THE HOLY SPIRIT AS GOD

The last article that I wrote was on who is the Holy Spirit. We identified that the Holy Spirit was a person, not some mystical force or extension of God. In this article we will talk about the Holy Spirit being part of the God- head, one and equal to the Father and Son.

We are going to first look at the Holy Spirit as part of the trinity, trinity meaning here three in one. You will not find the term “trinity” in the Bible, but you will find the concept of trinity clearly presented. We serve one God who is made up of three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are one in thought, will, action and in their very essence. They are in complete and total unity. They are one being who the eternal God is.

Let us look in scripture to see this trinity and how the Holy Spirit is clearly part of this trinity.

Matthew 28:18-20 – “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus here speaks of the triune God. When we baptize people in water, we are to baptize them into the triune God.  Jesus understood how it is important that we recognize each person of the trinity in salvation. Each person of the God-head plays an important and indispensable role in our salvation.

Luke 3:21-22 – “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Here is a scripture that clearly speaks of the three persons of the God-head in Jesus baptism. We see that the Holy Spirit is one of the three. Some would say, God manifests himself or plays the role of three people, but in reality it is just one person. In other words, they believe the Father came in the form of Jesus and later on takes on the role of the Holy Spirit. Yet, this scripture clearly portrays them as distinct individuals because they are all present and separate at the same time in Jesus baptism.

John 14:16 –“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.”

John 14:26 – “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

The Father sent us the Son as our first advocate. Then He sent another advocate in the Son’s name. The key word here is “another”, not the same with another name, but one whom is separate from the former. We see three distinct persons in these two verses, one of them being the Holy Spirit. (Also see John 15:26)

The Holy Spirit is not only separate and distinct but part of the trinity or God-head. He is one and equal to the others. The Holy Spirit is God.

Acts 5:3-4 – “Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

It is important to notice here that Peter does differentiate between the Holy Spirit and God. He says that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and clarifies his statement by saying that he has lied to God who are one and the same.

Hebrews 9:14 calls Him, “the eternal Spirit”. Eternal here means that He always existed and will always exist. Only God is eternal. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God.

Psalms 139:7-10 says, there is no where we can be that the Holy Spirit is not there. In other words, He is omnipresent. Only God can be everywhere at the same time.

I Corinthians 2:10-11 says that the Holy Spirit knows all things, even the deep things of God. The Holy Spirit knows all that God knows because He is God.

Luke 1:35 indicates that the Holy Spirit is the power of the most High God. In other words, He is all powerful.

John 16:13 says, the Holy Spirit tells us what is to come. In other words, He knows the future. Therefore, He is God because only God knows the future.

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is our creator. (Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4; Ezayi 44:24) This is a foreign concept to many because we always refer to our Father as our creator. Yet, more accurately, God is our creator which includes the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

One of the names of the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of the Lord”. In other words, the Spirit is Lord.

Also, the Holy Spirit is called, “God of Israel”. (2 Samuel 23:2-3)

The Holy Spirit is the source of life which is a characteristic of God.

Romans 8:11 – “ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of  his Spirit who lives in you.”

I hope you now see clearly that the Holy Spirit is part of the God-head and no less or greater than the Father and Son. Our confusion usually lies in the roles they play. We have a hard time separating their roles from who they are, one and the same.