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    "They shall know that I am Jehovah?

    -Ezekiel 35:15.

    Vol. LXIX

    Semimonthly

    JUNE 1, 1948

    CONTENTS

    Testing the Spirits in the World Crisis ...............

    Operations of the Holy Spirit Comforter ...................................

    Speaking, Hearing, Teaching,

    Reminding ...............................

    Spirit, Water and Blood...........

    Judging, Warning ......................

    Setting, Forbidding, Deciding . Testifying, Interceding ...........

    Christianity

    i:

    No. 11

    ......163

    ...... 165

    ____165

    Amos Prophesies Amidst Opposition .. 175

    Field Experience

    “Neighbor Love" Testimony Period .... 162

    “Watchtower” Studies

    “Permanent Governor of All Nations” 162

    fc1

    Published Semimonthly Br

    WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY 117 Adams Street - - Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S A.

    Officers

    N. H. Knobs, President Grant Suites, Secretary

    “And all thy children shall he taught of Jehovah; and great shall he the peace of thy children." - Isaiah 54:13,

    THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES

    THAT JEHOVAH is the only true God, from everlasting to everlasting, and is the Maker of heaven and earth and Giver of life to his creatures; that the Word or Logos was the beginning of his creation and his active agent in creating all other things; and that the creature Lucifer rebelled against Jehovah and raised the issue of His universal sovereignty;

    THAT GOD created the earth for man, made perfect man for the earth and placed him upon it; that man yielded to unfaithful Lucifer, or Satan, and willfully disobeyed God’s law and was sentenced to death; that by reason of Adam's wrong act all men are born sinners and without the right to life;

    THAT THE LOGOS was made human as the man Jesus and suffered death in order to produce the ransom or redemptive price for obedient men; that God raised up Christ Jesus divine and exalted him to heaven above every other creature and ejothed him with all power and authority as head of God’s new capital organization;

    THAT GOD’S CAPITAL ORGANIZATION is a Theocracy called Zion, and that Christ Jesus is the Chief Officer thereof and is the rightful King of the new world; that the faithful anointed followers of Christ Jesus are Zion’s children, members of Jehovah’s organization, and are His witnesses whose duty and privilege it is to testify to Jehovah’s supremacy and declare his purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible;

    THAT THE OLD WORLD, or Satan’s uninterrupted rule, ended A.D. 1914, and Christ Jesus has been placed by Jehovah upon the throne, has ousted Satan from heaven, and now proceeds to vindicate His name and establish the “new earth”;

    THAT THE RELIEF and blessings of the peoples can come only by Jehovah’s kingdom under Christ, which has begun; that His next great act is to destroy Satan's organization and establish righteousness completely in the earth ; and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will surviving Armageddon will carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with righteous offspring, and that the human dead in the graves will be raised to opportunities of life on earth.

    ITS MISSION

    THIS journal 18 published for the purpose of enabling the people to know Jehovah God and his purposes as expressed In the Bible. It publishes Bible instruction specifically designed to aid Jehovah’s witnesses and all people of good-wllL It arranges systematic Bible study for Its readers and the Society supplies other literature to aid In such studies. It publishes suitable material for radio broadcasting and for other means of public instruction in the Scriptures.

    It adheres strictly to the Bible as authority for Its utterances. It Is entirely free and separate from all religion, parties, sects or other worldly organizations. It is wholly and without reservation for the kingdom of Jehovah God under Christ his beloved King. It is not dogmatic, but invites careful and critical examination of its contents in the light of the Scriptures. It does not Indulge In controversy, and its columns are not open to personalities.

    Kotice t» Subscribers: Remittances ihould be sent to office in your country in compliance with regulations to guarantee safe delivery ot money. Remittances are accepted at Brooklyn from countries where no office is located, by international money order only. Subscription rates in different countries are stated below in local currency. Notice of expiration (with renewal blank) is sent at least two issues before .subscription expires. Change of address when sent to our office may be expected effective within one month. Send your old as well as new address.

    Please address the Watch Tower Society in every case.

    Offices Yearly Subscription Bate

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    Translations of this journal appear in many languages.

    ALL SINCERE STUDENTS OF THE BIBLE who by reason ot infirmity, poverty or adversity are unable to pay the subscription pnce may have The Watchtower free upon written application to the publishers, made once each year, stating the reason for so requesting it. We are glad to thus aid the needy, but the written application once each year is required by the postal regulations.

    Printed in the United States of America

    Enteied as second-class matter at the post office at Brooklyn, N. V., under the Act of March 3, 1879.

    “NEIGHBOR LOVE” TESTIMONY PERIOD

    The June testimony period under the above title touches each professed worshiper of God on the question of whether he loves his neighbor as himself in respect to eternal life. During June, therefore, each one who possibly can will, like the Good Samaritan, get out into the field to bring his neighbors God’s provided means for them to gain eternal life. The special offer to aid them in studying the Bible will be two Watch Tower products, namely, the book “Let God Be True” and the booklet The Joy of All the People, on a contribution of 35c for the combination. Neighborloving Christians throughout the earth will all unite during June in special efforts to help others to eternal life. Will you be one! You can be, you who read this magazine. If necessary, write us to put you in touch with your neighbors who will be glad to have you lovingly work with them in the field. Arrange, also, to make a report at the end of June on what you accomplish.

    “WATCHTOWER” STUDIES

    Week of July 4: “Testing the Spirits in the World Crisis,” fl 1-9 inclusive, also “Operations of the Holy Spirit,” fl 1-6 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1948.

