The divinity of the Holy Spirit

Christianity has traditionally taught that the Holy Spirit is the third person or hypostasis of the deity. However, some have taught that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal, God-used power. Is the Holy Spirit God or is he just a power of God? Let us examine the biblical teachings.

1. The divinity of the Holy Spirit

Introduction: The Scriptures repeatedly speak of the Holy Spirit, known as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Scripture indicates that the Holy Spirit is identical with the Father and the Son. The attributes of God are attributed to the Holy Spirit, he is equated with God and does a work that only God can do.

A. Properties of God

  • Holiness: In more than 90 places the Bible calls the Spirit of God the "Holy Spirit". Holiness is an essential quality of the mind. The Spirit is so holy that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, although blasphemy against Jesus can be forgiven (Matthew 11,32). Reviling the Spirit is just as sinful as trampling the Son of God (Hebrews 10,29). This indicates that the spirit is inherently holy, holy in nature, rather than an assigned or secondary holiness such as the temple had. The spirit also has the infinite qualities of God: unlimited in time, space, power and knowledge.
  • Eternity: The Holy Spirit, the Comforter (assistance), will be with us forever (Jn 14,16). The spirit is eternal (Hebrews 9,14).
  • Omnipresence: David, praising God's greatness, asked, "Where shall I go from your spirit, and whither shall I flee from your face?" When I go up to heaven, there you are" (Psalm 139,7-8th). God's spirit, which David uses as a synonym for God's own presence, is in heaven and with the dead (in Sheol, v. 8), in the east and in the west (v. 9). God's spirit can be said to be upon someone is poured out, that it fills a person, or that it descends - but without indicating that the spirit departed from place or gave up another place. Thomas Oden states that "such statements are based on the premise of omnipresence and eternity, qualities which are correctly ascribed only to God".
  • Omnipotence: The works that God does, such as B. Creation, are also ascribed to the Holy Spirit (Job 33,4; psalm 104,30). The miracles of Jesus Christ were accomplished by “the Spirit” (Matthew 12,28). In Paul's missionary ministry, the work that "Christ wrought was accomplished by the power of the Spirit of God."
  • Omniscience: “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of the Godhead,” wrote Paul (1. Corinthians 2,10). The Spirit of God "knows the things of God" (verse 11). The Spirit therefore knows all things and is able to teach all things (John 14,26).

Holiness, eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience are attributes of God's being, that is, they are characteristic of the essence of divine existence. The Holy Spirit possesses these essential qualities of God.

B. God equated

  • “Triune” phrases: More scriptures describe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as equals. In a discussion of spiritual gifts, Paul describes the Spirit, the Lord, and God with grammatically parallel statements (1. Corinthians 12,4-6). Paul ends a letter with a three-part prayer: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor3,14). Paul begins a letter with the following three-part formulation: "... whom God the Father hath chosen through the sanctification of the Spirit to obedience, and to a sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1. Petrus 1,2).Of course, these triune phrases used in these or other Scriptures do not prove equality, but they do indicate it. The baptismal formula suggests unity even more strongly: "...baptize them in the name (singular) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28,19). The father, the son and the spirit have a common name, which indicates a common essence and equality. This verse refers to both plurality and unity. Three names are mentioned, but all three have a common name.
  • Verbal exchange: In Acts 5,3 we read that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. Verse 4 says he lied to God. This indicates that "the Holy Spirit" and "God" are interchangeable and therefore that the Holy Spirit is God. Some people try to explain this away by saying that Ananias only indirectly lied to God because the Holy Spirit represented God. This interpretation may be grammatically possible, but it would indicate the personality of the Holy Spirit, for one does not lie to an impersonal force. Furthermore, Peter told Ananias that he had not lied to men but to God. The power of this scripture is that Ananias lied not simply to God's representatives but to God himself - and the Holy Spirit to whom Ananias lied is God. 
    Another exchange of words can be found in 1. Corinthians 3,16 and 6,19. Christians are not only the temple of God, but they are also temples of the Holy Spirit; the two terms mean the same thing. A temple is, of course, a dwelling place for a deity, not a dwelling place for an impersonal force. When Paul writes "temple of the Holy Spirit," he is implying that the Holy Spirit is God.
    Another example of verbal equality between God and the Holy Spirit is found in Acts 13,2: "...said the Holy Spirit: Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Here the Holy Spirit speaks for God, as God. In the same way we read in Hebrews 3,7-11 that the Holy Spirit says that the Israelites "tried me and tried me"; the Holy Spirit says, "...I became angry...they shall not enter into my rest." The Holy Spirit is identified with the God of Israel. Hebrew 10,15-17 equates the Spirit with the Lord who makes the new covenant. The spirit that inspired the prophets is God. This is the work of the Holy Spirit which brings us to our next section.

