The New Testament
number of intermediaries continues to increase over time. It is an emanation, as in the case of the aeons in Gnosticism. The dualism persists to the end. The intermediaries do not establish communion between God and the world because they are not actually either. The world always remains outside and opposed to God. The significance of the Spirit of God is not understood. In the Old Testament, the doctrine of the Spirit occupies a significant place. In the apocryphal literature, in Philo, and in Jewish theology, it is almost entirely neglected. At most, the Spirit is only a Spirit of prophecy, bestowed upon a few, but no longer the Spirit of the Old Testament, who completes and perfects creation and recreation. For all these reasons, there is a fundamental distinction between the development of the trinitarian thoughts of the Old Testament found in the apocryphal literature, in Philo and the Jews, and that given to them in the New
Testament. The New Testament may share some words with Philo, etc., and may also speak of Christ as logos, apaugasma, Son, God, etc.; however, the agreement goes no further. The New Testament was written in Greek, in the common dialect, in the language that existed and was spoken everywhere. It did not create a new language.
The thoughts of God have assumed the flesh of human language. But in those words, God has placed a new content. There is agreement in form, but the content differs. Philo and John have nothing more in common than the name of Logos. More and more, this is also being understood and recognized.
The New Testament The New Testament contains the pure development of the trinitarian thoughts of the Old Testament. But now these emerge in a much
clearer light, not through abstract reasonings about the Being of God, but through God's self-revelation in appearance, word, and deed.
Just as strongly as in the Old, in the New Testament the Unity of God is proclaimed. There is only one Being that can be called God, yeov,
Elohim, Job. 17:3, 1Cor. 8:4, but this one true God reveals Himself in the economy of the New Testament, particularly in the events of incarnation and outpouring, as Father, Son, and Spirit. In these events, no absolutely new principles emerge. They are the same ones that were at work in the creation and economy of the Old Testament.
The Father, who most often carries this Name in relation to the Son and to His children, is the same One who can also be called Father as the Creator of all things, Matthew 7:11, Luke 3:38, Job 4:21, Acts
17:28, 1Cor. 8:6, Hebrews 12:9; all things are from Him, 1Cor. 8:6.
The Son, who is especially called by His unique relationship to God, is the same One who, as the Logos, created all things with the Father,
John 1:3, 1Cor. 8:6, Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 1:3. And the Holy Spirit, who has received His name especially with regard to His work in the church, is the same One who, together with the Father and Son, adorned and completed all things in creation, Matthew 1:18, 4:1,
Mark 1:12, Luke 1:35; 4:1,14; Romans 1:4. Furthermore, it is the general teaching of the New Testament writers that these three,
Father, Son, and Spirit, are no other than those who also revealed themselves to the fathers in word and deed, in prophecy and wonder, in the economy of the Old Testament. The Old Testament name
Yahweh, inadequately rendered by kurios, fully unfolds its content in the New Testament name pater. In the incarnate Son of God, the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy and shadow is seen, of Prophet and King, of Priest and offering, of servant of God and Davidic figure, of Angel of Yahweh and wisdom. And in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, what the Old Testament had promised has been fulfilled, Acts 2:16ff.
But the New Testament, although closely connected to the Old Testament, does not stop there; it goes far beyond. Much clearer than in the Old Testament, it now becomes apparent that the God of the Covenant is a triune God and must be so, that there are three principles at work in the work of salvation. Not just a few texts, but the entire New Testament is trinitarian in this sense. All grace, blessing, and salvation have their threefold cause in God, Father,
Son, and Spirit. We see these three immediately at work at the birth of Jesus, Matthew 1:18 ff., Luke 1:36, and at His baptism, Matthew
3:16-17, Mark 1:10,11, Luke 3:21-22. Jesus' teaching is entirely trinitarian. He reveals the Father to us and describes Him as Spirit, who has life of Himself, Job 4:4, 6:26, and in a unique sense is His
Father, Matthew 11:27, John 2:16, 5:17. He distinguishes Himself from the Father, but is nevertheless His only begotten, own, beloved
Son, Matthew 11:27, 21:37-39, Job 3:16 etc., one with Him in life, glory, power, John 1:14, 5:26, 10:30. And He speaks of the Holy
Spirit, who leads and equips Him Himself, Mark 1:12, Luke 4:1,14, John 3:34, as of another Paraclete, whom He will send from the Father, John 16:26, and who will convict, teach, lead in truth, comfort, and remain forever, John 14:16. And before He departs,
Jesus sums all this up in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that is, in the one Divine Name, to onoma in the singular, in which three distinct subjects, o pathr, o uion, and to pneuma, all deliberately named with the article, reveal themselves.
