Hello brothers and sisters in Jesus,

I would like to shed some light on a difficult problem that has sometimes bothered the brethren. Several years ago, I shared some of these things with an adamant SDA pro-trinitarian and I cannot recall if I ever shared them here. However, a brother A brought up two quotes and that seemed like a good opportunity to share again. So, happy Sabbath and I pray that this might help to edify the community.

Brother A wrote:  Can you please consider these quotations. [End Quote]

Certainly, my friend. Let’s look at them now:

“The theory that God is an essence pervading all nature is received by many who profess to believe the Scriptures; but, however beautifully clothed, this theory is a most dangerous deception. It misrepresents God and is a dishonor to His greatness and majesty. And it surely tends not only to mislead, but to debase men. Darkness is its element, sensuality its sphere. The result of accepting it is separation from God. And to fallen human nature this means ruin.” {MH 428.2}

This quote, from sister White, is a clear negation of a sentiment that is akin to pantheism. It clearly denies that God is an essence pervading all nature. Let’s elucidate some more by similar quotes:

“The theory that God is an essence pervading all nature is one of Satan’s most subtle devices. It misrepresents God and is a dishonor to His greatness and majesty. Pantheistic theories are not sustained by the Word of God {NL 54.1}

This theory is called a misrepresentation and dishonoring to Him, with a tendency to mislead and debase, resulting in separating from God and ruin. Here is the erroneous logic behind it.

“If God is an essence pervading all nature, then He dwells in all men; and  in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power within him {MH 428.3}

This is logical. If God is already within us then we do not need to repent and let Jesus in. We just have to look within and develop what is already there. So, hopefully with this matter clear, let’s move on to the next quote you shared. Yet before we do let us consider the subtlety of the theory – it is one of satan’s most subtle devices – and another quote:

“The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth  and error {SpTB02 52.2}

The subtlety of the serpent is due to him using an element of truth mingled with an element of error. So what is the element of truth? This now leads us to the second quote you asked to be considered:


“Our retired location will offer comparative freedom from many of the temptations of city life. Here are no liquor-selling hotels or  dram-shops on every corner to tempt the unfortunate victim of  intemperance. And the pure sights and sounds, the clear, invigorating  air, and the sense of God’s presence pervading all nature, tend to uplift the mind, to  soften the heart, and to strengthen the will to resist temptation.” {11MR  221.3}

This quote, from the same author, seems like a contradiction doesn’t it? And here we see a place where the dragon, that old serpent, will begin waving his tail around don’t we? (symbolic of lies – see Isaiah 9:15; Rev 12:4). The enemy will seek to lead minds to confuse the sense of God’s pervading presence to make it out to be something more than what it really is. Yet read the quote carefully. Please notice that it speaks about “the sense of God’s presence pervading all nature.” Did you catch the difference? Let’s put the two up side by side.

Wrong Sentiment:

Believing that “God IS an essence pervading all nature   

Right Sentiment:

Having the mind uplifted by “the SENSE of God’s presence pervading all nature”

So there is a sense of God’s presence pervading all nature that we should have. Yet that sense is NOT God Himself being an essence that pervades all nature.

This will really seem contradictory “to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit” and are therefore “not quick to discern the difference between truth and error.”

So then what “sense” should we have?

This next quote should clarify:

“Many teach that matter possesses vital power,—that certain properties are imparted to matter, and it is then left to act through its own inherent energy; and that the operations of nature are conducted in harmony with  fixed laws, with which God himself cannot interfere. This is false science, and is not sustained by the word of God. Nature is the servant  of her Creator. God does not annul his laws, or work contrary to them;  but he is continually using them as his instruments. Nature testifies of an intelligence, a presence, an active energy, that works in and through her laws. There is in nature the continual working of the Father and the Son. Christ says, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. {CE  194.3}

You see nature testifies of an intelligence, a presence, an active energy that works in and through her laws. So there is sense we should have and that sense is “the continual working of the Father and the Son” in nature.

Are you starting to catch it? Do you see the difference? Beliving that God “is an essence pervading all nature” is false yet “the sense of God’s presence pervading all nature” being found in that there is “in nature the continual working of the Father and the Son” is true. We are really talking about God’s power. Let me give you another example:

“Fathers and mothers, teach your children of the wonder-working power of God.  His power is manifest in every plant, in every tree that bears fruit.  Take the children into the garden and explain to them how He causes the seed to grow. The farmer plows his land and sows the seed, but he cannot  make the seed grow. He must depend upon God to do that which no human power can do. The Lord puts His own Spirit into the seed, causing it to  spring into life. Under His care the germ breaks through the case  enclosing it and springs up to develop and bear fruit. {8T 326.4}

So God’s “power is manifest in every plant, in every tree that bears  fruit.” And how does God make things grow? The answer is that “the Lord  puts His own Spirit into the seed, causing it to spring into life.” And not only that but let’s keep reading:

