Christian Church of God, Grand Junction, Colorado Statement #1 page two
present day. From these early Councils, politically driven theo-logical dogmas emerged that blended concepts drawn from ancient Paganism and Gnosticism with those drawn from Scripture, melding them into a result that sought to accommodate the pre-existing Judaic monotheistic belief system. The resulting blend was only partly correct and ultimately divided the Christian world’s various cults, drawing a curtain over any proper understanding the greater Christian world might hope to have as to the true Nature of God. Defining God's Spirit as a Person, like the Father and Son, imposes limits on our ability to fully fathom the full essence of that Power which provides the existence of all things, both material and non-material, animate and inanimate. (Acts 17:28)
Spirit is the dimension in which both the Father and the Son exist. Spirit provides the means of existence of all the hosts of Heaven and the means of existence of the vast angelic realm, both the faithful and the fallen, and is the essence which gives us the ability to have conscious thought, what we call the spirit in man. (Job 32:8; Eccl. 3:21 & 12:7) God’s Spirit is also the Power through which He can communicate His thoughts into our natural minds, transforming our minds to create in us His righteous character when we allow ourselves to be led of His Spirit.
God, however, will not place His Holy Spirit into a contaminated vessel -- which we all are by reason of sin. (See Statement #9) We must be cleansed daily by the washing of the water of the Word, and by continually confessing our sins (1 John 1:9). We must rely upon the ongoing intercession of our High Priest (Heb. 7:25 & 8:1) who officiates before the Throne of God continually on our behalf.
Who sustains the Universe and by what Power? (Gen. 1:2) What provides the power of existence to all the Heavenly Hosts? They also exist in and of spirit. Is there some other spirit in addition to the Holy Spirit, or is there only one greater aura of Spirit? When we are changed into our immortal Spirit form at the Last Trump, of what Spirit will we then be? If we are to become partakers of His Divine Nature (2nd Pet. 1:4) and if He IS Spirit, then do we become composed of and ‘quickened’ (sustained in immortal life) by that same Spirit? We are destined to be conformed to the image of His Son; and when that occurs, we will enter the Spirit dimension and be like Him -- of Spirit, able to see Him as He is! What Spirit will that be? These are profoundly essential questions. As we can see, there are important considerations that need to be addressed before we can understand the Power of Almighty God, and even more than that, how it can transform our lives.
When we diminish God’s Spirit into just a ‘third person’ of a triune family of Beings, we consign our full comprehension of that power to a state of inadequacy.
God IS Spirit: Something well established in Scripture. (John 4:24) He IS Spirit, and we must worship Him in Spirit and Truth. But, what does this mean? That statement isn’t referring to the Holy Spirit as a distinct Being or as the object of our worship. If referring to any specific Being, it must refer to the Father.
Now, if we're to worship Him in Spirit AND in Truth, shouldn’t we strive to correctly identify what that Truth is? Can we arrive at the Truth using ideas constructed by men with theological and political agendas dramatically different from that of the early New Testament church? We should know what they believed. We have their writings in the form of the New Testament.
From the words of Christ, we know that He existed with the Father from the beginning. He spoke with Abraham. Moses wrote extensively of Him. (John 5:46) Paul affirmed that the Being who led Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness wanderings was the One who became Christ. (1st Cor. 10:4) Christ affirmed that any audible or visible manifestation of God was not the Father! (John 5:37) Christ affirmed that He was not alone but that the Father was the other of TWO witnesses of the fact of His being sent by the Father and was doing His express will! (John 5:31-38 & 8:16) Further evidence of a clear distinction between the two Beings in the Godhead and their having separate mentalities is the separation of jurisdiction between Judgment (John 5:22) and the prerogative of prophetic timing (Matt. 24:36) existing between the Father and the Son. Even Christ wasn’t privy at that point in time to the timing of certain events, nor were the angels of God. The Father and the Son, therefore, could not be one-and-the-same Being! However, they are of the same Spirit.
Both the Father and Son exist in and of the Spirit. It is the power by which they exist and the power by which they have created all that exists and by which they sustain the Universe. There is One Spirit, though it is manifest in many operations.
Not only in a creating and sustaining capacity, but God’s Spirit is the agency through which God imparts instinct to animals and cognitive consciousness to humans. We are created in their images (Gen. 1:26) not only physically, but mentally by the spirit we possess which distinguishes us from animals. That spirit in us, though capable of independent decision-making, also has the capability of intercommunicating on a Spirit plane level with the very Mind of God. Receiving His Spirit allows us to be re-created in our natures to become His very sons as well. (John 1:12) We may also develop the Mind of Christ by the Spirit He provides us. We see the Father able to project the Spirit of His Son unto us (Gal. 4:6). This illustrates the singularity of Spirit that exists between the two Beings in the Godhead. (1st Cor. 12:8)
Hebrews chapter one further represents the duality of Beings in the Godhead. Verse three shows two ways these two Beings are identical; then shows two ways they are distinct; then shows one sitting at the right hand of the other! A verse that caused great consternation among monotheistic Jews of that day. The sitting at the right hand of the Father passage was a reference to the “two Beings” spoken of by King David in Psalm 110:1. David recognized THE LORD in contrast with His Lord! Something a person of ‘Unitarian’ persuasion would find disconcerting. This very implication (quoted together with Dan. 7:13) is what allowed Christ to provoke His timely death sentence! (Mark 14:62, etc.)