    Week of July 11: "Operations of the Holy Spirit,” fl 7-21 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1948.

    Week of July 18: "Operations of the Holy Spirit,” fl 22-37 inclusive, The Watchtower June 1, 1948.

    “PERMANENT GOVERNOR OF ALL NATIONS”

    Scientific advances have shrunk the earth till nations on opposite sides of the globe are as next-door neighbors. But the work of making them good neighbors lags far behind. Men see the need of a world organization able to erase national differences. They seek to meet it with the United Nations. Christendom's clergy join hands with world politicians, bless the United Nations, and hail it as paving the way for God’s kingdom. But does it 7 Does it hail Jehovah as universal sovereign T or Christ as permanent governor of all nations f Can it ever draft God and Christ into roles in world politics T The Bible and physical facts answer with a resounding No!

    This answer, bulwarked with abundant proof, came to large audiences in the United States, England, West Africa and South Africa when the president of the Watchtower Society delivered the lecture entitled “Permanent Governor of All Nations”. Now it comes to a much larger reading public in booklet form, with a first edition of 5,000,000 to launch a world-wide distribution campaign. You will thrill as you read of Jehovah’s purpose for this earth, how its inhabitants will be united under a perfect and permanent governor, and how blessings defying description will shower down unendingly. Obtain and read your personal copy of the 32-page booklet Permanent Governor of AU Nations, on a 5c contribution. Better still, show love for your neighbor by obtaining extra copies to present to your friends. Fifteen copies are sent on a 50c contribution, 30 copies on $1 contribution.

    ANNOUNCING JEHOVAH’S KINGDOM

    Vol. LXIX June 1, 1948 No. 11

    TESTING THE SPIRITS IN THE WORLD CRISIS

    "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false, prophets are gone out into the world"—1 John 4:1.

    JEHOVAH God foresaw thousands of years in I advance the final crisis that is now upon this J world. The people have reached the fork of the road, and for their warning he foretold the going forth of spirits of falsehood that would turn the careless people down the branch that leads to destruction with this world in the terrible catastrophe of Armageddon. With accurate sign-language he portrayed for us the fast-moving world situation in these words in the Revelation, the last book of his Holy Scriptures : “The sixth [angel] emptied his bowl upon the great river Euphrates, and its waters dried up to make the way ready for the kings from the east. Then I saw three foul spirits like frogs emerge from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the animal and from the mouth of the false prophet. They are demon spirits that perform wonders, and they go out to the kings all over the world to muster them for battle on the great Day of God Almighty. ... So they mustered the kings at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.”—Rev. 16:12-16, An Amer. Trans.

    2 For a quarter of a century* wide-awake students, benefiting by the light of fulfilled prophecy, have seen that the above-mentioned dragon pictures the wicked organization of Satan the Devil, “the prince of the demons.” The animal, or wild beast, pictures the Devil’s visible organization on earth and which has risen up out of the abyss of the sea of humanity; and the false prophet pictures the outstanding part of that visible organization and which makes deceptive predictions of things to come in order to keep humanity under control. The mouth is one of the organs of speech. What comes forth from the mouth pictures the utterance, prediction, or teaching. What comes forth must have something for its inspiration; and the question is, Who inspired it? God’s Word fearlessly declares that what issues from the mouth of the dragon, the wild animal and the false prophet has for its inspiration the demons,

    • See The Watch Tower of January 1, 1921, pages 12-15, and of March 1, 1925, pages 68-70.

    1. How did God warn us of spirits that lead men to Armageddon? 2. What do the dragon, animal, false prophet and frogs picture? of whom Satan the Devil is the prince. God’s Word speaks of these demons as unclean or foul, and therefore what is inspired by them is also unclean. In the Scriptures frogs are unclean animals, which God’s chosen people were forbidden to eat; and, quite fittingly, the spirits or messages that issue from the mouth of the dragon, wild animal and false prophet are pictured as “three foul spirits like frogs”, and they are identified as “demon spirits that perform wonders”. Wonderfully, the kings and rulers all over the world listen to their croakings and then regiment the total population and drive them down the road that leads to Armageddon.

    3 Those spirits have come forth, not from God, but from the demons, and are misleading rulers and people alike into a showdown fight with Jehovah God. The human race under its misled kings and rulers does not have the shadow of a chance of winning in that fight, for it is a battle against God Almighty, whose time to set up his own Government of a new world of righteousness has come. Except for the small minority of men and women who try the spirits and who prove that these are unclean demon-spirits and who refuse to follow such, the mass of humanity are now being marched in doublequick time by their rulers to the Armageddon of sudden destruction at Almighty God’s hand. Just because the rulers are taking the lead in following these spirits, it does not prove that they are right spirits and are of God. Although the world rulers refuse to believe it, the influences mustering them out to battle and hurrying them on in their frantic course are the spirits from demons. In this world crisis the rulers have yielded to the demons in opposition to the kingdom of God, and now the people as individuals must test the spirits abroad in the land to prove for themselves whether such spirits are of God or not. Then, regardless of who or how many choose to follow the demon spirits to destruction, those who love God and his kingdom of life must choose to follow only his spirit.

    3. Who follow such spirits, and who do not? and why?

    * This course of trying out the spirits is urged upon all lovers of righteousness by the Word of God. “Beloved,” it says, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1) Let us not imagine that the “spirits” to be tried are invisible spirit persons, for, if this were the case, then how would we be able to see and hear them so as to test them? Rather, by the word “spirits” is to be understood messages or utterances that have some invisible inspiration behind them. Hence Revelation 16:13 pictures such spirits as issuing forth from the mouth.

