Well, good morning. Welcome to our second lesson in the Holy Spirit. I hope you all are ready to participate in the discussion. The goal of this class is to present information on the Holy Spirit, but also to engage in discussion so we can talk about... I'm really curious what you all are learning and what you all bring as preconceived notions. A lot of times we have ideas about the Holy Spirit and sometimes they may are correct and sometimes they are not. But to begin with, let's open in prayer. Father, we thank you. We thank you for our time together this morning and we thank you especially for the subject of the Holy Spirit. We pray that as we continue to strive to learn that your spirit would guide us and reveal himself to us as he is revealed through your word. We recognize, Father, that there are many misconceptions regarding your spirit, and we ask that you would guide us, give us understanding that we would properly understand and therefore render proper and acceptable worship to you. We ask your blessing upon our time together this morning, and we praise you, in Jesus' name, amen. So we're gonna be talking about several subjects this morning. We're gonna begin with talking about the deity of the Holy Spirit. And to begin with, the very first question I want to ask you all, is the Holy Spirit deity or not? Is he God or not? And that, yes, okay. And notice this is a binary question. Well, he can be partway God. This is, and the question is, why is this question so important? Why is it so important that we get the answer this question correct? What happens if we don't get this question correct? What if the Holy Spirit is not God? Where does that lead us to? Exactly. We're worshipping someone who is nothing more than a creature. So he must be God. It is very important that we understand that there are only two possible answers to the question posed, because either the Holy Spirit is fully God, or He is something less than God. And if the Holy Spirit is less than fully God in any way, then He is nothing more than a mere creature. No other possibilities exist. He is either God or He is not. This question is vitally important because there are some who would like to put the Holy Spirit into some almost God category. More than a creature, but less than God. There are a great many people who have had that attitude, that he is a mere creature, but less than God. And if the Holy Spirit is less than God in any way, then he is less than God in every way. just as Satan is, just as every other creature is less than God. So this is an extremely important question. Remember, as I said in lesson one two weeks ago, that in a 2021 Arizona University poll, an astounding 62% of professing Christians denied not just the deity of the Holy Spirit, but they deny his existence altogether, that the Holy Spirit is simply an idea. He is an aspect of God, but he is a concept. So what is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is God? Because in order for us to say, yes, the Holy Spirit is God, we have to provide evidence. And the evidence that is provided to us is not our own opinion. It's not from books that we've read. The only source of authentication of truth is God's Word. So what does God's Word say about the deity of the Holy Spirit? Well, we read in Acts chapter five, verses three and four, when Peter confronts Ananias and Sapphira. Verse 3 says, but Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. So he equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God. In 2 Peter 1, verses 20 and 21 we read, but know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but by men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So in this verse, this stating that the prophets received their messages directly from God through the divine Holy Spirit. So what further evidence is there of the Holy Spirit being God? In the study of the attributes of God, we learn that there are different attributes. There are communicable attributes of God and incommunicable attributes. The communicable attributes of God are attributes of God in which there is something analogous in man. God has mercy, God loves, we have the capacity to have mercy, to love, to to be angry. There are different attributes of God that we can manifest. But there are attributes of God that we cannot manifest. We cannot manifest the attributes of eternality. We cannot be eternal. We cannot be infinite or omniscient or omnipresent. Those are attributes that belong only to God. So God's incommunicable attributes of holiness, eternality, infinity, omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence are all found in the Holy Spirit. Because those can only be found in God, and because they are found in the Holy Spirit, gives evidence that the Holy Spirit is God. For example, the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit is seen in Psalm 139, verses seven through 10. David says in this Psalm, where can I go from your spirit? And then he goes and talks about where is the spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me and your right hand will lay hold of me. So he is equating the Holy Spirit with being present everywhere. There is nowhere that David can go where he is not in the presence of the Spirit. The omniscience of the Holy Spirit is seen in Isaiah chapter 40 in verses 13 and 14. Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has informed him? With whom did he consult, and who gave him understanding? In other words, the Holy Spirit knows everything. He does not learn from us. There is no one who can teach him anything. So no one has directed the Holy Spirit. No one has taught the Spirit anything because the Spirit knows all things. Again, regarding the omniscience of the Holy Spirit, we see this in John 14, verse 26. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. And then later in John 16, verse 13. But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak of His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come." So here we see evidence again from Scripture that the Holy Spirit knows all things, and because He knows all things, He is able to impart to us, impart to those whom He reveals, all things necessary. The omnipotence of the power of the Holy Spirit is seen in Luke chapter 1, verse 35. The angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God. There we see the power of God. Likewise, in Romans chapter eight, verse 11. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. And we know that only God has the power to give life. He has the power to take up Jesus's life when he was resurrected. He has the power to give life to every living thing. Only God has the power to give life to any living thing. And then in Romans 15 verse 19, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit. So there we see further scripture referring to the power of the Holy Spirit. Regarding the eternality of the Spirit, we see this in Hebrews 9 verse 14. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Further evidence that the Holy Spirit is God. We see that there are the prerogatives of deity, those attributes that only God demonstrates, the attributes of sovereignty and supremacy. We see that the Holy Spirit is the one who sovereignly dispenses his spiritual gifts to the church. That any spiritual gift that we receive is given by the sovereign authority of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who sovereignly directs the mediator to intervene on our behalf. And it is the sovereign authority of the Holy Spirit to set leaders in place within the church. So that the Holy Spirit is the one who is leading and guiding, directing the church. Yes, it is Christ's church, but the Holy Spirit is the one who is operative in us today. There are specific works of God that are attributed only to the Holy Spirit. These are the works of providence in the lives of his creatures, his unique divine roles in regeneration and sanctification, and in his accomplishing miracles through Christ and the apostles here on earth. Notice when we see Jesus speaking in the Gospels. He said the Spirit would give him the ability to accomplish these miracles. He was not calling upon his own authority, but he was calling upon the Holy Spirit who was working through him while he was on the earth. There are some interesting, when talking about the evidence of the Holy Spirit, these attributes, these works of the Spirit are accomplished only by the Spirit. the mystery of the providence of God. Providence is God's care of his creation. And we learn that the providence of the purview of the Holy Spirit is providence in our lives here. So everything that happens in our lives here today, in this life, is currently being ordered and ordained by the Spirit. That is the Spirit's role right now, is acts of providence in the lives of the creatures of God. as well as he is the member of the Godhead who is responsible and active in regeneration and sanctification. So, talking about the deity of the Holy Spirit, any comments or questions, observations that you have noticed, any problems that you have seen? And I will tell you right now that the subject of the Holy Spirit today in the church has become contentious. There are people, some of them are men that I have listened to and respected, and people are beginning to waffle. on their view of the Holy Spirit. That they're saying that the Holy Spirit is not a member of the Godhead. I think the one that I heard recently was someone was teaching that the Holy Spirit, each member of the Godhead has a will, has their own will, that they have unique wills. And it's like, where is this coming from? Yes, God is three, but God is three in one. And God has one will. There are not three different wills and they all have to vote and decide, are we going to do this? No. the triune God has one will. So this whole idea that now God has three different wills according to each member of the Trinity, it's like, where is this coming from? But the Trinity, Trinitarianism and our sound theology is under attack. And it's under attack from some very unlikely sources. Have you all seen anything similar to this? But I would, warn you to be on the lookout for it. So that's the purpose of this class is to learn sound Orthodox teaching on the person of the Holy Spirit so that if we hear something bizarre, like the triune God has three different wills, like, no, that's wrong. We should be able to spot statements like that and go, I don't know where this person went off the rails, but that is wrong. I've experienced it a lot with Some guys that I knew that I thought to be pretty sound, that I knew personally, that I was in Bible studies with, that they've, in the last couple of years, I mean, he's kind of been off the rails, and he's got his own little following now on the