Essence Energy Distinction and the Holy Spirit

What is the Essence - Energy Distinction?

Making this distinction affirms that there are some things that God cannot share and some things God can share: things that are non-communicable and things that are communicable. God cannot share his essential nature or essence (ousia); that is his ontology. Otherwise, we could become God.  But God can share his Holy Spirit, which pertains to the Energies (energeia) of God.

The Essence/Energy Distinction, also known as Palamism or the Palamite distinction, is a theological concept. The main idea is the differentiation between the essence (ousia) and the energies (energeia) of God. This distinction is essential in understanding the way humans can know, interact with, and participate in God and has significant implications for theology and spirituality. 

Essence refers to the divine essence or nature, the very being of God. It is what makes God, God. It is uncreated, eternal, unchangeable, and incomprehensible. This aspect of God is completely transcendent and cannot be truly known or shared with creation due to its absolute otherness. In other words, God's essence is non-communicable.

Energies, on the other hand, refer to divine actions or operations. They are also uncreated and eternal, but unlike the essence, they are immanent and can be experienced by creation. These are the ways that God interacts with the universe, revealing Himself without making His total essence comprehensible. Through these energies, humans can participate in the divine life (theosis or deification). This participation does not mean humans become God in essence, but they are transformed and become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) in a relational sense. Hence, God's energies are communicable.

The Greek word Energeia is used eight times in the NT, often translated as energy, and pertains to metaphysical working, operation, or action (BDAG). Energeia as it pertains to God, is synonymous with the operations of the Holy Spirit.

These are the NT occurrences of Energeia as it relates to power of God: Phil 3:21; Col. 1:29, Col 2:12, Eph 1:19, Eph 3:7

Philippians 3:21 (AICNT)

“who will transform the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working (energeia) by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.”

Colossians 1:29 (AICNT)

“For this I toil, struggling with his energy (energeia) that powerfully works within me.”

Colossians 2:12 (ACINT)

“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the activity (energeia) of God, who raised him from the dead;”

 Ephesians 1:19 (AICNT)

“and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working (energeia) of the might of his strength,”

 Ephesians 3:7 (AICNT)

“of which I became a servant according to the gift of God's grace given to me according to the working of his power. (energeia)”

Confusing God who is spirit, with the Holy Spirit

The term 'spirit' in Greek has numerous meanings. In all cases, it is to designate something that is non-physical (meta-physical)

People typically confuse God being spirit, with the Holy Spirit. To say God is spirit is simply to affirm that God is not physical (God is metaphysical). But the Holy Spirit has a different nuance in its contextual use throughout the Bible. It always refers to God in his capacity to act or influence; that is his Energeia. For this reason, I believe it is best to understand Holy Spirit as God's controlling influence rather than the essence, nature, or substance of God. 

Although God's essential nature is not shared with us, his Holy Spirit (energeia) is.

For more on understanding what the Holy Spirit is, see https://controllinginfluence.com.

The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit as aspects of God.

Rather than saying, the Holy Spirit is the one God and Father. It is more accurate to say that the Holy Spirit is an aspect of the one God and Father. The power of God is transferrable to others and exerts influence over the universe. 

Another aspect of God is his Logos, which pertains to God in his thinking, (the wisdom, understanding, plan, and purposes of God). All things God does are in accordance with his Word (Logos) by the Holy Spirit (breath of God).

Psalms 33:6 (ESV)

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

What is the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit?

• The Father is the one God as He is personally identified
• The Word (Logos) of God is an aspect of God pertaining to God in His capacity to understand, think and plan.
• The Holy Spirit of God, is an aspect of God pertaining to God in his capacity to act and exert influence over creation – His controlling influence and transmissible power (energeia).

God sharing his glory in reference to the Essence / Energy distinction

In some absolute sense, God cannot, and does not, share his glory. But in some sense, God does share his glory. In another post on Does God Share His Glory? I make a distinction between Essential Glory (the glory of God that cannot be shared with others) and Energetic Glory (the glory of God that can be shared with others). Essential Glory is the glory of God associated with his essence (ousia). Energetic Glory is the glory of God accomplished through the Holy Spirit (energeia). 

https://www.basedtheology.com/2023/06/does-god-share-his-glory.html

The question of God sharing His glory is another application of the Essence-Energy Distinction, that serves to clarify how seemingly contradictory statements in Scripture can be harmonized. 

Josiah’s Testimony of being Baptized in the Holy Spirit

 2001, San Luis Obispo, CA

I was baptized in the name of Jesus in a small lake on a Sunday in February when I was 23 (in 2001). This happened during my senior year as a college student at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA while I was attending a small spirit-filled church. Although it was Winter, and the water was very cold, I was compelled to get baptized in water straightaway after Sunday morning service with all my church clothes on. God was calling me to this immersion in water. I understood this as a sign of my repentance representing death with Christ and subsequent burial with Christ with the hope of receiving the Holy Spirit of God as an indication that I will be raised with Christ (Acts 2:38). The following describes the events that took place that very night after I was baptized in water. Later that evening, I received deliverance and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. What follows is my personal account…

The struggle for my soul started to become ever more apparent. Before the night of crossing over in victory, the war had intensified. The conflict within me and against the world and the circumstances of my life reached a critical velocity. The war that was raging in a spiritual realm began to manifest in the physical. The vacuum of desire to know God had become too great. I was finally at the point of total surrender. This night everything changed!

