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The
Trinity in the NT, part 3: The Holy Spirit – His Deity |
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Last week we saw that the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is not a
force or a power, but that He is a person. But the Holy Spirit is more than a
person – the Bible teaches that He is also divine, along with the Father and
the Son. This week we take a brief look at the Bible's testimony to the deity
of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is identified as God in Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor
3:16, and Acts 28:25 (with Isaiah 6:8-10).
The Holy Spirit is spoken of as equal to the Father and the Son: Mt
28:19; 2 Cor 13:14; and 1 Peter 1:2. He possesses the attributes of God: He is the "Spirit of life" (Rom 8:2), the
"Spirit of truth" (John 16:13), and the "Spirit of
holiness" (Rom 1:4). He is the
"eternal Spirit" (Heb 9:14); He knows all things, even the deep
things of God (1 Cor 2:11), and He is present in all places and at all times
(Ps 139:7). The Holy Spirit does the work of God. He participated in the
creation of the universe (Gen 1:2), He casts out demons (Mt 12:28); He
convicts the world of sin, righteousness and the coming judgment (John 16:8);
He gives the new birth to lost sinners (John 3:8; Titus 3:5); He participated
in the Resurrection of Christ, and He will participate in the resurrection of
you and me (Rom 8:11); He appoints people to positions of authority in God's
church (Acts 20:28); the things that the Spirit gives are said to be those
things that God gives (cp 1 Cor 2:12 & 14); He testifies of our
relationship to the Father (Gal 4:6).
Finally, Jesus – a divine person – said that He would ask the Father
to send another divine person to be with His people forever; this divine
person is the Holy Spirit (John 14:16).
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