2. Generally speaking, the divine actions and powerful effects meant
by the Holy Spirit are the acts of reforming and regenerating us.
Depending on the outcome of this reformation and regeneration,
the divine actions and powerful effects also include the acts of
renewing us, bringing us to life, sanctifying us, and making us just;
and depending on the outcome of these in turn, the divine actions
and powerful effects also include the acts of purifying us from evils,
forgiving our sins, and ultimately saving us.
3. In respect to the clergy, the divine actions and powerful effects
meant by “the sending of the Holy Spirit” are the acts of enlighten-
ing and teaching.
4. The Lord has these powerful effects on those who believe in him.
5. The Lord takes these actions on his own initiative on behalf of the
Father, not the other way around.
6. Our spirits are our minds and whatever comes from them.139 1. The Holy Spirit is the divine truth and also the divine action and
effect that radiate from the one God, in whom the divine Trinity exists: the
Lord God the Savior.The Holy Spirit really means the divine truth;
therefore it also means the Word. In this sense, the Lord himself is in
fact the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, because the church nowadays charac-
terizes the Holy Spirit as the divine action (meaning that part of the
Divine that actually justifies us), therefore the divine action is what we
mean by “the Holy Spirit” in the discussion here. For another thing,
divine action takes place through the divine truth that radiates from the
Lord. Whatever radiates out has one and the same essence as the source
it radiates from. Take for example someone’s soul, someone’s body, and
someone’s effect: these three together share one essence. In us that
essence is merely human. In the Lord there was a divine essence and
also a human one. After the Lord’s glorification these two essences were
as completely united as a cause is with its effect or an essence with its
form. Therefore three essential components, called the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, are one in the Lord.
[ 2 ] I have already demonstrated that the Lord is divine trueness or
truth [see § 85 : 3 ]. As for the Holy Spirit being divine truth, the following
passages make this clear:
A branch will come out of the trunk of Jesse. The spirit of Jehovah will
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the spirit of coun-
sel and strength. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and