THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON

by
Scott Jones

He may be a Spirit, but that doesn't mean that he is not REAL, or that he is not TANGIBLE -- TANGIBLE in the sense that he can be PERCEIVED and DISTINGUISHED and KNOWN and COMMUNICATED WITH more GENUINELY and more REALLY and more SUBSTANTIALLY and more DISTINCTIVELY than ANY other being. No indeed, don't EVER think of ANY reality apart from the Holy Spirit, for he is REALITY ITSELF, and then some, for it is IN HIM -- IN the Holy Spirit -- indeed, it is written that IN the Holy Spirit WE LIVE, AND MOVE, AND HAVE OUR BEING [Acts 17:28], and consequently the Holy Spirit is MORE TANGIBLE than ANY created being, and he is likewise MORE PERSONABLE than ANY created being. BAR NONE.

Can you recognize your father? Your mother? Your wife, your husband, your sister, your brother, your son, your daughter? Do you know them? Have you communicated with them? And they with you? The Holy Spirit can likewise be RECOGNIZED and KNOWN and COMMUNICATED with, only MORE CERTAINLY than ANY of these, and FAR MORE INTIMATELY. And I mean that just as LITERALLY as a runaway freight train.

But he does HIDE HIMSELF from ALL but a FEW. I say, the Holy Spirit HIDES HIMSELF from ALL but a FEW, and he who doubts this TRUTH has NO chance of EVER being one of those FEW, for he who doubts this TRUTH does not TRULY PRIZE the things of God, deceive himself though he may, and therefore he who doubts that the Holy Spirit HIDES HIMSELF from ALL but a FEW is he who possesses not even the BEGINNING of understanding, as the Scriptures do testify --

Though he HIDES HIMSELF from ALL but a FEW, yet, ALL that exists outside of the Godhead is nevertheless the IMMEDIATE EFFECT of the Holy Spirit's operations and undertakings. He may be a Spirit, but it is HIS action and HIS decrees IN PARTICULAR by which ALL that is PHYSICAL and ALL that is SPIRITUAL has been CREATED and BROUGHT FORTH, and thus it is BY HIM -- by the PERSON of the Holy Spirit -- that God the Father and God the Son PROJECT their POWER AND DOMINION over ALL that is. There is NOTHING outside of the Godhead itself that the Holy Spirit doesn't CONTROL by HIS IMMEDIATE POWER AND WILL. Nothing WHATSOEVER.

In other words, just as man is a TRINITY, made of spirit, soul, and body, and that in the IMAGE of God [1 Thessalonians 5:23], so God is a TRINITY [Matthew 28:19, 1 John 5:7], existing eternally in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and just as man's body, the third member of his being, is that by which he actually interacts with his physical environment through his body's physical properties, so the Spirit of God, even the Holy Spirit, who is the third member of the Godhead, is that SPIRIT by which GOD interacts with creation, both in the physical AND the spiritual realms [John 4:24].

Very simply put, therefore, the Holy Spirit proceeds FROM the Father, flows THROUGH the Son, and then ACTS BY HIS WILL in ALL dimensions of existence as he COMMUNICATES the decrees of both the Father and the Son to ALL spheres of creation, and his ACTS and COMMUNICATIONS penetrate and control both the PHYSICAL realm AND the SPIRITUAL realm, though he does not act APART from either the Father or the Son, but instead acts WITH both Father and Son TOGETHER in PERFECT CONCERT. Which is to say, Father, Son, and Spirit ALL have a UNITED WILL, and thus ALL ACT TOGETHER in UNISON as ONE SUPREME BEING, just as man in his spirit, soul, and body act together in UNISON as ONE CREATED BEING. And yet, the ONENESS of the Godhead is INFINITELY MORE COHESIVE than language or illustration can convey. In other words, the ONENESS of the Godhead is INFINITELY MORE COHESIVE than even the ONENESS of man in his tripartite nature of spirit, soul, and body.