YouTube channel, and he says that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but a force. And he's got people that are buying into it, And that's his position, but he doesn't really deal with the Holy Spirit in the New Testament as much, because he's more astute in the Hebrew. I think he loses that transition between old and new, and the Holy Spirit working in the Old Testament, in the Old Covenant, versus the New. You're right. There is a lot of disagreement regarding the role and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. And we're going to talk about that in a couple of weeks when we get to that particular subject. But the Holy Spirit is unchanging. He is operative in the Old Testament in exactly the same way He is operative today, except that the church, with Him coming and the formation of the church, yes, something was added to the work of the Holy Spirit, but nothing changed. It's the whole idea of the immutability of God. God cannot change. Just because God does something new or in addition to what was previously revealed does not mean he has changed. He has simply added to what he has revealed about himself to us. And so the work of the church in the formation of the church was something new that did not exist in the Old Testament, but it didn't mean the Holy Spirit changed in any way. especially when it comes to salvation. We're going to talk about were the Old Testament saints changed or saved in a different way? Was the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation different in the Old Testament than it was in the New? A great many people think it is, but that's not. The Holy Spirit has always been consistent. We are saved by faith and it is the faith in what has been revealed. So that's a great point. The problem is, as you have pointed out, if people begin to waver in their orthodox view, they run the risk of becoming nothing more than a cult. Because if you depart from orthodoxy, you are by definition now in a cult. And so we have to guard, we have to guard orthodoxy, we have to guard what we know to be true in our hearts. Because if we don't have it settled in our hearts, we are prone to waver, we are prone to be, caught up in false teaching. And next thing you know, we've departed from the faith, from orthodoxy. So that's a great point. Thank you, Mike. Next topic I wanna talk about are the titles of the Holy Spirit. The three persons in the Godhead have graciously revealed themselves through a variety of names and titles. The nature of God we are utterly incapable of comprehending, but his person and character may be known. Each name or title that God has appropriated unto himself is that whereby he reveals himself to us and whereby he would have us to know him. The names of God are for the purpose of expressing himself to us. That's an important point. They set forth his perfections and make known the different relations that he has with the children of men and his own favored people. Names are given for this intent, that they might declare what the thing is to which the name belongs. Thus, when God created Adam and gave him dominion over this visible world, he caused the beasts of the field and the fowl of the air to pass before him, that they might receive names from him. And that's recorded in Genesis 2, verse 19. In like manner, we learn about God through the names and titles he has taken. By means of them, God spells out Himself to us by His various perfections. So who the Holy Spirit is in His divine person and ineffable character is made known to us by means of the many names and varied titles that are accorded to Him in Scripture. So the titles of the Holy Spirit are for the purpose of understanding who the Holy Spirit is. It's not His proper name. It's simply a title to describe who He is and what He does. For example, the third member of the Triune Godhead is identified as the Spirit. And there are two things that are significant about the title, the Spirit. First, that as the Spirit, we're explicitly told that the Spirit is a non-corporeal being, meaning he has no physical form or manifestation. The Holy Spirit is a spirit being. He cannot be touched, he cannot be seen, just like the wind. Secondly, his designation as a spirit refers to his mode of operation in the hearts of his people. Just as the wind moves about us and we cannot perceive it, so the spirit moves in and around us and we cannot perceive him. We only see him through the work that he accomplishes. So anybody who thinks that they can see the spirit, they've not seen the spirit, they've seen some delusion. Secondly, He is called by way of eminence, His eminence being His glory and importance. He is called by way of eminence the Holy Spirit. The term holy is synonymous with eminence. Both terms refer to the Spirit's unapproachable glory and uniqueness. The Holy Spirit is glorious in His holiness. He is unlike anyone or anything else. He is totally unique and glorious in His essential being. And secondly, being holy, the title Holy Spirit designates that all His operations and all His works are holy. All that the Spirit is and does is holy. And again, what do we know about holiness? Only God is holy. As Nehemiah says in Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 20, You gave your good spirit to instruct them. Your manna you did not withhold from their mouth and you gave them water for their thirst. So