Deity of the Holy Spirit

2022-01-06

The Holy Spirit is God, yet He is distinct from the Father and the Son. Every time you see the three listed together, it is a mention of the Trinity, which states there is one God, but three Persons. There is one “What” but three “Whos.” References that include the three Persons together are Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; and 1 John 5:7. Since the Father and the Son are clearly distinct Persons (who is their own father?), the mention of the Spirit with the Father and the Son clearly states that He is God yet distinct from the Father and the Son.

Consider where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all present together, which disproves any form of modalism:

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17)

There are several times in Scripture when God and the Spirit are used interchangeably. The most referenced is Acts 5:3-4:

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? (4) Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. (Acts 5:3-4)

Ananias lied to the Holy Ghost in Acts 5:3, but in Acts 5:4, Ananias is told that he lied to God.

The concept of the Scriptures being God-breathed or “given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) also gives credence to the Spirit being God. The word used in 2 Timothy 3:16 contains the root word for Spirit. Also, the Spirit’s Words are considered God’s Words:

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? (Acts 4:24-25)
And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive (Acts 28:25-26)

The Scriptures are spoken by God in Acts 4:24-25, where they are spoken by the Spirit in Acts 28:25-26.

The Spirit also knows the mind of God. Consider the following:

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-11)

As the Father is omnipresent, so is the Spirit:

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (Psalms 139:7)

The Spirit was also involved in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This includes:

Blaspheming the Holy Ghost is more severe than blaspheming the Son. If the Spirit were not God, such a statement would be idolatry and blasphemy:

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Matthew 12:31-32)

Given that the Spirit does only what God does, and He shares His attributes, then the Spirit is very much God.