Implications of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, a personal story

It humbles me to realize that for the first time, this blog is being made public.  So far, I had intended it only to contain my thoughts as Mikertower and I process the important issue of the Trinity together, among other spiritual topics.  However, now that I am exposed to a variety of other audiences, allow me to preface this series with a belated introduction.  

It was never in my plans to speak to a Jehovah's Witness.  I'm shy and a bit independent... I tend to have the same feelings toward someone of any religion (even Christian) knocking at my door with the same polite aversion I feel toward those smartly dressed people in the mall kiosks, who wish I would sit down and disclose to them what type of file I use to smooth my nails. Whatever I tell them, it's bound to be wrong, and their product is superior, or so the sales pitch goes.  Nevertheless, my fears were proven wrong many years ago when I learned that a girl I worked with at the bank was a Jehovah's Witness.  We were good friends, I even attended her wedding at a Kingdom Hall, and she never attempted to shove her beliefs down my throat beyond conspicuously placing a book entitled "What the Bible Really Teaches" next to my desk.  I gave it a perusory skim, enough to discover that we disagreed on some theological topics.  That was the only "spiritual conversation" we ever had... if glancing at a book counts as a conversation.  In fact that was the only conversation I'd ever had with a Jehovah's Witness in my life.  

That said, the most extraordinary thing happened to me on an ordinary June 28th of this past year.  I was standing at the counter, repotting my plants with the afternoon sunshine streaming down over the kitchen table.  I felt free.  I was recently liberated from my job, and seeing as my career and future goals had just been shattered, my question to God at the moment was what on earth He would have me do now.  I had been putting off this conversation for quite a while, surfing online chat rooms and entering theological debates with hostile strangers.  

The thought that occurred to me next was that of two Jehovah's Witnesses knocking at my door.  I imagined inviting them in and telling them about God's real presence in my life.  (Seeing as my life was in pieces, I must have been gifted with some supernatural faith at that moment.)  I went back to repotting my plants, and my priorities.  But I couldn't seem to get the Jehovah's Witnesses out of my head.  I began to pray for them--"them" as defined in a vague, unsettled sort of way.  

About an hour later, a knock at the door startled me.  (Startled, as in, I was terrified.  Even the pizza guy has trouble finding my door... who on earth had tracked me down??)  A peep through the door revealed two men in suits, one older, one middle-aged.  I opened the door and listened, slack-jawed, as they told me they were from the Watchtower Society, handed me two tracts, and suggested they might come back to discuss "the truth" with me at my convenience someday.  I thanked them and closed the door.  I think my face was white.  

I devoured the tract with a curiosity that had never entered my perusory skim of my coworkers' book.  I learned that my guests considered the "holy spirit" an impersonal force, and Jesus Christ a deity separate from the Yahweh God of the Scriptures.  It wasn't a scholarly tract; they didn't have lots of sources or Scripture references to back it up (or, at the time, I might have been shaken in my own beliefs).  I can hardly describe how I felt... it was as though a dagger had pierced my heart.  There was something cold about the tract, something horribly wrong.  I felt deeply sad for those people who would believe this, even though I could not put my finger on Why.  

I was so piqued that I went to Borders, bought a Strong's Concordance, and pondered the Scriptures in true Berean style to see whether or not these things were true.  I discovered only that I was miserably illiterate about this aspect of theology.  However, an Episcopalian minister in the cafe area convinced me that the call I felt to attend Bible school was a noble one, one I should seriously look into.  He also encouraged me to pursue my desire to study Biblical languages and even showed me a good Greek grammar and flashcards (coincidentally, the ones I am currently using for my Greek class).  

I sensed a Divine appointment coming on.  When at last I did begin seminary classes, I was armed with curiosity, and with questions.  

My friendly neighbors returned several times, but I always seemed to miss them.  I even went so far as to alert my roommate, who was terrified of them, that if they should stop by, she ought to tell them the hours I'd be around.  Even though I went so far as to hang a note on my door one Sunday afternoon, they never caught up with me, and I eventually moved from the house.  Two jobs later, I was feeling more stable and financially settled, and getting my own place was at last a reasonable prospect.  

The questions, however, helped me focus my studies in John on the divine aspects of Jesus Christ's being.  I found I couldn't help emphasizing Him as God when I talked to people, particularly when people asked me questions directly related to whatever topic I was studying each week.  (Coincidence?  I think not.)  In the course of three months at my new job, three coworkers (recently, four!) approached me in private, to ask me about my personal relationship with God and the implications of that in my life, my behavior, and my understanding of His plans for me.  All of them eventually revealed to me that they were either current Jehovah's Witnesses, former Witnesses, or related to somebody in the Watchtower Organization!  Needless to say, the Trinity has come up a lot lately.  

