Jesus is God

[BlaznFattyz]

God is the creator of all things
Job 33:4, "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life."
Isaiah 40:28, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom."
Jesus is the creator of all things
John 1:3, "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
Col. 1:16-17, "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
So thru creation we see that God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

God is the first (alpha) and the last (omega)
Isaiah 41:4, "Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD -- with the first of them and with the last -- I am he."
Isaiah 44:6, "This is what the LORD says -- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."
Isaiah 48:12, "Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last."
Jesus is the first (alpha) and the last (omega)
Rev. 1:17, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.’"
Rev. 2:8, "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again."
Rev. 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
Both God and Jesus are the first (alpha) and last (omega).

God is I AM.
Exodus 3:14, "God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"
Isaiah 43:10, "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me."
Jesus is I AM
John 8:24, "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (NKJV)
John 8:58, "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" See Exodus 3:14
John 13:19, "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He."
Both God and Jesus are I AM.

God is judge
Joel 3:12, "Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side."
Rom. 14:10, "You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat."
Jesus is judge
2 Tim. 4:1, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge..."
2 Cor. 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."
God and Jesus are both judge; therefore both are God. Furthermore God the Father has given this judgement to the Son who is above all things.

God is King.
Jer. 10:10, "But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath."
Isaiah 44:6-8, "This is what the LORD says -- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."
Jesus is King
Matt. 2:2, "...Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
Luke 23:3, "So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied."
Both God and Jesus are King, both are worshiped, they are both first and last; both are the one true living God.

God is light.
Psalm 27:1, "The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear?"
Isaiah 60:20 ,"our sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end."
1 John 1:5, "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."
Jesus is light.
John 8:12,"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Luke 2:32, "a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
Both God and Jesus are light for the people who hear his voice and those who follow will not stumble.

God is the rock.
Deut. 32:4, "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."
Jesus is the rock
1 Cor. 10:, "...for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ."
Both God and Jesus are the rock of salvation. Those who build upon this rock have a sturdy foundation, and their house will not fall.

God is the shepherd
Psalm 23:1, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want."
Isaiah 40:11, "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."
Jesus is the shepherd
John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
Heb. 13:20, "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,"
Both God and Jesus are the shepherd.

God is salvation
Isaiah 43:3, "For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior"
Isaiah 45:21, "...And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me."
Jesus is salvation
John 4:24, "They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.’"
1 John 4:14, "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world."
Both God and Jesus are salvation. The Word of God whom the Father sent became man and layed down his life so that we may have life in his glorious name. He is the Saviour of the world and there is no other. Jesus is light, everlasting life, our saviour, king of kings, lord of lords, YHWH, alpha and omega, the shepherd. the rock, I AM, judge, and creator. There is no other name under heaven thru which we are saved and no one can pluck us from his hand. Jesus is God to the Glory of the Faher. Amen.

 

[path_of_one]

Thanks- I like this. I will print it out, actually, and keep it. It's succinct and scriptural, and great for bringing up the parallels.

 

[flowperson]

Or, as I extrapolated the discussions from another threa,. G-d is the octave above, the holy spirit is the octave below, and Jesus is the octave with us in the middle as we live. All in all the three being, 888, three octaves, the three into one, the trinity, the music of life.

This is what Pythagoras led us all to back in the day presaging our use of mathematics in our lives. And this is reflective of really ancient beliefs concerning the similarity of what is below with what is above, and how they interact with each other to create our realities.

Just my two cents worth.

flow....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet

 

[China Cat Sunflower]

Well, I'd have to say that while the connections on the NT-OT axis are deliberate, they don't prove anything beyond the NT authors intent to tie Jesus to OT themes and concepts. But if we accept the claims made about Jesus by his "biographers", then I can't really see any way not to have him be some permutation of God to be all the things he's supposed to be. I'm not sure how Jesus could manage to be the Logos without being one of the Godhead, and a triangle shaped triune Godhead makes perfect sense at that level of the heavenly hierarchy.

Chris

 

[lunamoth]

Very nice Blazn.

 

[dailogue is the best]

Hello everybody,
thank you for your interesting post.....but, I have a simple question: the sun is three: a planet, fire and light. Can we consider fire sun? can we consider light sun? can we? are nt they just sun's manifestation?

 

[path_of_one]

Actually, the sun is not a planet. It is a star, basically a big ball of hot gasses.

I think comparing the sun and God is kind of like comparing well, the sun and an apple. Or a flower and the ocean. They are not good analogies for each other.

The sun manifests heat and light, yes. And no, heat and light are not the same thing as the sun. But how is that a good example for God? That's where you lose me.