“The same power that upholds nature, is working also in man. The same great laws that guide alike the star and the atom control human life. The laws that govern the heart’s action, regulating the flow of the current of  life to the body, are the laws of the mighty Intelligence that has the  jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere of action. For all the objects of His creation the condition is the same—a life sustained by receiving the life of God, a life exercised in harmony with the Creator’s will. To  transgress His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to place one’s self out of harmony with the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin  {Ed 99.2}

Once more:

“The God of heaven is constantly at work. It is by His power that vegetation is caused to flourish, that every leaf appears and every flower blooms.  Every drop of rain or flake of snow, every spire of grass, every leaf  and flower and shrub, testifies of God. These little things so common around us teach the lesson that nothing is beneath the notice of the  infinite God, nothing is too small for His attention {8T 260.1}

“The mechanism of the human body cannot be fully understood; it presents mysteries that baffle the most intelligent. It is not as the result of a mechanism, which, once set in motion, continues its work, that the pulse beats and breath follows breath. In God we live and move and have our being. Every breath, every throb of the heart, is a continual evidence of the power of an ever-present God. {8T 260.2}

Yet, at the very same time, we need to understand and remember the following:

“We need no fanciful teaching regarding the personality of God. What God desires us to know of Him is revealed in His word and His works. The  beautiful things of nature reveal His character and His power as Creator. They are His gift to the race, to show His power, and to show  that He is a God of love. But no one is authorized to say that God Himself in person is in flower or leaf or tree. These things are God’s  handiwork, revealing His love for mankind. {LS 94.2}

“In Living Temple the assertion is made that God is in the flower, in the leaf, in the sinner. But God does not live in the sinner. The Word declares that He abides only in the hearts of those who love Him and do righteousness. God does not abide in the heart of the sinner; it is the  enemy who abides there {19LtMs, Ms 46, 1904, par. 13}

So then what is the difference? If God puts His own Spirit into the seed to make it grow, if the same power that upholds nature is working also in man, if every breath, every heart beat, is a continual evidence of the power of an ever-present God then doesn’t that mean that His Spirit is also at work in all living thing? Yes, in one sense, that is true.

Yet that does not mean that all living things, all men have God’s Spirit, as a personality, within them. 

You see God’s Spirit is more than just His power. It is also a personality.

And man is the only created being on earth who was made in ways so as to be able to consciously partake of the divine nature.

Do not miss this point!

Only man can partake of the Spirit of God as a personality Mankind is the only order of being created upon the earth which can understand and acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Only humanity has the mental capacity to comprehend Divine things.

“God created man a superior being; he alone is formed in the image of God, and is capable of partaking of the divine nature, of co-operating with his Creator and executing his plans; and he alone is found at war with God’s purposes. {RH April 21, 1885, par. 4}

“…Though formed from the dust, Adam was “the son of God.” {PP 44.3}

“He was placed, as God’s representative, over the lower orders of being.  They cannot understand or acknowledge the sovereignty of God,…{PP  45.1}

“Man was to bear God’s image, both in outward resemblance and in character.  Christ alone is “the express image” (Hebrews 1:3) of the Father; but man was formed in the likeness of God. His nature was in harmony with the will of God. His mind was capable of comprehending divine things… {PP  45.2}

Are you seeing the difference here? I pray that you are.

Achut wrote: If the Holy Spirit is God himself or Christ himself, then they are both essences pervading all nature because the Holy Spirit is addressed as an essence pervading all nature according to the second quotation I gave. [End Quote]

The nature of the holy Spirit is a mystery and we must understand the differences in manifestations thereof. We know that the Spirit is the presence and power of God. We are told as much in inspiration. 

“The divine Spirit that the world’s Redeemer promised to send, is the presence and power of God. {ST November 23,  1891, par. 1}

However, there appears to be both a manifestation of the Divine Spirit in a personal sense and an impersonal sense. God would have us parse that difference when it comes to His working in and through nature and His personal indwelling presence within born again mankind.

In the sense of His continual working, we can say something like the Lord puts His own Spirit into the seed, causing it to spring into life. This is His Spirit in terms of power. Yet this should not be understood as God’s Spirit as a conscious indwelling inner personality.

In the sense of His Divine character, a cognitive and emotive personality, we can say that God’s Spirit is only given to born again men and women. In terms of earthly creations, only humanity was made capable of receiving the Spirit of God as the third Person of the Godhead.

What this means then is that the holy Spirit, as the very Spirit of God or Spirit of Christ, in terms of manifesting Their personality and individuality, is not present in nature. We should not understand God or Christ to be an essence pervading all nature. The sense of God pervading all nature that we should have is the continual working of Divine power. At the end of the day, here is sage advice for all of us when we consider these matters.

“The great Teacher held in His hand the entire map of truth. In simple language He made plain to His disciples the way to heaven and the endless subjects of divine power. The question of the essence of God was a subject on which He maintained a wise reserve, for their entanglements and specifications would bring in science which could not be dwelt upon by unsanctified minds without confusion. In regard to God and in regard to His personality, the Lord Jesus said, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” [John 14:9.] Christ was the express image of His Father’s person {19LtMs, Ms 45, 1904, par. 15}