Why is the Trinity Important?  

I have to say that I never thought much about the Trinity.  It was a matter I took for granted, like the physics principles that determine why the sky is blue.  Does one have to research, test, and prove these principles to appreciate a clear, sunny day?  Not unless someone insists that the sky is a different color.  Yet the implications for how we see our world are vast.  (This line of reasoning provides an analogy for why Christians tend to be ill-versed in the "whys" and "hows" of this fundamental doctrine.  It hasn't been challenged from within the church in so many centuries, that we begin to forget it's even there... but it DOES matter!)  

I've seen one of the fundamental implications of the Trinity played out in one of the less sane aspect of church life.  More than a decade ago, I came of age in an independent church that tended toward radical teachings.  Among the sharpest deviations from common Christian doctrine and practice was their almost exclusive emphasis on Christian life as "operating in the gifts of the Spirit" (as opposed to love, wisdom, and holiness).  This church focused on being able to elicit miraculous acts of God, or speaking publicly in unknown languages, or uttering "prophetic words" as a measure of one's spiritual status.  It became a real pecking order--those who tended toward a less showy spiritual life were put down by their fellow Christians.  Spiritual pride was the norm.  Those who showed frequent "manifestations of the Spirit" were praised and respected, even if their hearts were cold, even cruel, and they lived a secret life of sin outside the church.  

I must confess that these experiences left me feeling bitter and confused, until the Lord had grace with me to help me find more meaningful Christian fellowship elsewhere.  But the memories remain.  (To this day, I cringe at the words "prophecy," "visions," or "words-of-knowledge," even though I guess I do experience those things daily.  Spiritual scars, I guess?)  I remember hour-long "healing" sessions, with dozens of people crowded around an unfortunate sick person, demanding a divine healing, "claiming" it, making animal-like groans and grunts, "calling down" the Spirit, and attempting to channel the Spirit through their hands.  I saw a few actual miracles, and a lot of disappointment.  I also remember being snubbed, even told I was resisting God, for not falling down "in the Spirit" when well-meaning church members prayed for me while trying to push me over with their hands.  I remember repetitious songs, chants, screams, pompous words, the blowing of chofars... and through it all, the distinct sense of existential isolation from my acquaintances in the other pews who mocked me behind my back for being shy, or for associating with those who did not fit into their social mold.  Church life was far removed from my real emotional struggles, and I felt it keenly.  I knew in my heart that what surrounded me was not true Christianity.  Only later did I understand that it stemmed directly from the false doctrines of the Word-Faith Movement being taught in that church.  

[Let me emphasize here that what I am describing was a very "sick" church.  Having been around the block, the one I attend now, the one that is orderly, loving, and nurturing, is the norm.  If there is a grain of truth in the Watchtower's lie about the church being "full of demons"... well there you have the grain.]  

The idea implicit in these Christians' attitude was that "the Spirit" was an impersonal force, to be used and manipulated for personal gain.  This was their theology not in words, but in practice.  It pervaded their entire lifestyle.  This is the same attitude that is present in those who claim that "holy spirit" is their inspiration, while demanding that "it" follow their rules in disclosing the truth.  

What does it mean for us, if the Holy Spirit is actually God?  

It means, first of all, that He is not subject to the whims and caprices of human beings.  When Jesus instructed us to pray to God the Father, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," this same attitude should apply to the way we approach the Holy Spirit.  If God the Holy Spirit is not subject to human agenda, we should approach Him in an attitude of humility, asking Him to reveal His will in our hearts and praying according to His guidance  We should not demand favors of the Almighty to suit our ambitions, but rather entreat his grace as beloved children.  We can never count ourselves of some special merit to inherit the active force of God's power, or the inspiration of His truth.  Rather, we should rejoice that despite everything, we have the privilege of knowing Him as a Person, "to be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but through faith in Christ" (Phil. 3:9)  This is how we relate to God the Father, and this is how we should relate to God the Holy Spirit.  He does not act independently of God, as He is God and His will is God's will.  We cannot manipulate the Holy Spirit to say or do what benefits us in the moment.  

