Principles of the Kingdom of God. Kenneth B. Alexander BSL, JD, Deacon
The first reference in the Bible to the Holy Spirit is in Genesis 1:2: "The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the spirit of the deep, and the SPIRIT OF GOD was moving over the surface of the waters". As Christ was the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. The Father and Son are also spirit and the Holy Spirit is that Spirit which is from God and does His work throughout the earth and the universe. Although we will here be referring to the Spirit as it manifested in the New Testament, it is safe to say whenever a reference is made to the Spirit of God in the Old Testament it is, the Holy Spirit being spoken of.
The purpose of the Holy Spirit, as it pertains to us and Jesus Christ, is discussed most frequently in the Gospel of John. In John 15:5-15, Jesus says:
"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you". The Holy Spirit does not minister on His own initiative but, as Christ, is the representation of the Father on the earth, The Holy Spirit takes of Christ and ministers the things of Christ to us.
Thus, the Holy Spirit is our helper (Paraclete in Greek). He will help us by revealing the things of Christ to us. Remember, Christ had a limited ministry of 3 1/2 years on earth and He ministered in an area not more than a short distance from Nazareth His home town. He had more to tell us while he was here, but at the current state of the disciple’s growth they could not bear such truths then. So He sent the Helper to guide us into ALL the truth.
The Holy Spirit also came as the Parousia, the presence of God. Suffice it to say that anytime we feel God's presence, receive a revelation of Him, exercise a gift of the Spirit as prophesy or worship in the Spirit, all of this is initiated and directed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and Jesus Christ, but the Father has turned all things over to the Son and the Son is at His right hand. Christ went away, out of physical sight, so He could send the Helper, a manifestation of God, to guide us in our Christian walk.
The Book of Revelation is full of references to the Spirit. Also Christ teaches us that “The Father seeks worshipers that worship Him in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). It was the Holy Spirit that fell on the many on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-8). And in Romans Chapter 8 Paul focuses on our spiritual relationship with God; it is the Holy Spirit to whom he is referring. Of course Christ said that when you have seen Him, you've seen the Father. When we are aware of, and walk by the Spirit, we are also walking with the Father, Christ and the Spirit-- they are one.
Oneness of the Trinity
Jesus fervent prayer, recorded in John 17, speaks of the oneness of the "Trinity", and explains that we too are to be one as they are one. Verse 20-21 state: "I do not ask on behalf of these alone [the disciples He was speaking to] but for those also who believe in me through their [disciples] word; that they may all be one ; even as you Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us" He goes on: "the glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and You in Me that they may be perfected in unity Father I desire that they also, whom You have given Me be with Me where I am, so that they may see My Glory” (John 17:22-24). The Helper will guide us into God’s and Christ's ultimate vision of perfection by becoming one, spirit, soul and body, with the three-fold Trinity of God.
Man: Body; Soul; Spirit
Man/Woman is a triune being, spirit, soul, body (1 Thessalonians 5:23), just as God is a triune being (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). We will examine each aspect of the natures of mankind (men and women) below. However, we must realize from the outset that, although all humans have these natures, most of humanity is not using the three parts according to the divine intention. Our spirits, as our only means of communicating with God, who is a Spirit, are often buried beneath our soul or body so that the spirit has very little domination in our lives. Our true life, the only real source of life, is our spirit’s communication with God through our human spirits with His Spirit. It is the spirit that should dominate the other areas of our lives here on earth and in the age to come. Our soul life and our bodies must come under the dominion of our spirit; today for most of us the opposite is true to the point that most are not even aware of the spirit aspect of their nature. We seem happy when the soul and body are satisfied by the many means available—religion, worldly goods, money, our intellect, happy or sad emotions, food, lust, pleasure of all sorts and anything temporal we see around us. In truth we are never fully satisfied with these pursuits as the feeding our souls and bodies does nothing but temporarily satisfy our craving human natures. The spirit is eternal. It is on the spirit, not the soul that we must feed. We cannot know God through our souls, only through our spirits.
We will begin our discussion with the soul and body, and address the spirit last. An understanding of the soul and body is necessary to more fully understand the role of our spirit.
The Soul
The soul is actually who we are in our humanity—our personality and identity. The soul is the seat of all of our functions as humans. It contains the emotions, the intellect or mind, our individuality, our desires, and our will and is in fact the switchboard for human expression either as fallen man or, more perfectly as an expression of our spirit. It is in that sense mutable; it can be controlled either by our earthly desires or our spirit. When controlled by our earthly lusts, the Bible calls the soul the “flesh” or “flesh nature”. In Romans 8:3-4 Paul says: "[God] condemned sin in the flesh [our unperfected souls] in order that we do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit". In Galatians 5:16-23, he distinguishes between the deeds of the soul (flesh) and the deeds of the Spirit.
The deeds of the flesh (soul nature) are first clearly defined by the Paul: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).
Then He defines the deeds of (fruits of) the spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22-23). In Romans 8:14 he distinguishes between the domination of the human soul and the soul led by the spirit. "For all who are being led by the Spirit, these are the Sons of God" or put in another way all those whose spirit is dominating their soul and body have the ability to hear God and walk in His ways.
By our minds we cannot know God the Spirit. "For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace" and get this "because the mind set on the flesh is HOSTILE to God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even ABLE to do so" (Romans 8:6-7).
This is not entirely our fault. Beginning with the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden, God subjected