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To: Boogieman
Yes, but we will get nowhere fast if we simply confuse verses about God the Father with the Holy Spirit in order to support an argument. God the Father is who causes rain to fall on believers and unbelievers. It is by the grace of God the Father that both believers and unbelievers draw breath. Assertions about God the Father, even valid ones based on Scripture, are not much help when we are talking about our relationship with the Holy Spirit, and if fact may muddy the waters and prevent a proper understanding, if they are misused.

Then that begs the questions.

Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is God?

How else does the Father interact with man if not through the Holy Spirit?

307 posted on 09/18/2014 7:01:22 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

“Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is God?”

Yes, but I do not believe the Holy Spirit is God the Father. The Bible describes them by different names and terms for a reason. If we ignore that, then we are sowing the seeds of confusion, and we will arrive at absurd conclusions, such as some that you have been making.

“How else does the Father interact with man if not through the Holy Spirit?”

In a multitude of ways. After all, the Holy Spirit was not sent to Christians until after Christ’s death (John 14:16, Acts 2). This is a general statement, however, as the Holy Spirit certainly interacted with man in some ways before this, with the many references to the “Spirit of God” in the prophets, as an example. Yet, the Jews had no notion that this “Spirit of God” was different than God the Father, as their rejection of that Christian idea demonstrates. We Christians have no excuse for making that mistake though, as God has revealed that truth to us.

To assume that every reference to “God” is interchangeable with the Holy Spirit, is essentially a denial of the trinity/triune nature of God. If they are interchangeable, then God must have been redundant in speaking of Himself as three different persons or aspects. (I don’t want to get sidetracked into some argument about the Protestant/Catholic differences about those doctrines, hence the use of both sets of language)


309 posted on 09/18/2014 7:12:47 PM PDT by Boogieman
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