The Holy Spirit is not the so-called Third Person of the Trinity

Rather than discuss the Trinity again (see 3.1, above), let’s focus on one question: Is the Holy Spirit only a “what,” or are there dimensions in which the Spirit is a “who”? From Scripture, it can be demonstrated that God’s Spirit is more than just an abstract power. The Holy Spirit is part of God’s very essence and clearly has personality. The New Testament simply expands on these established, biblical truths, which, interestingly enough, are treated in a similar way in some later Rabbinic traditions.

What does the Hebrew Bible say about the Spirit of God? It is well known that the Hebrew word ruah, just like the Greek word pneuma, can mean “breath” or “wind” as well as “spirit.” ⁷⁴ It is also true that the Tanakh speaks of people being “filled with the Spirit” (which means empowered or equipped by the Spirit), and that it makes reference to the Holy Spirit being “poured out” (Joel 2:28[3:1]). The New Testament uses the exact same phrases and images when referring to the Holy Spirit (see below). But there are other important biblical references that speak clearly of God’s personal interaction with mankind by his Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches and instructs, is rebelled against, and is grieved. This speaks clearly of personality not just power.

It is also helpful to remember that the Bible refers to (1) “spirits” among God’s heavenly host (e.g., 1 Kings 22:20ff.), referring to angels, good or bad; (2) “evil spirits” (e.g., 1 Sam. 16:14), which are personal demonic beings not just abstract powers; (3) the human “spirit,” speaking of inner attitudes, emotions, and the will (e.g., 1 Chron. 5:26; Pss. 32:2; 51:10; 73:21; Prov. 15:13; 18:14), or the inner being in general (e.g., 2 Kings 5:26). As there is a human spirit, there is also a divine Spirit.⁷⁵

According to Psalm 106:32–33, when the children of Israel sinned in the wilderness, it was against God’s Spirit that they rebelled: “By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them; for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.”⁷⁶ The identical theme is found in Isaiah 63:10: “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.”

Here we learn that Israel’s rebellion against God grieved the Holy Spirit. It is no surprise then that Micah 2:7 raises the question of whether the Spirit of the Lord can become impatient, helping us to understand that the Spirit refers not only to God’s outward power but also to his “inmost being.” (Remember: What makes us human is our spirit, our personal, inner being.)

Nehemiah also makes mention of the activity of the Spirit during the wilderness wanderings: “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst” (Neh. 9:20). From this passage we learn that God gave his Spirit to the Israelites in the wilderness (cf. Ps. 104:30) to instruct them (cf. also Ps. 143:10, and see Zech. 7:12). So his Spirit teaches too! And if the Spirit can be given, then it is possible for the Spirit to be taken away: “Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:9–11).

Now, at this point, it is fair to ask, Is the “Spirit of God” the same as “God”? Yes and no. The Spirit clearly has personality, since the Holy Spirit instructs the people of Israel and can be grieved or angered. Yet the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God—i.e., God’s very Spirit, not a separate being. So, in some way, when God gives his Spirit, he is both giving himself as well as giving of himself. The key is always this: God touches us, teaches us, interacts with us, and empowers us by his Spirit.

Look carefully at Isaiah 63:11–14:

Then his people recalled the days of old,

the days of Moses and his people—

where is he who brought them through the sea,

with the shepherd of his flock?

Where is he who set

his Holy Spirit among them,

who sent his glorious arm of power

to be at Moses’ right hand,

who divided the waters before them,

to gain for himself everlasting renown,

who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in open country,

they did not stumble;

like cattle that go down to the plain,

they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is how you guided your people

to make for yourself a glorious name.

We see once more reference to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the wilderness wanderings, with the new insight that it was the Spirit of the Lord who gave the Israelites rest.

Putting all this together with Nehemiah 9:19–20, we understand that the Spirit of God was the one who was manifest in the cloud by day and the fire by night: “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them.”

God dwells among us by means of his Spirit. (In a sense, as expressed in Psalm 139:7, God’s Spirit is his presence, which is everywhere on the earth.) On the one hand, he sits enthroned in heaven, separate from this earth. On the other hand, he is intimately involved with our daily affairs, right here in our midst. How? By his Spirit. That is why his Spirit can be grieved, and that is why his Spirit is the one who deals with us.

