God, Part 5

The teaching emphasizes the oneness of God, presenting Him as the singular true and living God manifested through Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh mediating between God and humanity. It highlights attributes of God such as being a consuming fire, light, Spirit, and love, and notes that God's unfiltered presence is accessible only through the revelation in Jesus, since no man can fully perceive God in His entirety.

Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit, referred to as the Comforter, proceeds from God the Father to testify about Christ and guide believers, emphasizing that the Spirit's indwelling in man was made possible through Christ's sacrificial death. This teaching challenges the notion of the Holy Spirit as a separate person, clarifying that worship and spiritual understanding should focus on God the Father and Jesus Christ, to avoid confusion and maintain genuine faith.

The teaching emphasizes that God's omnipresence is expressed through His spirit, which is not a separate person but acts through His agents like Christ, angels, or believers to fulfill His will, challenging traditional views of a multipersonal Godhead such as the Trinity. Furthermore, it argues that the concepts of "spirit" and "Holy Spirit" in both Hebrew and Greek Scriptures should be understood contextually and not as independent entities, highlighting that neither the Old nor the New Testaments provide conclusive evidence for the Trinity or a distinct Holy Spirit.

In Shawn's teaching, the Holy Spirit is depicted as an impersonal force or presence of God, rather than a co-equal entity within the Trinity, challenging traditional translations influenced by Trinitarian views. This spirit, described as the "Comforter" or "Counselor," is personified to communicate its role in continuing Jesus's work, guiding and empowering believers with the mind and presence of Christ, but always in alignment with biblical teachings and not as an independent being.

Shawn teaches that the "spirit of man" is a personification and not separate from the individual, similar to how the "spirit of God" represents God's consciousness and presence, rather than being a separate person. This understanding sheds light on the figurative language used in scriptures, emphasizing that references such as "the Comforter" and "the spirit of truth" should be recognized as influences or powers rather than distinct beings, demonstrating God's will and action through metaphors like "breath," "hand," and "finger."

The teaching argues that the Holy Spirit should not be considered a distinct person within the Godhead, but rather as the power, influence, and presence of God. It presents biblical examples to illustrate that God's spirit functions more like an extension or manifestation of God's presence and authority rather than a separate co-equal being.

Shawn argues that the term "Holy Spirit" in biblical texts is synonymous with "God" and not a separate entity within a triune Godhead, emphasizing that scriptural references often use parallel terms to convey the same concept. He further explains that "the Holy Spirit" or "holy spirit" is interchangeable with "the spirit of Jesus," highlighting Jesus Christ's role in guiding believers without coercion, thereby challenging traditional Trinitarian views by questioning the logic of ascribing a distinct personality to the Holy Spirit.

The teaching clarifies that the Holy Spirit should be understood not as a separate person within a triune God but as the gift of God's nature to empower believers, distinguishing between the permanent gift received at spiritual rebirth and the variable manifestation of God's power and influence. The absence of any scriptural mandate to worship the Holy Spirit or references to it as a distinct person in early apostolic teachings corroborates that the Trinitarian doctrine of a tri-personal God was not originally practiced or endorsed by early Christian leaders or by Jesus Christ himself.

Shawn argues that traditional views on the Holy Spirit as part of a triune Godhead are unfounded, pointing out the absence of the Holy Spirit in Paul's greetings and the throne imagery in Revelation, suggesting instead that God the Father and Jesus Christ hold distinct, exalted positions. He emphasizes restoring the Father as the One True God and Jesus as the obedient, exalted Son, encouraging believers to worship and respect their roles while drawing inspiration from Christ's example.