22. The Spirit of God

Posted Jul 19, 2007 by Adrian Ebens in Return of Elijah

The subject of the Holy Spirit is a mystery to us in many ways. Jesus indicated the mysterious nature of the Spirit when speaking to Nicodemus.

Joh 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Perhaps it would be good to remind ourselves of the care needed when discussing such a subject as this. When discussing the personality of God we are on Holy Ground and must approach it reverently taking great care to stay within the limits of inspiration with our understanding but also be wary of entering into a controversial attitude when discussing such subjects. Notice what Ellen White says in this regard:

I say, and have ever said, that I will not engage in controversy with any one in regard to the nature and personality of God. Let those who try to describe God know that on such a subject silence is eloquence. Let the Scriptures be read in simple faith, and let each one form his conceptions of God from his inspired word.” Spalding and Magan collection p. 329

This is an important key to this whole discussion. When trying to describe God, silence is eloquence. In reference to the Holy Spirit this is especially true as we can be in danger of using modes of thought outside of Scripture to describe Him. Ellen White gives a strong Protestant principle in regard to the subject of God, that each person should take their Bibles and develop their own conception of God from the Bible alone. To force a position onto another person is a violation of this principle. This being the case, it would be wrong for either Trinitarian or Non- Trinitarian to force their views onto others in a controversial manner. Let each go to God on their knees and learn the truth for themselves.

To reasonable minded people, it is clear that both Trinitarian and Pioneer-based Godhead believers believe in the heavenly trio of Father, Son and Holy Spirit but it is the nature and personality of these three that are in question. It is unfortunate that our fundamental statement has codified the personality of the Godhead based on the key Athanasian terms of co-equal and co-eternal. This codification into our fundamentals no longer allows each person to decide for themselves from the Bible, the nature and personality of the Godhead.[1] Those who through the Word, see the Father and Son as intrinsically Father and Son are placed in a position where to remain a Seventh-day Adventist they must surrender this belief to the will of another. Is this a true protestant mode of thought and process? Is it Biblical for a group of men in their efforts to preserve the Divinity of the Godhead to frame it in terms that they themselves understand and not allow other minds to preserve that Divinity based on a different framework? It is my firm belief, regardless of what a man believes on this subject, no person has the right to force onto others their mode of thought on this subject. The codification of Athanasian terms into our fundamentals has exposed our church to the same controversy that rocked the Catholic Church for over two centuries. The question is will we as a church be dragged down the same path? Will our position be decided by “counsels” or symposiums driven by our most learned scholars, or will we open the parameters of our fundamentals to allow each man to decide for himself what is truth? Ponder well this question for the time will come and appears to have come in some quarters where those who raise questions will have their “goods”[2] proscribed for speaking against the perceived holy order of present day Adventism.

Due to the level of mystery surrounding the Spirit, our efforts to understand it will reveal more readily our underlying assumptions when seeking to interpret His role. In other words, the Spirit will quickly reveal either our performance-base or relational-base thinking on the subject in respect to how we define His identity in the Godhead.

Let us observe again the underlying assumption girding the Trinity view:

Premise: There are three Persons of the Godhead.
Hidden/Underlying Assumption: Position of Divinity is only ascribed to Beings of highest inherent power.

The Bible clearly reveals that the Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of Deity. If we come to the Bible with the underlying assumption that positions of Divinity are only ascribed to beings of highest inherent power then there is no option but to consider the Holy Spirit as a being that has its own inherent life source. It is the logical outcome. As we have previously indicated, such an underlying assumption causes great difficulty when trying to harmonise all inspired statements in regard to the nature and personality of God.

