The Deity of the Holy Spirit
"Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit ... You have not lied to men but to God.'" (Acts 5:3-4)
The Holy Spirit is fully God, just as the Father and the Son are fully God. There is one God, and there are three persons within the essence of the one God.
The Old and New Testament each ascribe divine attributes to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent: "Where can I go from your Spirit ... If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (Psalm 139:7-8). The Holy Spirit is omniscient: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Holy Spirit is eternal and self-existent: "How much more, then; will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ..." (Hebrews 9:14). Only God possesses these attributes.
God alone can be blasphemed. Jesus said that blasphemy against God the Holy Spirit is a sin in which no forgiveness is possible: "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speak against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).
All cults deny the deity and person of the Holy Spirit. They often claim that the Holy Spirit is simply God's impersonal "active force," or that the Holy Spirit is a mode in which God chooses to operate in order to accomplish a certain task. To accept these positions is to deny the authority and clear teaching of Scripture. Clearly, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is God, and is separate from the Father and the Son. This is an essential of the faith that cannot be compromised.
The Holy Spirit is fully God, just as the Father and the Son are fully God. There is one God, and there are three persons within the essence of the one God.
The Old and New Testament each ascribe divine attributes to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent: "Where can I go from your Spirit ... If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (Psalm 139:7-8). The Holy Spirit is omniscient: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Holy Spirit is eternal and self-existent: "How much more, then; will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ..." (Hebrews 9:14). Only God possesses these attributes.
God alone can be blasphemed. Jesus said that blasphemy against God the Holy Spirit is a sin in which no forgiveness is possible: "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speak against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).
All cults deny the deity and person of the Holy Spirit. They often claim that the Holy Spirit is simply God's impersonal "active force," or that the Holy Spirit is a mode in which God chooses to operate in order to accomplish a certain task. To accept these positions is to deny the authority and clear teaching of Scripture. Clearly, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is God, and is separate from the Father and the Son. This is an essential of the faith that cannot be compromised.