what is the significance of the spirit's title of good spirit? Exactly right. Exactly right. Yes. When the young man comes to Jesus and calls him good teacher, Jesus responds, why do you call me good? Only God is good. So by being referred to by Nehemiah as the good spirit, we now have a term that is used only to describe God. As we learn in Matthew chapter 19, verse 17, only God is good, as Gary pointed out. Because God is good, all that he is and does is by definition good. We also learn in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 9, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Therefore, by definition, all that the Spirit is and does is holy and good, which only God can do. Only God can do that which is both holy and good. Fourthly, we learn in Psalm 51 verse 12, David calls upon the Spirit as free or willing. As Arthur Pink states, he is a most munificent giver, bestowing his favors severally as he pleases, liberally and upbraiding not. In light of David's use of the term free or willing in his Psalm of Repentance, Albert Barnes states, it would seem here to mean a willing spirit, referring to David's own mind or spirit. And the prayer is that God would uphold or sustain in him, that is David, a willing spirit or state of mind. that is, a state of mind in which he would be willing or ready to obey all the commands of God and to serve Him faithfully. What the Spirit does and gives is according to His free willingness. He gives willingly to His children and makes us free and willing to obey His leading. True free will is only through the Holy Spirit who gives to us all things that make us free. And here's a great quote that I think we should keep in mind. The Spirit makes our unwilling spirit willing. We are by nature unwilling, but the Holy Spirit makes us willing. So he makes our unwilling spirit willing. Now the reference is to Psalm 51 verse 12. and let me see if I can point that out. In that verse it says, restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. So David is pleading with God, pleading with the spirit that he would give him a willing spirit. This is in his psalm of repentance, where he has, I have sinned against you grievously. And he's pleading with the spirit, please uphold in me a willing spirit that I would have a desire to be obedient to you. And that is the plea of every one of our hearts. We all, when we are disobedient, even when we are being obedient, we pray, God, please uphold in me a willing spirit that desires to be obedient to you. Fifthly, the Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of the Lord. The titles the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of the Lord both speak of the fact that the Holy Spirit speaks and acts with the authority of Christ to make known to His own teaching and leading of Christ. So he is referred to in scripture. And sometimes people look at, okay, wait a minute, the spirit of Christ, is that talking about Jesus? No, it's talking about the Holy Spirit, but he is the Holy Spirit who proceeds from Christ. Christ sent him, he said, I must go so that this comforter may come. So he is the Holy Spirit who proceeds. from Christ or with Christ, just as he is the spirit of the Lord. We see this in several passages, John 16, verse 14, he will glorify me for he will take of mine and will disclose it to you. In Romans eight, verse nine, however, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, it does not belong to him. So it is the spirit who precedes from Christ. Acts 2 verse 33, therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured forth this which you both see and hear. Sixth, in Hebrews chapter nine verse 14, we learn that the Holy Spirit is entitled the Eternal Spirit. The title the Eternal Spirit is descriptive of the eternality of God, one of his incommunicable attributes. And being eternal and infinite, all three members of the triune Godhead are without beginning or end. The Holy Spirit is an eternal being, and this title in Hebrews 9.14 is a reminder of this incommunicable attribute of God. So this title, the eternal spirit, is descriptive of him. One of the best known titles of the Holy Spirit is found in the Gospel of John in chapters 14, 15, and 16. He is called the Comforter, the Helper, or the Paraclete. The title Comforter, Helper, or Paraclete is very descriptive because of the work that he does in the lives of Christians. The Greek word parakletos means consoler or comforter, and that's the word that is used in John chapter 14, 15, and 16, the parakletos, consoler. The English word comforter is derived from the Latin words com, meaning alongside of, and fortis, meaning strength. So it literally means to come alongside to give strength. The comforter is one who strengthens, encourages, So the comfort is not simply patting you on the back, but is to strengthen you, to bolster you, to bring you along, to sustain you. The word comforter is used by the Lord Jesus to describe how the Holy Spirit would take the Lord's place alongside the saints to give us strength. As the comforter, the Spirit strengthens in various ways, consoling the cast down, giving grace when we are weak or timid, and providing guidance to show us the right way. Comments or questions so far? All right. Eighth, one of the other titles that the Lord Jesus uses to refer to the Holy Spirit in John 14 verses 16 and 17 is the Spirit of