This teaching is continued and expanded by the apostles; all acknowledge and extol a threefold, divine cause of salvation. The good pleasure, foreknowledge, election, power, love, kingdom belong to the Father, Matthew 6:13, 11:26, John 3:16, Romans 8:29,
Ephesians 1:9, 1 Peter 1:2 etc. Mediation, reconciliation, salvation, grace, wisdom, righteousness belong to the Son, Matthew 1:21, 1
Corinthians 1:30, Ephesians 1:10, 1 Timothy 2:5, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 2:2 etc. And regeneration, renewal, sanctification, communion are
through the Holy Spirit, John 3:5; John 14; 15; 16; Romans 5:5; 8:15; 14:17; 2 Corinthians 1:21,22, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 5:6. And just as Jesus finally summarizes His teaching in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so the apostles also repeatedly place these three side by side and on equal footing, 1 Corinthians 8:6; 12:4-6; 2
Corinthians 13:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14, Ephesians 4:4-6, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 5:4-6, Revelation 1:4-6. The authenticity of the text 1
John 5:7 is still doubtful. It is absent from all Greek codices except a few from the 16th century, from all Latin codices before the 8th century, and from almost all translations. Furthermore, it is never cited by the Greek Fathers, not even in the Arian controversy, nor by the Latin Fathers Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, etc. If it is cited or presumed by Tertullian, it must have existed around the year
190; and if Cyprian quotes it, it was known around the year 220. If it appeared in the Afra, according to a manuscript from the 6th century and one from the 7th century, one can climb even higher. For the Afra arose around the year 160 and came to Italy around 250.
Certainly, the text appears in Vigilius towards the end of the 5th century. In the 16th century, it was included in the Complutensian edition, by Erasmus in his third edition, by Stephanus, Beza, and in the Textus Receptus. It is not decisively demanded in the context, and its omission and disappearance are very difficult to explain.
However, the authenticity is still defended by some, and the congregation of the Holy Office in Rome gave a negative answer in 1897 to the question whether 1 John 5:7 tuto negari aut saltem in dubium revocari possit, to which the Pope later gave his approval.
But it seems that this pronouncement of the Holy Office did not include the authenticity of 1 John 5:7, or was silently revoked later.
At least many Roman scholars maintain the spuriousness of 1 John 5:7 with many arguments. Künstle, for example, disputes the authenticity and says that this text originated from a sentence by Priscillianus in an apology of the year 380.