A demonic influence had manipulated and power over me and my girlfriend. It would create conflict whenever I would try to pursue God, especially when trying to keep the Lord first in our relationship. I finally reached the inflection point, the critical juncture of the battle over my will. A way to describe it is being at a point where the tables turn. Where I could clearly discern how the devil was using me and using her. With this awareness came the ability to gain leverage against the devil’s strongholds. In a degree of faith that I never had been able to exercise before, I discovered these dark forces could be effectively engaged and challenged.

After several weeks of earnestly pursuing God, I was now at the place where the devil’s ability to control me based on desires, fears, or other concerns was undermined. A desire for God and what is holy was now stronger than my fears and my desire to live in the world. The devil’s stronghold was weakened to the point where he would wage one final climatic assault to keep me under control.

In the midst of a heated argument with my girlfriend, I was able to stand up against Satan’s lies and expose him. He likes to hide and deceive us within our personality and thoughts. Although he hides behind the surface, I discovered that he could be drawn out into an openly accessible realm of engagement. It is hard to explain what happened because the events took place through supernatural revelation and experience by which meta-physical (spiritual) forces became observable in this material world.

During this conflict, the spiritual battle manifested in the physical. I could sense a demonic presence in the room and a strange force that caused me great emotional and physical distress. After ending the phone call, this attack grew stronger and I was overtaken with a horrible sense of fear as my mind was barraged with manipulative thoughts laced with lies to coerce me to turn away from God.

My entire body began shaking in a disturbing way that became more troubling as time went by. I shook so violently under this attack that It forced the bed that I was laying on to move around in the room.  I was terrified as I lay on my bed, desperately praying for God to help me. The devil continued to tempt me to doubt God. I was very scared but determined not to let go of faith, no matter what happened. The devil was trying to dissolve my faith and I knew this. This was Satan’s last stand… It was the culmination, and he was throwing everything he could against me. I needed relief and things were getting worse. I had never been so terrified in my life. I had to get help to get it fast.

It was about 12:30 AM when I got up and ran to my car and drove straight to my pastor’s house, praying all the way there in desperation. I ran into the house and woke up my pastor who had baptized me earlier. I said, “I need your help! I’m under attack!” He rushed out of bed half-dressed and we went into the living room. He laid his hands on my head and, as soon as he began to pray for me, the violent physical manifestations began to occur again. Before I realized it, I lost control of my body and, in complete surprise, I began to groan. These sounds were deep and disturbing (not something I could reproduce if I tried). As these long groans continued, my body was subjected to extreme stress. In a passive state, I was reacting without mental intention. Now in a full sweat, my body was contracting and releasing. It was so intense. These severe contractions were consuming every ounce of energy I had at each succession. Through all of this, I could sense a purging, a cleansing, and a release of pressure. After what seemed like an eternity, the successions subsided. At the point of exhaustion, I sat there relieved and calm. The fear and tension were gone. It was so wonderful to have relief.  I was free, cleansed of it! Hallelujah! I received complete deliverance!

By this time, the entire house was up and there were four of us up rejoicing and praying together. As I sat there thanking God, the Holy Spirit began to fall upon me. And supernatural activity began to start again, only this time I became active in a holy way as divine energy was building up inside me. Up from my belly the awesome flow of living water came forth as I encountered God’s power. This river of divine energy poured out of me in an audible way. I began speaking in a heavenly language as the Spirit gave me utterances.  These utterances were so beautiful, and they were linked to waves of delightful emotions that were rushing through my body. My mind was again in a passive state but now I was under the influence of the Holy Ghost. Nothing that was coming out originated from my rational mind. These sounds, syllables, words, and phrases were divine in nature, under the influence of the Spirit of God.

After a little while, as these wonderful utterances continued to intensify, waves of painless electricity started to flow through me. Totally “activated” in the Spirit I began to experience a purifying fire, a fire that would not be consumed. Warmth was over me and at times it felt as if warm rain was pouring down. At other times, the electricity (or fire) would come in waves of glory making me shake and tremble in the most amazing way. I was filled with a multitude of glorious emotions. For over an hour these swells would come over me. Similar things were happening to the others as all of us were filled with the Spirit together with our arms around each other. In fact, I could sense the Holy Spirit within us responding back and forth in the spiritual language. At other moments, bursting with joy, we experienced tremendous laughter in the Spirit.  It was so wonderfully amazing and incredible!

My experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit cannot be adequately described. There was no fear or anxiety, but there was purity, joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost! I tangibly experienced righteousness through faith in Christ that came through the cleansing of the Spirit. There was a triumph, and there was a victory. I felt so comforted to experience God in such a powerful way, and it brought my faith in God to another level. It was like Moses encountering the burning bush that would not be consumed. You cannot have an encounter with God like this and live as though God does not exist. It was so real, so awesome! Praise the Lord! For many weeks, I was under an anointing in a state of renewal, being taken up in God’s glory!

Glory to God forever! For in Christ Jesus our Lord we have access to God and his Holy Spirit!

Josiah

For more on repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, see https://apostlesdoctrine.net