The study of God is referred to as theology while the study of Christ is called Christology. When it comes to the study of the Holy Spirit, theologians use the word pneumatology. “Pneuma” is the Greek word corresponding to the Hebrew word “ruach” and the Latin word “spiritus,” all of which come from root words meaning “to breathe.” Especially in the New Testament they are commonly translated into English by the word “spirit” when speaking of the third person of the Trinity. Thus the study of the Holy Spirit is referred to as pneumatology.
THE TRINITY
Before discussing the Holy Spirit in particular, a review of the Trinity is in order. We have previously discussed the triune God of Christianity on this blog in some detail.
We wrote that God is the only divine being who has ever been. He is the only being that is three persons in one essence. The three persons are distinguished from one another but exist in unity with the others, subsisting together in the only divine essence. Without three persons, God wouldn’t be God. The three persons of God each subsist in the one and the same essence with each person sharing the entirety of the essence of the divine nature, not each possessing a part of it.
The biblical doctrine of the Trinity ascribes all divine characteristics, attributes, and titles to the three persons of the Trinity equally. Scripture definitely teaches that each divine personality is equal to the others in essence, in attributes, and in power and glory. One of the first issues regarding the Trinity that must be understood is the consubstantiality of the godhead. In other words, each of the three persons of the Trinity are equal in divine essence.
However, though the foregoing is absolutely true, there does exist subordination among the persons of the godhead regarding the mode of subsistence and operation, but never regarding the essence.
In a previous article on this blog we said that within the Trinity there is a subordination of the persons regarding order and operations. There is however no subordination in essential being. The three persons are indistinguishable in their essential attributes. There is no rank among the persons with one first and one second and one last regarding the essence of being. We do not consider the three persons as having beginnings with one first, second, and last. But in their trinitarian relationship to one another they are distinguished according to their order and operations.
The trinitarian order is related to personal properties and operations of each of the three persons. Each person has his own incommunicable properties which function in the well-ordered trinitarian operations. As the persons interact, submission exists not from positions of inferiority or superiority in rank or authority but as equal divine subsistences in the divine essence with one divine will.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a person and has personality just like the Father and the Son. Although the Holy Spirit did not appear on earth to walk among human beings in a distinct personal form as Jesus did, Scripture clearly indicates his personality. The Holy Spirit is designated by the masculine pronoun (E.g., John 16:7, 8, 13, 14, 15). Scripture attributes personal characteristics to the Holy Spirit such as intelligence (John 14:26) and will (1 Cor. 12:11), and indicates that he performs the personal acts of guarantor (Eph. 1:14), monitor (Gen. 1:2), teacher (John 14:26), commander (Acts 8:29, 13:2), creator (Rom. 8:11), revealer and searcher (1 Cor. 2:10), etc. The Holy Spirit’s personhood is implied in his relation to others (Acts 15:28; John 16:14; Matt. 28:19). And he is distinguished as a person not just a power (Luke 1:35; Rom. 15:13).
Generation
We have written in previous articles on this blog that the Father generates the Son (called filiation). Generation does not intend to convey the origin of the Son. The Son like the Father has no origin; no beginning. The eternal generation of the Son by the Father must not be thought of in a creaturely way; generation must be thought of as spiritual and divine. The Father generates the personal subsistence of the Son within the divine essence in its entirety as one indivisible act.[i] The Father and the Son as well as the Holy Spirit have always been; they have no beginning.
Procession
The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is not generated but proceeds (called spiration) from the Father and the Son (C.f., John 15:16). The Son is included with the Father in this spiration because Scripture refers to the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9) and of the Son (Gal. 4:6) and states that the Spirit is sent by Christ into the world (John 16:7).
Spiration is the personal property of the Holy Spirit that distinguishes him from the Father and the Son. Spiration has been described as:
that eternal and necessary act of the first and second persons in the Trinity whereby they, within the divine Being, become the ground of the personal subsistence of the Holy Spirit, and put the third person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation or change.[ii]
Procession (or spiration) may be distinguished from generation in several ways. Generation is the work of the Father only, where procession is the work of both the Father and the Son. The Son participates with the Father since He was generated by the Father. But this does not mean that the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Father or the Son as to essence. Since procession is accomplished within the entire divine essence there is an essential equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.
Deity
The deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly established in Scripture. He is referred to using divine names (Acts 5:4). He is credited with divine attributes (Ps. 139:7-10; Is. 40:13, 14; Rom. 15:19) and he is credited with divine works (Gen 1:2; John 3:5, 6; etc.).
Relation to Father and Son
The Holy Spirit has a very close relationship with the Father and the Son. All three possess the same will. The Holy Spirit is the same essence and equal in deity, divine attributes, and glory to the Father and Son. Regarding his mode of subsistence and operation, he is subordinate to the Father as well as the Son.
Works
Generally speaking, it is the Holy Spirit who is the instrumentality of completion in the Trinity. He effectuates the actions of God by immediate acts on and in the creature which consummates the work of God. The work of the Holy Spirit follows from the work of the Son just as the work of the Son follows from the work of the Father. The work of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the objective work of the Son. Therefore, the Spirit’s work is a consummation of the work of the Son as well as the Father.
We know that the work of generation is from the Father and through the Son so the creation and life itself is effectuated by the Holy Spirit. In Genesis chapter 1 when God says “Let…,” it is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, that “was hovering over the face of the waters” who completed God’s command whether it be to bring into existence “light” or an expanse God called Heaven or vegetation or the heavenly bodies, etc. By his work, the Holy Spirit completes God’s creative work.
The Holy Spirit also inspires and prepares human beings for the work that God has destined them for, whether it be an office of the church or a secular calling as God wills. He was the mediator for the writers of Scripture for the purpose of converting God’s breathed out Word (2 Tim. 3:16) to be manifested as the written, revealed Word of God.
The work of the Holy Spirit that is arguably the most essential in the lives of believers, besides creation itself, is his work in God’s plan of redemption. The creation of the incarnate Jesus was the work of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit prepared Jesus along His way through life and His ministry and sustained Him throughout His life even to His atoning death on the Cross. And he effected the resurrection of Christ, the ascension and Christ’s enthronement in heaven as Prophet, Priest, and King.
The Holy Spirit works to form and maintain the church and is the indwelling presence of God in the souls of each member of the body of Christ. He is the instrumentality of the elect’s regeneration, conversion, and sanctification. And as previously noted, he inspires the writers of Scripture. Finally, he is available to all believers as mediator to guide their behavior, convict them of sin, and help them to understand Scripture. Just as we speak of the Father as God and the Son as God, we should also speak of the Holy Spirit as God. The Holy Spirit is the same essence and equal in deity, divine attributes, power and glory to the Father and Son. He is as much God as the Father and the Son and may be prayed to and worshiped in the same way we do to the other members of the Trinity.
[i] For more detail regarding generation and procession, see God in Three Persons in this blog.
[ii] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 86.
