ESSAY VII.

ON THE UNION AND DISTINCTION IN THE DIVINE NATURE.

THE contents of the preceding Essay afford abundant evidence that the doctrine of the unity of God is not only explicitly declared by the inspired writers, but lies at the very foundation of their system of religion, and pervades it in every part. Whether they were led to write of his power, his omniscience, and his wisdom, or to expatiate on his moral attributes, it never failed to be on the allowed and declared principle, that there is no other God but Jehovah, the Creator and Governor of all things, the only proper object of spiritual allegiance and adoration. While, however, this primary truth must ever be held sacred on the authority of the Holy Scriptures, it is on the same authority that we admit another doctrine, namely that, in his revealed operations, and more especially in the appointment and application of the scheme of man's redemption, God has manifested himself to us as the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT.

In order to the elucidation of this subject-a subject which ought never to be approached without a feeling of profound humility and reverence-we may now advert to some of those scriptural declarations, from which we learn that the Father is God; that the Son is God; and that the Holy Spirit is God.

1. That the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who sent his only begotten Son into the world, is God, is universally admitted by Christians; and, on the present occasion, nothing can be needful but to adduce two or three of those numerous texts of Scripture, in which he is at once distinguished as the Father, and described as the Deity. "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved," John iii. 17. "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellow

Deity of the Father and the Son.

Ess. VII.] 115 ship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord," 1 Cor. i. 9. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' 1 Pet. i. 3. Such and similar are the terms in which the sacred writers invariably express themselves respecting the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherever, indeed, Jesus is described as the Son of God, there the Deity of the Father, as he is distinguished from the Son, is recognised and declared.

2. The Divine nature and character of Jesus Christ, the Word or Son of God, will form the principal subject of a subsequent Essay. In the mean time, therefore, we may confine ourselves, in reference to this interesting topic, to the citation of that comprehensive and emphatic declaration, in which, at the very commencement of his Gospel, the apostle John has adverted to the pre-existence of the Messiah, and has attributed to him, at once, both the name and the works of Deity. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men," John i. 1-4.

3. With respect to the Holy Spirit, we must, in the first place, direct our attention to those passages of Scripture, in which he is described, not merely in his influence and operation, but in his personal character. Such was the point of view in which the Holy Spirit was held up to the attention of the earliest Christians by the Lord Jesus. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, HE1 shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto "John xiv. 26. "But when the Comforter is come, you, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, HE1 shall testify of me, xv. 26. "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send HIм2 unto you. And when HE3 is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment," John xvi. 7, 8. another occasion, our Saviour made mention of the Holy

1 ἐκεῖνος.

2 αὐτὸν.

· ἐκεῖνος.

On

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Personality and Deity

[ESS. VII. Ghost, as of One against whom the sin of blasphemy could never be committed with impunity. "All manner of sin and blasphemy," said he, "shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come," Matt. xii. 31, 32.

unto men.

The very pointed allusions thus made by our Saviour to the personality of the Holy Spirit are in exact accordance with the mode of expression which was often adopted, in relation to the same subject, by his inspired disciples. From various passages in the book of Acts, and the Epistles, we can scarcely do otherwise than deduce the inference, that these servants of the Lord regarded the Holy Spirit as One possessing a personal authority, exercising personal powers, and requiring a personal allegiance. When Ananias and Sapphira kept back part of the price of their land, it was the Holy Spirit to whom they lied, and whom they conspired to tempt, Acts v. 3, 9. When the church at Antioch was engaged in ministering to the Lord with fasting, it was the Holy Spirit who said unto them, "Separate ME Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them;" and it was he by whom these evangelists were sent forth, when they departed unto Seleucia, Acts xiii. 2, 4. It was the Holy Spirit who directed the course of the apostle Paul's journeys; who forbade him to preach the word in Asia; who suffered him not to go into Bithynia, Acts, xvi. 6, 7. It was the Holy Spirit, as well as the apostles and their brethren, to whom it "seemed good" to refrain from imposing on the Gentiles the burden of the Jewish ritual, Acts xv. 28. It was he who constituted the overseers of the churches, Acts xx. 28. It was he who inspired the apostles; who spoke and testified by the prophets, Mark xiii. 11; Acts xxviii. 25; Heb. iii. 7; ix. 8; x. 15. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God," said Paul to the Ephesians, "whereby (or by whom) ye are sealed unto the day of redemption," Eph. iv, 30; and to the Corinthians, "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God?" 1 Cor. vi. 19. Lastly, in describing the diversified, yet harmonious

Ess. VII.

Of the Holy Spirit.

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operation of spiritual gifts, the same apostle says, "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit, etc., etc. . . . But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will," 1 Cor. xii.

8-11.

....

Now, if the inquiry be addressed to us, Who is He, of whom Christ and his apostles thus bear witness; who teaches and consoles the disciples of Jesus; who reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; whom it is unpardonable to blaspheme, wicked and dangerous to tempt and to grieve; who finds his temple in the hearts of the righteous; who inspires the apostle; speaks by the prophet; appoints the overseer; calls forth, anoints, and directs the evangelist; who distributes to his people, according to his own will, those manifold gifts and graces, by which the church is edified, and the cause of truth promoted ?—the fundamental principles of our religion, and the whole analogy of Scripture, will assuredly admit but of one answer-HE IS GOD.

God is a Spirit. Invisible, and spiritual in his nature, he fills his own works: he exercises over them an unseen and powerful influence: he dwells and operates in the hearts of men. Nor can we deny the truth of the converse of such a proposition; namely, that the Spirit who fills the works of Deity, who exercises over them an unseen, yet powerful influence, who dwells and operates in the hearts of men, is God.

"Now the Lord is that Spirit," saith the apostle Paul; "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the SPIRIT OF THE LORD,” 2 Cor. iii. 17, 18.

II. Such is the scriptural evidence of which we are in possession, that the Father is God, that the Son is God, that the Holy Spirit is God. Having considered this evidence, we may now proceed to take a view of some additional passages in the New Testament, in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whose Deity is thus distinctively and separately indicated, are presented to our attention as the united sources of the Christian's help and

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The Father, the Son, and the Spirit. [Ess. VII.

consolation, the united objects of the Christian's belief and obedience. This description is indeed applicable to the passages already cited from the Gospel of John, in relation to the personality of the Holy Ghost: see xiv. 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7, 8. To these passages, however, others of a similar import must be now added.

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come," said the Son of God to his immediate followers, "he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and show it unto you,' "John xvi. 13, 14. If, then, I am asked, Who is to guide the people of God into all truth? I answer, on the authority of this luminous declaration, The Spirit of truth. If I am asked again, Whose wisdom and grace does the Spirit of truth administer? it is on the same authority that I reply, The wisdom and grace of the Son of God. And if, lastly, the inquiry be addressed to me, On what principle can we say that it is the wisdom and grace of the Son which the Spirit administers? this inquiry also is fully met by the information contained in this text; namely, that all wisdom and grace are from the Father, and that whatsoever the Father hath is the Son's. From whom, then, does the Christian derive the strength of his spiritual life, and the hope of his soul's salvation? From the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And to whom does he owe the tribute of gratitude and praise, and the return of a faithful and unhesitating obedience? To the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Such was the doctrine inculcated by the apostle Paul, on more than one occasion. "There is one body, and ONE SPIRIT," said he to the Ephesians, "even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; ONE LORD, one faith, one baptism, ONE GOD AND FATHER of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all," Eph. iv. 4, 6. To the Corinthians he addressed himself in very similar terms: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same SPIRIT. And there are differences of administrations, but the same LORD. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the