Father However, the Holy Scripture does not stop at these data; it offers us more and also reveals to us something about the relationships in which these three distinct subjects, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, stand to each other. First and foremost, the name Father comes into consideration. This name, in the general sense, denotes God as the Creator of all His works, especially of humanity, Numbers 16:22,
Matthew 7:11, Luke 3:28, John 4:21, Acts 17:28, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 3:15, Hebrews 12:9. In the Old Testament, this name assumes a theocratic meaning; God is the Father of Israel because by His wonderful power He created and preserved it, Deuteronomy
32:6, Isaiah 63:16, 64:8, Malachi 1:6, 2:10, Jeremiah 3:19, 31:9, Psalm 103:13, Romans 9:4; in the New Testament, this meaning transitions to the ethical, in which God is the Father of His children,
Matthew 6:4, 8-9, Romans 8:15, etc. But in a unique, metaphysical sense, God is the Father of the Son. Jesus always makes a fundamental distinction between the relationship in which He
Himself and in which others, the Jews, the disciples, stand to the Father, Matthew 11:25-27, Luke 22:29, John 2:16, 5:17, 20:17, etc. He called God His own Father, patera idion, John 5:18. And the Scripture clearly indicates that the name Father does not primarily apply to God in relation to Israel and the believers, but on the contrary, originally to the relationship of the Father to the Son, John
14:6-13, 17:26. In the true, original sense, God is the Father of the Son; He loves the Son, John 5:19 ff., John 10:17; 17:24, 26, and this love extends from the Father through the Son to others, John 16:27,
17:26. This relationship of the Father to the Son did not come into being in time, but it is from eternity, John 1:14; 8:38; 17:5, 24, and therefore, God is repeatedly called by the apostles in a special sense the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 15:6, 1 Corinthians
15:24, 2 Corinthians 1:3, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:3, etc. The Son's
Fatherhood is His special, personal attribute. He alone is of Himself, the first in the order of existence, John 5:26, and therefore also the Father, both in creation and recreation, from whom all things are, 1
Corinthians 8:6.
Both in the Old and in the New Testament, it is the Father who holds the first place. From Him comes the purpose, Acts 4:28, Ephesians
1:11, the pleasure, Matthew 11:26, Ephesians 1:9, the initiative in creation and redemption, Psalm 33:6, John 3:16, the authority and the power, Matthew 6:13, Romans 1:20, Ephesians 1:19, the righteousness, Genesis 18:25, Deuteronomy 32:4, John 17:25,
Romans 3:26, 2 Timothy 4:8, the goodness, the wisdom, the immortality, the inaccessible light, Matthew 19:17, Romans 16:27, 1
Timothy 6:16. Therefore, He also bears the name of God in a special sense. He is Elohim, Yahweh Elohim, El Elyon, El Shaddai, monos alēthinos theos, John 17:3, ho theos, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Timothy
2:5, who is called God and Father alongside the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:6, 2 Corinthians 13:13, 1
Thessalonians 1:3, Revelation 1:6. Even Christ Himself does not only call Him His Father but also His God, Matthew 27:46, John 20:17,
Hebrews 1:9; 2:17; 5:1; 10:7, 9, and He is called the Christ of God, Luke 9:20, 1 Corinthians 3:23, Revelation 12:10. However, it has been wrongly inferred from this by the Arians of both earlier and later times that only the Father is God, and the Son and the Spirit, although related to God, stand outside the divine essence. For, first of all, as will soon become clear, Scripture assigns to the Son and the Spirit divine names, attributes, works, and honor just as much as to the Father. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Scripture nowhere says that the Father alone is the true God, but rather that the Father is the only true God, something that is fully recognized in the church's trinitarian doctrine. Moreover, all those passages do not present a contrast between the Father on one hand and the Son and
the Spirit on the other hand, but between the Father, as the only God, and the gods of the nations. Then it follows from the statements that the Father alone is the only true God, only wise, only good, only immortal, not that the Son and the Spirit are not also the same divine beings and share the same unity, wisdom, goodness, and immortality, just as it does not follow from 1 Corinthians 8:6 that only Christ and not God our Lord is through whom all things are and we through Him. And finally, the Father alone can be called wise, good, etc., because He possesses everything from Himself, phgh theotētos is, whereas the Son and the Spirit possess the same essence and the same attributes through communication. The name of God, particularly attributed to the Father, indicates that He is the first in the divine economy; it is, as it were, an official name, an indication of His rank and position, just as among humans, who all share the same nature, there is also a distinction of status and honor.