Truth. Again, descriptive of what He does. Jesus says, I will ask the Father and He will give to you another helper. that He may be with you forever, that is, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. As the comforter or helper, one of the significant roles of the Spirit is to teach us and to guide us in the path of truth. Remembering that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to teach us who Jesus is. So he is the Spirit of truth. He is the Spirit who reveals truth. He is the Spirit who gives us truth. He is the Spirit who gives us the ability to receive and understand the truth. So this title, the Spirit of Truth, is descriptive of His ministry to us. What a perfect title then that this is, that He is the Spirit of Truth, for it is through Him that we come to a knowledge and belief in the truth of our Lord and Savior. Without the knowledge and belief in this truth, there would be no salvation. Yes, Jonathan. Exactly right. So if somebody comes to you and says, I have received a word of truth from the Spirit, how do we respond? Anybody? I mean, that's a very practical question. Somebody has said, you know, I received, last night I received a message from the Holy Spirit. So how do we respond to that? Okay. And where does any revelation come to us? It comes only through the Word of God. And that is the answer. Somebody says, I received a revelation from the Spirit last night, and it said, what passage of Scripture did you receive it from? Okay, if you claim to have received any truth from the Holy Spirit that does not come from the Word of God, then you can be assured that you did not receive a message from the Holy Spirit. You may have received a message, but it wasn't from the Holy Spirit. Exactly right. Exactly right. And so what is the danger to those people who believe that they have received this message from the Spirit? Exactly right. That's how cults are formed because people are being deceived. who puts it in his systematic theology that God does still speak, but there can be errors. He has this whole new idea of what prophecy is, whereas today's prophets who are receiving work can be wrong, which there is absolutely no but that is this new idea that I think God has spoken to me, and if I'm wrong, well, I guess I just made a mistake, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't continue to seek for words from the Lord. There's no biblical justification for that whatsoever. And what is God specifying in the Old Testament about a prophet who prophesies wrongly? Yeah, he does. He should be stoned to death. Yeah, exactly, and you know, I'm gonna quote it today in Hebrews, it's one of my favorite verses to quote, but God says, in these last days, God has spoken through his son, has spoken through the son. There's no room for anything more to be added to it. If you follow that all the way to its end, with Gru's theory, it's like, I have a word from the Lord, but I can't be wrong. If you follow that all the way down, you're basically saying the Lord is wrong. I mean, that's the logical conclusion. Follow it all the way to its end. So that is the great risk is that if somebody claims to have received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that does not come from the Word of God, then you can reject it immediately. But even if someone claims to have received a message from the Holy Spirit that comes through the Word of God, doesn't mean you should automatically accept it. Because it may be a matter of an interpretive issue. Say, well, I see this meaning this. Well, There are a great many difficult interpretive passages in scripture. And so just because someone claims, I've received revelations and I now understand what this means. It's like, okay, well, that's good for you and you need to explain it to me, but I'm not going to automatically accept it simply because you claim to have received it from the spirit. And we're going to talk about stuff like this further down the road, but discernment is important. There are a great many people who are apparently easily deceived And unfortunately, Satan is the great deceiver. He is the great counterfeiter. Yes? uh... here I'm thinking, if God has spoken to you, through you, you have an interpreter, that's something that sticks with you. That's not something you forget. But again, I think... Don't forget to get the eggs at the store. Yeah, right. But it's that kind of thing. I truly think that he believes that he spoke to God, but I think that he got caught up and he was, he was manipulating. Right. Yeah. It's amazing how much this, in modern times, how the counterfeit is growing, and the influence of the counterfeiter is growing more and more. We really have to guard what we know, what we learn to be true, and guard what we might entertain as possibly being true. Any other comments? Yes, Jonathan. Sound, Bible preaching. And if you do bring an interpretation to someone, you need to be humble enough to listen to say, okay, have you considered this? You have to be honest and humble enough to be willing to engage someone else and say, okay, well, I see your point here, but have you considered this or this? Because if you say, no, the Spirit revealed this to me, I know I'm right. And you cannot be persuaded off your point, off your stance. It's like, that's a dangerous place to be. So you have to be humble enough to say, I have come to this interpretation, but