But still, lest there be confusion on this point, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are nevertheless THREE DISTINCT PERSONS, or HYPOSTASES, yet who TOGETHER make up ONE ESSENTIAL GOD, which is to say, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are THREE DISTINCT PERSONS existing in ONE SIMPLE, SINGLE, UNBEGOTTEN, UNDIVIDED ESSENCE -- and it is this ESSENCE which accounts for the Godhead, for ANYTHING that is not of this ESSENCE cannot POSSIBLY be called GOD, though some unregenerate, deluded cults ignorantly and blasphemously promote the deity of man, not realizing thereby how feeble-minded they reveal themselves to be -- and so, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in the very ESSENCE of God, and accordingly their ONENESS is MORE COHESIVE than that of man in his tripartite nature of spirit, soul, and body. However, this COHESIVENESS of the THREE PERSONS of the Godhead is so MYSTERIOUS that ONLY the Godhead itself can FULLY comprehend it, so that no man, and no angel, will EVER FULLY understand the MYSTERY of the TRINITY. And if the TRINITY COULD be FULLY explained by angel or man, then God would not really be God, for in this case God could not possibly be INFINITE, not if he could be explained by angel or man, for the FINITE cannot comprehend the INFINITE. But fear not, for God is INFINITE indeed, and he is therefore not FULLY comprehended or FULLY knowable by ANY creature, nor will he EVER be. That's why the Son of God became flesh, so that God could be KNOWN by angel and man to the greatest extent that ANY creature can know God, for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, FULLY comprehends the Godhead in its FULLNESS [John 14:9, Colossians 2:9].

If you want to know what a man is like, you observe him, study him, and measure him. In the same manner, if you really want to know what God is like, you observe Jesus Christ, study Jesus Christ, and measure Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ is the very IMAGE of the invisible God [2 Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3].

And yet, just as Jesus Christ operated WHOLLY by the Holy Spirit when he was in the flesh, so it is BY THE HOLY SPIRIT that GOD interacts with his creation still, just as a man interacts with his environment by his body, except that the interaction of the Holy Spirit penetrates to the very SMALLEST elements of life and matter, so that there is NOTHING that is outside of his control, whether visible or invisible. Nothing WHATSOEVER, unlike a man who cannot control his environment, or other elements within his environment, though he can interact with it in a similar but severely restricted fashion compared to that of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, the unregenerate masses by and large perceive of, or equate, a spirit, or the spiritual realm, with a formless, diaphanous, shapeless, and indistinguishable conglomeration of they know not what, but the TRULY born again Christian knows better, having been exposed FIRST-HAND to the spiritual realm upon the MOMENT of his regeneration, and by thus having MET and COMMUNICATED WITH -- back and forth -- the PERSON of the Holy Spirit, and that more INTIMATELY and more KNOWINGLY and more SUBSTANTIALLY and more DISTINCTIVELY than ANY other person he has EVER encountered or communicated with. BAR NONE [John 14:16-17, John 16:7].

And as a matter of fact, this is the ONLY way you can KNOW that you are truly born again, KNOW that you are truly saved. Indeed, the ONLY way you can KNOW that you are TRULY born again, KNOW that you are TRULY saved, is BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, and NO OTHER WAY. No other way WHATSOEVER, and that includes the written Word of God. You CANNOT know you are TRULY saved by the written Word of God, and if that is your only guarantee that you are saved, then you are deluding yourself if you think you ARE saved. It is BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, and by the Holy Spirit ALONE, that you can KNOW that you are TRULY saved. There is NO OTHER WAY WHATSOEVER [2 Corinthians 1:22, 2 Corinthians 5:5, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:30].

And yet, how many times have the Scriptures been MUTILATED on this very point, such as that famous passage in 1 John 5:13, which states --

The unregenerate professing pastor, along with the mass of unregenerate professing Christians, think this verse gives them entrance into heaven, when it does no such thing. Not even close.

The unregenerate pastor and his unregenerate followers THINK that by making a mental commitment to Jesus Christ, and who thus "accept" Jesus as their Savour, or "make a decision" for Christ, or other human undertakings, indeed, they THINK that these motions and decisions make them a believer. I say, they THINK that these makes them a believer, but NOTHING could be FURTHER from the truth.

In fact, John, who authored the Epistle of 1 John, actually DEFINED the word BELIEVE, and he did so PREVIOUS to 1 John 5:13, and John's DEFINITION of the word BELIEVE has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with making a commitment to Jesus Christ, and thus NOTHING to do with "accepting" Jesus as their Saviour, or "making a decision" for Christ, or other human undertakings. No, John's DEFINITION of the word BELIEVE does not even REMOTELY match these PRESUMPTIONS by the unregenerate pastor and his unregenerate followers.