Son Furthermore, light is also shed on the immanent relations of God through the names borne by the Son in Scripture; These names are numerous, mostly related to His historical appearance, and therefore will be discussed later in the locus concerning Christ. However, there are also among them those that belong to Him before and apart from His incarnation. First, the name Logos comes to mind. Various reasons have been given as to why Christ bears this name. The word is translated as ratio, sermo, verbum, and then understood again as verbum interius or exterius. However, the starting point for the designation undoubtedly lies in the continuous teaching of Scripture that God reveals Himself in creation and re-creation through the Word. Through the Word, God creates, sustains, and governs all things, and through the Word, He also renews and recreates the world. Therefore, the Gospel is also called the Word of God, logos tou
theou. John calls Christ the Logos because He is the one through whom God reveals Himself, both in creation and in re-creation, John
1:3, 14. In the Old Testament, however, the Word through which God reveals Himself first appears at creation. The hypostasis and the eternal existence of that Word are not explicitly stated. In Proverbs
8, wisdom is indeed presented as personal and eternal, but it is also closely associated with creation; with regard to this, she was prepared, appointed, searched out by God, vs. 22, 23. The Arians deduced from the ynnq of vs. 22, LXX ektise me, Syr. Trg. ynarb, cf.
Sirach 1:4, 9, 24:8, that the Son was not eternally begotten but created before all things. And the church fathers argued in opposition that ynnq should be translated as ekthsato, Aq. Symm., or possedit, Jerome, or that this word did not refer to the essence of the Son but to His office and dignity in creation and re-creation. Without doubt, the latter is the case. There is no mention here of an eternal generation; it is only said that God prepared wisdom, ynnq, and appointed it, ytkon, that it was born, ytllx, before and with a view to creation. But the New Testament goes far beyond this. John not only says that He, through whom God reveals Himself, is a Person, but he explicitly declares that this Logos was in the beginning, kai arxh hn o
Logov. He did not become the Logos; He was not prepared and appointed at creation; He was as a Person and by nature the Logos, the Logos from eternity. And furthermore, He Himself was God, yeov. He was in communion with God, hn and argh prov ton yeon vs.
2, eiv ton kolpon tou patrov, vs. 18, the object of His eternal love and self-communication, 5:26, 17:24. Therefore, He could fully reveal the Father because He was inherently the Logos, sharing God's divine nature, divine life, divine love, etc., from eternity.
God communicated Himself to Him; therefore, He can communicate God to us. The Logos is the absolute revelation of God because God has eternally communicated Himself to Him with all His fullness.
Another name is that of the Son of God. In the Old Testament, this name mostly carries a theocratic significance. Israel is called so because it is chosen, called, and adopted by God, Ex. 4:22, 19:5,
Deut. 1:31; 8:5; 14:1; 32:6, 18; Isa. 63:8, Jer. 31:9, 20, Hos. 11:1, Mal.
1:6, 2:10. In the New Testament, this is replaced by the church, which consists of uioi yeou by adoption or tekna yeou by birth.