I am certainly willing to listen to other people and maybe explain to me where I have made a mistake. Exactly. Yes. But we have to be humble enough to engage and discuss it. Because what you're saying is absolutely true. Nobody has all the knowledge. There's not a single man who has lived, save the Lord, who has been perfect in his knowledge of everything. We all make mistakes. We all change positions. You look at men who have had long careers. I'm thinking of John MacArthur. He's been in ministry, what, for 40 years. He admits that he has a different position on a certain passage than he did years ago because he's learned. He's been, I said, more revelation or more knowledge has come to him. He's become better. He said, yes, I recognize that my position has changed because I now see something that I didn't see before. But you have to be humble enough to be willing to have that attitude. Say, no, once I take a position, my pride won't let me change. I've got to stick with it. And then it's just a problem, Catherine. speaking with people who have a different view of the Holy Spirit than what we would hold to here, they'll say, well, you're limiting the Holy Spirit. Why are you limiting the Holy Spirit? And something that the Lord kind of brought to my mind this week as I was thinking through that, and I thought, wait a minute, Scripture limits the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12, therefore I make known to you that no one speaking When you look in the Spirit, then there's kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are things that the Holy Spirit produces. So if we look at someone and we say, well, they're not being very kind, and they're kind of impatient, and there's not a lot of peace, and they're definitely not self-controlled. You're not necessarily saying that they in being self-controlled. So if someone said that you're limiting the Holy Spirit, there's a biblical way to talk about that and say, well, he has limited himself to demonstrating these qualities in the life of a believer. We have no ability to limit the Holy Spirit, but he chooses to limit himself. Yes. Well said. So, if someone were to ask you why the spirit has so many different titles, what would now be your response? Why is he called this and the Holy Spirit and the Good Spirit and the Spirit of Truth? Why the different titles? What is the purpose? If somebody asks you, why does the spirit have all these different titles? What is our response? Jeannie? The reason why he has so many different titles is because charge of and each title refers to that work that he does. Right, exactly right. His titles are simply descriptive of what he does. So it's important to understand that when we see a title of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all the titles that they have are used to describe to us various ministries or various things that they do. Well, they can be attributes, but at the same time they could be simply descriptive of his ministry in a certain way. It's from God, you know, that the Holy Spirit is just as important as Christ in Him, in God. Exactly. All right. The titles of the Spirit are used to describe the nature and character of the Spirit to us. His names and titles reveal who He is. All right. Comments or questions regarding the titles of the Spirit? Excellent discussion so far, thank you for participating. Next subject are the covenant offices of the Holy Spirit. What is the covenant office of the Holy Spirit? When we speak of the covenant office of the Holy Spirit, the word office is often, is used to express the several parts that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have undertaken in the covenant of grace. To help us understand the parts that each member of the triune Godhead plays, it is helpful to define two terms. When we speak of the covenant office of the Holy Spirit, we are speaking of the unique role of the Holy Spirit that neither the Father nor the Son have a part. Just as Christ's assumption of the office of servant in no way tarnished or diminished His equality as the Son, so the Spirit's free undertaking the office of applying the benefits of the everlasting covenant, that is, the covenant of grace, to its beneficiaries in no way detracts from his essential and personal honor and glory. The word office, and we're gonna talk about two different terms here that I mentioned, ontological and economic trinity. The term office then as applied to the covenant work of the Holy Spirit denotes that which he graciously undertook to perform by way of stipulated engagement. The ontological trinity, states each person of the Trinity, that is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is equal in nature and qualities. That's what ontology means. Ontology is a philosophical word meaning the nature of someone. According to the teaching on the Ontological Trinity, each of the three persons share the same abilities, power, wisdom, strength, importance, glory, and will as the others. Another name for the ontological trinity is the essential trinity because it speaks of their essence. In essence, all three members of the Godhead are fully and equally divine. They are equal in all respects. Yes, there is a hierarchy, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father sends the Son, and the Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. So there is a hierarchy, but