In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
R.A. Torrey asserts, “The name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way it would be impossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any finite being with that of Deity.”[1]
He quotes 1 Corinthians 12:4-6: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone is the same God at work.” Then Torrey explains, “Here we find God, and the Lord and the Spirit associated together in a relation of equality that would be shocking to contemplate if the Spirit were a finite being.”[2]
One more illustration from Torrey’s book in reference to Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He then asks, “Who, that had grasped the Bible concept of God the Father, would think for a moment of coupling the name of the Holy Spirit with that of the Father in this way if the Holy Spirit were a finite being, even the most exalted of angelic beings?”[3]
Ask yourself the same question as you read each of these verses.[4]
“The Holy Spirit descended upon him [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my [the Father’s] Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 1:1-4).
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
“Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6).
“For through him [Jesus] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18).
“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14).
“[God’s elect] who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2).
One last comment from R.A. Torrey, then we’ll close this article with a beautiful benediction. He says, in reference to 2 Corinthians 13:14, “Can anyone ponder these words and catch anything like their real import without seeing clearly that it would be impossible to couple the name of the Holy Spirit with that of God the Father in the way in which it is coupled in this verse unless the Holy Spirit were Himself a Divine Being?”
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
- R.A. Torrey, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Zellerz Publishing Co., Kindle Edition), p. 24.↑
- Ibid., emphasis added.↑
- Ibid., p. 25, emphasis added.↑
- It will not be my purpose here to explain the Trinity (far better minds than mine have tried and written volumes about it!). If you would like to explore the topic of the Trinity further, I recommend Ankerberg and Weldon’s, Knowing the Truth about the Trinity (Harvest House, 1997).↑