 

[bible_reader]

" Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. " (Mark 10:18)

" he learnt obedience, Son though he was, through his sufferings; " (Hebrews 5:8)

" Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " (John 20:17)

" 'But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father. " (Mark 13:32)

" May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. " (Ephesians 1:17)

" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and the God who gives every possible encouragement; " (2 Corinthians 1:3)

Are Christians promoting a form of Polytheism with their Trinity Doctrine?

" 28 Father, glorify your name! A voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will again glorify it.'

29 The crowd standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, 'It was an angel speaking to him.' " (John 12:28-29)

" You heard me say: I am going away and shall return. If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. " (John 14:28)

" Yahweh declared to my Lord, Take your seat at my right hand, till I have made your enemies your footstool. " (Psalms 110:1)

" 'In all truth I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him. " (John 13:16)

" He was trustworthy to the one who appointed him, just like Moses, who remained trustworthy in all his household; " (Hebrews 3:2)

" It is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after he had given his verdict to release him. " (Acts 3:13)

" A revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him so that he could tell his servants what is now to take place very soon; he sent his angel to make it known to his servant John, " (Revelation 1:1)

" When everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who has subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all. " (1 Corinthians 15:28)

" During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, with loud cries and with tears, to the one who had the power to save him from death, and, winning a hearing by his reverence, " (Hebrews 5:7)

" 'For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified. " (Acts 2:36)

 

[juantoo3]

If there is one thing on this earth that I know without a doubt, it is that I do not know.

 

[dailogue is the best]

Hello everybody,

sorry for losing you, Path of one....I didnt mean to..... My idea is clear and simple: God is one and only.....Jesus (pbuh) is God's messanger and prophet, and the Holy Spirit is one of God's angels...but they aren't the same as God.....Jesus (pbuh) and the Holy Spirit are God's manifestation and creation..(look at Bible Reader's post who thankfully provided us with Quotations wherein Jesus (pbuh) declared that he is only God's messanger, and not God...

the sun is a star ( thanks for correction), heat and light. heat and light come from the sun, but they aren't the same as the sun.....the same with God...God created Jesus(pbuh) and the Holy Spirit, but they aren't the same as God.....they are God's manifestation and creation

I hope my idea is clear now, sister Path of One

God bless you,sister
sis, DB

 

[mee]

Hello everybody,

sorry for losing you, Path of one....I didnt mean to..... My idea is clear and simple: God is one and only.....Jesus (pbuh) is God's messanger and prophet, and the Holy Spirit is one of God's angels...but they aren't the same as God.....Jesus (pbuh) and the Holy Spirit are God's manifestation and creation..(look at Bible Reader's post who thankfully provided us with Quotations wherein Jesus (pbuh) declared that he is only God's messanger, and not God...



the sun is a star ( thanks for correction), heat and light. heat and light come from the sun, but they aren't the same as the sun.....the same with God...God created Jesus(pbuh) and the Holy Spirit, but they aren't the same as God.....they are God's manifestation and creation

I hope my idea is clear now, sister Path of One

God bless you,sister
sis, DB

holy spirit

The general opinion in Christendom is that the holy spirit is a person, "the third person of the Trinity," coequal and coeternal with God. Does the Bible show the holy spirit to be a person? If not, then what is it?


What, then, is the holy spirit? It is not a person. Rather, it is God’s own active force, used by him to accomplish his will. (Genesis 1:2)

 

[mee]

If there is one thing on this earth that I know without a doubt, it is that I do not know.

Jesus said,
This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ. John 17;3

the true God is Jehovah ,and the one he sent forth is his son Jesus christ

 

[Saltmeister]

Hello everybody,

God is one and only.....Jesus (pbuh) is God's messanger and prophet, and the Holy Spirit is one of God's angels...but they aren't the same as God.....Jesus (pbuh) and the Holy Spirit are God's manifestation and creation..(look at Bible Reader's post who thankfully provided us with Quotations wherein Jesus (pbuh) declared that he is only God's messanger, and not God...

Hey, "dailogue is the best."

The Holy Spirit in Christianity isn't an angel. If It or He was, the NT would say so, but it does not. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. God creates angels, but He does not create His own Spirit. He blows and breathes it (metaphorically). The Spirit belongs to God personally. I don't make or create my own breath. Breathing is one of my natural abilities. The Spirit likewise is something that God naturally produces. It's not God-made. The Spirit is not a part of Creation. Moreover, God Himself is a Spirit, so God and the Spirit that God "breathes" are actually the same thing.

We simple use different names to describe what the entity is doing. If the entity is acting like someone who makes decisions and gives orders we call it God. If it acts like a wind that blows into people's hearts we call it the Spirit.