This also explains why there are a number of specific references to the Spirit in the context of the exodus from Egypt and wilderness wanderings: At that time in particular, more than any other period in ancient Israelite history, God was supernaturally manifest in the midst of his people. And so there are more references to the Spirit’s presence during this time period. The Spirit of the Lord was right there!

We learn about other aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit in verses such as 2 Samuel 23:2: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.” This is unmistakably personal. The Spirit speaks, which indicates a “someone” and not a “something.” To make the Spirit in this verse merely synonymous with God’s power would be incorrect.

Similar to this is 1 Chronicles 28:11–12:

Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.

Notice here that the Spirit gave David specific plans for the building of the Temple.

According to the prophet Ezekiel, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and God told him what to say: “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and he told me to say: ‘This is what the Lord says’ ” (Ezek. 11:5). Do you see how God is identified with his Spirit? The Spirit of the Lord comes on the prophet, and the Lord tells him to speak. This is similar to Nehemiah 9:30: “For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets.” When the prophets instructed and rebuked, it was the Spirit speaking through them. (See also Micah 3:8 and Isaiah 30:1.)

Interestingly, there are several references in the Rabbinic literature to the Holy Spirit speaking, announcing, crying out, rebuking, and even serving as the counsel for the defense.⁷⁷ For example:

• The Talmud (m. Sotah 9:6; b. Sotah 46a) states that when the elders performed the rite of the red heifer (Deut. 21:1–9), “They did not have to say, ‘And the blood shall be forgiven them’ [Deut. 21:8], instead the Holy Spirit announces to them, “Whenever you do this, the blood shall be forgiven to you.’ ”
• Commenting on Exodus 1:12, “But the more they [i.e., the Israelites] were oppressed [by the Egyptians], the more they multiplied and spread,” the Talmud states (b. Pesahim 117a) that the Holy Spirit announced to them, “So will he [Israel] increase and spread out!” This is explained by Rashi and other major Jewish commentators to mean that the Holy Spirit said to the Egyptians, “Just as you seek to oppress them more, the more so will they increase and spread out!”⁷⁸
• In Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer 31, as Ishmael (Abraham’s son) and Eliezer (his steward) argue about who will be Abraham’s heir—seeing that they are going together with Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord (Genesis 22)—the Holy Spirit answers them and says, “Neither this one nor this one will inherit.”
• In a late midrash cited in Yalkut Reubeni (9d) to Genesis 1:26, after Ben Sira shared secret, mystical teachings with his son Uzziah and his grandson Joseph, the Holy Spirit called out, “Who is it that revealed My secrets to mankind?” Ben Sira replied, “I, Buzi, the son of Buzi.” The Holy Spirit said to him, “Enough!”⁷⁹
• Lamentations Rabbah 3:60, §9 relates that after the Roman emperor Hadrian indiscriminately executed two Jews, the Holy Spirit kept crying out, “You have seen, O Lord, the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause! You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me” (Lam. 3:59–60). This provides an example of the Spirit making intercession.⁸⁰
• According to Leviticus Rabbah 6:1, the Holy Spirit is a defense counsel who speaks to Israel on behalf of the Lord and then speaks to the Lord on behalf of Israel. To Israel the Spirit says, “Do not testify against your neighbor without cause” (Prov. 24:28), and to the Lord the Spirit says, “Do not say, I’ll do to him as he has done to me’ ” (Prov. 24:29).⁸¹

In all these citations, which can be easily multiplied (see, e.g., Genesis Rabbah 84:11; Song of Songs Rabbah 8:16; Lamentations Rabbah 1:48), there can be no question that we are dealing with a “who” and not just with a “what,” with a personal dimension of God and not just with an impersonal power, with God himself and yet with a “separate” entity who can mediate between God and man.⁸² And these citations closely parallel some of the New Testament descriptions of the Holy Spirit, although virtually all the Rabbinic texts cited were written many years later.⁸³ Now, it’s time to compare.

To summarize the teaching of some key New Testament texts, we read that the Holy Spirit empowers (e.g., Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8), comes upon people (e.g., Luke 2:25; Acts 8:16; 10:44; 19:6), anoints (Luke 4:18, quoting Isa. 61:1; Acts 10:38), fills (e.g., Luke 1:15; 1:41; Acts 2:4; 4:8; 4:31), reveals (e.g., Luke 2:26; 1 Cor. 2:10), and leads (e.g., Matt. 4:1; Acts 20:22; Rom. 8:14), just as in the Hebrew Bible. The Holy Spirit speaks through the disciples (Matt. 10:20; Acts 6:10), just as the Spirit spoke through the prophets of old (see Matt. 22:43; Acts 1:16; 11:28; 2 Peter 1:21). And just as the Rabbinic literature at times describes the Holy Spirit as speaking, saying, and communicating directly, the New Testament describes the exact same activity (Acts 10:19; 11:12; 13:2).

