Holy Spirit Proceeding

Within the Trinity of God, How Can We Understand the Concept of the Holy Spirit Proceeding?

In Luke 3:21-22 we are told that, “Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon Him, and a Voice came out of heaven, Thou are My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.” And in John 15:26 the Bible says, “When the Intercessor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness concerning Me.”

The concept of the Holy Spirit proceeding has been debated for many generations. Today, the proceeding of the Holy Spirit can be viewed within two eras: the era before the beloved Son became human on earth and until the crucifixion and the era after the bodily resurrection of the beloved Son. We can say that in both eras, the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the beloved Son Jesus; however, it does so differently depending on the era we consider. From the beginning, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father since the Son Jesus was within the Father. Still, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, but the beloved Son of God is One with the Father, so the Holy Spirit also becomes the Spirit of both. Therefore, when discussing the Holy Spirit proceeding in the first era, we should understand that He proceeds from the Father and the Son Jesus because the Father and the begotten Son Jesus are two in One. However, within the first era, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son differently than in the second era, as the beloved Son is within the heart of the Father and is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit in this way. Furthermore, when the beloved Son becomes human, His God form is also in the human form; the beloved Son has never been only human, so we can say that He was still in the heart of the Father even while on earth, so the Holy Spirit still proceeds from both. That is why, in the first era, the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son Jesus this way: the Holy Spirit proceeds as being the Spirit of both the Father and the Son as One unit.

Within the second era, the Son of God has also been since the beginning, but what we say here refers to the period after the Lord Jesus’ resurrection. The Bible says that the Father loves His beloved Son because He is willing to take the human form (John 3:31-35). When the beloved Son of God took human form, He was almost at the point of being cut off from the Father, but the beloved Son of God was also in two states at the same time: He is still with the Father, and also, He is here on earth as a human. Because the human form itself is sinful, that is why we say that the Son of God was almost at the point of being cut off from the Father. Before the beloved Son of God came to earth, the Father and the Son are One, as One unit together. But when the beloved Son of God was resurrected, He gave back the state that was almost apart from the Father and reunited to be complete One again with the Father by sitting at the right hand of the Father. The state that the Lord Jesus gave back, which we talk about here, is the state of breathing as a human; He has given up the need for breathing, and now His human and heavenly bodies are united and seated with the Father in heaven. Now, the Lord Jesus is sitting at the Father’s right hand and is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but in a different way than at the beginning. The difference is that the beloved Son still has the human form within heaven. God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit are One since eternity. Therefore, in this God Trinity state, with the Lord Jesus in His heavenly and human body, being One with the Father and the Holy Spirit by sitting at the Father’s right hand, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and through the Son and then comes to the earth.