Sound
Doctrine
Following is an excerpt from my booklet, The
Essentials of the Faith, which is available from Sound Doctrine
Ministries. I pray it will bless you.
The Virgin Birth
The doctrine of the virgin Birth of Jesus
Christ is prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14:
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will
call him Immanuel.
"Immanuel" means "God with
us." Two chapters later (9:6), Isaiah prophesies that this child will
be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace.” No doubt these verses refer to Christ’s deity as well as
His virgin birth. In the doctrine of the virgin birth the Holy Spirit
(third person of the Trinity) plays a major role along with the virgin
Mary. By the agency of the third person of the Trinity, the second person
of the trinity, the eternal Word (John 1:1), took on flesh. Thus we read
in Luke 1:35 as the angel speaks to Mary:
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God.
We also read in Matthew 1:18, 20:
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was
pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was
found to be with child through the Holy Spirit . . . . But after he
[Joseph] had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit."
Remember that the virgin birth of Jesus was
not the beginning of His existence. He always existed, eternally existed,
as the Word. At the incarnation through the virgin birth He took the form
of a man. At the incarnation He was God in human flesh. |
|
The Deity and
Personality
of the Holy Spirit
Christian orthodoxy throughout the centuries
has held that the Holy Spirit is God and that He is a person.
The Deity of the Holy Spirit
Acts 5:3, 4
Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it
that Satan has so filled your heart that you lied to the Holy Spirit and
have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? Wasn’t the money at your
disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied
to men but to God."
Here Peter says that to lie to the Holy
Spirit is to lie to God. Peter equates the Holy Spirit with God. Hebrews
9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from
acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.
The Holy Spirit is eternal.
Divine Attributes of the Holy Spirit:
Omnipresence: Psalm 139:7-10 Omniscience: 1
Corinthians 2:10, 11 Sovereign Omnipotence: 1 Corinthians 12:11 Eternal:
Hebrews 9:14 Takes part in the creating of all things: Genesis 1:2; Job
33:4 Holy Spirit mentioned in conjunction with the Father and the Son:
Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14
Personality of the
Holy Spirit
Only a person can do the following: Speak:
Acts 13:2 Teach: John 14:20 Send out workers: Acts 13:4 Be lied to and
tempted: Acts 5:3, 4, 9 Be grieved: Ephesians 4:30 Be blasphemed: Matthew
12:31 Exercise will: 1 Corinthians 12:11 These are all attributes of
personhood.
Steven Tsoukalas |
