hypostasis)
Darby – who being the effulgence of his glory and the expression of his substance (Gk: hypostasis)
RSV – He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature (Gk: hypostasis)
The Greek word hypostasis is used for a wide variety of meanings in the Scriptures, with the root sense being “foundation” or “basis”.
upo = under; stasis = standing
By extension, it can refer to a range of meanings such as:
• "the foundation of a building" (i.e. that which is under the building),
• "the source of something"
• "substance/reality" as opposed to a semblance. (Ancient Greek usage – an image in a mirror is a reflection of the real item; i.e. a reflection of the hypostasis basis from which an image is reflected.)
• "understanding" – the basis or source of what might make us act in a certain way (hypostasis literally translates into English as “understand”)
• "confidence, assurance" – hypostasis is elsewhere translated with this sense in 2 Cor 9:4; 2 Cor 11:17. Hebrews 11:1; is a sensible rendering of hupostasis Hebrews 11:1 – “faith is the substance (hypostasis i.e. confidence) of things hoped for”. Here it is used in the sense of being the underlying reason for confidence, etc.
Going back to Hebrews 1:3, where some of the English translations seem to indicate that God is a person, we see that the verse not actually talking in terms of God being a person or not. Rather, it is saying that Christ is a visible expression of the invisible foundation or source that is God.
In theological circles, the word hypostasis is used in English as a word to describe the union of God and man in the “person” (hypostasis) of Jesus Christ. Many commentators call this “hypostatic union”. Although Christian commentators have been using the word in this sense since about the 4th Century, I believe that the word hypostasis has actually been incorrectly applied to Christ in that sense in Hebrews 1:3, for the reasons outlined above.
I find it hard to fathom the fact that God is united, but with distinctions such as Father, Son, Spirit.
Instead of the term “persons” to describe the different sides of God, the terms I tend to use are things like: aspects, facets manifestations, etc. instead.
In my opinion...
• Does the Holy Spirit show characteristics of personality?
I would say yes.
• Is the Holy Spirit a Person?
I would say that there are distinctions between the Spirit, the Father and the Son, each with their own unique roles, but the term “person” can be misleading.
A Noble Intention
The act of trying to understand God purely in terms of “Persons of the Trinity” is generally quite noble in intention. However, it may be somewhat akin to an event we read of in the OT (2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13), when the ark of the covenant was being transported. This was a most sacred item, usually housed in the tabernacle within the Holy of Holies, the meeting place of God with man. On one occasion, when the ark was being transported on a cart …
1 Chronicles 13 …
13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza[h] put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
13:10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.
(cp.Numbers 4:15 – unauthorised people were not to touch any holy thing, or they would die)
It was an honourable intention, and Uzzah was zealous to serve the Lord, but he crossed a boundary he ought not to have crossed. In attempting to serve, he forgot the greater principle of God’s holiness and his law.
Where am I going with all of this? Well, the point I'm attempting to make is that, in our zeal to try to understand God's being, let’s not cross boundaries we ought not to cross, or take liberties we are not permitted to have. Only so much has been revealed about God’s being and nature, including His Holy Spirit. Let’s become familiar with what has been revealed, and be prepared to at some point say, “I believe what has been revealed; I may not understand it all, but praise God for what we can understand of Him”.
Gender
We’ve seen how the Spirit is said to display traits we associate with personality. I’d now like to make a few brief comments about the gender of the Greek word for spirit, pneuma. This involves grammar, and I’ll try to keep it short and not too technical.
In the NT, Greek words have genders, and the Greek word pneuma is a neuter noun, not masculine or feminine. It’s often said that this indicates that the Holy Spirit is a force less than God Himself – not masculine, but neuter – not a “He” but an “It”.
I'd like to make two brief comments about this:
(1) There’s more to it, but, in summary, John 16:13,14 reads:
v.13 “When he [ekeinos – masc.sing.; not ekeino which is neuter], the Spirit [neuter] of truth comes, he will guide you …
v.14 He [ekeinos – masc.sing.; not ekeino which is neuter] shall glorify Me …
In the English Bible versions, there is some interpretation as to whether some of the occurrences of “He” should be “He” or “It”, purely from a grammatical approach. However, these two examples in John 16:13,14 cannot be read any other way but “He”.
(2) In the OT, the Hebrew word for Spirit, ruach, is feminine. Verbs in Hebrew agree in gender with the nouns, but there is some flexibility with this when we have a phrase like “The Spirit of the LORD”. The word LORD (YHWH) is masculine, Spirit (ruach) is feminine. In this instance, the verb is usually feminine (agreeing with the feminine noun, ruach), but sometimes masculine (agreeing with the masculine noun YHWH). In other words, the gender of the relevant words in the original languages is not an indication of a greater theological truth. It is simply a function of the grammar of these languages that the word for "spirit" is in the neuter gender in Greek, and in the feminine gender in Hebrew.
Concluding thoughts …
So, in responding to the question, “Is the Holy Spirit the Third Person of the Trinity?”, I would remind us that the Spirit is equated with being God time and time again; however, the terms “person” and “trinity” to describe God’s being are generally well intentioned but can be a bit misleading, and perhaps not ultimately very helpful . We need a number of terms to help us build a more accurate picture of the Holy Spirit’s place in the Godhead ... and we should be aware that at some point we will have to admit that many things about the Spirit’s being and nature have not actually been revealed to us!
In this respect, it will help us to remember that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), and we should refrain from trying to apply human logic to things which are spiritual in nature, about which we have relatively little understanding or revelation.
