“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18)

In this passage, the word “pray” comes from erotao, which means: “to question” “to ask” or “beg.” The “request” of Christ to God the Father was His blood--that He took into the Holiest of Holies, as the High Priest of the Old Testament. Certainly, Christ’s words demonstrate a distinction between Christ and God. However, this is not a personal distinction, but a distinction between God existing as a timeless, omniscient Spirit and as a human being (see: the incarnation.)

However, Christ’s words demonstrate that He is not personally distinct from the Holy Spirit. He taught that the disciples would not be “comfortless” (or orphans) but that “I will come to you.” What came to the Disciples when Jesus went away? The Holy Spirit! Did Jesus claim to be the Spirit in this passage, knowing that another person of the trinity would come? Is this fraud?-- or did Jesus know that He was the one God of Israel in the form of a man? If the latter is true, this proves that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person from Christ. Yet the Holy Spirit is distinct from Christ, for the He [or it] is God's Spiritual essence, but Christ is God existing in the lesser form of a man.

Next Page: I in You

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