C. Divine action

  • Create: The Holy Spirit does a work that only God can do, such as create (1. Mose 1,2; Job 33,4; psalm 104,30) and cast out demons (Matthew 12,28).
  • Witnesses: The Spirit begat the Son of God (Matthew 1,20; Luke 1,35) and the full divinity of the Son indicates the full divinity of the beginner. The Spirit also begets believers - they are born of God (John 1,13) and equally born of the Spirit (Johannes 3,5). “It is the Spirit that gives (eternal) life” (John 6,63). The Spirit is the power by which we are raised (Romans 8,11).
  • Indwelling: The Holy Spirit is the means by which God dwells in his children (Eph2,22; 1. John 3,24; 4,13). The Holy Spirit “lives” in us (Romans 8,11; 1. Corinthians 3,16) - and because the Spirit lives in us, we can say that God lives in us. We can only say that God lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us in a certain way. The Spirit is not a representative or force that dwells within us - God Himself dwells within us. Geoffrey Bromiley draws an exact conclusion when he says: "To have dealings with the Holy Spirit, no less than with the Father and the Son, is to have dealings with God."
  • Saints: The Holy Spirit makes people holy (Romans 15,16; 1. Petrus 1,2). The Spirit enables people to enter the kingdom of God (John 3,5). We are "saved in sanctification of the Spirit" (2. Thessalonians 2,13).

In all these things the works of the Spirit are the works of God. Whatever the mind says or does, God says and does it; the mind is completely representative of God.

2. Personality of the Holy Spirit

Introduction: The Scriptures describe the Holy Spirit as possessing personal qualities: the mind has mind and will, he speaks and one can speak to him, he acts and intercedes for us. All this refers to personality in the theological sense. The Holy Spirit is a person or hypostasis in the same sense as the Father and the Son are. Our relationship with God, which is effected by the Holy Spirit, is a personal relationship.

A. Life and intelligence

  • Life: The Holy Spirit “lives” (Romans 8,11; 1. Corinthians 3,16).
  • Intelligence: The mind "knows" (1. Corinthians 2,11). Romans 8,27 refers to the "sense of the mind". This Spirit is capable of making judgments - a decision "pleased" the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 Cor5,28). These verses indicate a clearly identifiable intelligence.
  • Will: 1. Corinthians 2,11 says that the mind makes decisions, showing that the mind has a will. The Greek word means "he or it works... allocates". Although the Greek word does not specify the subject of the verb, the subject in the context is most likely the Holy Spirit. Since we know from other verses that the spirit has understanding, knowledge, and discernment, there is no need to jump into the conclusion 1. Corinthians 12,11 to oppose that the mind also has a will.

B. Communication

  • Speaking: Numerous verses show that the Holy Spirit spoke (Acts 8,29; 10,19; 11,12;21,11; 1. Timothy 4,1; Hebrews 3,7, etc.) The Christian author Oden observes that “the Spirit speaks in the first person, as 'I', 'for I have sent them' (Acts 10,20) ... 'I have called them' (Acts 13,2). Only one person can say 'I'”.
  • Interaction: The Spirit can be lied to (Acts of the Apostles 5,3), which indicates that one can speak to the spirit. The Spirit can be tested (Acts 5,9), reviled (Hebrews 10,29) or be blasphemed (Matthew 12,31), which suggests personality status. Oden gathers further evidence: “The apostolic testimony uses highly personal analogies: to lead (Romans 8,14), convict (“open your eyes” – John 16,8), represent / advocate (Rom8,26), set apart / called (Acts 13,2) set in (Acts 20,28:6) ... only one person can be grieved (Isaiah 3,10; Ephesians 4,30).
  • The Paraclete: Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Paraclete - the Comforter, Advocate, or Advocate. The Paraclete is active, it teaches (John 14,26), he testifies (John 15,26), he convicts (John 16,8), he directs (John 16,13) and reveals truth (John 16,14).