A. The River of Life

In our first chapter we looked at the subject of life source and that God is the fountain of life. A careful observation of this life[3] flow from the Bible and Spirit of prophecy reveals how Father, Son and Spirit work together. Let us notice some passages

Rev 22:1-2 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The above passage lays a basic framework for the flow of life. Life flows from the throne of God (the Father) and the lamb (Christ). This life is expressed as a river which flows from the Father and the Son. Notice how Christ expresses this concept in John

Joh 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Jesus spoke of rivers of living waters flowing forth. This water can be received from Christ and then in turn be passed onto others. This river John refers to as the Holy Spirit. This concept of water flowing forth from Christ is also expressed in the story of Moses when He struck the rock. The rock was a symbol of Christ and the water was a symbol of the life giving spirit. (Ex 17:5-7, Ps 78:20, 1 Cor 10:4). David expresses this fountain and river concept as follows:

Psa 36:7-9 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

David combines the concepts of a fountain with flowing water and then parallels that concept to light. David also gives an indication that the presence of God is actually flowing in the river that flows from the throne:

Psa 46:4,5 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

David indicates that God is in the midst or centre of the city by means of the river. With these thoughts in mind, let us observe some statements from the Spirit of Prophecy regarding this framework.

The aged leader urged the people to consider, in all its bearings, what he had set before them, and to decide if they really desired to live as did the degraded idolatrous nations around them. If it seemed evil to them to serve Jehovah, the source of power, the fountain of blessing, let them that day choose whom they would serve--"the gods which your fathers served," from whom Abraham was called out, "or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell." PP 523

The Following statement in Desire of Ages gives a clear picture of how this life flows.

But turning from all lesser representations, we behold God in Jesus. Looking unto Jesus we see that it is the glory of our God to give. "I do nothing of Myself," said Christ; "the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father." "I seek not Mine own glory," but the glory of Him that sent Me. John 8:28; 6:57; 8:50; 7:18. In these words is set forth the great principle which is the law of life for the universe. All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life. DA 21

The above statement is not only the law of life for humanity, it is the law of life for the universe. The life of the Father, the great source of all flows through the Son, out to the entire universe. Since the created beings of the unfallen worlds did not need a Saviour, this flow of life is a universal law that operates beyond the realms of the plan of salvation. This is a critical point. This means that the personalities of Father and Son have not been assumed purely for the purpose of demonstrating to a lost world the character of God. These personalities are operating for all created beings both within and without the plan of salvation.

M.C Wilcox reflects these thoughts perfectly when asked about whom or what is the Holy Spirit:

“What is the difference between the Holy Spirit and the ministering spirits (angels), or are they the same?"

“The Holy Spirit is the mighty energy of the Godhead, the life and power of God flowing out from Him to all parts of the universe, and thus making a living connection between His throne and all creation.” (M. C. Wilcox, Questions And Answers, Pacific Press, 1911 p.181)

Further down he illustrates:

“To use a crude illustration, just as a telephone carries the voice of a man, and so makes that voice present miles away, so the Holy Spirit carries with it all the potency in Christ making Him everywhere present with all His power, and revealing Him to those in harmony with His law.” (Ibid)

And on page 182 he states further:

“Thus the Spirit is personified in Christ and God, but never revealed as a separate person.”

This book was reprinted in 1919 and again in 1938, but the 1938 version appears to have had some editing done to it after Wilcox died in 1935.

B. The Breath that Proceeds from Christ

Let us have a look at another example of life flow from the throne of God, this time in the context of the plan of salvation and how God answers our prayers and strengthens us:

Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus; then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him. A light would come from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the praying company. Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from the Father to the Son, and from the Son it waved over the people before the throne. EW 54,55

The book Early Writings was published in 1858 but this vision was given to Ellen White in 1846 and published in the Day Star. Notice carefully the framework and how it fits into the fountain and life flow model. The above statement is expressed through the symbol of light rather than water, but Psalms 36:7-9 parallels the symbols of water and light. We see that Light comes

from the Father
to the Son
and from the Son
to the praying company

Notice the points through which the light flows; From Father to Son to praying company. This vision does not express the Holy Spirit as a point through which the light flows. This concept is only possible if we remove the assumption that persons of Divinity must have their own inherent power. Clearly Ellen White is expressing that the light is the power of the Holy Spirit. At the bottom of page 55 of Early Writings we get a little more clarification on this process.

Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to Him in the holiest, and pray, "My Father, give us Thy Spirit." Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. EW 55

We notice here that believers would pray to the Father and then Jesus would breathe upon God’s people the Holy Spirit. In that Breathe or Spirit was light, love, joy and peace. If the breath contained love joy and peace, then that breath had to contain personality. Ellen White puts it this way in Desire of Ages.

The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. DA 805

Here Ellen White states that the impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. This is not another party simulating the life of Christ or in their own way trying to represent the person of Christ, it is the life of Christ directly. The simplicity of this cannot be overlooked. The Spirit in fact is the Spirit of Christ Himself through the agency of an omnipresent Spirit. This principle is also demonstrated in the symbol of the manna.

The giver of the manna was standing among them. It was Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews through the wilderness, and had daily fed them with the bread from heaven. That food was a type of the real bread from heaven. The life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God, is the true manna. Jesus said, "The bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John 6:33, R. V. DA 385

Notice how Paul uses the terms Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ and Spirit interchangeably in Romans 8:9,10

Rom 8:9-10 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Paul uses the terms Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ, Christ and Spirit all interchangeably as representing the same thing.[4] In the framework of a river flowing forth from God and the Lamb, this makes complete sense. If the above verse is three separate self originated beings each with their own separate Spirit, it becomes very confusing. In Ephesians Paul uses a parallel between the Spirit of the Father being in the inner man and Christ dwelling in your hearts.

Eph 3:14-17 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

In another place Paul uses an interesting expression that clearly supports the life flow concept we have been addressing above.

Php 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ…

Paul clearly states that the Spirit of Christ is supplied. It is the Spirit OF Christ and it is supplied. The natural reading of this is obvious in light of the other evidence presented.

C. The Mystic Ladder

Let us consider another example of this process. Jesus made a very profound statement to Nathaniel that helps to explain this flow of spiritual water from God the Father to His Son and to us. In this example, the role of the angels is given sharper focus.

Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

This is a very interesting statement. It presents Christ as a ladder that reaches from heaven to earth. Upon this ladder the angels are ascending and descending. Let us notice what Ellen White says about this statement.

The angels of God are ever passing from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth. The miracles of Christ for the afflicted and suffering were wrought by the power of God through the ministration of the angels. And it is through Christ, by the ministration of His heavenly messengers, that every blessing comes from God to us. In taking upon Himself humanity, our Saviour unites His interests with those of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, while through His divinity He grasps the throne of God. And thus Christ is the medium of communication of men with God, and of God with men. {DA 143.1}

This is a fascinating statement. Christ is presented here as the medium of communication between God and man. Through this medium the angels bring to us every blessing of God. Christ is the one that is revealed as connecting earth to heaven not just in a legal sense but in a real and tangible sense. The blessings of God pass through the medium of Christ by the ministration of Angels. This is in perfect harmony with John 7:37-39

As human agents can act as willing channels for God’s love and blessing to flow to others, the angels also can act as willing channels of blessing to the human race. The angels filled with the presence of Christ in their hearts, influence human hearts towards God. As Christ is in us the hope of Glory, so Christ is in the angels enabling them to be ministering spirits and strengthens them with His power. The Spirit of Christ is the connection and the ladder and the angels are the willing agents that minister the Spirit of Christ as agents of God.

“Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Christ virtually says, On the bank of Jordan the heavens were opened before me, and the Spirit descended like a dove upon me. That scene at Jordan was but a token to evidence that I was the Son of God. If you believe in me as such, your faith shall be quickened, and you shall see that the heavens will be opened, and shall never be closed. I have opened them for you, and the angels of God, that are united with me in the reconciliation between earth and Heaven, uniting the believers on the earth with the Father above, will be ascending, bearing the prayers of the needy and distressed from the earth to the Father above, and descending, bringing blessings of hope, courage, health, and life, for the children of men.

