16 Reasons why there is no "third" person.
The doctrine of the "TRINITY" depends on the belief that there is an independent THIRD PERSON called the HOLY SPIRIT. Without this "third person" the "triune" God disintergrates.
It is wise to consider the reasons why this idea is not supported through scriptural evidence.
Before exploring the reasons why this teaching is not Biblically sound, we should consider its practical consequences. It is a belief accepted, hook line and sinker as part of church
doctrine. We must obviate the common objections that we are merely splitting hairs over unprovable doctrines. The following are principal reasons for denying the Trinity assertion that the HOLY SPIRIT is an independent THIRD person.
God does have a throne (1 Kings 22:19, Dan 7:9) He inhabits heaven as His dwelling place (1 kings 8:30,39,43 and 49) and yet "heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain" Him ( 1 kings 8: 27) How can he have a throne and at the same time, uncontainable? Psalms 137:7 said, " 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou [art] there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou [art there]."
Jesus in John 4:24 said, " 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth."
In biblical usage, "the Holy Spirit" is a synonymous term for GOD. In Acts 5:3 Peter says Ananaian lied to the Holy Spirit. In verse 4 Peter says he lied to God. This is an example of the common semitic parallellism of equivalent terms and is not evidence that Ananias lied to two separate persons. If that were the case, why would verse 4 not say that Ananias lied to "the Father" instead of to "God". Neither is this parallelism evidence that divine person called "the holy Spirit" is also "GOD" and therefore part of a triune "Godhead".
If the spirit is a sentient (able to sense, be self aware), separate and distinct being with personality, then Jesus either did not know this or was very inconsistent in giving "Him" proper due. In Matthew 11:27, Jesus asserts that "no man knoweth the Son, but the father; neither knoweth any man the father, save the Son.." If the "Holy Spirit" is a person distinct from the Father, and is also omniscient and almight God, then would he not also have to know the Father and Son? Jesus' statement, then, would not have been true.
The same is true for Jesus' assertion in Matthew 24:36 we read, "24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
If the spirit of God is a unique and separate person, and having "spirit" is a prerequisite to having a unique and separate personality, then the person called "the spirit of God" must have his own "spirit" perculiar to himself and distinct from the Father and Son. We would then be forced to the absurd belief in "the spirit OF the spirit". If "the Holy Spirit" has no spirit of his own, then he could not be said to have a separate "personality"
In luke 1:35 we read, "1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Even the Demons said to Jesus in Mark 5:7 "7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not."
Surely if Demons can know who God and His Son are, then we, as the sons and daughters of God, should know better than Demons.
Although the Hebrew word for spirit, (ruwach {roo'-akh}) can refer to angels or evil spirits, which are persons or entities with a personality, the Hebrew usage of "the Spirit of God" never refers to a person separate from, but a part of, God almighty.
7. The "Comforter" is said by Jesus to fill the void created by his going to the father. John 14:12 reads, "14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Read again verses 14:18,20, 21, 26, 26. Verses 16:8, 13, 14.
We see the FULNESS OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS, through Jesus Christ: Ephesians 3: 16-19, "3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with A-L-L the fulness of God."
No third person is mentioned after A-L-L THE FULNESS OF GOD.
The Soul or the Spirit of man is often personified like the Spirit of God is. Psalms 42:5, Luke 12:19, Matt 26:41, 2 Cor 7:13. After reading these verses no one would argue that the spirit of man is a separate entity from the man himself. It is therefore part of him.
The Spirit of man bears the same relation to man as the spirit of God bears to God. 1 Cor 2:11 reads, " 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." As the spirit of man is not another person distinct from himself, but his human consciousness or mind by which he is able to be self-aware and contemplate things perculiar to himself. The spirit of God is not a distinct personality from himself.
In the church Epistles (Romans through Thessalonians) the Apostle Paul sends personal greetings from "God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" If the holy spirit were an intergral and personal part of the triune Godhead, then why does "He" not send "His" personal greetings as well? Paul in 1 timothy 5:21 says, " 5:21 I charge [thee] before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality." Paul again did not mention the "third person" because there is no independent person other than Father and Son.
In Matthew 27:39, 40 we read the following "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest [it] in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross."
The spirit of God is also said to be divisible and able to be distributed. God took the spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon the 70 elders of Israel (Numb 11:17-25). Joel 2:28 was quoted by Peter on the day of pentecost saying, " will pour out my spirit" (Acts 2:17)
In the new Jerusalem, Rev 21 and 22, both the Father and the Son have seats on the throne. If the Holy Spirit as "Co-existing" member of the triune Godhead, it is strange that he seems to have no seat of authority on the final throne. This is consistent with the biblical truth that there is one God the Father and Jesus Christ and no separate person known as the holy Spirit.
In Ephesians 1:17-23 we read, 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
1:19 And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world,but also in that which is to come:
1:22 And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church,
1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
When we give the Father his unique and singular position as the only true God, we give him all the worship, credit, respect, and awe He deserves. By restoring Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father, the last Adam, the one who could have sinned but voluntarily stayed obedient for the sake of our salvation, at the mention of his name all knees in heaven and earth bows down. May we draw strength and determination from his example.
God is therefore omnipresent by His spirit, which is not a separate person.
Jesus said, no one knew the hour of his second coming except the father. How could the Holy Spirit be kept in the dark about this very important prophetic event? Are we to believe that it is possible for one member of the Godhead to keep a secret from another member while sharing the same eternal and divine "essence" of Godself?
Luke clearly indicates another use of parallellism (luke 24:49, Acts 1:8; 10:38; Rome 15:13;18,19; 1 cor 2:4,5.) The context is conception of Jesus Christ. The Bible has references to the fact that God is the father of our lord Jesus. If "God" is the Father and "the Holy Spirit" is also the Father of Jesus, there is a potential paternity suit. Trinitarianism leads to a confusion by asserting a separate personality of the "Holy Ghost" and can not explain their logical conclusion that according to that view the Son has two fathers or two separate persons fathering Jesus.
Neither does the phase, "the spirits of God" occur, which would refer to separate spiritual entities within a multipersonal God. (see Zechariah 6:5, Rev 1:4 etc.)
The verses point to the role of the gift of the holy Spirit in continuing the work Jesus started. The spirit is not independent and self-existent. It is the mind of Christ within the believer.
Just before Jesus died he cried, in verse 46 "27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
If there was a third person, surely Jesus did not mention him at this heavy hour.
The spirit of God can be distributed to all His people. 1 John 4:13 reads, " 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit."