Volitional Flame

The Spirit is also a volitional flame. Here as elsewhere the imagery is inadequate to express all the truth, and unless care is taken we may easily gain a wrong impression from its use. For fire as we see and know it every day is a thing, not a person, and for that reason it has no will of its own. But the Holy Spirit is a Person, having those attributes of personality of which volition is one. He does not, upon entering the human soul, void any of His attributes, nor does He surrender them in part or in full to the soul into whom He enters. Remember, the Holy Spirit is Lord. “Now the Lord is that Spirit,” said Paul to the Corinthians. The Nicene Creed says, “And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life,” and the Athanasian Creed declares, “So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords: but one Lord.” Whatever problems this may pose for the understanding, our faith must accept it and make it a part of our total belief about God and the Spirit. Now it hardly need be said that the Sovereign Lord will never abandon the prerogatives of His Godhood. Wherever He is He must continue to act like Himself. When He enters the human heart He will be there what He has always been, Lord in His own right.

Verse

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

Thought

The Holy Spirit does not, upon entering the human soul, void any of His attributes, nor does He surrender them in part or in full to the soul into whom He enters.

Prayer

Lord, we recognize that Your Spirit is part of the Godhead and that You always will act like Yourself.