{"id":13442,"date":"2007-12-24T20:47:04","date_gmt":"2007-12-25T02:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=13442"},"modified":"2019-10-18T20:58:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-19T01:58:38","slug":"the-spirit-cannot-be-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-spirit-cannot-be-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The spirit cannot be God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n
\n

[Note: This has been severely reduced from the original because it was too long and filled with twisted usage of the Scriptures. I am only presenting a summary so you can get the gist of the arguments made.]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The spirit cannot be God.<\/p>\n

If your congregation is singing praises to the holy spirit, you are doing something that not found in the New Testament. Let us speak where the Bible speaks, and silent where it’s silent. Also, are you robbing the Father of His glory of being the only true God?<\/p>\n

How can Christ be a God in the same sense as the God he learned from before coming to earth; and since he did not come “from himself? Christ teaches us that his God and Father and our God and Father is the one who sent him; showing he is not the same “one God” who sent him or the “one God” he is speaking for. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” John 3:16. How many persons is this God? Did Christ give his Son? Thus, we know it’s talking about the Father who so loved the world. Christ was God’s Son before coming to earth, as the passages above clearly show.<\/p>\n

Plus, Christ went far above the heavens going back to be with his God, while the spirit that he sent is on earth.\u00a0 Lying to the spirit is the same as lying to God because It’s the spirit who is revealing our thoughts to God who is in heaven. I say this because most people quote Act 5:3-4 as the one passage that they say calls the spirit God.\u00a0 If the spirit was God, there would be more than one passage showing he is God, and that we should worship him.<\/p>\n

In the future heavenly City:\u00a0\u00a0The Glory of God is the light and the lamp is the Lamb. Why is the spirit not in the following passages, if he is God? Where is the spirit in the future heavenly city? What does he do in the future city? Thus, he cannot be God in the heavenly city!<\/p>\n

The spirits can go anyplace man can go. This does not mean that any one spirit is everywhere, but everywhere man can go! If the Father is not everywhere in person, then surely an angel, or spirit, is not everywhere??? Why have many spirits, or angels, doing something, if one spirit can do it all? Like many angels were helping Christ when he was on earth. If one spirit was everywhere and had all power; there would be no need for many angels. Why should Christ call 12000 angels?\u00a0 Plus, when Christ goes back to heaven, he will send the spirit. If he does not go, the spirit will not come. Jn 16:7 Does this sound like the spirit is everywhere? There is no passage that tells us that any one spirit is everywhere?<\/p>\n

This is the angel of Revelation 14:6; 1:1 who guided the churches unto all truth. John 16:13 Who gave John the little book, the word of God. A holy angel is a spirit, thus a holy spirit. Hebrews 1:14 Who spoke the truth because he was not speaking for himself. John 16:13. How can he be the God he is speaking for? Plus, this angel who is speaking through John, is speaking to the seven churches. Thus, to each church, it begins; “The spirit said to the church at” which is referring to the angel, who is a spirit. Hebrews 1:14.\u00a0 This is why an angel, is used interchangeably with spirit in the Bible.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Your logic is flawed. Most of your arguments about the Spirit require one to believe that Jesus was not God or at the very least was not equivalent to God.\u00a0 Once you “prove” that Jesus was not God, you show that the Spirit is in the same category as Jesus.\u00a0 Your conclusion then is that if Jesus is not God, then the Spirit can not be God either.<\/p>\n

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,\u00a0 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.<\/em>” (Isaiah 9:6)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here Jesus is called both Everlasting Father and Mighty God.\u00a0 Yet, according to your reasoning, only “the Father” is God.\u00a0 How could Jesus be both the Son of God and Everlasting Father at the same time?\u00a0 It is only a problem because you try to enforce earthly concepts of parentage onto spiritual-based beings.<\/p>\n

“‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’\u00a0 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.<\/em>” (John 8:57-58)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here Jesus uses the phrase “I AM” in the way that God used it to reveal himself to Moses (Exodus 3).\u00a0 The crowds caught the meaning immediately and were willing to stone Jesus for it.\u00a0 If Jesus was not the “I AM”, then his words would have been blasphemy and the crowds would have been correct to stone him.\u00a0 Jesus never spoke a lie and therefore by saying he was “I AM”, he states with no reservation his equality with the Father.<\/p>\n

“Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’<\/em>” (John 20:28)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus did not rebuke Thomas.\u00a0 He, therefore, accepted Thomas’ remarks as true.\u00a0 Jesus once again accepts worship and equality with the Father.<\/p>\n

“In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’<\/em>” (Revelation 5:12)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the throne scene, Jesus is declared to be worthy of being worshiped by all creatures in heaven and on earth.\u00a0 We are among those on earth, therefore we are expected to worship Jesus as deity.<\/p>\n

You just declare that the Holy Spirit is just an angel without proof.\u00a0 You cite verses that reference the Spirit, but none show that the Spirit and angels are the same things.<\/p>\n

“I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.<\/em>” (Mark 3:28-29)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If the Spirit is the same thing as angels, then any blasphemy against angels would be unpardonable.\u00a0 Blasphemy against the Father and the Son can be forgiven, but not against the Spirit.\u00a0 That says that in some way the Spirit is more important than the Father or the Son.\u00a0 If the Spirit was just another name for the angels, then that would conclude that angels are in some way superior to the Father and the Son — which is totally ridiculous. Hebrews 2:1-4 shows that the word of Jesus is superior to the word of angels.<\/p>\n

