(6) Equally marked is the Apostolic conception of the Holy Ghost and His relation to Father and Son. In the Gospels Jesus speaks 25 times of the Spirit, and the Evangelists make a like number
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of references ; but in the Acts and Epistles over 160 statements are made about the Holy Ghost (Scofield, The Holy Spirit in NT Seripture, 11). In the Gospels the Spirit ‘was not yet’ (Jn 7%), that is, not in the fulness and abiding power of post-Ascension days. But, after Christ's return to the Father, Apostolic men were ‘full of the Holy Ghost’ (Ac 48). At Pentecost the Spirit came as Jesus predicted (Jn 38 165-15), to inspire and equip the Church. He came also in judgment, as Jesus had said (Mk 3°, Lk 12%), The first mention of the ‘ Church’ (Ac 5) shows Ananias and Sapphira dead upon its threshold for lying to the Holy Ghost. To lie to the Spirit was to lie to God (v.*); for it is the Spirit of both God (1 P 44) and His Christ (1 P 1"), Regeneration is the work of the Spirit, who uses the word (1 P 1, Jude -**); it is also the work of God (1 P 5"). The writer of Hebrews speaks little of the Spirit in believers ; but when he comes to set forth the eternal high priesthood of the Son (62°), which was ‘after the power of an endless life’ (7!%), he empha- sizes the doctrine that Christ’s eternal intercession takes place through the eternal Spirit (9). If Spirit means here (cf. Delitzsch, ad Joc.) ‘the Divine inward being of the God-man,’ we meet once more the view that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are eternally one with God who is a Spirit. (ce) St. Peter as leader of the Jewish Christians preaches the gospel as from Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He sums it up doctrinally (1 P 12) as (a) election by God the Father, (8) through the Holy Spirit, (y) unto salvation by Jesus Christ. This is the order from the side of God: from the side of man he describes it to inquirers and twice over to a court of Jewish theologians (Ac 2°8 412 532) as (a) repentance towards God, (8) faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and (y) receiving the Holy Ghost. He says the conversion of Cornelius was accept- ance of the Holy Ghost as a gift of God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ac 1116, ef. 1 P 11%), He describes Christians as’ those who have < faith in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 P 17"), where Jesus is both God and Saviour. He adds that both the preacher and the Word must be witnessed to by the Holy Spirit, to have any effect (1P 1" 4"). This ‘Trinitarian gospel of St. Peter is that of St. Stephen (Ac 74"), St. James (1° 2! 4°), and St. Jude (vv.!%4). The beginning of the Christian life takes place through presentation of the Son in the Word; for such applying the things of Christ by the Spirit (1 P 2°) regenerates the heart. All Christian growth depends upon being in Christ (3 4' 5"), The three Apostolic conditions of entering the kingdom of God were repentance (Ac 5*! 11!*, Ro 24, 2 Co 79: 10°. cf. Mt 9%, Lk 24*7), faith (Ac 3% 1427 202), Ro 9°, 1 Co 13%), and holiness (Ac 26, He 6}, Ja 217, Ro 16°); and these rested upon Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Faith in Christ works by love (Gal 5°) towards the Father, the Son, and the brethren, and purifies the heart by the in- dwelling of the Holy Spirit (Ac 15"). These con- stant allusions to the Trinity, with no further explanations, show that this doctrine was taken for granted among the Apostolic Churches. From the adoration of Jesus Christ, the centre of the Trinity, as God by Jewish Christians, light must have fallen in all directions upon the conception of God as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. i (2) St. Paul sets out from fundamental belief in one God (Gal 3”, 1 Co 8°, 1 Ti 2°), but at once proceeds to teach that in the gospel God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. («) Upon this essential relation of Father and Son he built all his hopes (Ro 18, 1Co 124, 2Co 4°), In the eternal Son believers were chosen before the foundation of the world (Eph 14). He is called
nn nnn aa an NEESER
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kvpios and even 6eds, side by side with the Father (Ko 9°, cf. 775, Tit 2'3), He shares Divine attri- butes, and, together with the Father, is worshipped and glorified (1 Co 1, Ro 13”, Eph 5”, 1 Ti U2) Yet He is never identified with the Father, but is carefully distinguished from Him (1 Co 8%, Ro 14 8”). He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1"), and shares the invisible glory of God; He is also ‘a man’ Christ Jesus (1 Ti 2°). As sharing the glory of the Father, He is called the ‘firstborn’ of all creation (Col 1%). As Jesus spoke of the Father as greater than He, when claiming all the Father has as His, so St. Paul describes the glori- fied Christ as Head of Creation, in reference both to God and the universe. In Him all things sub- sist, because He is the Son and receives all from the Father (2 Co 4°), He is described as ‘ existing before the world in the eternal Godhead, yet He did not cling with avidity to the prerogatives of His Divine majesty, did not arbitrarily display His equality with God; but... took upon Him the form of a servant’ (Lightfoot’s paraphrase of Ph 2). St. Paul does not use metaphysical terms, but teaches here that the wopgi Geof involved par- ticipation in the ovcia dceo3. Similarly, Bengel re- marks (in Nésgen, Gesch. NT’ Off. i. 19) that the term Geérns as distinguished from @edérys expresses ‘non modo divinas virtutes sed ipsam divinam naturam.’ St. Paul regards the Incarnation as serving the double purpose of showing God’s love as Father (Gal 44, Ro 8°; cf. Jn 31), and of reveal- ing the inner relations of Christ’s premundane and Divine being (2 Co 8°, Ph 28), ~A God of love seemed to involve personal subjects and objects of love within the Godhead, from which God who loved the world sent forth the Son of His love to savemen. The Father gave the Son (Ro 8%), the Son gave Himself (Gal 14), surrendered His glory and died on the cross; the Holy Spirit witnesseth to the Son and wins sinners to accept Him (Ro 1-4-5), That is St. Paul’s gospel (Ro 126 17), which has proved itself the power of God unto salvation. He often sums up his gospel, and it is always Trini- tarian (Ro 515 82 1516 17, 1 Co 21-4 128t, 2 Co 33, Gal 46, Eph 12-538 918 44-6 Col 1348; of, He 11:9 9% 4 10)°6- 29. 3 1192.24.29), Over every sermon he can pro- nounce the benediction of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Co 13%).