    “ For example, if the government of a totalitarian country hands a certain statement out to all the country's newspapers for required publication, it is not a free and independent message, but is spoken of as an “inspired statement”. By carefully examining the statement and testing its teachings and principles we can arrive at the unseen source that inspired it and its publication. Likewise, at 1 John 4:1, the word "spirits” means messages or utterances that are circulated throughout the earth by “prophets” or spokesmen and that have some source of inspiration behind them, either God or the opposing demons under Satan the Devil. For this reason An American Translation renders 1 John 4:1 as follows: “Dear friends, do not believe every inspired utterance, but test the utterances to see whether they come from God, for many false prophets have come out into the world.” The demons inspire utterances that lead men into opposition to God and down to destruction. Hence your life depends upon obeying this warning command and making the test, now!

    ’ God’s Word speaks of Satan the Devil as “the prince of the demons” and “the god of this world”, and Jesus spoke of him as “the prince of this world”. (Matt. 12:24-27, Am.Stan. Ver.; 2 Cor. 4:4; John 12: 31) So, when you test an utterance that declares Jehovah is not God and has no right to the sovereignty of our earth and cannot put men and women on earth who will remain true and faithful to Him under the pressure of this world crisis, then be sure of this: such utterance is inspired by the “prince of the demons” and it hopped out of the mouth of the Devil’s dragon organization.-When you test an utterance that declares man-made governments of this world stand for Jesus Christ the King and are appointed to rule this earth forever in their imperfect way in order to keep the sea of humanity calm and in check, then you can be sure that such utterance is inspired by the demons and has hopped out of the mouth of the visible organization of Satan the Devil, “the god of this world.” When you test the utterance of the Anglo-American political combina-

    4, 5. What are the spirits that we must test? and why test them? 6. Ho* are the three spirits like frogs proved to be not of God? tion that declares our civilization is best for mankind and that the United Nations is the only hope of mankind and will succeed and establish a lasting peace and justice and universal brotherhood, then you can be sure such prophecy is demon-inspired and hopped out of the mouth of the “false prophet”. None of such three “spirits” are of God, because not one of such spirits or inspired utterances agrees with the spirit or inspired utterance from God. The testing of them by God’s written Word proves it.

    T As to the manner of testing, the apostle John goes on to say: “Hereby know ye the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:2, 3) Once again modern translation presents the meaning of the apostle’s words in a sensible, understandable and Scriptural way, as follows: “You can tell the spirit of God in this way: all inspiration that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in human form comes from God, and any inspired utterance that does not acknowledge Jesus does not come from God; it is the inspiration of the Antichrist. You have heard that it was coming, and here it is already in the world.” —1 John 4: 2, 3, An Amer. Trans.

    8 Back’there in those apostolic times, nineteen hundred years ago, it was of antichristian inspiration for anyone to deny that Jesus had come to earth as a man and suffered and died and been raised from the dead. So now, in this twentieth century, it is equally of unchristian inspiration for men of this world to say that Jesus Christ does not need to come as King to rule the earth; but that politicians, together with clergymen as spiritual advisers, can govern the earth for themselves, and that all we need is, not Jesus Christ in his rightful kingdom power, but merely a United Nations or a Federated World or a man-made Federal World Government. Leaders in Christendom are foremost in making such utterances, but their being of Christendom does not mean such utterances are Christian and are inspired by the spirit of God and cannot be of demon-inspiration. By what test do we know for certain that they are of antichrist and are not inspired by God’s spirit? By testing such utterances with what is taught in the Bible. And why with the Bible? Because the Bible was produced by means of the spirit of Jehovah God, and so anything contrary to Bible teachings would be contrary to the spirit of God.

    ’ The apostle Peter shows the necessary part that God’s spirit performed in producing the Bible by saying: “No prophecy of scripture is of private inter-

    7, 8. How do we prove today which spirits are of antichrist?

    9. With what benefit do we use the Bible as the touchstone? pretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the holy spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20,21, Am. Stan. Ver.) All persons who use the Bible as the touchstone to try the spirits will safeguard themselves against deception and will preserve their eternal interests.

    OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

    IN PREVIOUS. issues of The Watchtower it has been proved at some length by the Bible that the “holy spirit” that moved the Bible writers is not a person. It is not the “third person” of a religious "trinity”, but is the invisible active force of Almighty God; and this active force or energy proceeds from God and through his Son Jesus Christ1. To prove this it has been necessary to test or try the spirit, the inspiration, of the “trinity” doctrine to see whether it is of God or of the demons. By testing the doctrine against the Word of God it has been proved to be demon-inspired and antichristian and anti-God. Nevertheless, many persons will ask, If the holy spirit is not an intelligent person but is God’s invisible active force used by him to accomplish his will, how is it that the Bible speaks of the holy spirit as hearing, talking, teaching, interceding and performing other operations of a personality? Hence, for the benefit of readers who are still troubled by such Bible expressions concerning the spirit, we take up a consideration of the Scripture texts involved.

    2 Not a single text can be produced that says the holy spirit is God, but many Scripture texts do show that the holy spirit is associated with God, issues forth from him, and brings his will to pass. Jesus said: “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 24) That means God is an invisible, active, powerful Person, and not a material person like us humans. But that is not the same as saying that 'the holy spirit is God and is one with God and of the same substance and equal in power and glory with God’, as trinitarians unscripturally claim. Trinitarians put two scriptures alongside and say that such two scriptures together prove the holy spirit is Jehovah God. The conclusions the trinitarians draw do violence to the rest of the Bible and put senseless confusion and contradiction into that harmonious and reasonable Book. Without straining or wresting the Scriptures, what the Bible says concerning the operations of the holy spirit of God can be sensibly explained in harmony with all the other scriptures. Let us now test this statement out.

