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.

attributes of God

Holiness: In more than 90 places, the Bible refers to the Spirit of God as the "Holy Spirit." Holiness is an essential attribute of the Spirit. The Spirit is so holy that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, although blasphemy against Jesus can be forgiven. (Mt 11,32)To revile the Spirit is just as sinful as to trample the Son of God underfoot. (Heb 10,29)This indicates that the mind is inherently holy, holy in essence, rather than having an assigned or secondary holiness, as the temple possessed. The mind also has the infinite attributes of God: unlimited in time, space, power, and knowledge.
Eternity: The Holy Spirit, the Comforter (Advocate), will be with us for eternity. (Joh14,16)The spirit is eternal. (Heb 9,14).
Omnipresence: David, who praised God's greatness, asked the question: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there." (Ps 139,7-8)God's Spirit, which David uses as a synonym for God's own presence, is in heaven and with the dead (in Sheol, verse 8), in the east and in the west (verse 9). It can be said of God's Spirit that it is poured out on someone, that it fills a person, or that it descends—but without indicating that the Spirit departed from the place or abandoned another location. Thomas Oden notes that "such statements are based on the premise of omnipresence and eternity," "attributes that are correctly ascribed only to God."
Omnipotence: The works that God does, such as creation, are also attributed to the Holy Spirit. (Hi 33,4; Ps 104,30)The miracles of Jesus Christ were performed through "the Spirit". (Mt 12,28). In Paul's missionary ministry, the work that "Christ accomplished through the power of the Spirit of God" was completed.
Omniscience: “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God,” wrote Paul. (1Kor 2,10)The Spirit of God “knows the things of God” (v. 11). Therefore, the Spirit knows all things and is able to teach all things. (Joh 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.

equated with God

“Trinitarian” formulations: More scriptures describe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as equals. In a discussion about spiritual gifts, Paul describes the Spirit, the Lord, and God with grammatically parallel statements. (1Kor 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 Kor 13,14)Paul begins a letter with the following three-part formulation: “…whom God the Father has chosen through the sanctification of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood.” (1Pt 1,2)Of course, these triune formulations used in these or other scriptures do not prove equality, but they do point to it. The baptismal formula points even more strongly to unity: “…baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28,19)The Father, the Son, and the Spirit share a common name, suggesting a shared nature and equality. This verse points to both plurality and unity. Three names are mentioned, but all three share one name.
Verbal exchange: In Apostelgeschichte 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. Korinther 3,16 and 6:19. Christians are not only the temple of God, but they are also temples of the Holy Spirit; the two expressions 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 indicating that the Holy Spirit is God.
Another example of verbal equation between God and the Holy Spirit can be found in Apostelgeschichte 13,2“…said the Holy Spirit: Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Here the Holy Spirit speaks for God, as God. Similarly, we read in Hebräer 3,7-11that the Holy Spirit says that the Israelites “tested and tried me”; the Holy Spirit says: “… I became angry… they shall not enter my rest.” The Holy Spirit is equated with the God of Israel. Hebräer 10,15-17 Equate the Spirit with the Lord who makes the New Covenant. The Spirit who inspired the prophets is God. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, which brings us to our next section.

Divine action

Creation: The Holy Spirit performs a work that only God can do, such as creating. (1Mo 1,2; Hi 33,4; Ps 104,30)...and exorcise demons (Mt 12,28).
Witnesses: The Spirit begot the Son of God (Mt 1,20; Lk 1,35)...and the full divinity of the Son points to the full divinity of the Begether. The Spirit also begets believers—they are born of God. (Joh 1,13)...and likewise born of the Spirit (Joh 3,5)"It is the Spirit who gives (eternal) life." (Joh 6,63)The Spirit is the power through which we are resurrected. (Röm 8,11).
Indwelling: The Holy Spirit is the means by which God dwells in his children (Eph2,22; 1Joh 3,24; 4:13). The Holy Spirit “lives” in us (Röm 8,11; 1Kor 3,16) And because the Spirit dwells in us, we can say that God dwells in us. We can only say that God dwells in us because the Holy Spirit dwells in us in a particular way. The Spirit is not a representative or a force that dwells in us—God Himself dwells in us. Geoffrey Bromiley makes an exact conclusion when he says, “To deal with the Holy Spirit, no less than with the Father and the Son, is to deal with God.”
Saints: The Holy Spirit makes people holy. (Röm 15,16; 1Pt 1,2)The Spirit empowers people to enter the Kingdom of God. (Joh 3,5)We are “saved through sanctification by the Spirit.” (2Th 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.

