The Holy Spirit: His
Deity & Nature
"...the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
We are thus introduced to the Holy Spirit in the first chapter of the first book of the
bible. The last chapter of the last book of the bible presents an invitation from the
Spirit saying, "and the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'" Between the first and
last chapters of the bible, there is a fascinating account of the deity, nature, and work
of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is called "God"
The word divinity or godhead is used in Romans 1:20 to denote
"the attributes of God, His divine nature and properties." God is divine as
opposed to being human. There is one God, one divine essence, Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Timothy
2:5, whose attributes are expressed in three persons: God, the Father; God, the Son, and
God, the Holy Spirit. "There is one God and Father of all," Eph.4:6. Jesus said,
"I and the Father are one," John 10:30. Jesus meant that both he and the Father
are divine;
"In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily," Colossians 2:9.
God and Christ are of the same divine essence but are distinct persons. Ananias lied
"to the Holy Spirit," but it was also said, "thou has not lied unto men,
but unto God," Acts 5:3-5. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that
the Holy Spirit is God--He possesses the attributes of God; He is divine.
At the baptism of Jesus, Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus was on earth, God spoke from
heaven and the Spirit was descending. When disciples are baptized, it is done "in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," Matthew 28:19.
Paul acknowledges the three persons of the godhead in his benediction at the close
of the second Corinthian letter: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Scripture does not affirm
three Gods but it does repeatedly emphasize three persons in the godhead.
These thoughts on the deity of the Holy Spirit may seem strange to us because: 1)
we are finite and do, indeed, find such concepts as eternity and deity difficult to
comprehend, and 2) we just do not preach, write and talk enough about the nature and deity
of the Holy Spirit.
The nature of the Holy Spirit
By nature is meant the essential characteristics and qualities
of a person. It was said of Barnabas that he was a good man, of Dorcas that she was full
of almsdeeds, of Cornelius that he was well reported of by all the nation of the Jews, and
of Epaphroditus that he was Paul's fellow-worker and fellow-soldier. When we are made
aware of these characteristics and qualities, we feel that we know these people. Since the
Holy Spirit is divine, we expect to find, and do find, in Him qualities superior to
humanity.
The Spirit was active, as already noted, in the creation of the heavens and the
earth. God testified against rebellious Israel by the "Spirit through thy
prophets," Nehemiah 9:30. We have the bible because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Peter affirms that no prophecy of Scripture originated in the mind of men but, on the
contrary, "men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit," 2 Peter 1:21.
This same Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all the truth, John 16:13. No human being
can know God's thoughts but the divine Holy Spirit searched out the things of God and
revealed them in words to the apostles, 1Corinthians 2:10-13. When we read these words of
the Spirit we can understand them, Ephesians 3:4,5.
We learn through the words of the Spirit, the New Testament, that the Spirit is
"given to all that obey" God, Acts 5:32. The Spirit's testimony or witness is
found in God's word and when our testimony agrees with that of the Holy Spirit we have
assurance that we are children of God, Romans 8:16. The Spirit testifies that we are to
hear the gospel, believe that God is, repent of our sins, confess Christ to be the Son of
God and be baptized for the remission of our sins. Our testimony must be
the same. A strong argument for living free of fornication is that our bodies
are temples of "the Holy Spirit which is in you," 1 Corinthians 6:19. When we do
wrong we grieve the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30.
"Now the Spirit expressly says," 1 Timothy 4:1, many wonderful things
unto us in the bible. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the
churches," Revelation 2:29.