THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WAY GOD WORKS

On entering the spiritual world, which generally happens on the third day after death, all ordained priests, who have had a fairly correct idea of the Lord our Saviour, are first taught about the Divine Trinity; and in particular that the Holy Spirit is not God in His own right, but when mentioned in the Word means the Divine activity which proceeds from the one omnipresent God. The reason why they particularly need to be taught about the Holy Spirit is that most of those who claim inspiration fall after death into the crazy fancy that they are themselves the Holy Spirit. Another reason is that many in the church, who while in the world believed that the Holy Spirit spoke through them, frighten other people by quoting the Lord's saying in Matthew, that speaking against what they say by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin (Matt. 12:31, 32). Those who after receiving instruction abandon their belief that the Holy Spirit is God in His own right, are then told about the oneness of God, that He is not divided into three Persons, each of which is individually God and Lord, as the Athanasian Creed asserts, but that the Divine Trinity is contained in the Lord the Saviour, just as soul, body and the power they exert are in any human being. They are then prepared to receive the faith of the new heaven, and when this preparation is complete, the way is opened for them to reach a community in heaven which has a similar faith, and they are given a place to live with their companions, with whom they are destined to live in a blessed state to eternity.

Now having dealt with God the Creator and the Lord the Redeemer, I must deal with the Holy Spirit. This subject, like the previous ones, needs to be split up into a series of propositions, as follows:

(i) The Holy Spirit is Divine Truth, and also the Divine power and activity which proceeds from the one God, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and so from the Lord God the Saviour. (ii) The Divine power and activity meant by the Holy Spirit are, generally speaking, reformation and regeneration, which lead to renewal, quickening, sanctification and justification; and these lead to purification from evils and the forgiveness of sins, and ultimately to salvation. (iii) The Divine power and activity meant by the sending of the Holy Spirit, with the clergy takes the particular form of enlightenment and instruction. (iv) The Lord confers these benefits on those who believe in Him. (v) The Lord works of Himself from the Father, and not the reverse. (vi) A person's spirit is his mind, and whatever comes from it.