Some Facts About the Holy Spirit in Relation to the Son and God the Father

Below are some important facts about the relationship of the Spirit of God to the Father and the Son. This is not a full and detailed treatment of this subject.

1. The Holy Spirit belongs to the Father, it is “HOLY” to the Father.
   1. The Holy Spirit is a person (and not just some unintelligent force) and is a servant to God the Father.
2. God's power and attributes are transferred/transmitted through the Holy Spirit.
   1. For example, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power [Act 10:38]. The divine power he had came from the Spirit of God that the Father gave him without measure. Without the Spirit of God, he had no power.
   2. Jesus' divinity is because he has the Spirit of God without measure [Joh 3:34].
   3. Jesus' words are equal to God's word because he has the Spirit of God without measure. In other words, he has absolute power and wisdom and therefore, his words are true.
3. The Holy Spirit does not personally belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
   1. Jesus was given the Holy Spirit without measure by the Father [Joh 3:34].
   2. This, however, should not be mistaken to mean the Holy Spirit now personally belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.
      1. Many prophets and we the disciples of the Lord Jesus have been given the Spirit as well, but I don't think anyone will mistake that to mean that we are the owners of the Spirit.
      2. Both our Lord Jesus and we his people can only use the Spirit of God within the limits and guidelines established by the Father.
   3. The fact that Jesus still has to pray the Father for the Spirit to come to us, tells us that the Spirit does not belong to Jesus personally [Joh 14:16]. If it was his, he wouldn't need to consult or get approval to do with it as he pleased [cf., Mat 20:15].
4. Jesus can freely use and give the Holy Spirit to us because he is currently seated at the Right Hand of God. He will, however, not be seated there forever.
   1. Take note that Jesus had to be “glorified”, i.e., exalted to the right hand of God, to be able to give the Holy Spirit [Joh 7:37-39; Joh 16:7; Joh 17:1,4-5; Act 2:33].
5. Blasphemy against the Son is very serious but it is not as serious as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit [Mat 12:31-32].
   1. One of the things you can see from this is that the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ are different.
   2. If they were the same, blasphemy against them will carry the same weight.

Jesus vs., the Holy Spirit

We may naturally want to compare the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, and someone may ask who is greater. However, that would be comparing two things each belonging to a different category. It would be like comparing apples and oranges—in a general sense, neither is greater or better than the other.

1. Jesus and the Holy Spirit both come from God the Father.
2. Jesus has a bodily form while the Holy Spirit does not have a regular bodily form.
3. Both are servants to God the Father but they serve in different ways.
4. They have different relationships to the Throne of God,
   1. While Jesus can be and is seated at the right hand of God, i.e., Jesus is seated on God's Throne, the Holy Spirit is not seated on the Throne of God.
   2. The Holy Spirit is the conveyor of the power of God and His Throne, the Lord Jesus is not. Rather, the Lord Jesus, while seated on God's Throne, uses that power.
5. The relationship of the Holy Spirit to God will never change. However, Christ's relationship to God has changed throughout time.
   1. For example, the Lord Jesus wasn't always a man and becoming a man had a consequence, however nuanced, on his relationship to God. It is because of this new layer that he will rule in the age to come since it has been given to man [Heb 2:5-9].
   2. Jesus is currently seated with God on God's Throne, however, he will, at the end of this age step down from that Throne. The Spirit, however, will always remain before God's Throne.
6. Jesus and all the saints need the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does not need them [Rom 8:15].
7. The Holy Spirit has no personal ambitions or properties—the Spirit has no personal inheritance. Jesus, on the other hand, along with all the saints in him, have inheritance [Rom 8:17].
8. Christ and the Spirit are both “Comforters”, that is, they are both representatives of the Father.
   1. Observe that Jesus called the Spirit of God, “Another Comforter” [Joh 14:16].
   2. Which clearly means that the Holy Spirit is not the only comforter.
   3. Since the Spirit was standing in the place of Jesus, it means that Jesus himself is a Comforter.
   4. Comforter has to do with representing the Father to us. Remember Philip's desire was for Jesus to show them the Father. Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit represent the Father [Joh 14:8-9ff].
9. The connection of the Holy Spirit to God the Father is stronger and greater than that of Jesus to the Father. We can, for example, observe this in the different weight of consequence between blaspheming Jesus and blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
10. Both were involved in the creation of the world.
    1. The Holy Spirit [Gen 1:1-2; Job 33:4; Psa 33:6; 104:30]
    2. Jesus Christ (he wasn't called Jesus at that time) [Joh 1:1-3; 1:10; 17:5].