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.<\/em>” (Matthew 3:16-17)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here the Spirit of God is revealed in a separate body from the Father because the voice of the Father comes from heaven, while the Spirit is said to be sitting on Jesus.\u00a0 Therefore the Spirit is separate from the Father but is in some way important enough to be part of the heavenly testimony of Jesus being the Son.<\/p>\n

As you mention, Acts 5:3 says that Ananias lied to the Spirit.\u00a0 In Acts 5:4 he equates the Spirit to God.\u00a0 In Acts 5:9 he again equates the deeds as lying to the Spirit.\u00a0You asked the rhetorical question about something being revealed only one time was not enough to prove a doctrine.\u00a0 “If the spirit was God, there would be more than one passage showing he is God”.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Where do you come up with such a rule?\u00a0 Prove from the scriptures that is true.\u00a0 Something revealed once is sufficient to prove that it is true.\u00a0 We are not talking about man’s testimony which can be uncertain, we are talking about the Bible.\u00a0 (Besides, I already gave you two more verses that talk about the Spirit in very reverent ways.)<\/p>\n

Some more verses that show the equivalence of the Father, Son, and Spirit.<\/p>\n

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit<\/em>” (Matthew 28:19)<\/p>\n

“I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.<\/em>” (Mark 1:8)<\/p>\n

“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!<\/em>” (Acts 7:51)<\/p>\n

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:<\/em>” (Acts 15:28)<\/p>\n

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.<\/em>” (Romans 15:13)<\/p>\n

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.<\/em>” (II Corinthians 13:14)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Therefore all of your theories about the role of the Spirit of God fall apart.<\/p>\nDarrell Hamilton\n\t

Additional Answer:<\/h2>\nI would like to add one more item to the points made. The claim is that in Revelation the Spirit is not seen in the heavenly city, therefore the Spirit is not God. The practice is called artificial restriction. Because a point is not made in precisely the wording demanded or in exactly the section the information is sought, the conclusion of the false teacher is that it is not there because it is not possible.\nThe problem is that the Spirit is mentioned in Revelation. Mentioned as one who invites people into heaven. “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely<\/em>” (Revelation 22:17). The Holy Spirit is represented in Revelation by the image “the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). The number seven is the representation of something complete, perfect, or without flaw. Please note the location of “the seven Spirits of God:” “John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from\u00a0the seven Spirits who are before His throne<\/strong><\/em>” (Revelation 1:4).\nBut what is more interesting is that early on this person rants that Jesus could not be diety. He then makes a point that the Spirit is not mentioned in the heavenly city, thus the Spirit could not be diety. But Jesus is mentioned in the heavenly city. By his own criteria, he establishes Jesus as diety!\nBut such is often the case with false teachers. They tend to be self-contradictory.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: [Note: This has been severely reduced from the original because it was too long and filled with twisted usage of the Scriptures. I am only presenting a summary so you can get the gist of the arguments made.] The spirit cannot be God. If your congregation is singing praises to the holy spirit, you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[346,347,86,73,87],"class_list":["post-13442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god-the-father","tag-godhead","tag-holy-spirit","tag-jesus","tag-trinity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12171,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-believe-in-three-gods-or-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":13442,"position":0},"title":"Do You Believe in Three Gods or One?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears Question:\u00a0Our pastor says the Church of Christ believes in three Gods and he says the Bible teaches there is only one God. Why do you believe in three Gods? Don't you believe the Bible? Answer:\u00a0Thanks for the question. No offense intended but your \"pastor\" is wrong.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33007,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-the-holy-spirit-is-a-part-of-the-godhead-then-why-isnt-he-on-the-throne-in-revelation-221\/","url_meta":{"origin":13442,"position":1},"title":"If the Holy Spirit is a part of the Godhead, then why isn’t He on the throne in Revelation 22:1?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, If God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are co-equal, can you explain the reason why the Holy Spirit doesn't occupy a throne in Revelation 22:1? Answer: \"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/indwelling\/","url_meta":{"origin":13442,"position":2},"title":"Indwelling (Article)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I was asked if I could explain the concept of indwelling, specifically the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is an interesting question because what is asked is not necessarily what the questioner intended to ask. Most who ask this question have numerous misconceptions that interfere\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65309,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-gods-or-one-god-in-three-persons\/","url_meta":{"origin":13442,"position":3},"title":"Three Gods or One God in Three Persons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears via Unmasking Sophistry, Jan-Mar 2024, vol. 4, no. 1 Originally published in Gospel Truths, Vol. IV, Number 6, June 1993, pp.13-14 The Bible teaches there is only one God. \"Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1365,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":13442,"position":4},"title":"Who Is God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 145 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You run into many strange ideas in the world concerning God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We have people stating that there is only one being called God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses claim that His name is Jehovah \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are Pentecostal sects who claim he is Jesus \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28763,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/indwelling-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":13442,"position":5},"title":"Indwelling (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Psalm 139 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The concept of indwelling, specifically the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is interesting because there are so many misconceptions given that a simple answer is commonly rejected. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Who is the Holy Spirit? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The religious world holds many ideas regarding the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}