Specifically, the title Son of God is also often a title of office, for the judges Ps. 82:6, for the angels, Job 38:7, and especially for the king,
2Sam. 7:11-14, Ps. 89:27-28. In Psalm 2:7, the Lord says to the anointed King over Zion: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you," LXX gegesshka se, Vulg. genuite; on the day when the Lord anointed Him and appointed Him as king, He begot Him as Son and gave Him the right to rule the world. In relation to David, this refers back to God's decision in 2Sam. 7, and concerning the Messiah, foreshadowed by David, it is explained in Heb. 1:5, 5:5 as pertaining to eternity, cf. Heb. 1:2-3, in which Christ as the Son is begotten by the Father, i.e., in which He is brought forth as the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature. And that He was this is now powerfully demonstrated in His resurrection according to Acts 13:33, Rom. 1:3. A related thought is expressed in Micah 5:1
[Micah 5:2]. The Ruler over Israel, who will come forth from the small Bethlehem, has existed from of old. His goings forth as Ruler, from God, are from the days of eternity. He was Ruler from eternity;
He has shown this in the history of Israel, and thus He will visibly emerge from Bethlehem. The designation Son of God, applied to the Messiah, undoubtedly stems from the theocratic significance of this expression in the Old Testament. It is not likely that the possessed,
Mt. 8:29, cf. Mt. 4:3, the Jews, Mt. 27:40, the High Priest, Mt. 26:63, or even the disciples, at least initially, Joh. 1:50, 11:27, Mt. 16:16, understood the full content of this designation. But with Christ, this
Name nonetheless acquires a much deeper meaning. While He is sometimes called the Son of God as Mediator and king in a theocratic
sense, Luk. 1:35, even then the adoptionist idea, that He is Son by generation according to His divine nature and by adoption according to His human nature, as later claimed by the Socinians and Remonstrants, finds no support in Scripture. But Christ was not first adopted as Son of God in time as a king among Israel. He is not called Son of God because of His supernatural birth, as the Socinians taught and as Hofmann still tries to argue. Nor does He bear that Name in an ethical sense, as others suppose. Nor did He become so through His mediation and resurrection, for which one appeals to Joh. 10:34-36, Acts 13:32-33, Rom. 1:4. But He is the Son of God in a metaphysical sense, by nature and from eternity. He is exalted far above angels and prophets, Mt. 13:32, 21:27, 22:2, and stands in a unique relationship to God, Mt. 11:27. He is the beloved Son, in whom the Father is well pleased, Mt. 3:17, 17:5, Mark. 1:11, 9:7, Luk.
3:22, 9:35, the only begotten Son, Joh. 1:18; 3:16; 1Joh. 4:9, the unique Son, Rom. 8:32, the eternal Son, Joh. 17:5, 24, Heb. 1:5, 5:5, to whom the Father gave to have life in Himself, Joh. 5:26, who is equal to the Father in knowledge, Mt. 11:27, in honor, Joh. 5:23, in power in creation and re-creation, Joh. 1:3; 5:21, 27, in activity, Joh.
10:30, in dominion, Mt. 11:27, Luk. 10:22, 22:29, Joh. 16:15, 17:10, and precisely because of this Sonship, He was condemned to death,
Joh. 10:33, Mt. 26:63v.
Thirdly, here the name "Image of God" deserves consideration.
While humanity can be so named by analogy, Christ is so in an absolute sense. He existed before His incarnation as the Logos, as the Son, Rom. 1:3-4; 8:3; Gal. 4:4, and morfh yeou, Phil. 2:6, rich, 2Cor.
8:9, clothed in glory, Joh. 17:5, and has now returned to that state through His resurrection and ascension. Thus, He was and still is eikwn tou ueou tou aoratou, Col. 1:15, 2Cor. 4:4, apaugasma thv doxhv kai carakthr thv upostasewv autou, Heb. 1:3, i.e., not the radiance itself, apaugasmov, but the image, apaugasma, of God's
glory and the expression, the imprint of His essence, of the Father's nature that resulted from the radiance. As such, He is prwtotokov pashv ktisewv, Col. 1:15, Rev. 1:16, the Firstborn in comparison to all creatures, and therefore existing before all creatures, and not like creatures made or created, prwtoktistov, prwtoplastov, but born, prwtotokov, in whom all things were created; and He is also arch, prwtotokov ek twn nekrwn, and pasin prwteuwn Col. 1:18, prwtotokov en polloiv adelfoiv, Rom. 8:29, according to whose image believers are renewed, 2Cor. 3:18, Phil. 3:21. The expression prwtotokov does not include Christ among creatures but rather excludes Him from them. As the only and firstborn, as Son and Logos, He stood in a completely unique relationship to the Father from eternity. And while Christ is now presented as Mediator as dependent on the Father and standing under the Father, so that He is a messenger, a servant, an executor of the Father's work, obedient unto death and eventually handing over His kingdom to the Father, this never detracts from His essential unity. In Joh. 14:28, Jesus says that His going to the Father is a cause of joy for the disciples, oti o pathr meizwn mou estin. He does not express that the Father is greater in power, which is expressly contradicted by Joh. 10:28-30; rather, He considers the relationship in which He now stands to the Father in His humiliation. Now this relationship is greater. But this lesser stature of Jesus will cease when He goes to the Father, and therefore His disciples can rejoice in His departure; He is truly equal to the Father in essence and nature, although now in office and status lesser than the Father. He is not a creature but was and is and remains God, to be praised above all forever, Joh. 1:1, 20:28, Rom.