Which is why, once again, it is an INFALLIBLE TRUTH that NO MAN can accurately understand the Scriptures apart from the Holy Spirit HIMSELF, and this verse is just one of MANY examples of an unregenerate professing pastor or an unregenerate professing Christian MISCONSTRUING the biblical text because they are born of the FLESH, but NOT born of the Spirit.

Do you want to KNOW that you are saved? Do you want to KNOW that you TRULY BELIEVE in Jesus Christ? Then hear and understand John's DEFINITION of the word BELIEVE as described by him PREVIOUS to 1 John 5:13 --

It is only AFTER John SETS THIS STANDARD that John THEN asserts that those who BELIEVE are those -- and those ONLY -- who have actually MET THIS STANDARD, who have actually had a MANIFEST SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, which is to say, those who have been MANIFESTLY -- I say, MANIFESTLY -- those who have been MANIFESTLY INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, for that -- according to John -- is how you KNOW that you abide in Jesus Christ, and him in you. Indeed, it is -- according to John -- ONLY those who have been MANIFESTLY INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A MANIFEST SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE, and those ONLY, who John considers as those who BELIEVE. All others have a FLESHLY FAITH, not that SUPERNATURAL FAITH that is requisite for salvation in Jesus Christ, and which is bequeathed BY the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit HIMSELF comes MANIFESTLY UPON a man and INDWELLS HIM.

According to John, unless one has been MANIFESTLY INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF -- for that, according to John, is how you KNOW that you truly belong to Jesus Christ, and NO OTHER WAY -- yes indeed, unless one has been MANIFESTLY INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF, then in John's view he does NOT BELIEVE, for in order to BELIEVE, to BELIEVE SAVINGLY, the Holy Spirit must MANIFESTLY COME UPON YOU AND INDWELL YOU, and if that doesn't happen, then you do NOT meet the STANDARD of what it means to BELIEVE, not in the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ, for in the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit HIMSELF is the ONLY one who can bequeath SUPERNATURAL FAITH IMMEDIATELY to his elect, and therefore BEFORE one can BELIEVE -- SAVINGLY BELIEVE -- the Holy Spirit MUST COME UPON YOU.

Any man who thinks that he BELIEVES on Jesus Christ APART from the MANIFEST -- MANIFEST -- APART from the MANIFEST INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, is absolutely, utterly CLUELESS as to what constitutes GENUINE FAITH, SUPERNATURAL FAITH. Absolutely, utterly CLUELESS. It is no wonder that Spurgeon didn't know what faith TRULY was until the Holy Spirit MANIFESTLY CAME UPON HIM, nor is it a wonder that Whitefield and Bunyan didn't know what faith TRULY was until the Holy Spirit MANIFESTLY CAME UPON THEM a hundred and two hundred years before Spurgeon --

And he who can't give the EXACT SAME TESTIMONY is he who is UTTERLY DELUDING HIMSELF if he thinks he's born again, for the Holy Spirit SHOWS ALL whom he COMES UPON exactly what he SHOWED Spurgeon, and exactly what he SHOWED Whitefield, and exactly what he SHOWED Bunyan above, which is exactly what he SHOWS ALL whom he truly indwells. I say, the Holy Spirit SHOWS ALL whom he indwells what he SHOWED to Spurgeon, Whitefield, and Bunyan. There are no exceptions. Wait and see.

Make no mistake about it -- it is BY the Holy Spirit, and BY the Holy Spirit ALONE, that a man can KNOW that he is TRULY born again, TRULY saved, and NO OTHER WAY but BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. NOT by the written Word of God, NOT by the pastor, NOT by your obedience, NO OTHER WAY WHATSOEVER, but BY the Holy Spirit, and BY the Holy Spirit ALONE.

