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who it js thakworketh all inalU Tim construction is supported , 1 believe , by some of our best commentators on this passage . Mr . Wardlaw next cites Matt . xii . 31 , SO ,: * ' * Wherefore I say unto you , AH Distnner of sin and blasphemy shall he forgiven unto men , but the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men * And whosoever shall speak a word against the Hon of Man , it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit , it shall not be forgiven him , neither in this world , nor in the
world to come . " " \ n these words , " says Mr . Wardlaw , 4 « the Holy Spirit is the object of a particular sin , —the sin of blasphemy . By Beelzebub , the prince of devils , the Pharisees , it is very obvious , meant a person , and they expressed
themselves accordingly . To this wicked , malignant agent , Jesus in his answer opposes the Spirit of God ; and without at all entering into any discussion respecting the precise nature of the sin against the Holy Spirit , which would be foreign to my present
design , it is sufficient to observe , that he is evidently distinguished here from the Son of Man , just as we are accustomed to distinguish one person from another . They are both spoken of , with respect unto the same things , in the same manner , and the things
mentioned are spoken concerning them universally in the same sense . If the Holy Spirit were only the virtue and power of God , then present with Jesus Christ in all that he did , Christ and that power could not be distinctly spoken against , for they were but one and the same /*
Let us examine a little the strength of these arguments . First : the Hoty Spirit must be a person , because it is the object of the sin of blasphemy . If being the object
of the sin of blasphemy is a proof of personality , then the holy place and the law are persons ; t then the worthy name by vyhkh Christians are called must be a person ; % then must the name of (" o < l and his doctrine ^ his word and liis tabernacle * \\ be also per-~ ' » - ' ¦ ' — ¦ - ¦ » " ¦¦ ! » ' ¦¦ * r ' " " — ' ""—* ? Page 285 . f Acts **• } s * 1 James ii . 7 . $ 1-Tim . vi . 1 . || Tinuii . 5 . Kev . xiii . 6 .
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• ofrt ; 6 > r all these are said to be bltrtphcmed * or to be Capable of being the objects of that * in . Secondly : the Holy Spirit must be a person * because by Beelzebub , the prince of devils , the Pharisees meant a person . And to this wicked , malignant agent , Jesus opposes the Spirit of God .
1 . 1 observe that Mark states , that the Scribes said , « € He hath Beelzebub ; and by the prince of devils casteth he out devils . " Our Lord , in this account by Mark , in his reasoning with them , says nothing about his casting them out by the Spirit of God ; but in the close of the argument
he says , ' * He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness , but is in danger of eternal damnation ; because they said he hath an unelean spirit . " By Beelzebub theu , they meant an unclean spirit , and not a person . * ¦ ¦ ¦¦¦
2 . Our Lord , Mr . Wardlaw says , opposes the Spirit of God to Beelzebub , and thence infers his personality . But is Mr . Wardlaw ignorant of the account Luke gives of this transaction ? If not , did it never occur to him to compare it with that of Matthew ? Had he done so , he would
have instantly seen the fallacy of his own reasoning- . Luke makes Jesus oppose to Beelzebub not the spirit , but the finger of God : f the finger , therefore , and the spirit of God are synonymous . If then the one is not a person , neither is the other : hence we have here a decisive proof of the impersonality of the Holy Spirit .
Thirdly : the Holy Spirit must be a person , because " he is evidently distinguished here from the Son of Man /' " 7 hey are both spoken of , with respect unto the same things , in the same man * ner , and the things mentioned are spo * hen concerning them universally in the same sensed The conclusion from
these premises is , ** If the Holy Spirit were only the virtue and power of God , then present with Jesus Christ in all that he did , Christ and that power could not be distinctly spoken against ; for they Vvere but one and the siffle . " Upon this paragraph * which Mr . Ward hi w has cited frotn * Mark in . 32 , 2 & , 30 . t Luke * xl . 20 %
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Mr . M # rso 77 ioKtheIteityofthsIlQt # S ^ irt ^ -JUiter IV , % is
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1818, page 245, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2475/page/21/
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