Holy Spirit: His Deity
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Let the scripture speak
Let the scripture speak
It is always best to let the scripture speak for itself. Even when trying to understand, comprehend the person of the Holy Spirit like last week and tonight the Deity of the Holy Spirit.
We have looked at His works which prove He is a person and has a personality.
We have looked at His characteristics like a mind, intellect, and affection
We have even looked at how He has emotions and can be grieved as well as other emotions
The Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force or power.
Tonight we are going to look at scripture evidence illustrating the Holy spirits deity.
We will try to reconcile the concept of His deity using the biblical teaching that there is only One God
Just as our salvation takes faith, faith in accepting what we cannot fully understand or it would not require faith, the same holds true here in trying to understand and grasp the Holy Spirit. So bring your faith, bring some logic and let’s let the Word of God speak for itself regarding the deity of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit a divine being
Holy Spirit a divine being
di·vine; dəˈvīn/ adjective
of, from, or like God or a god.
"heroes with divine powers"synonyms:godly, angelic, seraphic, saintly, beatific; heavenly, celestial, supernal, holy
"a divine being"
The Holy Spirit a divine being, is he just divine or is He God? His attributes reveal His divine nature. His works reveal His divine nature. Both show and support the belief, the fact that the Holy Spirit is deity (God).
His attributes (or at least some)
He is “omniscient” (1Cor2:10-11)
He knows all things
10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
He is “omnipresent” (Psm139:7-10)
He is everywhere
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
He is “eternal spirit” (Heb9:14)
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
His works (some of them; scriptually speaking)
Creation (Gen1:2)
The Spirit was directly involved in creation
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Miracles (Mt12:28)
Notice what the scripture says regarding the working of miracles and the Spirit.
28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Demons cast out by the Spirit of God; at the words of God; all for the glory and kingdom of God! How cool is that! Wait there is more and it gets better than that.
Redemption (Heb9:14)
By the power of the Spirit the Lord offered himself up!
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
That Spirit that was there for Jesus to offer Himself up; was directly involved in leading you to Jesus by faith so you could be born again and regenerated!
Regeneration (Jn3:3-5; Tit3:4-6)
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
born again of water and Spirit so you can enter the kingdom of God.
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit; the Spirit that was promised through prophesy, promised by the Savior and delivered by the hand of God through Jesus Christ our Savior
This evidence helps to support the theory, the thinking that the Holy Spirit is deity. Still then we can be left with some questions and I will need to develop them out a little bit before getting to the Holy Spirit and what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit and God.
With the Holy Spirit being personal, with the Holy Spirit being deity, does it mean:
Does the Bible teaches polytheistic concept of God?
So, is there three Gods or one?
So what about a the relationship between the Father and Jesus?
Let me briefly look at a few concepts of God on these issues.
Concepts of God
Concepts of God
Concept of God (gods), as we take a quick detour here to look at some various concepts, and debunk them too.
Tritheism -the doctrine of or belief in the three persons of the Trinity as three distinct gods.
The Father is one god
The Son is a god
The Holy Spirit is a god
This is the view that they are three distinct Gods; so in turn really this is polytheism (belief in there is more than one god) This is the belief, or variation of the belief, that the LDS people have that there are not just three gods, but many gods.
Arainism - originating with the Alexandrian priest Arius ( c. 250– c. 336). Arianism maintained that the Son of God was created by the Father and was therefore neither coeternal with the Father, nor consubstantial.
This is the belief that denies the deity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit
This is the belief of the Jehovah Witnesses that Jesus is a created being, so not deity and that the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force sent by God to accomplish His purpose so again, not deity.
Sabellianism - In Christianity, Sabellianism in the Eastern church or Patripassianism in the Western church is the belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three different modes or aspects of God, as opposed to a Trinitarian view of three distinct persons within the Godhead.[1] The term Sabellianism comes from Sabellius, who was a theologian and priest from the 3rd century
God is one person, manifested in three different ways, means, modes.
Exampled by Presenting himself as creator (Father); then another time as Redeemer (Son); and again at Revealed (Holy Spirit)
Not presented simultaneously, but successively
Theological belief that lines with those who emphasis baptism in the name of “Jesus” only. (currently seen in the UPC church)
Trinitarianism - relating to a person who believes in the doctrine of the trinity
Holds the view that God is one God who exists eternally in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
Unity and diversity are seen in one God, one common nature, in the same godhood or what we call Godhead. The diversity is clearly seen throughout the scripture
Just a little more info on trinitarianism (aka: trinity)
God is one God
Jesus is fully God and is distinct from God the Father and God the Spirit
Holy Spirit is fully God, is distinct from father and Son and is personal. He has personalty, and has a different mission from Father and the Son
This is the most common view in Christendom today. So now you have a few views, concepts, which is right (check out Deu6:4)
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
What the Bible reveals about God
What the Bible reveals about God
Let the Bible speak about God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit when it comes to the deity of the Holy Spirit our topic tonight
Father, Son, Holy Spirit are distinguishable (Mt3:16-17; Jn14:16; Jn14:26; Jn15:26 and Mt28:19)
All three involved in baptism of Jesus
16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
In Jesus teaching to the Apostles
16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
Clearly you see all three are distinguishable
Father, Son, Holy Spirit all possess deity (1Cor1:3; Php2:5-6; Col2:9)
Clearly the Father is Deity, is God
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So is the Son
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
add to this
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
We have already mentioned, looked at the deity of the Holy Spirit.
So thus far we have eliminated Tritheism (Arianism), Sabellianism and now Arianism
That leaves what the bible supports; Trinitarian view (triune God) (Gen1:1; Gen1:26; Isa42:8; Mt3:1-3; Isa48:12-16)
You may know this name:
Elohim- Hebrew name for God (Gen1:1), often in the plural form (Gen1:26)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
The plurality of “personality” in one God is implied in the plural pronouns found in (v.26)
Even in plurality it can only be applied to singular, true God (Isa42:8)
8 “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
The name is used in prophesy speaking of Jesus too (Mt3:1-3)
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’ ”
Even when Yahweh speaks, he says Yahweh sent Him (Isa48:12-16)
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. 13 “Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans. 15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
16 “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
You can see the plurality of personalities in the singular, true God. This leads us back to where we started
4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
One God, three distinct personalities to accomplish different missions.
(Lead to invitation)
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To the believer of the bible, let the bible reveal the character and nature, and personality of God, accept it by faith; don’t be swayed to worldly or humanistic, or even rationalistic thinking, views when it comes to God. Accept by faith and walk by faith.
To the one who is still not sure, I challenge you to come, know the God of all creation who gave His Son (expand)
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
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