Verses such as Acts 4:25 (“You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David”) or Acts 28:25 (“The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet”) reflect the typical understanding of the New Testament authors, an understanding that is in perfect harmony with the teaching of Moses and the prophets. We read in Nehemiah 9:30 that God “admonished” his people by the Holy Spirit, while Acts 9:31 says that the early believers were “encouraged” by the Holy Spirit. In Acts 20:23, Paul speaks of being “warned” by the Holy Spirit, apparently referring to prophetic utterances.

The Holy Spirit is given to the believers (e.g., Luke 11:13; John 7:39; Acts 2:38; cf. Neh. 9:20), just as the Spirit was given to Moses and the elders (see Num. 11:16–17, 24–30). The Holy Spirit is poured out, just as Joel promised (Acts 2:17–18; see also Acts 2:33; 10:45), and through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit now lives within God’s holy people (e.g., John 14:17; Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 5:5), as the prophets declared (see below).

The Holy Spirit teaches (e.g., Luke 12:12; John 14:26; see also Acts 15:28) and is a Counselor (John 14:16–17; remember Leviticus Rabbah 6:1). The Spirit testifies to the truth about the Messiah (John 15:26; cf. Isa. 11:2) and leads his followers into all the truth (John 16:13). Just as David received instructions about the building of the Temple through the Holy Spirit, so also Jesus the Messiah, after his resurrection, gave his disciples instructions through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2).

In light of the evidence from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Rabbinic literature, are the words of Jesus in John troubling at all? He explained to his disciples that

the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.… When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.… But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13

Remember also that the Hebrew Bible helps us to understand that whatever is done to the Lord is done to his Spirit. The New Testament expands on these themes. Echoing the words of Isaiah 63:10, Paul urges us not to “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 4:30), and just as both Psalms and Isaiah speak of “rebelling” against the Spirit, Jesus warns us not to “blaspheme” the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28–29)—meaning to willfully attribute the mighty works of the Holy Spirit to demonic powers. Lying to the Holy Spirit means lying to God (Acts 5:3–4), while sinful people “test” (Acts 5:9) and “resist” the Spirit (Acts 7:51).

Why is there much more talk about the Holy Spirit in the New Testament than in the Old Testament? It is because the Messiah has come and inaugurated the first stages of the Messianic age, a time of the Holy Spirit’s special activity among mankind. It is a time when the plea of Moses begins to see its realization (Num. 11:29: “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”), a time of the outpouring of the Spirit predicted by Joel,⁸⁴ a time when verses such as Leviticus 26:12 and Ezekiel 37:27 begin to reach their fulfillment (see 2 Cor. 6:16–18).⁸⁵ This also explains why Jesus, during his time on earth, gave his disciples further teaching about the person and work of the Spirit, preparing them for the new empowering that they were about to receive.

We must remember that, according to the prophets, the Messiah himself was characterized by a special anointing of the Spirit, a picture confirmed in depth by the testimony of the Gospels (see Isa. 11:1–3; also Isa. 42:1; 61:1–3; Matt. 12:28; Luke 4:14; Acts 10:38; of course, we all know that “Messiah” simply means “anointed one”). The New Testament promises that the Messiah’s followers would be characterized by a similar anointing—meaning special qualities and supernatural abilities given by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Cor. 12:7–11; Gal. 5:22–23).⁸⁶

In Ezekiel 36 and 37, chapters filled with Messianic imagery, God promised to put his Spirit in us so that we would walk in his ways and keep his commandments. This has happened through the coming of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit, not simply an abstract influence, but rather the essence of God’s own being, now lives in us. That’s why it becomes completely “natural” to keep the commandments of God, because he—by his Spirit—lives in our hearts. It is in this light that the New Testament makes reference to the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14), and the Hebrew Scriptures, the Rabbinic writings, and the New Testament all associate the Holy Spirit with the joy of the Lord (e.g., Ps. 51:11–12; Pesikta Rabbati 12a; Rom. 14:17).