The angels of God are ever moving up and down from earth to Heaven, and from Heaven to earth. All the miracles of Christ performed for the afflicted and suffering were, by the power of God, through the ministration of angels. Christ condescended to take humanity, and thus he unites his interests with the fallen sons and daughters of Adam here below, while his divinity grasps the throne of God. And thus Christ opens the communication of man with God, and God with man. All the blessings from God to man are through the ministration of holy angels. {2SP 67.2}

Again we see how the channel of blessing flows. Christ is the ladder and connection between heaven and earth. The angels are the agents that bring blessings of hope, courage, health and life to us and send our prayers and requests back to heaven.

If we assume that the Holy Spirit is a separate person, the above statements don’t really make sense. It would be assumed that the Holy Spirit is the medium of communication between God and Man; the Holy Spirit (as a separate person) is the agent through which God works His miracles. But this is not what inspiration tells us. It tells us that Christ is the medium, symbolized by the ladder and the angels are willing agents that work through that medium.

When speaking of Jacob’s experience, Ellen White says the following:

Jacob's experience as a wanderer from his home, when he was shown the mystic ladder, . . . was designed to teach a great truth in regard to the plan of salvation. . . .The ladder represented Christ. He is the channel of communication between heaven and earth, and angels go to and fro in continual intercourse with the fallen race. TMK 21.5

Ellen White calls it the Mystic ladder. There is a mystery that surrounds this process of communication between heaven and earth. Again we are told that Christ is the channel of communication. Please note, THE CHANNEL of communication. Christ is not only the source and fountain (received from the Father) but is also the channel or river or ladder of communication. These are vital truths that are simply explained. The mystic ladder tells us how the Spirit of Christ which is the Spirit of Truth operates. If the Holy Spirit is a separate person then He, in distinction with Christ would be designated as the channel and the work of the angels would be secondary to the work of the Spirit. Yet the Spirit of Prophecy indicates that the work of the angels is central and primary to helping the human race.

D. The Comforting Omnipresence of Christ

With these thoughts in mind notice this text:

Joh 15:26 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:

And notice this comment in regard to Christ sending the Holy Spirit:

“Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent.” 14 MR 23

The Holy Spirit is Himself (meaning Christ)[5] divested of humanity. The word divested in Webster’s dictionary means “stripped or undressed”, it does not mean simply “without”. Ellen White clearly states here that THE HOLY SPIRIT IS CHRIST STRIPPED OF THE PERSONALITY OF HUMANITY. The river flows out of Christ the Rock. Since we are no longer bound to this principle of proving that the Spirit is a Divine Being by its own inherent power, then we can read these passages naturally. The Holy Spirit is the omnipresence of Christ. There are some that suggest that Christ gave up His personal omnipresence when He took on humanity. I have never read this from inspiration. The omnipresence that Christ possessed in Heaven was the Holy Spirit.[6] Notice the following statement that reaffirms this.

It is not essential for you to know and be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and the Comforter is the Holy Ghost, "the Spirit of truth, which the Father shall send in My name." "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" [John 14:16, 17]. This refers to the omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ, called the Comforter. Again Jesus says, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth" [John 16:12, 13].

There are many mysteries which I do not seek to understand or to explain; they are too high for me, and too high for you. On some of these points, silence is golden. Piety, devotion, sanctification of soul, body, and spirit--this is essential for us all. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" 14MR 179

This statement is very clear; she calls the Holy Spirit “The omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ” which is the comforter. If this is the case then we should find statements that refer to Christ as the comforter. Notice the following:

Notice these statements:

Joh 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Christ says He will send another Comforter. Then he says I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. It is another Comforter (of the same type) because it is Christ divested of the personality of humanity. It is Christ that comforts us Himself through the agency of the Spirit. How wonderful to know that Jesus is my Comforter!

“The Saviour is our Comforter. This I have proved Him to be.” 8MR p. 49

Let them study the seventeenth of John, and learn how to pray and how to live the prayer of Christ. He is the Comforter. He will abide in their hearts, making their joy full. His words will be to them as the bread of life… RH Jan 27, 1903

“As by faith we look to Jesus, our faith pierces the shadow, and we adore God for His wondrous love in giving Jesus the Comforter.” 19MR 297

“The reason why the churches are weak and sickly and ready to die, is that the enemy has brought influences of a discouraging nature to bear upon trembling souls. He has sought to shut Jesus from their view as the Comforter, as one who reproves, who warns, who admonishes them…” RH August 26 1890.

“The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul.” RH, October 26, 1897

“The teacher must be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then the mind and spirit of Christ will be in him, and he will confess Christ in a spiritual and holy life.” RH, February 9, 1892

Why is it so important to see that it is actually Jesus that comes directly to us as our comforter? Imagine the scenario of a person going to visit a friend who has just lost a close family member. During the visit the friend declares. “It must be hard for you at the moment, I know of another friend who went through the same thing recently, so I can imagine that it is very hard.” While we can appreciate the friend’s efforts to comfort us, how different would it be if the other friend came who actually lost the family member to come and sit with us and share their experience with us. How much more comforting would that be.

Jesus has experienced rejection; he has suffered; He has been tempted in all points like us. (Heb 4:15; Heb 2:17,18) He knows by experience the trials of human life.[7] Can we say this of the Holy Spirit as a separate person? Does the Holy Spirit (as a separate person) know by experience what it is like to be tempted? Does it make sense for Jesus to tell the Holy Spirit about how difficult life is and then send one who has not actually experienced it to comfort us? Is this logical? From a Trinitarian view, the Holy Spirit could comfort us with strength and peace and power, but could he comfort us with understanding and experience? Only Jesus can do this. As Ellen White states, “The Saviour is our Comforter, this I have proved Him to be.” Just knowing that the person we are directly communicating with understands what a certain difficulty is like is immensely comforting, because we have the realization that we are not facing it alone. Here is the relational power of Christ being our comforter divested of the personality of humanity. Comfort is much more than just power, it is a shared understanding and experience.

Once again when we remove human determination that only inherent power makes a Being Divine, these statements release Jesus to us as our Comforter, he is no longer shut from our view. It is not a separate Person, it is Jesus! Jesus is our Comforter.

Gaining a clear picture of the Holy Spirit can be quite difficult. As we stated in the beginning, each person should be free to understand the details of this for themselves. When we talk of the Holy Spirit as “the third person” or that he is just as much a person as God is a person, it is easy to see why we usually see the Spirit as a separate person. Making the Spirit a separate person removes the fear of just making the Spirit a force, and I totally agree with the need to do that. But how else does one explain omnipresence? If the Father is a being but is also omnipresent, how do we express that? God is in heaven at the centre of the universe but He is also here with us through the power of omnipresence and we can feel Him near. His presence is not a divine emanation or simply a force, it is our Father, through the agency of His Spirit. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit is, the omnipresence of God. The concept of a first person in heaven and a third person as the omnipresence of the first person protects us from seeing God through the lens of pantheism. I believe it gives us a simple explanation of the mystery of omnipresence. How exactly does God do this? I have no idea and I believe silence is golden.[8] But I believe that when you weigh up the weight of evidence from all the inspired statements and the unfolding of Adventist history, that the Holy Spirit is not a separate person but the omnipresence of the Father and Son in the third person. The Spirit is the river of Life. Some will say “so you don’t believe in the Holy Spirit”, I would answer “probably not on the basis of your assumptions, but I certainly believe in the Holy Spirit and that He is a person and is my comforter for He is the omnipresence of God.

E. False Assumptions and Accusations

Many people make the mistake that if they simply can prove that there are three personalities in the Godhead that this enough to support a co-equal, co-eternal Trinity. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is only the faulty assumption that divine beings need to be understood as having their own self originating life source and that equality is based on inherent power rather than inheritance, that creates this kind of thinking.

