Module 7: The Holy Spirit

We have looked at the Father, the Supreme Source of all things. We have looked at the Son, His literal, begotten Word, who is equally divine. Now we come to the third name in the biblical list, and the one about which the modern church is most deeply divided.

Is the Holy Spirit a third divine Person? An impersonal force? A mere influence?

If we follow the creeds of men, we are told to believe in "God the Holy Spirit," a third co-equal person standing between us and Jesus. But if we follow the plain words of Scripture, a entirely different, far more beautiful reality emerges. As we explored in The Indwelling Hope, the Holy Spirit is not a third person managing things on earth while Jesus stays in heaven. The Holy Spirit is the Father's own Spirit, given to us through the Son. It is the personal, living presence of both the Father and the Son dwelling directly within the believer.

When we receive the Spirit, we are not receiving a proxy. We are receiving Christ Himself.

In this module, we will test the "third person" view against the strongest biblical evidence, including the passages that seem to say the Spirit acts as a person. We will discover that the Bible never once uses the phrase "God the Holy Spirit," but it repeatedly commands us to receive the "Spirit of Christ."