    COMFORTER

    ’ A few hours before dying on the tree Jesus Christ the Son of God promised to send his disciples the holy spirit after he was resurrected from the dead. He spoke of this spirit as “the comforter, helper, or advocate”. According to An American Translation, he said: “And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you always. It is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot obtain that Spirit, because it does not see it or recognize it; you recognize it because it stays with you and is within you.” “I have told you this while I am still staying with you, but the Helper, the holy Spirit which the Father will send in my place, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you.” “When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father—that Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father—he will bear testimony to me, and you must bear testimony too, because you have been with me from the first.” “If I do not go, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. When he comes, he will bring conviction to the world about sin and uprightness and judgment; I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now, but when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into the full truth, for he will not speak for himself but will tell what he hears, and will announce to you the things that are to come. He will do honor to me, for he will take what is mine and communicate it to you. All that the Father has belongs to me. That is why I said that he will take what is mine and communicate it to you.”—John 14:16, 17, 25, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:7, 8, 12-15; also Rotherham.

    * If the holy spirit were the third person of a “trinity” and were equal in power and glory with Jesus, why could it not come to Jesus’ disciples without his first going away and leaving them ? and why would the holy spirit have to wait to be sent by Jesus? The reason is that the holy spirit is not such a coequal, co-powerful person, but is the invisible active force proceeding from God. In the same discourse Jesus said: “The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.” This proves that the holy spirit which is sent is not equal to Jesus the Sender. (John 13:16) Because this invisible, holy, active force would be a comfort, help and support to the disciples Jesus spoke of it as a "comforter”, "helper,” or “advocate”. In the Greek text of the Bible the word for “comforter”, “helper,” or “advocate" is in the masculine gender, and hence Jesus would refer to it with the

    4. Why did Jeaua refer to Buch holy aplrlt with the pronoun het masculine pronoun “he”. However, in the Greek text the word for “spirit” is in the neuter gender, and hence the Bible speaks of the holy spirit as “it”.

    ’ After his resurrection and ascension to heaven Jesus was not to be personally or bodily with his disciples; and, therefore, by means of this invisible active force projected from heaven down upon his disciples he would help, instruct, and guide them. How he could do this at such a distance as at the right hand of his Father in heaven is easier to understand now that we are in the atomic age, with its use of radio broadcasting, television, bouncing radar beams off the moon, the discovery of cosmic rays from unknown sources away out in space, the harnessing of atomic energy. All these modern developments disclose to us how marvelous unseen forces can be directed by scientific minds knowing how to control them and having the means or equipment for it. What man has accomplished in these fields does not compare with all the power Jesus has in heaven and earth since his resurrection.—Matt. 28:18.

    8 Remember what Jesus said to his disciples about the holy spirit comforter as we now consider its operations described for us in the book of Acts of the Apostles. When telling of the coming of this holy spirit comforter to them, Jesus did not speak of it as a person, but spoke of it as an active force, energy. He said: “I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city [Jerusalem], until ye be clothed with power from on high.” “But ye shall receive power, when the holy spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses.” (Luke 24:49 and Acts 1: 8, Am. Stan. Ver.) Likewise, when the disciple Luke tells of the sending down of holy spirit upon the disciples waiting there at Jerusalem on the day of the feast of Pentecost, he describes it as energy rather than as a person. Notice the language of his account: “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, like a violent wind rushing; and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues appeared to them, like fire, and one rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with holy spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4, The Emphatic Diaglott; Rotherham) When explaining afterward what had just taken place, Peter also emphasizes the thought of power rather than of personality for the holy spirit. He says: “God raised up this Jesus, of which we all are witnesses. Having been, therefore, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the holy spirit, he poured out this which you both see and hear.”—Acts 2: 32, 33, Diaglott.

    ' Any idea of the holy spirit as an intelligent, corporeal person, the “third person of the most blessed trinity”, makes the language of Luke and Peter laughable. In all seriousness try to imagine a corporeal person splitting himself up and distributing himself bit by bit to the hundred and twenty disciples, and thus all of them being filled with this corporeal personality. In all soberness think of Jesus’ receiving from his heavenly Father this holy spirit “person” and then pouring him out or shedding him forth like liquid fire upon a hundred and twenty men and women so as to fill them. ‘Pouring out’ is God’s own way of expressing it at Joel 2: 28, 29, the prophecy which Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost.

    8 Getting filled with the holy spirit was not to be confined to the first hundred and twenty, but, as Peter said to the multitude before him: “Reform, and let each of you be immersed in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you-will receive the gift of the holy spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God may call.” (Acts 2:16-18,38,39, Diaglott) The Scriptural number of 144,000, who make up the complete Christian congregation or “body of Christ", all receive that spirit, and they are exhorted: “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the spirit.” “For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit [saturated with one spirit].”—Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 12:13; An Amer. Trans.