I often see people turn to Evangelism page 615 and read all the “three” statements and say “there, you see, there are three persons” My response is “yes, but this says nothing of co-equal and co-eternal role playing deity.” This is a simple case of premise forcing without taking into account all that inspiration says on the subject and placing this on the faulty platform of performance-based thinking born of the lie given to Eve in the Garden “You shall not surely die”

I have also heard the completely absurd statement that denying that the Holy Spirit is a person in the context of a co-equal co-eternal Trinity is in fact denying the Holy Spirit and places a person in danger of committing the unpardonable sin. Notice the Following

“Christ told them plainly that in attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, they were cutting themselves off from the fountain of blessing… It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened. Often the process is gradual, and almost imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through God's word, through His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly discerned. So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul. Thus it had been with these Jewish leaders. They were convinced that a divine power attended Christ, but in order to resist the truth, they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this they deliberately chose deception; they yielded themselves to Satan, and henceforth they were controlled by his power.” DA 322-323

If you read this passage carefully you will discern that the unpardonable sin is attributing truth to be error, it is a rejection of light. It cuts people off from the fountain of blessing. Could there be a warning here for people who attack their brethren for trying to harmonise inspired statements and seeking for light, that the very sin they accuse others of, they themselves might be in danger of? Consider well these things.

Dear friend, it is a hard thing to admit that the structure of the Godhead laid in Adventism may not be as solid as we all thought. I know how hard it is to have to admit this, but loyalty to the truth demands such an admission. Let us prove all things and hold fast to what is good.

Are you beginning to see that the Godhead is far less mysterious than what the Trinity makes it out to be? The Sovereign of the universe has a co-worker, an associate, His Son made in His Own image and from the Father to the Son and then to the universe flows the river of life, which is the Holy Spirit. It is so wonderfully simple. Jesus is fully Divine and possesses all the fullness of the Godhead through His relationship to His Father. If you still do not believe this then please explain this statement:

"The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in infinity, but not in personality." UL 367

This statement utterly destroys any possibility of a performance-based view of Christ’s equality with the Father. Read the statements, compare the texts, do the research, get the solid evidence.

The Spirit is just as much a Person as God is a Person because God’s Spirit is not bound to His form and is indeed the omnipresence of God. Flesh and blood cannot reveal this precious truth to you, but I pray that indeed your eyes may be opened because there is much light and truth in the true relationship between God and His Son.[9]

When we allow the Father, Son and Spirit occupy a relational framework that reflects a fountain that flows forth from ONE (singular) source point, immense blessings are open to us.

[1] It is possible for Pioneer based Godhead believers to say that they believe Christ is co-equal because he was given this equality by the Father and that makes Him co-equal and it is possible to say that Christ is Co-eternal because Christ came forth In eternity but of course they have very different meanings from what co-equal and co-eternal actually really means. It is equivalent to a liberal Seventh-day Adventist who does not accept 1844 saying they do believe in the investigative judgment like Dr Ford did at Glacier view.

[2] As Prov 22:1 states: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.” It is evident that some who have raised questions have had their names and reputations taken and damaged and consequently their goods proscribed.

[3] This is life spiritual, mental and physical, not just physical.

[4] E.J Waggoner. Christ and His Righteousness, Page 23. “Here we find that the Holy Spirit is both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ”. Stated in equation form. HOLY SPIRIT = SPIRIT OF FATHER + SPIRIT OF SON.

[5] Consistency of the use of “He”, “His” and “Himself” through the paragraph indicate that Christ is the person indicated. The addition of the word “himself” in the phrase “The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of…” introduces redundancy when it would make more sense to simply say “The Holy Spirit is divested of…”.

[6] It is important to point out that when Christ was incarnated and cumbered with human flesh, He surrendered the ability to be omnipresent through the Spirit of God.

[7] The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face toward Him as the Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations; for He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is watching over you, trembling child of God. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. DA 329

[8] See AA 51

[9] “There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was one with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This truth, infinitely mysterious in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light, unapproachable and incomprehensible.” 1SM 248