It is worthy of remark, that while Paul begins each of his Epistles, written to brethren of very different nations on the earth, with asserting, that his authority as an apostle was derived from God and from his Son, or with wishing his brethren grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and from his Son, by whom he created, and governs, and will judge the world; yet he never in this manner connects "the holy spirit" with the name of God and of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ: no prayer is thus addressed to a holy spirit or to the holy spirit, or Holy Ghost, although we find the translation "the Holy Ghost," nearly 100 times. This is called a gift of God, and God is prayed to for it; and it is declared, that God anointed Jesus with the holy spirit, that is, with the wonderful powers expressed by the phrase. A multitude of passages speak of the Spirit as a divine power and a divine gift: the following are some of the expressions used――"the Spirit of your Father;"――"the Spirit of God;"――"God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts;"――"how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him;"――"he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;"――"renewing of the Holy Ghost (or of a holy spirit or the divine power) which he shed on us abundantly;"――"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power;"――"upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost: John 1:33." Therefore one plain meaning of the holy spirit is a miraculous and wonderful power, communicated by God from heaven to Jesus Christ when he appeared on the earth in the form of a man, designating him to be the promised Messiah.
Concerning the Holy Spirit the creed of the ancient Council of Nice, A. D. 325, says nothing except "we believe in the Holy Spirit." Of Christ it declares, that he was "the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, God of God,――begotten, not made, &c." Soon after that council a learned father, _Eunomius_, who was made bishop of Cyzicum A. D. 360, advanced the doctrine, that after God had created his Son before the universe was formed, giving him divine dignity and creative power, he next created the Holy Spirit, the first and greatest of all spirits, by his own power indeed but by the immediate agency also of his Son, giving him power to sanctify and teach. Afterwards he created all things in heaven and earth. More modern creeds, which adopt much the same faith with Eunomius, use the word "proceed" instead of "create," as the New England Confession of Faith of 1680, which says, "the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son." But Milton, in his learned Treatise on the Christian doctrine, has shewn that "proceedeth" in John 15:26, relates to the mission,――the sending from God to the earth, not to the nature, of the Spirit: yet his own faith was, that "the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as he is a minister of God, and therefore a creature, was created or produced of the substance of God, not by a natural necessity, but by the free will of the agent, probably before the foundations of the world were laid, but later than the Son, and far inferior to him." Dr. Samuel Clarke of England has taught the same doctrine.――But the reader is requested to form his opinion on the chief subject of this note, not from any human creed or learned man's teaching, but from his own study of the Bible with his own endowment of reason. The practical application of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has claims to our earnest attention.