9:5, Heb. 1:8,9, 2Pet. 3:18, 1Joh. 5:20, Rev. 1:8, 11, cf. possibly also 2Thess. 1:2, Tit. 2:13, 2Pet. 1:1. The attempt, previously made by the Socinians and now by Ritschl, Schultz, Kaftan, Pfleiderer, and others, to interpret the name yeov, used for Christ, not as a name of essence but as an office name, requires broader discussion later in the
doctrine of Christ. For now, it should only be noted that this designation in Christ is untrue if He does not truly share the divine nature.
Holy Spirit Finally, Holy Scripture also gives us some insight into the immanent relations of God through the Name of the Holy Spirit. It is worth noting beforehand that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is consistent throughout all the Scriptures of the Old and New Covenants.
Although much clearer in the New Testament, it is present in principle in the Old Testament as well. The New Testament is conscious of not presenting a different doctrine of the Spirit than that found in the Old Testament; it was the same Holy Spirit who spoke through the prophets of old, Mt. 22:43, Mk. 12:36, Acts 1:16,
28:25, Heb. 3:7; 10:15; 1Pet. 1:11, 2Pet. 1:21, testified in the days of Noah, 1Pet. 3:19, resisted by Israel, Acts 7:51, who worked faith,
2Cor. 4:13, who would descend on the Messiah and dwell in the church, Mt. 12:18, Luk. 4:18,19, Acts 2:16. Although the divine essence is Spirit, Joh. 4:24, and holy, Isa. 6:3, in Scripture, the Holy
Spirit is an indication of a distinct Person in the divine essence, distinct from Father and Son. He bears this Name because of His particular mode of subsistence. Spirit actually means wind, breath.
The Holy Spirit is the breath of the Almighty, Job 33:4, the Spirit of His mouth, Ps. 33:6, which Jesus compared to the wind, Joh. 3:8, and breathed upon His disciples, Joh. 20:22, cf. 2Thess. 2:17. The Spirit is God as the immanent life principle in all creation. And He is called holy because He Himself stands in a special relationship to God and places all things in a special relationship to God. He is not the Spirit of a human, of a creature, but the Spirit of God, the Holy
Spirit, Ps. 51:13 [Ps. 51:11], Isa. 63:10-11. Just as breath comes from our mouths, so the Spirit comes from God and sustains all creatures.
Therefore, He is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of the Father, Gen. 1:2, Isa. 11:2, Mt. 10:20, and also the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Son, Rom. 8:2,9, 1Cor. 2:6, 2Cor. 3:17,18,
Phil.1:19, Gal.3:2; 4:6; 1Pet. 1:11, standing before the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6. This outpouring of the Spirit is expressed in various ways in Scripture. Most often, it is expressed that the Spirit is given by God or by Christ, Num. 11:29, Neh. 9:20,
Isa. 42:1, Ezek. 36:27, Joh. 3:34, 1John 3:24, 4:13, sent or dispatched, Ps. 104:30, Joh. 14:26, 15:26, 16:7, Gal. 4:6, Rev. 5:6, poured out or poured forth, Isa. 32:15, 44:3, Joel 2:28, Zech. 12:10,
Acts 2:17-18, descended from God, Mt. 3:16, placed in the midst of Israel, Isa. 63:11, Hag. 2:6 [Hag. 2:5], laid upon someone, Mt. 12:18, breathed upon someone, Joh. 20:22, etc. But it is also said that the Spirit proceeds, ekporeuetai, Joh. 15:26. This happened specifically on Pentecost. Therefore, the Personality of the Holy Spirit becomes clear only now. In the Old Testament, there is indeed a distinction between God and His Spirit. But the nature of that distinction remains obscure. Oupw gar hn pneuma, oti Ihsouv oudepw edoxasyh, Joh. 7:39. But now He is spoken of as a Person. He is referred to as ekeinov, Joh. 15:26; 16:13-14, paraklhtov, Joh. 15:26, cf. 1Joh. 2:1, allov paraklhtov aaTO, Joh. 14:16, speaking of Himself in the first Person, Acts 13:2, to whom various Personal faculties and activities are ascribed, such as searching, 1Cor. 2:10-11, judging, Acts
16:28, hearing, Joh. 16:13, speaking, Acts 13:2, Rev. 2:7, etc. Rev.