they are equal in all respects in regard to their essence. Now, then you have the second term, which is the economic trinity. Economy, economics simply means the allocation of resources. The economic trinity has a different focus than the ontological trinity. While the ontological trinity focuses on who God is, the economic trinity focuses on what God does. By mutual agreement and divine will, each member of the Godhead has a specific role or office. For example, it is the role of the Father to elect and to justify. It's not the role of the Son or the Spirit. It is the Father who elects and justifies. He is the sender of the Son and the Holy Spirit into the world to accomplish the work of salvation. None of these offices is done by the Son or the Spirit. Likewise, the Son is the head of the church. He sacrificed Himself to make atonement for the sins of the elect. He is seated at the right hand of the Father and makes intercession for His own. The Father and the Spirit do not perform these functions. And finally, the Spirit does the work of regeneration in our salvation. And following our conversion, the Spirit performs the office of sanctifier in the Chosen of God. Neither the Father nor the Son perform these covenant functions. So we see, according to the allocation of resources, by mutual agreement, Each member of the Trinity plays a specific role that none of the other two play. And this is simply for the maintaining of order and to delegation of responsibility. Could one member of the Godhead do all of them? Of course. He is infinite and all-powerful. But by mutual agreement, they have chosen to delegate the roles of the function that they would perform. The office work of the Holy Spirit may be summed up in a single word, and that is sanctification. That's what Arthur Pink says. The Spirit's work of sanctification begins at regeneration when a new life is given, a new capacity imparted, a new desire awakened. Arthur Pink states that, this is an interesting quote, without the Spirit's sanctification, the redemption of Christ would avail no man. That's a pretty significant statement. In other words, without the work of the Spirit, it would all be for nothing. Salvation would not be possible. So the question is, does this mean that sanctification or regeneration is just as important as redemption? What do you think? Is regeneration or sanctification just as important as redemption? I think it is. The fact is Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross the redemption of those whom he came to save. But until you are regenerated and sanctified, the atoning death of Christ has not yet been applied to you. So it has no meaning to you. It is meaningless without the work of the Holy Spirit to give you spiritual life. The death of Christ accomplished the salvation of the elect But the Spirit must regenerate you and sanctify you in order for you to be saved. Without the work of the Spirit, the death of Christ would have no avail to you, would have no effect for you. So it is literally just as important, the work of the Spirit is as important as the work of Christ in your salvation. And you begin to think about that, you realize, I probably have been very neglectful of the subject of regeneration and sanctification in my life because I have focused, and rightly so, we focus on the death of Christ. But we must recognize that everything that the Spirit is doing in us is just as important as what the death of Christ accomplished. And for that, we should then worship the Spirit and give Him thanks for what He's accomplished in us. His work is just as important as the work of Christ. The office role of each member of the Godhead is indispensable. Without God the Father's electing grace, none of us would be saved. Without the sacrifice of God the Son, none of us would be saved. And without the sanctifying work of God the Spirit, none of us would be saved. The work of all three members of the Godhead in their chosen roles are essential and indispensable to our salvation. Without the work of any of those, acts or events, we would not be saved. Sanctification is as indispensable as justification. If there is no sanctification in a professing Christian, there is no justification because there is no spiritual life. Is regeneration part of the process of sanctification? Let me read what Pink says. Pink sees regeneration as the first event in the lifelong process of sanctification. Regeneration is the specific event in which the dead soul is made alive by the quickening of the spirit. And at that moment, when the dead man is made alive, the process of sanctification begins and will continue for the remainder of the new creation's earthly life. Whether we agree that regeneration and sanctification should be viewed as separate events is debatable. I think we're talking a matter of degrees of order rather than time. The fact is, when you are regenerated and you are made spiritually alive, at that moment, your sanctification begins and continues on for the rest of your life. Are they two separate events? Well, we have two different words, but the fact is they begin to happen simultaneously. Regeneration immediately commences sanctification. There's not like you're regenerated and a couple days later, the spirit enters you and you start to become sanctified. No, at the moment of your regeneration, your sanctification begins. And that's the