Attacks on the Holy Spirit
Many cults attack the personality of the Spirit, just as they attack the deity of Jesus.
The Jehovah's Witnesses are one such cultic group.
The leaders of the Watchtower teach that the Holy Spirit is not a Person at all, but is merely an essence or an influence.
These men say the Holy Spirit is not really a "He," but rather an "it."
According to them, we shouldn't speak of the Holy Spirit, but of a holy spirit - an influence or power emanating from God, no more personal than a breeze flowing from a fan.
This is the same error as the early church heresy known as Arianism, so called
because its chief exponent was named Arius, a priest of Alexandria (A.D. 256- 326).
This is the same error as the early church heresy known as Arianism, so called
because its chief exponent was named Arius, a priest of Alexandria (A.D. 256- 326).
Arius taught that the Father alone was truly God; both the Son and the Spirit were inferior and created.
Neither possessed by nature or by right any of the divine qualities of immortality, sovereignty, perfect wisdom, goodness, or purity.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have borrowed much of their heresy from this early Arian abomination.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have borrowed much of their heresy from this early Arian abomination.
Thankfully, all of their arguments were anticipated and answered more than 16 centuries ago.
More importantly, the Scriptures plainly declare and reveal that the Holy Spirit is indeed a Person.
Another group, called the Jesus Only sect, doesn't deny the personality of the Spirit but does deny He is a distinct Person within the Godhead.
Another group, called the Jesus Only sect, doesn't deny the personality of the Spirit but does deny He is a distinct Person within the Godhead.
This sect is quite strong in the southern part of the United States and has spread as far west as Arizona.
Its heresy is not Arianism but Sabellianism, which denies the separate persons of the Godhead.
The Jesus Only sect insists that Jesus is the only God; He is the Father, He is the Son, and He is the Holy Spirit.
It teaches that the three "personalities" of God are in reality only three masks that the one God wears.
But the Bible will have none of this.
But the Bible will have none of this.
It clearly and firmly teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person, the same in essence as the Father and the Son, yet separate in personality from them both.
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