If the Holy Spirit has not COME UPON YOU, and has not MANIFESTLY -- MANIFESTLY -- MANIFESTLY INDWELT YOU, as described above -- I say, JUST AS DESCRIBED ABOVE -- then you have NO portion in Jesus Christ's kingdom, indeed, you will not set FOOT in Jesus Christ's kingdom, I don't care HOW LONG you profess to be a believer, and furthermore, if ALL you have is the testimony of the written Word of God, such as 1 John 5:13, and yet you do NOT have the MANIFEST SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF, I say, if ALL you have is 1 John 5:13, or other such misconstrued Scriptures, and yet you do NOT have the MANIFEST -- MANIFEST -- MANIFEST SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HIMSELF, then you are NOT saved, you are NOT born again, and you will NOT set FOOT in Jesus Christ's kingdom. Wait and see.

The unregenerate professing pastor and his unregenerate professing followers ALWAYS put the cart before the horse. ALWAYS. To wit, they make a mental commitment to Jesus Christ and then simply ASSUME that the Holy Spirit must have indwelt them. Such thinking is WHOLLY of the devil, who has blinded their minds to the TRUTH of the MANIFEST UNCTION of the Holy Spirit MANIFESTLY COMING UPON a man, and MANIFESTLY INDWELLING HIM, and SHOWING him that his OWN FAITH is nothing but a FLESHLY FAITH, a DAMNING FAITH, and that he needs SUPERNATURAL FAITH to go to heaven. The unregenerate professing pastor and his unregenerate professing followers ignore this TRUTH to their everlasting damnation, for the VERY Jesus they profess is the VERY Jesus who will say to them --

Which is why Jesus will call them "workers of iniquity", for ALL their preaching in the name of Jesus Christ, and ALL their works in profession of Jesus Christ, no matter how sincerely done, are nevertheless DEAD WORKS, UNREGENERATE WORKS, which are WHOLLY of the FLESH, and are therefore an ABOMINATION in the eyes of God, NO MATTER HOW SINCERELY DONE -- I say, NO MATTER HOW SINCERELY DONE. Wait and see. Indeed, the unregenerate professing pastor and his unregenerate professing followers have NO CLUE as to the REAL NATURE OF FAITH, and NO CLUE as to the REAL NATURE OF SPIRITUAL FRUIT --TRUE SPIRITUAL FRUIT. None WHATSOEVER.

And yet, even though the Holy Spirit is a person in his own right, just like the Father and the Son, yet when the Holy Spirit DOES come upon you, and DOES indwell you, he ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS comes IN THE NAME OF JESUS. ALWAYS [John 14:26, John 16:13-14]. Moreover, the Holy Spirit is SO ALIKE Jesus that you CANNOT tell the difference between them. Not a chance, not even REMOTELY. The ONLY way you can know that it is the Holy Spirit who has actually indwelt you, instead of Jesus in his VERY OWN PERSON, is by the testimony of the Scripture, for the Holy Spirit speaks with the very VOICE of Jesus HIMSELF, and the Holy Spirit manifests the very PRESENCE of Jesus HIMSELF, and WHEN the Holy Spirit actually SPEAKS, he does NOT merely RELAY the words of Jesus, but he actually SPEAKS the VERY WORDS of Jesus HIMSELF, and that with the very VOICE of Jesus HIMSELF, which is why Jesus said "my sheep hear MY voice" [John 10:27] -- a VOICE which is HEARD in the SPIRIT of a TRULY REGENERATE Christian, NOT in the MIND, but in the SPIRIT, for the REGENERATE spirit has a NEWLY CREATED FACULTY OF HEARING, and that FACULTY -- a FACULTY OF the SPIRIT -- is MORE ACUTE than ANY human faculty, BAR NONE.

Indeed, the UNREGENERATE spirit of a man CANNOT hear, for the UNREGENERATE spirit of man has NO FACULTY for HEARING, none WHATSOEVER, though the UNREGENERATE man can sometimes hear in his SOUL, and he MISTAKES this for his SPIRIT, but nevertheless, the UNREGENERATE spirit CANNOT hear, does NOT possess a FACULTY for hearing, for the spirit of an UNREGENERATE man is a DEAD spirit, unlike the TRULY REGENERATED SPIRIT, which is ALIVE and which DOES possess a NEWLY CREATED FACULTY FOR HEARING, and thus the TRULY REGENERATE CHRISTIAN can likewise DISTINGUISH between his SPIRIT and his SOUL [Hebrews 4:12], as ALL who are TRULY REGENERATE know, and KNOW INFALLIBLY. Conversely, it is IMPOSSIBLE apart from the testimony of the Scriptures to make a distinction between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, as ALL who are GENUINELY born of the Spirit KNOW, and that INFALLIBLY, which is why you find in GENUINE personal testimonies that it is often Jesus HIMSELF that is referred to as the person who actually indwells the new believer, for it is the PRESENCE OF JESUS HIMSELF that the Holy Spirit MANIFESTS AND CONVEYS, and it is the VOICE OF JESUS HIMSELF with which the Holy Spirit speaks. And once again, there is not a GENUINELY born again Christian on this planet who cannot testify INFALLIBLY to this VERY EXPERIENCE. Not one.