point. So sometimes theologians and philosophers will get wrapped up, wrapped around the actual and they'll wanna debate. Well, are they two separate events or are they a simultaneous event? And the answer is yes. I mean, so what are we arguing about? We're wrangling over such small things that really are unprofitable for us to do. Go ahead. you are sanctified, you are set apart by God. So, I mean, you can't get more apart when God separates you apart. You are set aside, you are sanctified. And then, I think we get confused and we get caught in the weeds, like you said, you said caught up in the axioms of this. When we talk about as we're growing in holiness, as we're understanding, as we're mortifying sin, then And all this other thing is just really us putting sin to death and the Holy Spirit revealing more and our understanding growing as we walk and rise and live for Him. Yeah, I think it's important too that it's the Holy Spirit that's working through us to put sin to death on our own. We can't put sin to death. I think that's another thing the Holy Spirit doesn't get credit for is that it is the power within us to overcome this world. And I think as we go through the study and we learn what the Spirit is doing in us, things that we probably know the words but didn't really consider the magnitude of what His work is, it hopefully will be life-changing for you. You begin to realize just how much the Spirit is working in you. So as we close this section, again, I wanna just help define these two terms, ontological trinity. Anybody give me a definition of what the ontological trinity is? Ontology being the nature, the nature or essence of God. So the ontological trinity specifies that God is the Father, Son, and Spirit are equal in their nature. That there is no hierarchy, that they are all equal and fully God. The ontological trinity declares that all three members of the Godhead are equal in all respects of existence, nature, and being. Yes, Catherine. to distinguish between those. Sometimes it can be so confusing when you try to read God's actions back into His nature. But who He is does not change whether He made us or didn't. If he didn't ever create anything, he would still be one God in three persons, one undivided nature, essence, and will, and all three persons co-equal in glory, power, dominion, and authority. And yeah, I think that's really just inspired my heart to worship how glorious God is in himself, and he didn't have to create us. There is no inferiority within the Triune Godhead. God the Father is not greater than the Son and the Spirit. They are all equally God, equally worthy of our worship and adoration. So they are equal in all respects. And that's the importance of the ontological trinity. There is not a, you know, the father and then the son and the spirit are less than. They are all equal in every regard, which is very important because if you get that wrong, you begin to go down a bad path, which will take you into cult teaching. So then you have the second part, which is the economic trinity. Economy or economics meaning the allocation of resources. So what is the economic trinity? Exactly right. The ontological trinity is who God is. The economic trinity is what God does. And by mutual agreement, they perform different functions. Although they are all equally God, they have by mutual agreement said, I will do this, you will do this, you will do this. Even though they're capable, all capable of doing the same thing, they have chosen to delegate their roles. And that's all it is. It's a delegation of duties. Although they are all fully God. Comments or questions? Okay, we covered a lot of theology this morning, which is good because we're trying to establish a good foundation on who God is and making sure we establish the correct orthodoxy on our understanding of who the Holy Spirit is and who God is. So, excellent discussion. Thank you all for taking the time to participate. I hope that This will generate more discussion in the future. I find that it's like with our fellowship groups, the more we are together, the more people are willing to step off the curb and say something, not for fear of getting run over by a bus. So it comes with comfort, and I'm hopeful that as we spend more weeks together that we will become more comfortable in sharing the things we're learning, sharing the things you know. So thank you all for participating this morning. Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you. We thank you for what you have revealed about yourself in your word, and we thank you for your spirit whom you have given to us. It is through the work of the spirit in our lives that is revealing the truth. All that we know comes from your Holy Spirit who is given to us. He is the spirit of truth. He is the one who is teaching us truth, and for that we thank you and praise you. Not realizing all these years we have maybe shortchanged or diminished the role of the spirit, we thank you for this study which is beginning to exalt the Spirit to the position He justly deserves, that He is the active member of the Godhead in our lives today, changing us and conforming us into the image of Christ. We thank you for our time together this morning. We pray that you would find our hour of worship ahead to be acceptable in your sight. We thank you and praise you. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.