What Some SDA's Believe About the Identity of the Holy Spirit Today. Now we may ask: Do all SDA's believe in the Trinity today? Do they all accept the notion that the Holy Spirit is co-equal in power and authority with God the Father and God the son? The answer is No. There are some who--and they are in the minority--who do accept the notion that the Holy Spirit occupies the third position of power in the heavenly council, but they reject the notion that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son.

Can such an understanding be reconciled with the teachings of the Bible and those of Ellen White? Read on and decide! Others believe that the Holy Spirit is the Power of God manifested through a variety of channels including the Angel of the Lord, the Angel Gabriel, and sometimes by God himself.

Does Third Member of the Godhead Mean Equality With God? This leads us to the following question: Does third member of the Godhead mean equality with God? Not necessarily! Remember that Ellen White did also state that before his fall, Lucifer occupied the third position of power and authority in heaven. Does this third position of power imply that Lucifer was co-equal with God? I do not think so! What happened when Lucifer rebelled against God and was expelled from heaven? Did his position remain vacant for good? I don't think so!

We have in the Bible many references to a powerful angel named Gabriel. He was God's instrument in the revelation of the two most outstanding prophetic book in the Bible: Daniel and Revelation. Actually, the angel Gabriel stated to the prophet that he was the only one involved in this with Michael, who we believe is Jesus Christ. [Daniel 10:21] Is it possible that this powerful angel did replace Lucifer in heaven after his rebellion? I believe it is! If he did, does this mean that he is co-equal with God? I don't think so!

Some Reasons for Updating Our Understanding of the Role of the Holy Spirit. Next I would like to cite a few reasons for the need to update our understanding of the role of the Holy spirit.

A. There is no clear text that unambiguoulsy states that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son.

B. The term Trinity does not appear in any of the many references dealing with God in the Bible, nor does it appear in any of Ellen White's writings.

C. There is not a single reference in the Bible asking us to worship the Holy Spirit.

D. The Apostle Peter states that the Holy Spirit was the instrument God used to communicate with the prophets [2 Peter 1: 21], but when we look at Daniel and Revelation, the two most outstanding prophetic book of the Bible, we discover that the instrument God used was an angel, whose name was revealed to Daniel as Gabriel. [Daniel 8:16 and 9:21]

E. We can say the same about the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus. God's messenger identified himself as follows: I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. [Luke 1:19]

F. The same instrument was used by God to reveal to Zacharias that his wife would bear a son named John [the Baptist] [Luke 1:26]

G. We do assume that God utilized the services of the same angel in the book of Revelation. If this assumption is correct, then we can conclude that the Angel Gabriel is not co-equal with God the Father or God the Son, because when the Apostle John fell at his feet, the angel refused to accept worship from him. [Revelation 19:10]

H. Genesis 1;2, which is often cited as evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, is questionable, because some Bible translators render the expression The Spirit of God as The wind of God.

I. Matthew 28: 19 which enjoins Jesus followers to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is missing in some of the biblical manuscripts.

J. 1 Corinthians 2:10 & 11, which reads: 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, corrently interpreted, would lead us to conclude that we do possess a soul that has a separate existence from our physical body; which is anathema to SDA's.

K. Mark 3: 28, which makes reference to the unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit seems to be a quotation from the Old Testament where the unpardonable sin is not against the Holy Spirit, but against the Angel of the Lord. [Exodus 23:20,21] Shall we conclude after reading this text in Exodus that the Angel of the Lord is co-equal with God the Father and God the son?

A Mystery Possibly Solved. We could go on and on, but let me suggest the following: The mystery of the identity and role of the Holy Spirit could be possibly solved if we consider that very likely whenever God's men of old felt the presence of God, they atributed this to the Holy Spirit, and whenever said manifestation of God's presence was physical, then they identified this as the Angel of the Lord. And let us not forget that the Bible identifies his angels as Ministering Spirits. [Hebrews 1:14]

What Can We Say About the Identity of the Angel of the Lord? We have already seen that on several occasions the Angel of the Lord turned out to be God's angel named Gabriel. But this is not all. We have several instances where the Angel of the Lord was later identified with God himself. Take the case of Moses, Gideon, and David:

After reading these passages, shall we conclude that every time the Bible makes reference to the Angel of the Lord, we are dealing with God himself? I don't think so, because we have already seen that on several instances the angel of the Lord turned out to be the Angel Gabriel.

What About Acts 5: 3, & 4? The strongest argument in favor of the Trinity is found in Acts 5: 3, and 4, where Saint Peter, in dealing with Ananaias and Saphira, tells them that they have lied to the Holy Spirit, and therefore, they have lied to God.

Can we conclude from this text that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father? I doubt that we can. All this text is saying is, I believe, is that whenever we lye to anyone of God's messengers--whether human , angelic, or divine--we are in fact lying to God, for the simple reason that God's messenger is acting in the name of God. This reminds me of what God told Moses when he sent him to Pharaoh:

Does this passage imply that Moses was co-equal with God the Father? I don't think so. He was merely God's messenger, and when King Pharaoh rejected him, he was rejecting the one who sent him. A similar incident took place when the Israelites asked for a king, and Prophet Samuel was offended. God told him: They have not rejected you, but they have rather rejected me

The Best Biblical Descriptions of the Holy Spirit. The best biblical descriptions of the Holy Spirit I have found are the following. One of them is connected with the birth of Jesus, and the other one with the promise of the Holy spirit found in Acts:

Conclusion. Taking into consideration all of the above, I believe that it would be safer as we study this topic this quarter if we limit our understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit to what has been revealed in the Bible, instead of drawing conclusions that are not necessarily warranted by all information that was granted us by inspiration. The Holy Spirit seems to be the Power of God manifested sometimes through the angel Gabriel, other times identified as the angel of the Lord, and sometimes as God himself. It can't be equated with the angel Gabriel in every instance, otherwise, we would have to conclude that Jesus was the Son of the Angel Gabriel.

Let us not forget that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was developed by systematic theologians--St. Augustine and Aquinas, and that systematic theology is a branch of philosophy. Philosophy sets no limit on speculation, while true religion does. If there is no clear biblical statement asserting that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son, we are wiser if we remain silent on this issue as well. Could it be that the Holy Spirit is the antitheis of the "Unholy Spirit" represented by the Devil and his angels?

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Note. For those who might wonder whether Jesus is a member of the Godhead, I suggest consider the following biblical passage:

Zechariah 3:2 "And Jehovah said to  Satan: May Jehovah rebuke you, oh Satan; Jehovah,  who has chosen Jerusalem, may he rebuke you."

Doesn't it sound rather strange for God to say, "May God rebuke you"? This seems to be evidence that in fact the one addressing Satan is Jesus and asking God the Father to rebuke Satan. We find a parallel pasage in Jude 9 where Jesus is identified as Michael:

 "Yet the Archangel Michael, when he argued with Satan over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgement upon him, but said, 'May the Lord rebuke you.'"

You are probably aware that the term "Jehovah" in the Hebrew Old Testament was often translated to English as "Lord" or "God."

Likewise, you probably do know that the term "Michael" means "Who is like God." For additional help with identifying Michael as the Son of God, consider what we find in the book of Daniel:

 Dan. 10: 13 & 21: "But the prince of the Kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me. ... No one supports me against all these except Michael, your prince."