14:13; 22:17, willing, 1Cor. 12:11, teaching, Joh.14:26, praying, Rom.
8:27, testifying, Joh. 15:26, etc., and who is coordinated and placed on par with the Father and the Son, Mt. 28:19, 1Cor. 12:4-6, 2Cor.
13:13 vs. Rev. 1:4. And this cannot be unless He is truly God.
Just as His personality, so also the deity of the Holy Spirit becomes clearly evident in the New Testament. This is primarily evidenced by the fact that, despite the distinction between God and His Spirit, it is
entirely the same whether God or His Spirit speaks, dwells in us, is despised by us, Isa. 6:9; Acts 28:25, Jer. 31:31; Heb. 10:15, Ps. 95:78; Heb. 3:7-9, Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 8:9-10; 1Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Eph. 3:21.
This is fully realized only when personal distinction is accompanied by essential unity. Furthermore, various divine attributes are attributed equally to God's Spirit as to God Himself: for example, eternity, Heb. 9:14, omnipresence, Ps. 139:7, omniscience, 1Cor.
2:10,11, omnipotence, 1Cor. 12:4-6, and again, this presupposes that the Spirit is essentially one with God Himself. The same is true of the divine works of creation, Gen. 1:2, Ps. 33:6, Job 33:4, Ps. 104:30, and of recreation. Indeed, in these, His deity is especially evident. He is the one who empowered Christ for His office through His anointing,
Isa. 11:2, 61:1 Luke 4:18, Isa. 42:1; Mt. 12:18, Luke 1:35, Mt. 3:16, 4:1, Joh. 3:34, Mt. 12:28, Heb. 9:14, Rom. 1:4, who equips the apostles for their particular task, Mt. 10:20, Luke 12:12, 21:15, 24:49, Joh.
14:16ff., Joh. 15:26; 16:13ff., etc., who bestows various gifts and powers on believers, 1Cor. 12:4-11, and who, above all, brings about in the church the fullness of Christ. The Holy Spirit stands in the same relationship to Christ as Christ does to the Father. Just as the Son has nothing and does nothing and speaks nothing of Himself but receives everything from the Father, Joh. 5:26, 16:16, so the Holy
Spirit takes everything from Christ, Joh. 16:13-14. Just as the Son testifies of the Father and glorifies the Father, Joh. 1:18; 17:4,6; so, in turn, the Holy Spirit testifies of the Son, Joh. 15:26; 16:14. Just as no one comes to the Father except through the Son, Mt. 11:27, Joh. 14:6, so no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit, 1Cor. 12:3.
There is no communion with God except through the Spirit. But that Spirit also bestows all the blessings that Christ has acquired: regeneration, Joh. 3:3, conviction of sin, Joh. 16:8-11, adoption,
Rom. 8:15, renewal, Tit. 3:5, the love of God, Rom. 5:5, various spiritual fruits, Gal. 5:22, sealing, Rom. 8:23, 2Cor. 1:22, 5:5, Eph.
1:13, 4:30, resurrection, Rom. 8:10. Indeed, through the Spirit, we