E-mailed Questions, Comments, and our Answers
Question - Much of your statements are good, yet why is it written in Acts 16:6-7 calling the Holy Spirit the same as the spirit of Jesus. Please don't tell me they are two different spirits functioning within two sentences of one other written by Luke. This is the same spirit working here. And what about John 20:28 where Thomas calls Jesus his lord and his God.Answer - There are many diverse uses in the Scriptures for the Latin word "Spiritus," All living breathing creatures are trichotomous, that is, made of body and spirit, (or breath), which, when combined forms the soul, the mental and physical abilities we commonly refer to as "physical life." So, then, there is "your" spirit, "Yahshua's" spirit (or influence) dwelling in you, and all believers, and "Yahweh's" Spirit dwelling in you "through" the spirit of Yahshua.
There are also spirits of envy, hatred, lust, evil, etc. In Scripture when the power and influence of "Yahweh's" spirit through "Yahshua's" spirit is at work in us, the phrase "set-apart" (hagion in Greek) is generally used, which distinguishes the spirit being referred to as a "special" spirit. In verse 6, the article 'the' is genitive, so the Greek word 'hupo' (translated by) actually has the meaning 'by the agency of, or under the influence of.'
The phrase in the Greek would correctly read, "they were forbidden by the Set-apart (Holy) Spirit to speak the word in Asia." Although we do not find the phrase "Set-apart" in verse 7, a reasonable assumption could be made that this is still referring to the same spirit, and, that spirit is the power and influence of Yahweh's Set-apart Spirit, acting through the Spirit of Yahshua. In verse 7, the Greek article "the" preceding the word "holy" can be masculine or neuter, but in verse 6, the article "the" preceding the word "spirit" is neuter.
As for your second question, John 20:28, reads- "And T'oma answered and said to him, "My Master and my Mighty One!" The confusion develops when we use pagan words like the word "G_d" with reference to both the Father and the son. In the Greek the word is simply "theos." It is not a name, but a title, with the same meaning as the Hebrew word "El." El in the Hebrew simply means "Mighty One, Strength" and is used to refer to terrestrial beings like Kings, Judges, and men with authority, as well as celestial beings like messengers (angels) or to the Creator Yahweh. T'oma was simply recognizing the authority of Yahweh, through Yahshua the son of Yahweh (it suddenly struck him who Yahshua the son really was). He is not calling Yahshua "Yahweh."
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