It means, second, that having the full nature of God, He has life in Himself.  As the Father has life in Himself and gives of that self-existent life to whom He wishes, so does the Son (John 5:26)... and so does the Spirit. "The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63); "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (II Cor. 3:6).  Whether you believe that "holy spirit" is an active force, or that the Holy Spirit is the life-giving God, has huge implications for how you interpret John 3:5-6.  When Jesus says "you must be born of  water and of the Spirit... the Spirit gives birth to Spirit," I believe He is talking about the life-giving Holy Spirit in whom is life itself.  When you have the Holy Spirit, you have that self-existent life in you, truly "a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14) and "living water" (4:10).  If "holy spirit" is just a force, then you can take "born of the spirit" to mean being transmuted into a spiritual being, able to enter the spiritual, heavenly realm.  However, if being "born of the Spirit" means having the Holy Spirit dwell in you and impart His life to you, it means that you are gifted with those aspects of holiness, goodness, and love for one another that are intrinsic in the Holy Spirit's nature.  Obviously, this is "not having a righteousness of our own"!  The Holy Spirit's indwelling us can transform our character, not in a technical flesh->spirit sense, but in a conceptual sense--"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (II Cor. 5:17).  Paul states in Romans 8:16 that "the Spirit testifies in our spirit that we are children of God."  How does the Spirit testify?  By the outward evidence of our transforming nature.  

Why do you think Christians are different?  It's not because we follow a set of rules and live inside a fenced playground.  It's because the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out.  Things that are impossible through human nature--love, humility, forgiveness... loving our ENEMIES!--are a reality when you have the Holy Spirit.  Transformation is a gradual process that starts when we accept Christ and receive the Spirit.  It happens when we choose to walk in obedience and practice the new nature He offers us.  God will never force His nature or will over ours, only offer it freely (something that distinguishes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from demonic possession).  

The Watchtower Organization teaches the idea that only certain, super-Witnesses, are allowed to have "holy spirit", to be born again, to partake of the Lord's Supper, and to eventually reign with Christ in heaven over the rest of us, who are merely saved from destruction.  However, the Bible teaches that the Spirit will be poured out upon "all flesh" (Joel 2:28).  John 1 emphasizes that the power to be called God's children, "born... of God" (John 1:13), is available to "as many as received [Christ], even those who believed in His name" (1:12).  And to all those born of God, the Holy Spirit is available.  Again, Jesus teaches that God gives good gifts to His children... "How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for Him!"  

The only requirements to receive the Holy Spirit are to believe in Christ's name, receive Him, and ask!  That, my friends, is χαρις--grace that flies straight in the face of any theology that puts works, merit, or achievement in the way of our access to God.  God Himself came down.  He reached out to us.  He provided a way for us to reach Him.  He did it, not us.  

One final thought of interest: Zechariah prophesied that "I [YHWH, from preceding verse] will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look upon Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly for him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn."  (Zech. 12:10)  

A few things I want to point out about that verse as I close this chapter.  

1) The Spirit is attributed the qualities of grace (goodness unmerited, kindness, mercy, generosity, etc.; Septuagint Greek reads "χαρις") and supplication (the act of pleading or interceding for another), are personal qualities, not characteristics of an "active force".  

2) The preceding verses use "I" and "YHWH" interchangeably as the speaker in this passage.  Yahweh God is the one they will look upon, "Me" whom they have pierced.  I would recommend checking an interlinear Hebrew Bible for this one, as the NWT mistranslates it "they will look upon him whom they have pierced," in order to avoid the inconvenient reference to the pierced Messiah and "firstborn son" being Yahweh God Himself.  In Watchtower defenses available online, they once again reference every fringe paraphrase and double translation known to man that backs up their point of view.  One need only look to the original Hebrew to see the source of the difficulty: there is NO pronoun, only an ambiguous particle meaning "self."  However, if we want to see how the earliest Biblical translators rendered the Scripture... the Greek Septuagint renders it "προς με" - "upon Me".  This indicates that the Jews in Jesus' era considered this verse to be still talking about Yahweh God, not someone else.  Yet another good reason for John to quote it as he describes the dying λογος in flesh, in John 19:37.  

[I will attempt to finish this post, adding some evidence on why I believe that the Holy Spirit has the attributes of a person, not a force.]

Incidentally, the Watchtower backs up its claim to the Spirit as impersonal by claiming that they use the neuter pronoun, το, with the word πνευμα--equating το with the English "it".  A basic understanding of Greek will reveal that the neuter pronoun is used because the noun, πνευμα, is neuter!  Greek has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter; a feature it shares with Russian and Slavic languages.  A word's gender is based on its ending, not its meaning.  In the same way, Spanish has two genders, masculine and feminine.  The word "persona" is feminine and must always be preceded by the feminine article, "la," even when the person you are referring to is male.  English, however, has a unique feature in that all nouns not referring to persons are neuter, regardless of their construction.  Therefore, "it" always refers to a non-person.  This rule DOES NOT APPLY in Greek.