CHAPTER l: The Holy Spirit.

Of Christ.
SECTION I.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, possesses all divine perfections. As he and the Father are one, he, in his divine nature, filled all the offices and performed the works of God to his creatures that have been the subjects of revelation to us. As man, he performed all the duties toward God that we are required to perform, repentance of sin excepted.

His divinity is proved from his titles, his attributes, and his works.

1. His titles.--The Bible ascribes to Christ the titles of Saviour, Jehovah, Lord of Hosts, the First and the Last, God, true God, great God, God over all, mighty God, and the everlasting Father.

2. His attributes.--He is eternal, unchangeable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, holy, and is entitled to Divine worship.

3. His works.--By Christ the world was created; he preserves and governs it; he has provided redemption for all men, and he will be their final judge.

SECTION II.--THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST.

The Word, which in the beginning was with God, and which was God, by whom all things were made, condescended to a state of humiliation in being united with human nature, and becoming like us, pollution and sin excepted. In this state, as a subject of the law, he was liable to the infirmities of our nature; was tempted as we are; but lived our example, and rendered perfect obedience to the Divine requirements. As Christ was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, he is called 'The Son of Man;' and as the Divine existence is the fountain from which he proceeded, and was the only agency by which he was begotten, he is called the Son of God, being the only begotten of the Father, and the only incarnation of the Divine Being.

The Holy Spirit.

1. The Scriptures ascribe to the Holy Spirit the acts and attributes of an intelligent being. He is said to guide, to know, to move, to give information, to command, to forbid, to send forth, to reprove, and to be sinned against.

2. The attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit: such, as eternity, omnipresence, omniscience, goodness, and truth.

3. The works of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit: creation, inspiration, giving of life, and sanctification.

4. The same acts which in one part of the Bible are attributed to the Holy Spirit are in other parts said to be performed by God.

5. The apostles assert that the Holy Spirit is Lord and God.

From the foregoing, the conclusion is that the Holy Spirit is in reality God, and one with the Father in all Divine perfections. It has also been shown that Jesus Christ is God, one with the Father. Then these three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are one God.

The truth of this doctrine is also proved from the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are united in the authority by which believers are baptized, and in the benedictions pronounced by the apostles, which are acts of the highest religious worship.