    ’ All such is not language befitting an intelligent, corporeal person, for it would be unreasonable and not understandable. But when we face the fact that God’s holy spirit is his invisible active force by which he can operate upon matter and mind and accomplish his will, then the language becomes simple and comprehensible to us. This makes it reasonable for the Christian congregation, the “body of Christ” of 144,000 members, .to be the temple of God. Being such a temple does not mean that God personally or bodily dwells in the fleshly bodies of the members of this spiritual temple, for that would be destructive. Jehovah God told Moses: “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (Ex. 33:20) If the mere sight of God would be destructive to a human creature, how, then, could a man have God occupy him bodily and live? Man could not. Not according to what Stephen said: “Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” And Paul said: “God 9*11. (a) Why does God not dwell bodily in the church as & temple? (b) How does God dwell in it, and with what effect?

    that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” (Acts 7:47-50; 17:24) Hence the way that the Most High God dwells in the Christian congregation as his temple is by means of his holy spirit, his active force which is devoted to holy purposes. To this effect we read the following quotations:

    10 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you! If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Cor. 3:16,17) And to this temple class, which is the “body of Christ”, it is furthei' written: “Know ye not that your body is a temple of the holy spirit which is in you, which [spirit] ye have from God! and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19,20, Am. Stan. Ver.) “You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Through him every part of the building is closely united and grows into a temple sacred through its relation to the Lord, and you are yourselves built up into a dwelling for God through the spirit.” (Eph. 2:20-22, An Amer. Trans.) “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit.”—1 John 4:12,13.

    11 Compare these scripture quotations and relate them together; and yet no honest person can claim they say the holy spirit is God, a personal God. The whole force of these scriptures is to show God does not directly, in a bodily way, dwell in the Christian congregation as his temple, but he does so by filling it with his holy spirit, his invisible energy. In this way it is true that “God is he who is working effectually among you, both to will and to perform, on account of his benevolence”.—Phil. 2:13, Diaglott.

    SPEAKING, HEARING, TEACHING, REMINDING

    12 Luke’s account regarding the hundred and twenty disciples on the day of Pentecost says that “the spirit gave them utterance”, to speak foreign languages. (Acts 2:4) God through Jesus Christ at his right hand poured out his spirit upon them. He radioed it down upon them, thereby causing them to utter speech in foreign phrase, just as a radio transmitting station can make loud-speakers of radio sets in millions of homes produce speech, music and sounds when such sets are turned on, dialed, and tuned in on the radio station many miles away. Whatever the electrical energies or impulses pick up at the radio station, or, so to speak, whatever they “hear” at the station, they send out to the radio receiving sets, causing such sets to speak accordingly. In like manner, whatever the spirit of God hears, that the spirit speaks to the disciples, and it shows them things to come and reminds them of what Jesus said or did. Then those disciples upon whom the spirit operates speak the things the spirit has heard or picked up from God. They speak prophecies or whatever the spirit has to teach them. The spirit or active force emanating from God is the means of transmission by which He conveys teaching, prophecy, or foreign-language powers to his receptive, obedient servants on earth. Just as the electrical impulses from the radio television station send out and project a moving vision upon the video screen of a far-off television set, the spirit of God could even more easily produce a vision before the eyes of his prophets on earth.

    1S In many texts the Scriptures testify to the operation of the spirit or active force of God in this way. Peter says: “Brethren, it was needful that the scripture should be fulfilled, which the holy spirit spake before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus.” (Acts 1:16, Am. Stan. Ver.) As to the spirit’s speaking by David, Jesus said this: “How then doth David in spirit [or, by inspiration] call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Matt. 22: 43, 44; Diaglott) “For David himself said, by the holy spirit, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I put thine enemies underneath thy feet.’ David himself, therefore, calls him Lord.” (Mark 12: 36, 37, Diaglott) Jesus’ disciples also declared God’s spirit spoke by David, for they prayed to God, saying: “Who by the holy spirit, by the mouth of our father David thy servant, didst say, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things!” (Acts 4:25, Am. Stan. Ver.) Even David himself testifies that God moved him to speak prophetically by means of His holy spirit, for David confessed: “The spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me.” (2 Sam. 23:2,3, Am. Stan. Ver.) The holy spirit did not in itself speak, as if it were a person, but this active force of God spoke by means of the intelligent person upon whom it acted. Thus God, by means of his spirit, spoke through such inspired person.

    14 The apostle Paul calls attention to the same method of operation of the spirit. Concerning the visit the Jews paid him as a prisoner in Rome, we read: “And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the holy spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers, saying, Go thou unto this 13. How was it that King David spoke prophetically?

    14. Why does Paul say the spirit spoke by Isaiah and Psalm 05? people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand.” (Acts 28:25,26, Am. Stan. Ver.) In his book of Hebrews Paul quotes Psalm 95:7-11, and says: “Wherefore, even as the holy spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me . . . They shall not enter into my rest.” (Heb. 3:7-11, Am. Stan.Ver.) Who wrote Psalm 95 we do not know. Hence we cannot say that in Psalm 95 the spirit spake by so-and-so. The main point is that the psalmist was inspired to speak by God’s spirit, and so Paul explains it by saying “the holy spirit saith”. The real speaker talking about entering into rest is Jehovah God, but he used his holy spirit to express himself through the anonymous writer of Psalm 95.

    15 Once again, to show that the human creature was not speaking his own mind, but spoke under divine inspiration, Paul quotes Jeremiah’s prophecy, and says: “Moreover, the holy spirit also testifies this to us, for after it had said, ‘This is the covenant which I will covenant with them; After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts, and on their minds will I inscribe them;’ [it adds,) ‘and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more.’ ” (Heb. 10:15-17, Diaglott) By his spirit God also inspired the prophet Moses to arrange the ceremonies at the sacred tabernacle. Therefore Paul says: "The holy spirit this signifying, that the way into the holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle is yet standing.”—Heb. 9: 8, Am. Stan. Ver.