Paul describes this new life in the Spirit in great detail in Romans 8:1–27. These verses form an inspired commentary to Ezekiel 36:25–27, a future promise still to be realized by the people of Israel as a whole but experienced in great measure by all those—Jew and Gentile alike—who have received new life through the Messiah. God said through Ezekiel:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

This glorious experience of the indwelling Holy Spirit has become real to millions around the world through Jesus the Messiah. Once, their very nature was bent on sin, destruction, and selfish satisfaction. Now, they live to give glory to God. Where there was hate, there is love; where there was anger, there is peace; where there was lust, there is self-control; where there was darkness, there is light. That is the effect of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s people!

To summarize, then, the real question here is not whether the Holy Spirit is “the Third Person of the Trinity”—words found nowhere in the New Testament—but whether the New Testament teaching on the subject of the Holy Spirit is in harmony with the evidence of the Hebrew Scriptures, and whether it even has some common ground with later Jewish traditions. The answer is emphatically yes. The Holy Spirit is a “who” and not just a “what,” the Holy Spirit is identified directly with God, the Holy Spirit is spoken of as distinct from God. Based on this, theologians have concluded that the Holy Spirit is “the Third Person of the Trinity.”⁸⁷

In any case, this much is perfectly clear: There is nothing unbiblical about the New Testament doctrine of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, and even a religious Jew can find parallels to these concepts in the Rabbinic writings.

⁷⁴ According to a top Jewish scholar of Semitics, E. A. Speiser, “Heb. ruʾaḥ means primarily ‘wind, breeze,’ secondarily ‘breath,’ and thus ultimately ‘spirit.’ But the last connotation is more concrete than abstract” (Genesis, Anchor Bible [Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1962], 5, note a to Gen. 1:2).

⁷⁵ First Corinthians 2:11 says: “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

⁷⁶ The NJPSV, the most important, contemporary Jewish version of the Bible, translates the beginning of verse 33 as, “because they rebelled against him,” as if “His Spirit” was only a synonym for “Him.” The same is done in Micah 2:7. Unfortunately, these renderings do not advance our understanding of these texts.

⁷⁷ Alan Unterman, “Ruʾah Ha-Kodesh,” Encyclopedia Judaica (henceforth cited as EJ), CD ROM edition (Israel: Judaica Multimedia, 1997), 14:364–67, recognizes the difficulty of this usage, noting, “A more problematical use of the term Ruʾah ha-Kodesh is when it is in some way hypostatized, or used as a synonym for God.” However, the significance of such usage is downplayed: “This hypostatization is essentially the product of free play of imagery, and does not have the connotations of Ruʾah ha-Kodesh as an entity separate from God. Neither are there any overtones of the Ruʾah ha-Kodesh somehow forming part of the Godhead, as is found in the Christian concept of the Holy Ghost.… Sometimes it is used merely as a synonym for God, and at others it refers to the power of prophecy through divine inspiration.” If such statements could be made about the Rabbinic citations, I wonder if similar conclusions could be reached regarding the New Testament material. According to H. Loewe, Rabbinic Anthology, 7, with reference to Pesikta Rabbati 12a (where God speaks to the Holy Spirit), “It would, however, be quite inaccurate and illegitimate to use a clearly rhetorical passage like the above as an argument for the separate existence of the Holy Spirit” (see also ibid., 677, n. 50). But is the issue really one of “separate existence” as much as it is a matter of certain distinctions between God, generally speaking, and the Holy Spirit, in particular?

⁷⁸ The Rabbinic midrash even finds a play on words here: Egypt said, “Lest [Hebrew, pen] they will spread out”; the Holy Spirit said, “So [Hebrew, ken] they will spread out.” See Rashi to Exodus 1:12.

⁷⁹ See Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, trans. Henrietta Szold (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1928), 6:402. The source of the midrash is Sepher HaKaneh (which is Sepher HaPeli’ah) 36a.

⁸⁰ William G. Braude, the respected translator of classic Rabbinic literature, compares Romans 8:26–27 to this passage, claiming that in Romans 8, “the holy spirit, as it were, personifying Israel, prays to God on Israel’s behalf” (The Legends of the Jews, 195, n. 2, with credit for this suggestion to Brother Caedmon Holmes of the Abbey of St. Gregory the Great in Portsmouth, R.I.). Although it is extremely unlikely that the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:26–27 personifies Israel, there is no question that there are striking parallels between the New Testament portrayal of the Holy Spirit and that of the Rabbinic literature, as will be emphasized below.

