How does the HS become separated from the father ?? become a distinct substance (hypostasis) and "Proceed from the Father" -
The HS is one of at least 2 emanations from the Godhead - but this does not make Trinity Doctrine -Gnostism.
But apparently you are attempting to teach gnosticism by relating it to the Trinity.
The Holy Ghost is the same substance as the Father....He is in fact the same Person. The same Spirit (Ephesians 4:4, John 4:23-24, John 7:39).
A- Faith Alone (Sola Fide ) no works required
B - some mixture of faith and works
C- Works alone - no faith required.
We see examples of B and C in scripture. What we do not see much of - is salvation by faith alone .
That we are saved by faith apart from works is evident in, and not limited to, the following scriptures:
Romans 4:5-6
Titus 3:5
Romans 11:5-6
Ephesians 2:8-9.
The Majority of Christianity Catholic-Orthodox - rejects "Sola fide". The majority believes it is a mixture of faith and works.
See Matthew 7:13-14 for what I believe about this.
Good Quote from James. This is echoed directly in the Sermon on the Mount - where Jesus describes what is required to make it through the pearly gates.
Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Of course, these scriptures do not contradict or deny sola fide, lest the scripture contradict itself.
There are two sides to the same coin.
On one side, a man is not justified by works but by faith alone. He is regenerated and renewed "not by works of righteousness which we have done..." but by the mercy of the Lord.
On the other side, regeneration and renewal means that a man's life is changed by the power of the blood of Jesus and the Holy Ghost.
It is the same thing - you are pining over semantics. How does the HS become "distinct" "not the same as" the Father -
He is "the same as" the Father...the same exact Person.
Again, the Father descended to become a Man; then that Man died on the Cross and released His Spirit (the Father) back to the Father (the 1st Person of the Trinity who inhabiteth eternity).
You say "The Holy Spirit was "released" from the Father "
No, I say that the HS was released from the body of "the Son" back
to the Father.
So the HS went somewhere .. and then came back to the Father is what you are saying.
The Father inhabiteth eternity, and is an eternal Spirit. As such, He cannot vacate eternity when He descends to become the Son. So, he both goes forward and stays behind in the incarnation. There is a sense in which He duplicates himself through the relationship between time and eternity.
So during the time when the spirit is released .. there is a distinction between God and the HS = "they are not the same - one can be distinguished from the other" .
They are the same Person. The distinction is in that the HS has lived a human life and the Father has not yet been human.
Obviously what you are describing is a separation between the HS and "The Father" .. if they were not separated .. then one could not go back to the other as you suggest .. as they never were separated in any way.
They are not separate but distinct....even according to the creeds.
The only way one can make any sense of this contradiction .. is if while these entities are separated/Distinct - they are still connected.
No, it can be explained in other ways.
I believe that the Holy Ghost is the same Spirit as the Father and therefore the same Person.
The dsitinction has to do with the Father's descension into time and His subsequent death in which He relased Himself back to Himself in eternity.
Which is what Trinity Doctrine states - which is exactly what the phrase "emanation from the Godhead" is describing - regardless of whether or not Gnostics used similar terminology to describe something related - but in a different way.
It is heresy to call the Trinity "emanations from the Godhead".
While Jesus spoke God's Word via the HS .. Human's are not able to do this -sans a brief intervention directly from "the Father" which we are told happened with the Apostles.
Average Joe is not able to do this - and attempting to do this is heresy - usurping the position of Jesus - the "unforgivable Sin" - blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
It is preposterous to say that a man speaking for God is committing the unpardonable sin....I suppose that you believer that this sin was committed by Moses and the prophets (the apostles too)!