    18 Both Jeremiah and Moses spoke and acted under the power of the holy spirit, and so Paul gives the credit for their prophecies to the spirit, and not to the men. The spirit proceeded forth from Jehovah God. It was beamed down upon Moses and Jeremiah. This made it, in reality, Jehovah God that was prophesying. Jeremiah’s prophecy actually tells us it was Jehovah promising the new covenant. But under no circumstances do Paul’s words about Moses and Jeremiah require us to say that the holy spirit is Jehovah God and that Paul upholds the trinitarian formula, “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, three persons in one God.”

    17 Peter and his. fellow apostles, when on trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin or Supreme Court in Jerusalem, used language like Paul’s concerning the holy spirit, when they said: “And we are witnesses of these things,—also the holy spirit which God hath given unto them who are yielding obedience unto him.” (Acts 5:32, Rotherham; An Amer. Trans.; Moffatt) Peter, the apostles and the holy spirit were witnesses. Peter and the other apostles were intelligent persons, but because the holy spirit is said to be a witness with those men, it does not demand the conclusion that the holy spirit is therefore also a person. No more so than its being associated with Jeremiah or other prophets made the spirit an intelligent person. Peter and his fellows witnessed about Jesus, but they told the Sanhedrin they were testifying these things under the power of God’s spirit, and thereby the holy spirit was with them in testifying these things. God backed them up by his spirit in all they were testifying. So the Sanhedrin should have accepted it.

    SPIRIT, WATER AND BLOOD

    18 John, who was with Peter before the Sanhedrin, says of Jesus: “This is he who came by water and blood,—Jesus the Anointed one; not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood; and the spirit is that which testifies, because the spirit is the truth. For there are three which testify; the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and the three are for one [or, are witnesses to one thing]. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son.” (1 John 5: 6-9, Diaglott; Rotherham) Because the water and the blood testify or bear witness, no sane man will argue that the water and the blood are two persons. They are just as impersonal as is the holy spirit. John does not say the spirit is a person or is God, but “is the truth”. Jehovah God anointed Jesus with holy spirit; and since God used the spirit as an anointing upon Jesus, it proves that the spirit is not a person. It is God’s active force ■with which he approved Jesus as his Son and commissioned him to act as Christ the Messiah.—Acts 10: 38.

    19 In the light of other texts, the “water” by which Jesus came does not refer to the water of his baptism nor the water that came from his side when pierced on the tree, but refers to God’s Word that Jesus preached. (Eph. 5:26) The blood points to his death as a human sacrifice. The spirit was the invisible energy with which he was anointed. Well, then, what was the one thing on which all three agree, bearing witness together! The water, blood and spirit agreed in bearing witness to the fact that “Jesus is the Son of God”. The spirit with which Jesus was anointed came from his Father. That being so, then it was God who, by means of his spirit, was giving witness respecting his Son Jesus Christ. The blood that Jesus had in his human organism on earth testified he was God’s Son, because his human birth was not by man's begettal but by the life-giving power of Jehovah God. Most of the Word of God was written

    18, 19. (a) In testifying with the water and the blood, why was not the spirit a person? (b) What do these three unitedly testify? before Jesus’ human birth, and all this Word of God also testified that the Christ would be the Son of God.

    ” At Pentecost the glorified Jesus in heaven began pouring out the holy spirit upon his disciples on earth. There the prophecy of Jesus went into fulfillment, as we read, at John 7:37-39: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the holy ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified).” The words of Jesus here about the holy spirit are far from teaching that the holy spirit is a corporeal person, even if the King James Version translators did render the same Greek word pneumo first spirit and right afterward ghost in the same verse (39).

    11 Further showing the spirit is no person but is an active force from God the Holy One, John speaks of this outpoured spirit as an unction or anointing. He says this anointing teaches those having it. Notice: “And ye have an anointing [chrisma, Greek] from the Holy One, and ye know all things. And as for you, the anointing [chrisma] which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing [chrisma] teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him. And now, my little children, abide in him; that, if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2: 20, 27, 28, Am. Stan. Ver.) It is God the Holy One that anointed them with his spirit through Jesus Christ, and thus it is God that has taught and is teaching them by means of the spirit of his anointing. To continue to receive such teaching by means of His spirit, Christians must abide in God, in unity with him. Then he will not remove his spirit from them. The spirit does not have to be an intelligent corporeal person for them to be thus taught, but whatever God sends them on the carrier wave of his spirit, that is what they are taught.—See 1 Samuel 16:13,14 and 18:12.

    JUDGING, WARNING

    22 Trinitarians use Peter’s words in Acts, chapter 5, to support their teaching that the holy spirit is God and a personal member of a “trinity”. So let us read Acts 5: 3, 4, 9,10: “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the holy spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land ? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power ? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart ? thou hast 20. When and how was John 7*37-39 fulfilled*

    21. How does 1 John 2:20, 27, 28 show the spirit Is not a person 1 22. Why does Acts 5:3, 4, 9. 10 not mean the spirit is a person ? not lied unto men, but unto God.” Later, after Ananias dropped dead for lying, Sapphira his wife came before Peter and upheld her husband in his lie. We read: “But Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to try the spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them that have buried thy husband are at the door, and they shall carry thee out. And she fell down immediately at his feet, and gave up the ghost [or, expired].” (Am. Stan. Ver.; Rotherham) Peter was anointed and filled with the holy spirit. This clothed him with the power of crime detection. Hence when Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter, they lied in fact to the holy spirit within Peter and were testing out the power of the spirit within him. Moreover, as that spirit was from God and as He was their Judge, Ananias and his wife were lying to God. His eyes have more than television powers, and run to and fro throughout the earth, beholding the evil and the good. (Prov. 15: 3) There is no Scriptural foundation for reading trinitarian nonsense into Peter’s words, to twist them into saying that the holy spirit is a person.

    2S If we followed trinitarian reasoning, we would be compelled to believe that the holy spirit is an angel. How so? By comparing verses 26, 29 and 39 of Acts, chapter eight. Philip the evangelist had just finished a good work of preaching in Samaria, and, we read, “the angel of the Lord spake, unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.” Obeying this command from the Lord’s angel, Philip encountered a chariot being driven along with an Ethiopian eunuch in it reading Isaiah’s prophecy. Here we read: “Then the spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” After Philip got in and preached Jesus Christ to the eunuch and baptized him, then, as we read, “when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more.” (Acts 8:26,29,39) In the first instance, the angel of the Lord is said to speak directly to Philip. In the next instance, where it is written that “the spirit said unto Philip”, it is not described whether this was by the angel visibly or invisibly or by direct spiritual communication.

    24 In corresponding fashion, in the days of the judges of Israel, an angel of God appeared to Gideon, gave the divine message, and disappeared. In fear Gideon said: “Alas, 0 Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” (Judg. 6: 22, 23, Am. Stan. Ver.) After the angel’s disappearance Jehovah spoke peaceably to Gideon, either by the angel from the angel’s invisible station or directly by means of his

    active force, the holy spirit. Likewise with Philip. When the spirit told Philip to join himself to the eunuch’s chariot, it may have been the invisible angel speaking under the power of God’s spirit. This understanding does away with any need to personalize the spirit or to say the spirit is an angel. After the eunuch was baptized the spirit of Jehovah "caught away Philip”, not by transporting him bodily through the air, but by moving him quickly and without further delay to leave the vicinity and head for Ashdod (Azotus).

    25 If we appreciate the way God dealt with Gideon and Philip, it helps us to understand the way he may have dealt with others, as, for example, with Peter and the congregation at Antioch in Syria. About twenty-one hours after God’s angel had appeared to Cornelius at Caesarea on the Mediterranean sea, an operation of the spirit took place toward Peter at Joppa on the seacoast about thirty miles south of Caesarea. By means of television and tele-communication powers Almighty God caused Peter to see a vision and hear a voice of command. While Peter was thinking on the meaning of it all, three men from Cornelius of Caesarea arrived.

    20Now we read: “While Peter thought on the vision, the spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.” (Acts 10:3,19,20; 11:13) But Acts 10:3-7 says the angel of God told Cornelius to send those three men to Peter. So, when the spirit told Peter to go along with them, God doubtless put his spirit upon this same angel and used such angel to instruct Peter what to do. When Peter later said to his brethren at Jerusalem, “And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting,” we can be sure he was not thinking of the holy spirit as a personal member of a trinitarian “godhead”. Especially so, as Peter went on to tell of his Bible talk to the household of Cornelius, and added: “And as I began to speak, the holy spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the holy spirit.” (Acts 11:12,15,16; Am. Stan. Ver., margin) “The holy spirit fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.” (Acts 10:44-46, Am. Stan. Ver.) How could Peter sanely think of the holy spirit as being a corporeal person and, as such, falling upon all of Cornelius’ household and being poured out as a gift like oil upon them? He could not have had such a thought.

    22 As for the congregation at Antioch, for more than a year Paul and Barnabas had assembled with that company and acted as teachers. (Acts 11:22-26) The account tells us: “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, . . . and Saul. And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the holy spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. ... So they, being sent forth by the holy spirit, went down to Seleucia.” (Acts 13:1-4, Am. Stan. Ver.) Verse 9 speaks of “Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the holy spirit”. Just what personal agency the holy spirit used here to give orders respecting Paul and Barnabas is not stated. It may have been an angel from heaven, as when sending three men from Cornelius to Peter; or it may have been a prophet of the Antioch congregation. The prophet Agabus could have spoken under the power of the holy spirit, for we read: “And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cassar.” (Acts 11:27,28) Consequently, since the orders to send out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries were given under the power of God’s holy spirit, these two men were, indeed, sent forth by the holy spirit, although the spirit is not a person.

    28 To remind his hearers that he spoke under the power of the spirit of God, the prophet Agabus said it was not he himself, but wTas the holy spirit speaking. When Paul with Luke reached Caesarea, the following took place: “There came down from Judtea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And coming to us, and taking Paul’s girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, Thus saith the holy spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” (Acts 21:10,11, Am. Stan.Ver.) Quite reasonably, communications like this by prophets inspired by the holy spirit were what Paul meant when he said just before this to the elders from the congregation at Ephesus: "And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the holy spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.” (Acts 20: 22, 23, Am. Stan.Ver.) In support of this understanding of the matter, Luke tells us what happened when Paul landed at Tyre: “And finding disciples, we tarried seven days: who said to Paul through the spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.” (Acts 21:4) Paul’s encounter with Agabus followed shortly after this. All this explains how the holy spirit, although

    not being a person but merely divine active force, could be said to speak, testify and warn.

