From the fact that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, it does not follow
that the Holy Spirit is in every sense equal to the Father. While the
Scriptures teach that in Jesus Christ dwelt all the fullness of the
Godhead in a bodily form (Col. ii. 9) and that He was so truly and _fully
_ Divine that He could say, “I and the Father are one” (John x. 30) and
“He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John xiv. 9), they also teach
with equal clearness that Jesus Christ was not equal to the Father in
every respect, but subordinate to the Father in many ways. In a similar
way, the Scriptures teach us that though the Holy Spirit is a Divine
Person, He is subordinate to the Father and to the Son. In John xiv. 26,
we are taught that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and in the name
of the Son. Jesus declares very clearly, “But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom _the Father will send_ in My name, He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you.” In John xv. 26 we are told that it is Jesus who sends the
Spirit from the Father. The exact words are, “But when the Comforter is
come, _whom I will send_ unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me.” Just as
we are elsewhere taught that Jesus Christ was sent by the Father (John vi.
29; viii. 29, 42), we are here taught that the Holy Spirit in turn is sent
by Jesus Christ.
The subordination of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son comes out
also in the fact that He derives some of His names from the Father and
from the Son. We read in Rom. viii. 9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that _the Spirit of God_ dwell in you. Now if any
man have not _the Spirit of Christ_, he is none of His.” Here we have two
names of the Spirit, one derived from His relation to the Father, “the
Spirit of God,” and the other derived from His relation to the Son, “the
Spirit of Christ.”
In Acts xvi. 7, R. V., He is spoken of as “the Spirit of Jesus.”
The subordination of the Spirit to the Son is also seen in the fact that
the Holy Spirit speaks “not from Himself but speaks the words which He
hears.” We read in John xvi. 13, R. V., “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He _shall not
speak from Himself_; but _what things soever He shall hear_, these shall
He speak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come.” In a
similar way, Jesus said of Himself, “My teaching is not Mine, but His that
sent Me.” (John vii. 16; viii. 26, 40).
The subordination of the Spirit to the Son comes out again in the clearly
revealed fact that it is the work of the Holy Spirit not to glorify
Himself but to glorify Christ. Jesus says in John xvi. 14, “He shall
glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.” In
a similar way, Christ sought not His own glory, but the glory of Him that
sent Him, that is the Father (John vii. 18).
From all these passages, it is evident that the Holy Spirit in His present
work, while possessed of all the attributes of Deity, is subordinated to
the Father and to the Son. On the other hand, we shall see later that in
His earthly life, Jesus lived and taught and worked in the power of the
Holy Spirit.