Since as I have just said, we use different names to describe what the same entity is doing, there is no definition for "God" or "Spirit." God refers to an entity with the highest authority. The Spirit refers to an entity that acts like a wind or breath that blows into people's hearts, and implicitly this Spirit is the mind-blowing wind of the highest authority (God). Yes it's mind-blowing (pun intended) lol.

The Holy Spirit is itself a metaphorical depiction of something God does. God blows spiritual wind into people's minds.

The angels themselves, like God, are spirits. We call them angels when we refer to their position of authority or role as messengers, but we call them either good spirits or evil spirits depending on whether the kind of wind they blow into people's minds causes them to serve a good or evil agenda. That is much like the reason why God is called the Holy Spirit, because the wind of this Spirit we call God inspires a holy, not an unholy agenda.

 

[Joedjr]

Hi,
Round and round and round it goes. I suppose it will never end, perhaps only maybe with the end. It's very sad that there is no second witness to the NT, it surely would help with insight to some of the more complex writings.
I think one of the best that a person can do for oneself is: read the bible -> every page <-. Pick your favorite translation, preferably one that has no commentary, leave the volumes from church fathers on the shelf. If you read something confusing, set it aside, come back later and address it. Pray, ask G-d for help in understanding. Try to digest each chapter. Maybe you'll see things as always, or then again you could be blessed with a new insight. Perhaps you'll find yourself a better Way.

.02
Joe

 

[dailogue is the best]

salam dear brethren,
thanks for explanation....I m very gratefull for that...in the Holy Quran, God mentions the Holy Spirit in the following verse: "We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Apostles, We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear (signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit...{2:87}

what is the "holy spirit" by which Jesus was srengthened? here it is an explanation by Yusuf Ali, a Muslim scholar:"Jesus is `no more than a man. It is`against reason and revelation to call him God or the son of God.He is called the son of Maryto emphasize this. H e had no known human father, as his birth was miraculous. but it isnt this which raises him to his high spiritual position as a prophet , but because God called him to his office. the praise is due to God, Who by His word gave him spiritual strength-" strengthened him with the holy spirit." the miracle which surround his story relate not only to his birth and his life and death, but also to his mother Mary and his precursor Yahya. These were the " Clear Signs" which he brought.It was those who misunderstood who obscured his clear Signs and surrounded him with mysteries of their invention"

So, Yusuf Ali agrees too that the Holy Spirit is God's spirit. My question is: is the Holy Spirit God in itself or just a part of God? can we consider it God in itself? that's my question.

God bless you all,

 

[BlaznFattyz]

My question is: is the Holy Spirit God in itself or just a part of God? can we consider it God in itself? that's my question.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of Elohim, the one true living God.
He is called God:
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
He is called Spirit
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
He is called Spirit of God
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
He is called Spirit of the Lord
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
He is called Comforter and Spirit of truth
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
He is called eternal Spirit
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
He is called the Holy Ghost
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
He is omnipresent

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?​

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
The work of Christ and the body of Christ is willed by the Holy Spirit
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
The Spirit loves
30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
The Spirit speaks
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
The Spirit grieves
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
The Spirit raises the dead
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

It is for these and many, many other reasons and attributes that the Holy Spirit is a person yet is also God. For what God wills, the Holy Spirit wills, what only God can do, the Holy Spirit can do The attributes and names of God the Holy Spirit has also.

 

[path_of_one]

What, then, is the holy spirit? It is not a person. Rather, it is God’s own active force, used by him to accomplish his will. (Genesis 1:2)

I'll sound out an "Amen" to juantoo3's "I know what I do not know" statement.

At the end of the day, I just don't think this sort of debate matters, but it's interesting intellectually. I experience God as I experience Him, and all the various doctrines that define God in the world just aren't as important as my personal walk with God and what I do with Christ's message.

I can understand the sun comment, I just don't think anything much in creation makes a good analogy for God. I think Creation points toward God, but can't help us define Him, because He is not something we can fully understand and define.

As for the Holy Spirit and mee's comment... I'd ask, if God is non-corporeal (Spirit), what is the difference between a person and a force?

Also, most trinitarians do not see the "three persons" as separate beings. That is the mystery- they are three AND one. They are not like a council of three people that sit around and discuss with each other, but rather have complete unity, with but One will. Like saying "God is love," it points to the mystery that is God and invites us to engage it, experience it, commune with it. For myself, the trinity is a way to meditate on the mystery of God and acknowledge that "I do not know" and I cannot grasp or define Him, for He is far beyond me. The trinity is not a definition of God for me. It is an invitation to wonder at the mystery that is God.

 

[Bruce Michael]

Does John 20:28 say in the literal Greek that Jesus is “the God” of Thomas?
John 20:28 (Young's Literal Translation)
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

28 And Thomas answered and said to him, `My Lord and my God;'

 

[Saltmeister]

It is`against reason and revelation to call him God or the son of God.He is called the son of Maryto emphasize this. H e had no known human father, as his birth was miraculous.