    SETTING, FORBIDDING, DECIDING

    3 * On the occasion of Paul’s meeting with the abovementioned elders of Ephesus, he said to them: “Be taking heed unto yourselves and unto all the little flock in which the holy spirit hath set you as overseers,—-to be shepherding the assembly of God which he hath acquired through means of the blood of his own.” (Acts 20: 28, Rotherham; Diaglott) More than t-wo and a half years prior to this Paul baptized twelve believing men at Ephesus, and thereby helped to build up the congregation at that city. For two years and three months he preached and taught at Ephesus. At other cities Paul and Barnabas had appointed elder brothers to positions of service in the congregations, and he wrote Timothy and Titus to appoint elder brothers to positions of overseer and assistant in the congregations under their care. (Acts 14: 23; 1 Tim. 3:1-14; Titus 1: 5-9) Now Paul was a member of the governing body of the church of the first century, and he was filled with the holy spirit. If he or some other authorized person appointed overseers in the congregation at Ephesus, then it could truthfully be said that “the holy spirit hath set you as overseers”. All appointments of men were made under the power of the holy spirit, and the credit should be given to it, and not to human instruments through whom the spirit worked.

    30 The Lord God exercised his spirit or active force greatly toward the apostle Paul, to direct his movements, utterances and writings. On his second missionary tour he was inclined to go at first into the province of Asia of which Ephesus was capital, and afterward to turn eastward toward the province of Bithynia, but here Almighty God intervened by his spirit. We read of Paul, Silas and Timothy: “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the holy spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the spirit of Jesus suffered them not; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.” Here at Troas Paul had the night vision, directing him to turn westward to Europe with his missionary work. “And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them.” (Acts 16:6-10, Am.8tan.Ver.) The details are not given of how the holy spirit forbade that missionary group to preach in the province of Asia and did not permit them to go into the province of Bithynia. While such details might have been helpful to our understanding of how God’s spirit acted in a forbidding and preventive manner, the account of its operations in other instances helps us to understand, without falling into trinitarian pitfalls. As in other cases, the spirit was free to operate through angel, vision or human prophet or directly with no intermediary. That vision steering Paul westward to Europe was by the spirit. Hence by it God called him west.

    31 Some time before this vision Paul and Barnabas, home from their first missionary tour, went up to Jerusalem to attend a conference with the apostles and elder brothers there. To help the conference out of the difficulty over the question of circumcising Gentile believers, the disciple James quoted the inspired writing of the prophet at Amos 9:11,12 (Septuagint Version), and said: “Simeon [Peter] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return,... that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” (Acts 15:14-17) Seeing that God had poured out his spirit upon Gentiles without their first being circumcised, and seeing this was in fulfillment of prophecy, the conference decided not to require circumcision of Gentiles, and wrote a letter addressed to them, saying: “It seemed good to the holy spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.” (Acts 15:28,29, Am. Stan. Ver.) If the holy spirit was not an intelligent person, how could this seem good to the holy spirit as well as to the special conference of Christians? How could such impersonal holy spirit and those Christian men decide the matter?

    ” In this way: Peter, Paul and Barnabas had done their works among the Gentiles by the power of the spirit of God. To support their work, the disciple James under guidance of the holy spirit quoted Amos 9:11,12. The prophet Amos, whose prophecy was being fulfilled, had spoken and written as he was moved by the spirit of God. Accordingly, what was good and proper in the light of these operations of the holy spirit became plain, and the holy spirit thus helped in deciding the matter. The Christian conference did not decide the matter for itself, apart from what the holy spirit showed was God’s deciding will. Those Christians in conference could well say concerning the mysterious things of God: “Unto us God revealed them through the spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ... the things of God none knoweth, save the spirit of God. But we received . . . the spirit which is from

    31, 32. What did the special conference at Jerusalem write Gentiles? God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.” (1 Cor. 2:10-13, Am. Stan. Ver.) Like them, we can profitably learn things from the way the spirit operates.

    TESTIFYING, INTERCEDING

    33 We are now prepared to understand how the holy spirit testifies to persons who are spiritual children of God and how it intercedes for them. Paul, under inspiration of the spirit, writes: “The spirit itself testifies together with our spirit, that we are children of God. And if children, also heirs; heirs, indeed, of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if, indeed, we suffer together, so that we may be also glorified together. . . . but ourselves also, possessing the first-fruit of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for sonship,—the redemption of our body. For we were saved by the hope;... And in like manner also the spirit assists our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought; but the spirit itself intercedes with unspoken groans, and he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit, because according to God it intercedes on behalf of saints.”—Rom. 8:16,17,23-27, Diaglott; Rotherham.

    34 Those Christians whom God has begotten to be his children as joint-heirs with Christ he has anointed with His spirit. This anointing or unction teaches them, as above explained; and, by the things that it reveals to them from God’s written Word, it bears witness to them that they are God’s spiritual children. It makes plain on the pages of the written Word of God that the promised Seed of Abraham in whom all the nations are to be blessed is Jesus Christ, .the Son of God. Also, those who become his footstep followers are adopted by God to be his heirs with Jesus Christ the Seed, and thus they are made the sons of God. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) By his revealed written Word God sets before these sons the hope of being joined with Jesus in the heavenly kingdom. Now, all of God’s written Word was produced under inspiration of His spirit (2 Tim. 3:15-17); and so by this Word it is really the holy spirit that is testifying to these Christians that they are the begotten children of God. Also, by the spirit’s operations in their lives, just as in the lives of Peter, Paul and other disciples, the spirit bears further witness to them concerning their sonship to God.

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