Life and intelligence

Life: The Holy Spirit “lives” (Röm 8,11; 1Kor 3,16).
Intelligence: The mind “knows” (1Kor 2,11). Römer 8,27This refers to the "mind of the Spirit." This Spirit is capable of making judgments – a decision "pleased" the Holy Spirit. (Apg 15,28)These verses point to a clearly recognizable intelligence.
Will: 1. Korinther 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. Korinther 12,11 to oppose the idea that the mind also has a will. Communication

Speaking: Numerous verses show that the Holy Spirit spoke (Apg 8,29; 10,19; 11,12;21,11; 1Tim 4,1; Heb 3,7, etc.) The Christian author Oden observes that “the spirit speaks in the first person, as ‘I’: ‘for I have sent them’ (Apg 10,20) … ‘I called them’ (Apg 13,2)Only one person can say 'I'.
Interaction: The mind can be lied to. (Apg 5,3)This suggests that one can speak to the spirit. The spirit can be tested. (Apg 5,9), reviled (Heb 10,29)...or be gossiped about (Mt 12,31), which suggests a certain personality status. Oden gathers further evidence: “The apostolic witness uses extremely personal analogies: guide (Röm 8,14), convict (“open your eyes” – Joh 16,8), represent/advocate (Röm8,26), select/appoint (Apg 13,2). insert (Apg 20,28) … only one person can be saddened (Jes 63,10; Eph 4,30).
The Paraclete: Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Paraclete – the Comforter, Advocate, or Helper. The Paraclete is active; he teaches. (Joh 14,26)He gives testimony (Joh 15,26), he convicts (Joh 16,8), he leads (Joh 16,13)...and reveals truth (Joh 16,14).

Jesus used the masculine form of parakletos; he did not consider it necessary to neuter the word or to use a neuter pronoun. Johannes 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.

SALE

New life: The Holy Spirit makes us new; he gives us new life. (Joh 3,5)The Spirit sanctifies us (1Pt 1,2)...and leads us into this new life (Röm 8,14)The Spirit gives various gifts to build up the church. (1Kor 12,7-11)...and throughout the Acts of the Apostles 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 we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us…for he intercedes for the saints as God pleases.” (Röm 8,26-27)Intercession indicates not only receiving communication but also giving it. It suggests intelligence, empathy, and a formal role. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force but an intelligent and divine helper who lives within us. God lives within us, and the Holy Spirit is God.

3. Worship

There are no examples of worshiping the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Scripture speaks of prayer in the Spirit. (Eph 6,18), community of the spirit (2Kor 13,14)...and baptism in the name of the Spirit (Mt 28,19)Although baptism, prayer, and fellowship are part of worship, none of these verses is a valid textual proof of the worship of the Spirit. However, we note—in contrast to worship—that the Spirit can be blasphemed.(Mt 12,31).

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. (Apg 5,3)When this is done in reverence or as a request, it is actually a prayer to the Holy Spirit. When Christians are unable to articulate their desires and wish for the Holy Spirit to intercede for them, they often pray to the Holy Spirit. (Röm 8,26-27)Then they pray, directly or indirectly, to the Holy Spirit. When we understand that the Holy Spirit possesses intelligence and fully represents God, we can ask the Spirit for help—never thinking that the Spirit is a being separate from God, but recognizing that the Spirit is the hypostasis of God interceding 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".

Prayer or worship specifically directed to the Holy Spirit is not the norm in Scripture, but we worship the Spirit nonetheless. When we worship God, we worship all aspects of God, including the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. A fourth-century theologian explained it this way: “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 4th century, people began to speak of three hypostases or persons within the Godhead, not in the Trinitarian sense of three centers of consciousness, but also not in the sense of economic manifestations. From Nicaea and Constantinople onward, the creeds attempted to do justice to the essential biblical data, as explained 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