Well, isn't "Son of God" just a title?

According to John 1:13 we can all be sons of God anyway, and Jesus may simply have been one of them.

So, Yusuf Ali agrees too that the Holy Spirit is God's spirit. My question is: is the Holy Spirit God in itself or just a part of God? can we consider it God in itself? that's my question.

The question in my view should not be if the Holy Spirit is a part of God as I said that there is no definition of God nor of the Holy Spirit. "Holy Spirit" does not define God and there is no definition for God Himself. "God" and "Holy Spirit" are just names used to describe the experience of the early Christians and their spiritual journey. I doubt if the early Christians were even interested if the "Holy Spirit" was a part of God. They used the name "God" to refer to the supreme authority and "Holy Spirit" to refer to the Spirit of that supreme authority. Moreover, the word "spirit" is a term that describes the activities of divine beings as much like that of the wind.

"God" and "Holy Spirit" are just names and I don't think Christianity needs to go further than just using the names as they don't refer specifically to anything concrete, although they do identify the same supreme entity. It's just that they refer to the same supreme entity performing different roles. The Trinity concept was introduced for the purposes of apologetics and in response to Arianism, but it doesn't define the God of Christianity nor the Holy Spirit because there was never a definition in the first place. The Nicene Creed was a creed formulated in response to Arius' creed. But nobody said we needed to become intellectually dependent on this creed.

I can refer to a government as a system of laws and institutions, a political system or a body of people making decisions for a country. It's the same thing but it's just that I'm using different words to identify the government or political system.

A religion can be called an ideology, philosopy, way of life, way of thinking or school of thought.

In all these examples, the words "government" or "religion" don't define the concept you address. They simply put it in context in a conversation or when explaining something. You use the words as like "containers of meaning." The meaning of the word "God" implies the supreme and ultimate authority. The meaning of the term "Holy Spirit" implies a Spirit (wind) that is holy.

Apart from that there is no further information offered by the word except how it is used in Scripture. It is legitimate for Muslims to think of the Holy Spirit as an angel if their Scripture says that, but that doesn't define "Holy Spirit" for Christians if their Scripture never says that. Again, it depends on how "Holy Spirit" is used in the New Testament. "Holy Spirit" is never defined in the New Testament, so we have to look at the many ways the term was used to decide what it might mean, and it may not even have a concrete meaning.

"Holy Spirit" doesn't define God as a wind that blows. It's just a way of thinking of Him. It's just a tool of understanding. God certainly isn't a wind in the sense of the movement or flow of air, but we can use that as a metaphor. We can say that you can't see the wind, but you can see what it does, and it's similar with God. God can be thought of as a spiritual force but that doesn't mean that God is defined by mathematical laws as with electrostatic forces and gravity. Again, just a metaphor.

The words we use in a religion don't define reality. They describe reality. It may seem ridiculous that to Muslims the Holy Spirit is an angel, but to Christians It/He is God. But I see no problem with that. "Holy Spirit" is just a term we use to identify something. Obviously "Holy Spirit" means different things in Islam compared to Christianity. If we argued over the meaning of "Holy Spirit" we're not really arguing over the concepts it represents, but our own use of names.

Think of it this way, God and the Holy Spirit, whether they are the same or not existed before we formulated, chose or introduced the names identifying them/it/He.

 

[mee]

As for the Holy Spirit and mee's comment... I'd ask, if God is non-corporeal (Spirit), what is the difference between a person and a force?
quote]



Does

the Bible teach that the "Holy Spirit" is a person?​

Some individual texts that refer to the holy spirit ("Holy Ghost," KJ) might seem to indicate personality. For example, the holy spirit is referred to as a helper (Greek, pa·ra´kle·tos; "Comforter," KJ; "Advocate," JB, NE) that ‘teaches,’ ‘bears witness,’ ‘speaks’ and ‘hears.’ (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26; 16:13) But other texts say that people were "filled" with holy spirit, that some were ‘baptized’ with it or "anointed" with it. (Luke 1:41; Matt. 3:11; Acts 10:38) These latter references to holy spirit definitely do not fit a person. To understand what the Bible as a whole teaches, all these texts must be considered. What is the reasonable conclusion? That the first texts cited here employ a figure of speech personifying God’s holy spirit, his active force, as the Bible also personifies wisdom, sin, death, water, and blood. ​

THE Bible’s use of "holy spirit" indicates that it is a controlled force that Jehovah God uses to accomplish a variety of his purposes. To a certain extent, it can be likened to electricity, a force that can be adapted to perform a great variety of operations.

​