The deity of the Holy Spirit

 

 

Now I am going to compare some verses of the Scripture referring to the Holy Spirit with other verses referring to God, in order to show you that the Holy Spirit is God.

● The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says to the saints: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14), while Moses says to God: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). Therefore the Spirit is eternal like God.

● David said to God: “Where can I go from Your Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7 - NKJV), while God said to Jeremiah: “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:24). Therefore the Spirit is omnipresent like God.

● Paul said: “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10), while Hannah said: “The LORD is a God of knowledge” (1 Samuel 2:3 – The IBRV reads: “L’Eterno è un Dio che sa tutto”, that is, “The Eternal is a God who knows everything”). Therefore the Spirit is omniscient like God.

● Elihu said: “The Spirit of God hath made me” (Job 33:4), while David said to God: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb” (Psalm 139:13 – The NIV reads: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb”). Therefore the Spirit creates as God does, thus He is omnipotent like God.

● Jesus said: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6), while John says that those who believe in the name of the Son of God “were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Therefore the Spirit regenerates as God does.

● Peter said to Ananias: “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” (Acts 5:3) and also: “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:4). Therefore to lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God.

● In the book of the Acts of the apostles it is written that Paul said these words to those Jews in Rome who refused to accept the Gospel: “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: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Acts 28:25-27). As you can see, it was the Holy Spirit who spoke those words through the prophet Isaiah. However, according to the book of the prophet Isaiah, it was God who spoke those words, as it is written: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:1-10). Therefore it was both the Holy Spirit and God who sent Isaiah to prophesy against the people of Israel.

● In the book of the Acts of the apostles it is written: “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister” (Acts 13:1-5). Therefore it was the Holy Spirit who sent Paul and Barnabas to preach. However, Jesus said: “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38), making it clear that it is God who sends forth labourers into His harvest. Therefore the Holy Spirit is God because He sent forth Paul and Barnabas into God’s harvest.

● Jesus called the Holy Spirit “the Comforter” (John 15:26). Therefore He comforts those who are downcast. However, Paul says to the Corinthians: “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (2 Corinthians 7:6), and also: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Therefore the Holy Spirit comforts believers as God does.

● In the book of the prophet Isaiah it is written: “But they [the Israelites] rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them” (Isaiah 63:10 - NKJV), while in the book of Psalms it is written: “How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert!” (Psalm 78:40 - NKJV). Therefore to grieve the Holy Spirit is to grieve God.

● Paul said to the Corinthians: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) and also: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Therefore the Holy Spirit indwells believers as God does.

● Jesus said: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26), but He said also: “And they shall be all taught of God” (John 6:45), and David said: “The meek will he [God] guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way” (Psalm 25:9). Therefore the Holy Spirit teaches as God does.

● Jesus said about the Holy Spirit: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13), and David said in the book of Psalms to God: “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me” (Psalm 25:5). Therefore if the Spirit of truth guides into the truth as God does, that means that He is God.

As you can see, according to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit possesses attributes which belong only to Deity (for He is eternal, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent like God); He is equated with God and does work that only God does

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