Jesus used the masculine form of parakletos; he did not find it necessary to make the word neuter or use a neuter pronoun. In John 16,14 masculine pronouns are used even when the neuter pneuma is mentioned. It would have been easy to switch to neuter pronouns, but Johannes didn't. Elsewhere, in accordance with grammatical usage, neuter pronouns are used for the mind. Scripture is not hair-splitting about the grammatical gender of the spirit - and neither should we be.

C. Action

  • New life: The Holy Spirit makes us new, he gives us new life (John 3,5). The Spirit sanctifies us (1. Petrus 1,2) and leads us into this new life (Romans 8,14). The Spirit gives various gifts to build up the Church (1. Corinthians 12,7-11) and throughout the book of Acts we see that the Spirit guides the Church.
  • Intercession: The most "personal" activity of the Holy Spirit is intercession: "...For we do not know what to pray as ought to be, but the Spirit intercedes for us...for he intercedes for the saints, as is pleasing to God" (Romans 8,26-27). Advocacy indicates not only that you are receiving communication, but also that you are relaying communication. It suggests intelligence, compassion, and a formal role. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, but an intelligent and divine helper who lives in us. God lives in us and the Holy Spirit is God.

3. worship

There are no examples of the worship of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Scripture speaks of prayer in the Spirit (Ephesians 6,18), Community of the spirit (2. Corinthians 13,14) and baptism in the name of the Spirit (Matthew 28,19). While baptism, prayer, and fellowship are part of the worship service, none of these verses are valid evidence of the worship of the Spirit; however, as a contrast to worship, we note that the Spirit can be blasphemed2,31).

Prayer

There are no biblical examples of praying to the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible suggests that a person can speak to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5,3). When this is done in awe or as a request, it is really a prayer to the Holy Spirit. When Christians are unable to articulate their desires and they want the Holy Spirit to intercede for them (Romans 8,26-27), then they pray, directly or indirectly, to the Holy Spirit. When we understand that the Holy Spirit has intelligence and fully represents God, we can seek help from the Spirit - never thinking that the Spirit is separate from God, but by recognizing that the Spirit is the hypostasis of God is who stands up for us.

Why doesn't the Scripture say anything about praying to the Holy Spirit? Michael Green explains: "The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to himself. He was sent by the Father to glorify Jesus, to show the attractiveness of Jesus and not to be the center of the stage himself." Or, as Bromiley does puts it: "The spirit restrains itself".

Specific prayer or worship directed at the Holy Spirit is not the norm in Scripture, but we worship the Spirit anyway. When we worship God, we worship all aspects of God, including the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. A theologian of 4. As explained by the th century, “The Spirit is worshiped together in God when God is worshiped in the Spirit.” Whatever we say to the Spirit, we say to God, and whatever we say to God, we say to the Spirit.

4. Summary

The Scriptures indicate that the Holy Spirit has divine attributes and works, and he is represented in the same way as the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is intelligent, he speaks and acts like a person. This is part of the testimony of the Holy Scriptures that led early Christians to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity.

Bromiley gives a summary:
“Three points that emerge from this examination of the New Testament dates are: (1) the Holy Spirit is universally regarded as God; (2) He is God distinct from Father and Son; (3) His divinity does not violate divine unity. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God...

Divine unity cannot be subjected to mathematical ideas of unity. in the 4. In the twentieth century one began to speak of three hypostases or persons within the Godhead, not in the Trinitarian sense of three centers of consciousness, but not in the sense of economic manifestations either. From Nicaea and Constantinople onward, the creeds attempted to live up to the essential biblical dates as outlined above.”

Although Scripture does not directly say that “the Holy Spirit is God” or that God is a Trinity, these conclusions are based on the testimony of Scripture. Based on this biblical evidence, Grace communion international (WKG Germany) teaches that the Holy Spirit is God in the same way that the Father is God and that the Son is God.

by Michael Morrison