⁸¹ The Aramaic word used here for “defense counsel” is borrowed from the Greek synegoros. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is called the Counselor, from the Greek parakletos. These concepts are closely related, although the Rabbinic images here go beyond anything found in the New Testament as far as making the Holy Spirit into a separate, personal entity.

⁸² As noted above, n. 77, in the well-known eighth—and ninth-century midrash, Pesikta Rabbati 12a, God is depicted as speaking to the Holy Spirit.

⁸³ If the New Testament teaching on the Holy Spirit was deemed offensive, un-Jewish, and unbiblical by the Rabbinic authorities in the first five centuries of this era, why is identical imagery used in their writings? It is common knowledge that as Christian doctrine developed and certain Messianic proof texts were used by Christian apologists the rabbis intentionally distanced themselves from those views and interpretations, even polemicizing against them. (Note also the fact, mentioned above, that the important Targumic concept of the “Word of the Lord” in the Targums—so similar to the New Testament concept of the divine Word—is completely lacking from all Talmudic literature.) Why then were the rabbis so free to speak of the Holy Spirit in terms that so closely parallel the New Testament usage? Could it be that no conflict was perceived between the two? Could it be that the conscious reaction against the Christian teaching arose much later, as both sides became more fixed—and somewhat unbiblical—in their doctrines? Was the Rabbinic reaction directed against the (incorrect) view that Christians believed that the Holy Spirit was one of three gods whom they worshiped? (See the comment of H. Loewe, above, n. 73.)

⁸⁴ Saʿadiah Gaon, in his classic work Emunot veDeʿot (“Beliefs and Opinions”), chapter 8, follows Talmudic teaching that points to Joel’s prophecy as a sign of the Messianic age: All the Israelites would then be able to prophesy! As Sa‘adiah taught: “And all the desolate land will be settled until no desolate place will be left in it. Then the light of the Shekhina will shine on the Temple until the luminaries will be dimmed by its light … so that those who do not know the way to the Temple will go toward that light, because it will be from heaven to earth. Then prophecy will spread in our people until even our children and our servants will prophesy.… Until if one of the Children of Israel will go to one of the lands and will say that ‘I am of Israel,’ they will say to him, ‘Tell us what will be tomorrow?’ or, ‘What was yesterday?’ of the things which were secret among them. And when he tells them, it will be clear to them that he is from Israel” (as rendered by Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts [Detroit: Wayne State Univ., 1979], 319).

⁸⁵ In Leviticus 26:12, God promised obedient Israel, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.” How does this happen? By His Spirit! Ezekiel 37:27 said that in the future, God’s dwelling place will be among His people. For the present, this takes place through the Holy Spirit: “In him [i.e., Jesus] the whole building [meaning the community of all believers] is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too [meaning Gentiles along with Jews] are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22). Because God’s people are all over the earth and not localized in one place, his dwelling place is not limited to one particular structure or building. Rather, by the Holy Spirit, all believers jointly become the Temple in which the Lord dwells.

⁸⁶ Sigal, The Jew and the Christian Missionary, 260–61, with absolutely no supporting evidence, simply denies the fact that Christians, by the power of the Spirit, can obtain miracles from God through faith. Referring to Mark 16:16–18 and 1 Corinthians 12:4–31, Sigal writes, “But can the Christian actually perform these miraculous deeds? No, of course not!… What is the reason for the Christian inability to fulfill the words of Jesus? Obviously, Christians cannot perform these miraculous deeds because Jesus’ claims have no validity.” Would Sigal then except the validity of Jesus’ claims if he was confronted by bona fide, supernatural, God-glorifying miracles performed in the name of Jesus? For a recent compendium of testimonies compiled by the Assemblies of God, see Ralph W. Harris, Acts Today: Signs and Wonders of the Holy Spirit (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1995). See also David C. Lewis, Healing: Fiction, Fantasy or Fact? (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989).

⁸⁷ For a discussion of the concept of the Shekhina (the manifest presence of God), often connected with the Holy Spirit in Rabbinic literature, see above, 3.1-2.

Brown, M. L. (2000). Answering Jewish objections to Jesus, Volume 2: Theological objections (52). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.

The Holy Spirit is not the so-called Third Person of the Trinity