That's why Peter testified that it was the Spirit of CHRIST who spake in the prophets [1 Peter 1:11], and why Paul could say that it was JESUS CHRIST who lived within him [Galatians 2:20, &c], and who in the same verse could say that it was the FAITH OF CHRIST by which he lived, for the FAITH OF CHRIST is transmitted THROUGH the Holy Spirit and therefore actually becomes the FAITH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, which is GIVEN SUPERNATURALLY to ALL he indwells upon the MOMENT of regeneration -- and by the way, modern "bibles" have GROSSLY BLUNDERED in this verse and others by MISTRANSLATING the preposition and calling it "faith IN Christ" instead of what the Holy Spirit actually wrote, and what is DOCTRINALLY TRUE, to wit, "the faith OF Christ", for it is the faith OF Christ by which the GENUINELY born again believer lives, for the GENUINELY born again believer lives by a SUPERNATURAL FAITH, unlike the unregenerate professing Christian and unregenerate modern "bible" translators who live by their OWN FLESHLY FAITH -- and so, this ALIKENESS of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is also why Paul could likewise testify that the Holy Spirit HIMSELF is the LORD [2 Corinthians 3:17], a title usually reserved for Jesus, and so on, because, as I said, it is IMPOSSIBLE apart from the testimony of the Scriptures to make a distinction between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Absolutely, utterly IMPOSSIBLE.

My friend, I've just covered the basics here, and yet, if you cannot HONESTLY and LEGITIMATELY testify to this EXPERIENCE, as noted by myself and the others quoted above, then you have NEVER been born of the Spirit, and consequently, if you were to appear before God at this moment, he would be no better to you than a CONSUMING FIRE. You have been warned, and you have just heard TRUE TRUTH. And yet, I have this to tell you still...

I tell you -- and I call Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to record against that day I stand before the Lord Jesus at his judgment seat -- indeed, I tell you that Jesus Christ can be KNOWN, and KNOWN more INTIMATELY than ANY other person in existence. Jesus Christ is not only the source of all life, he is likewise the sustainer and dispenser of all life, and he is therefore capable of making HIMSELF MANIFEST to his ELECT more certainly than any created being can make himself known to you, exactly as he has promised in [John 14:21-23], and numerous other passages.

If you will not prize your soul above ALL ELSE, you will NEVER be granted a SAVING audience with Jesus Christ. Blind Bartimaeus, as recorded in the gospels, would be saved at all costs. Will you be saved at all costs? If you will not be saved at all costs, you will not be saved by Jesus Christ at all.

Would you be born again? GENUINELY born again?

Then take wise counsel -- pick up a Bible based on the Traditional Text -- in English, the ONLY VALID Bible based on the Traditional Text is the King James Bible -- and then read with SOLEMNITY, beginning in the Gospels preferably, and beg Jesus Christ to reveal himself to you, and give him no rest until he does, for if you read the TRUE written Word of God, you will find the Lord of Glory, even Jesus Christ, moving upon the face of the waters in its pages, just as he moved upon the face of the waters when he walked across the Sea of Galilee, and if you follow the advice just given, and if you persist, Jesus Christ HIMSELF will verily MANIFEST HIMSELF to you (for he HIMSELF promises to do this for those who truly heed this advice), just as he MANIFESTED HIMSELF to his disciples when he moved upon the face of the waters as he walked across the stormy sea some two thousand years ago, and just as he did with ME not too many years ago, and just as he has done with a FEW others from day to day since that time, in this very generation, and just as he will do for YOU if -- IF -- you heed my advice, and if -- IF -- you persist therein, for he who promised is FAITHFUL. John 14:21-23, Matthew 14:25-27
 

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FAIR WARNING!